Relaxed and Elegant Wedding in Charlottesville

We love that today’s bride, Jamie, knew the importance of putting personal touches on her wedding day, so she set out to include as many projects as possible to make sure the day was tailor-made for her relationship with beau Nate. At the time of their wedding, Jamie and Nate had been together for nine and a half years already, so there was much to celebrate! Sera Petras Photography and Amore Events by Cody truly outdid themselves on this one.

From the bride, Jamie: We really wanted our wedding to be an intimate affair that truly reflected Nate and I as a couple. We originally thought we’d go for rustic elegance, but through the planning process, we ended up switching gears slightly to be more relaxed elegance, with a romantic feel. It was very important to us that our guests feel welcome and comfortable and that the day be filled with personal touches. I’m super detail oriented, and Nate and I have been together for so long [9.5 years on our wedding day! We met in college ;)], so it was actually pretty easy for us to make decisions and we knew immediately upon meeting our vendors who we wanted to have as a part of our day.

Bouquet recipe: David Austin Juliette roses, David Austin Patience roses, hydrangea, Queen Anne’s lace, ranunculus, dahlias, and seeded eucalyptus.

Our ceremony also very much reflected us as a couple, from our individual and personalized vows (we each wrote our own) to our unique ceremony reading (a children’s book, “A Lovely Love Story”) to our amazing officiant who infused anecdotes about me and Nate throughout the ceremony. It was also very important to us that everyone have fun at our wedding, so a great band was high up on the list of must-haves. Our band kept everyone on the dance floor and I truly can’t imagine having more fun!

We went with a neutral palette – blush, cream, white, gold, with navy added in for the men’s attire. I’m a huge fan of gold and glitter, so we included gold touches wherever it made sense. We also had custom drink stirrers with our monogram, straw tags with our wedding date, and napkins with personalized sayings. I am all about DIY because of the personalization that accompanies it, and some of my favorite wedding projects include the following: I made a word search about me, Nate, and our relationship to keep guests entertained while waiting for the ceremony to begin. I taught myself modern calligraphy and addressed all of our invitations myself, and I also created our cocktail hour, dessert table, and bar signage. I spray painted leaves gold and wrote guest names in calligraphy on each one to use as place cards. This was by far my favorite project, and one that I knew I would do from the moment we got engaged. It was super exciting to see it come to fruition and to hear our guests tell me how much they loved them! Our welcome bags included cookies made by my mom (some in the shape of Virginia and Vermont, to reflect our home states), granola made by Nate’s mom, maple syrup from Nate’s hometown in Vermont (his parents tap maple trees for fun), and Virginia peanuts in little burlap bags.

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Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Yes, my biggest piece of advice is to have fun! Enjoy this amazing time with your fiancé(e) and don’t get overwhelmed by the decisions and the details. Wedding planning can seem daunting, but at the end of the day, all that really matters is that you’re marrying the love of your life – so don’t lose sight of that! Also, as an event planner myself, I can’t stress the importance of hiring at least a day-of coordinator. You shouldn’t be stressing about a single thing on your wedding day, and you will greatly alleviate (if not eliminate) any anxiety by having someone there to take care of the details on your big day.

Wedding Music:
Bridal Party Processional: “The City,” Joe Purdy
Bride’s Processional: “Hoppipolla,” Sigar Ros
Recessional: “Come on Get Higher,” Matt Nathanson
First Dance: “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” Ingrid Michaelson