1. Real Weddings

A Verulam Farm Wedding in Charlottesville, Virginia

With bright blues during the ceremony and a natural color palette for the reception, Frances and Andrew created a classic, understated fall wedding wi

With bright blues during the ceremony and a natural color palette for the reception, Frances and Andrew created a classic, understated fall wedding with lots of DIY elements.

Each of the three tiers had a different flavor: pumpkin spice with buttercream frosting, chocolate with dark chocolate ganache and cream cheese frosting, and white cake with raspberry and chocolate frosting filling.
Several DIY elements, including the stationery and signs, were present throughout the ceremony and reception.
The groom and his attendants wore classic black-and-white tuxedos with blue paisley bow ties to match the bridesmaids.
The couple met at the University of Virginia, so it seemed fitting to marry in the chapel on campus. “We wanted our ceremony to be in a place that was both beautiful and revert,” the bride says.
The cake was decorated with yellow leaves to complement the fall, and it was topped with the couple’s initials engraved on wooden cutouts of their home states.
Centerpieces with white and light green flowers that matched the bride’s bouquet sat in the center of the tables and were surrounded by candles and DIY table numbers.
For the newlyweds’ first dance, the bad played a cover of Van Morrison’s “Tupelo Honey.”
Frances’s wedding dress was an A-line gown covered in lace and beading. “When I put it on it was as if I never could have considered another dress,” she says.
The bride planned her wedding day look around her grandmother’s cathedral-length, Parisian lace veil. “A number of women in my family have worn the veil and I wanted the rest of my look to match its elegance,” Frances says.
The ring bearer’s bow tie matched the groomsmen’s ties, and the flower girls wore flower crowns and white dresses. “They took their jobs very seriously,” Frances says.
White roses and stephanotis were arranged in a cascading bouquet for the bride to carry down the aisle.
The bridesmaids wore long chiffon dresses in either periwinkle, royal blue, or cornflower blue, and the mix of hues were the Frances’s favorite detail of the day.
The only jewelry the bride wore—besides her wedding rings, of course—was a pair of hanging pearl earrings.
To denote the head table, the couple hung a giant wreath of magnolia leaves above where they sat during the reception.
The indoor reception space took on a woodland appearance thanks to two giant trees decorating the space and tall branching centerpieces.