Family / Wedding Party Dinner

Virago Spirits

Friday Greetings

Bryan Park

Saturday Pickleball

Family / Wedding Party Photos

The Tin Pan

Wedding Ceremony & Dinner

Welcome

Ceremony

Dinner

Wedding Reception

Cake, Corks & Comments

Bubble Sendoff

Sunday Brunch Open House

Our Wedding

Our Story

Photos

From an early age, Matthew exhibited an impressive amount of confidence and maturity. These traits helped him navigate the Richmond public school system, graduating from Maggie Walker Governor's School while participating in national level volleyball simultaneously. Next came the University of Virginia, where he double-majored in history and economics, and minored in Spanish. His education culminated at Vanderbilt Law School, where, after one semester, he settled on public defense as his chosen path. At 33, he's currently practicing in Miami.

Matthew 

The baby who made Anja a mom; the boy who was beautiful and funny; the man who is sweet and gentle. Reid, at 23, is doing exactly what he aimed and studied for: a lighting designer for stage plays and musicals.

Reid

Twin #1, brimming with charisma and passion. Creative and athletic. At 19, she sets lofty goals and faces them with focused determination. Helen's latest goal? Forest firefighter.

Helen 

Twin #2 (by a minute!,) kind and curious. Intelligent and  conscientious. At 19, she's a sophomore at William & Mary, considering English and Philosophy majors, and potentially a career in Law.

Audrey 

Anja and Melissa met in 9th grade and shared an interest in music and boys. Anja changed high schools but they reconnected during their senior year at Carolina. Again their paths diverged until they reconnected almost 20 years later on Facebook, astounded at their number of similar interests, skills, and experiences. This time their place in each other's lives stuck, for good and forever!

Melissa 

Granville and Sam met playing volleyball over 40 years ago. They both spent careers as IT nerds. The more time they spent together, the more they found their tastes aligning on good food, beverages, and music. They both also enjoy swapping stories with great friends. To Sam, Granville is the guy he'd pick as his brother from another mother.

Granville 

Our Children & Officiants

Q + A

TRAVEL

INTERNATIONAL AND OUT-OF-STATE GUESTS:If for scheduling or some other purpose you choose to fly in and out of a Washington, DC airport, please contact us before making final arrangements. We may be able to coordinate your pick-up and delivery with other guests if we have advance knowledge.

Amtrak Richmond

Main Street Station

Richmond International Airport

- * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * -

ACCOMMODATIONS

INTERNATIONAL AND OUT-OF-STATE GUESTS:Out of appreciation for your effort to participate in our celebration, we will do our utmost to host you in our home or with a close friend in Richmond. Please contact us before reserving accommodations.

We're not reserving blocks in any hotels but we've curated this list of 3 and 4 star options in the Altria HQ area, immediately off of I-64. It's about equidistant from there to the Tin Pan as the Short Pump area, but FAR less congested. It also has the advantage of being closer to Virago Spirits [Friday Greetings] and our home [Sunday Brunch.] A great restaurant and brewery for lunch or dinner is not too far away: Mekong, and its sister on the backside of the building, The Answer.

Courtyard Richmond West

Embassy Suites by Hilton Richmond

Hampton Inn & Suites Richmond/Glenside

Home2 Suites by Hilton Richmond Glenside

Residence Inn Richmond Midtown/Glenside

The Westin Richmond

Travel & Accommodations 

These are some of our favorite spots in town. Enjoy!

Agecroft Hall & Gardens

The Branch Museum of Design

Starting point of the T Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge [pedestrian, over the James River], which connects downtown to the southside of Richmond. Brown's Island boasts a variety of sculptures as well.

Brown's Island

Canal Walk

Several blocks' worth of unique, independent stores and restaurants.

Carytown

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

Maymont

Saturdays only; next door to our neighborhood

RVA BIG Market

Science Museum of Virginia

The Valentine

Anja is a member and can get free tickets to any special exhibit as well as free parking for you

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Virginia Museum of History and Culture

Virginia State Capitol

Virginia War Memorial

White House of the Confederacy

Things to Do in RVA

Registry

Anja and Sam are combining two established households, and as such are shedding duplicates of items rather than acquiring more. We also consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have taken early retirement, and therefore don't desire contributions towards our honeymoon or other such ventures from which younger couples might benefit.However, we know guests may feel inclined to express their joy for us in some material way. For this reason, we'd like to share two organizations we care about and volunteer with. We would be honored to be recognized by any contribution made to either of them.

NORTHSIDE RVA FOOD PANTRY

About 20 years ago, Sam befriended members of a church in his neighborhood. The church ran a monthly food pantry. Sam had a truck and a calling to help people in need. He and his son Matt started going to Feed More to select an assortment of canned and non-perishable foods that had come from Boy Scout food drives and the like, and deliver them to the pantry. Upon his retirement, he increased his involvement by participating on distribution days as well.During the pandemic, Feed More's rules changed to allow the church to distribute weekly, and Sam's frequency increased in kind. He continues sorting and packing bags on Tuesday mornings and distributing them to clients on Wednesdays every week. On the occasional Wednesdays Sam is absent due to a conflict, the regular clients inquire after him. To support this organization:1. Go to <a href="https://www.ginterparkumc.org/giving/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.ginterparkumc.org/giving/</a>2. Select 'Apply To: In Memory of / In Honor of'3. Add the following comment in the 'Donation notes or special designations:' field, "Sam Wilkinson &amp; Anja Thomas, FBO RVA Northside Food Pantry"

CROSSOVER HEALTHCARE MINISTRY 

In the midst of the pandemic in the fall of '21, Anja's downstairs neighbor shared with her about CrossOver Healthcare Ministry. Anja had been lamenting the fact that she no longer had opportunities to utilize her Spanish and Portuguese language skills like she did when she was working; she was afraid of losing them. "Well, CrossOver always needs interpreters, especially in Spanish!" Ding ding ding!!! Before the week was out, she had scheduled herself for orientation and training. In early '23, CrossOver invited Anja to take on an expanded role as Head Interpreter, with the primary responsibility of managing their interpreter scheduling across 3 clinics. Languages AND spreadsheets?! What's not to love!🤩She has met wonderful caregivers, learned about preventive care relevant to her own life, and been touched by interactions with patients in tough situations. The experience continues to reward her in ways she never foresaw when reaching out to maintain her languages for selfish reasons. To support this organization:1. Go to <a href="https://www.crossoverministry.org/donate-credit-debit/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.crossoverministry.org/donate-credit-debit/</a>2. Select 'Donation Tribute: In Honor of'3. Add the following comment in the underlying field, "Anja Thomas &amp; Sam Wilkinson, FBO jeenie interpreting services"[jeenie is utilized when Spanish interpreters aren't present and, more importantly, for languages like Dari]

Anja & Sam