Maybe it’s because I’ve missed being with other people. Maybe it’s because we couldn’t have ordered up a more perfect summer afternoon if we had tried. Maybe it’s because small weddings are my favorite. But I think it’s mostly because we got to spend the day with some genuinely wonderful people. Daron and Paul are an absolute joy. They are fun. They are silly in the best way possible…enjoying each moment and never taking themselves too seriously. “I just want it to be a really relaxed day for all of us, including the Golden Horseshoe staff” Daron wrote to me in her planning emails. She also sent me a photo of the blue ridge mountains, each layer of blue fading into the next…from a deep Navy all the way to the faintest sky blue. This was the inspiration for her color scheme, and it was only fitting that the mountains put on a beautiful show for us that day. After a lovely ceremony, tiny bottles of champagne were popped, and we spent time roaming the grounds of our Virginia wedding venue for some sweet (and sometimes silly) wedding photos! After cake and champagne, a very memorable series of special dances took place on the wedding deck…a first dance, a father/daughter, a mother/son and a few extra fun dances too! There was a lot to celebrate on this beautiful day. As Daron unpacked the special items she had brought as extra wedding decor, she explained to me that between her parents and Paul’s parents, there was 100 years of marriage – with each couple getting ready to or having just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! To add to the sense of strong family bonds, and lasting true love, Daron also carefully unpacked love letters from the 1920’s, written by her grandparents to one another. We carefully laid these out and they added a sense of history and love to the sweethearts table. At the conclusion of the celebration, Daron and Paul’s family departed to prepare a post wedding feast at their nearby farm, and the newlyweds and I took an unforgettable trip up to the mountains for some incredible photos. I have to admit that loooong wedding veils are the very best veils for photos (not just long, but mostly unadorned, so they are light and float easily in the air), so I got pretty excited when I saw Daron’s floor length veil (you’ll see why in some of the photos below!) and I currently have a job offer pending with Paul, to be my new veil assistant…I am awaiting his reply 🙂 I am just so darn excited to share some of the special images taken during this lovely and meaningful mountain elopement…
Congratulations to the happy couple!!! From the entire GHI Family!
Featured In
Magazine May / June 2021 Issue