Rules Of Engagement

For our Real Weddings feature, Larkin and Jason have been chosen to share their beautiful spring wedding pictures and the story behind them so we can get a glimpse into their big day. I love the bridal party attire–patterned bridesmaids dresses are all the rage and the groomsmen suits are so hip and retro. Also, don’t forget to check out that gorgeous vintage ring–so unique! I also wore an estate piece for my “something borrowed” so I love that idea, even though for Larkin, it kind of happened on accident! Lovestruck Images (formerly Labor of Love Photography) really captured the fun personalities of this couple, from their cool groomsmen gifts to the  whole crowd boogieing to “Sweet Caroline.” Speaking of music, I love their first dance choice to Dave Matthews Band,which should be added  to my list for non-traditional music ideas. Another personal touch I loved was how they chose to name their tables, much like I mentioned in my Fabulous Finds for June. And what girl wouldn’t want to end their wedding night with “Time of My Life” from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack! Read on as we hear from the bride herself on the inspiration behind all of these unique and intimate details.

From the bride:

Since the bridesmaids dresses were so colorful we pulled the moss green, gold/yellow, and gray/silver out to be our color scheme.

The church is a historic church in Old Town Alexandria, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and my godmother actually got married there too. The kiss with the prayer book was just for fun!

My dress is Watters Brides, Torrean, and I’m obsessed with it. I didn’t want to ever take it off and it is still hanging in our guest room where I can look at it whenever I want. I still need to get it cleaned and preserved. The saddest part is not being able to wear it again so I’m considering possibly altering and dying it into a formal cocktail dress or something. But for now I can’t bring myself to do anything to it!

The shoes are Paris Hilton and I absolutely love them! My favorite part is the hot pink sole! I’ve actually worn them with another dress to another wedding! All my friends know that I’m obsessed with heels so I had to have something fabulous.

This ring was my great-great-great aunt’s ring, so very vintage. It was given to her by a man as a promise/engagement ring but sadly they never got married; long story. My actual engagement ring was left at the hotel (another long story my brother will never live down) so there aren’t any pictures of it, sadly. But I wore this vintage one on my right hand.

I gave the florist creative freedom, but I’m pretty sure my bouquet was mainly peonies, roses, and maybe some miniature ranunculus.

The bridesmaids dresses are J.Crew. I always knew I wanted a patterned bridesmaids dress and when I saw these I fell in love with them. They are so fun, bright, and more importantly re-wearable!

Both my fiance (now husband) and I knew we didn’t want black tuxes, and when I got the bridesmaids dresses and saw they had gray in them it was perfect for gray tuxes. We also got lucky and found perfect gray suits and black ties for the boys, and so it made sense for Jason to have a black tie and vest, to distinguish him from the groomsmen. There was no way we could have matched any green/yellow with the gray tuxes so we tried to keep it simple.

We had a hard time coming up with bridal party gifts and again, wanted to do something somewhat unique. So, I gave the bridesmaids the gray silk flats that they wore and Jason gave the guys the silver aviators. We loved the idea of wearing the sunglasses in pictures and they added a fun element to everything. In this picture all the girls put on a pair of the guys glasses.

We named every table at the reception after a bar in Blacksburg, Virginia because that is where we met and both went to college (Virginia Tech). Our head table was Hokie House.

We both love unique beer and love trying new micro brews, and we wanted to do something unique for wedding favors. A few years ago we found out about a local brewery, Shenandoah Brewing Company located in Alexandria, that lets you come in and brew your own beer. It’s a really neat process. They keep your beer to ferment and then you go back when it’s ready to bottle and label it. You can create custom labels, too. It was hard keeping it a secret from our family because we needed all the help we could get to bottle and label 9.5 cases! We brewed a Red Ale, and named it “Gibas I Do Brew.”

Our first dance was to Dave Matthews Band, “You and Me,” however everyone in Jason’s family knows that the most important song of the night is “Sweet Caroline,” which you can see in action. Whenever that song comes on everyone goes crazy and it’s so much fun. It has become a family tradition, choreographed dance and all. We ended the night with one of my absolute favorites from Dirty Dancing, “I’ve Had the Time of My Life.” I grew up watching that movie every day after school with my matron of honor, and it was the perfect ending song to the perfect party where we definitely had the times of our lives!!

Thank you Larkin and Jason and Lovestruck Images (formerly Labor of Love Photography) for sharing these beautiful photos and details with our readers!

~Priscilla

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