Today’s romantic early Autumn wedding took place at the most beautiful 17th century church in Smithfield Virginia. With this historic venue and golden fall leaves as a backdrop Maria Grace Photography captured some gorgeous photos of Carson & Grace’s vintage inspired wedding. With the cutest flower girls, lush garnet hues florals and lavish antique decor this classic celebration is perfection, so have your pinning finger ready as you enjoy Carson & Grace’s magical day…

After meeting at church these highschool sweethearts were friends before love blossomed, and dated for 3 years before Carson popped the question. But once engaged they saw no reason to wait, planning their picture perfect affair in just 7 months!  “It was the perfect amount of time. We had been waiting years to get married, so thought why wait any longer?!” 

7 months is an incredibly short time to create such a perfectly styled affair, but the couple were lucky enough to have a seasoned professional on hand to help! “Planning our wedding was easy! I had a wedding planner, coordinator, and decorator and her name is Emily! (Carson’s Mum) I highly recommend to any bride to hire some help!”

“My dress came from an adorable little boutique in Suffolk called ‘Maya Couture on Main‘. I chose it because I always dreamed of wearing a gown with long sleeves (even before it was in style!) like Grace Kelly of Monaco. I wanted a dress that made a statement without being…loud. No glitter for this girl! The sheath of the dress was a champagne/gold color silk and the lace was ivory. It is hard for me to describe how it made me feel because all I can say is that it made me feel like myself.”

“I decided to go for a simple look as far as jewelry was concerned. I wanted the intricately detailed fabric of the gown to speak for itself.  I had two hair pins with these delicate gold leaves that my hairstylist placed in my hair above my veil. My veil was a simple fingertip length with a blusher (because I am old fashioned).

Margaret Parr from Artistry by Margaret did my hair and makeup. I gave Margaret the artistic freedom to do whatever she felt would look best for me.  She knew I was going for a subtle, classic, feminine look. I could not have been happier! She is amazing!”

“I let my groom dress himself and his friends! They all went to Jos. A. Bank and chose pants, vests, and ties. I was invited one time to approve the selection! The groom wore a blue window pane print suit from the 1905 collection. The groomsmen wore a vest and pants also from the 1905 collection. They looked absolutely perfect with the wedding theme!”

“My amazing mother in law, Emily Norton from The Main Event designed all my wedding flowers. I told her about a flower that she had never used before called “Hanging Amaranthus” that I always loved to add rich accent colors to any arrangement. She used red, blush, and white garden roses with greenery and my beloved Hanging Amaranthus to create the cascade bouquet.”

“We held the ceremony at Saint Lukes Historic Church in Smithfield. My eldest sister got married there in 2005 and ever since then I knew thats where I wanted to be married!”

“My bridesmaids were my sister Michaela, my sister in law Rebekah, and Carsons sister Hallie. We got their dresses from David’s Bridal. We went for the convertible dress in the color “Champagne”. I chose Champagne as the color because it was very neutral and it would show off the colors of the bouquets.”

“The reception was at the Smithfield Center. My mother in law, Emily from The Main Event decorated the whole reception with her crew. She used a lot of brass candle holders and chalices along silver tea pots to hold table center pieces. She also used antique furniture and books. It was gorgeous!”

“We had no favours as such. But Emily hired a caricaturist as a surprise! it was so fun and everyone had the cutest pictures drawn of themselves to take away with them. 

Emily also had gone antique shopping in the months before to get decorations like a brass horse figurine, victorian shoe, and a jewelry box to decorate the sweetheart table.”

The cake was by Harmony Woods Catering and Confection. It was 4 tiered with 4 different flavors. We had Citrus, Apple Spice, Strawberry Champagne, and Almond. She used buttercream frosting and Emily added flowers to it.”

Pearls of wedding wisdom from the bride…

“I went into the wedding day with the thought “This isn’t the pinnacle of my marriage. How ever today goes, I’ll be fine with it.”  The whole wedding and reception went off crisis free, and it was more amazing than what I imagined!

I was told to walk slow and savor the moments of the ceremony. Other brides told me that the felt nervous and rushed through it and it left them feeling like they missed their own ceremony. Get a wedding planner/day of coordinator! I highly recommend to any bride to hire some help!”

Tell us a little bit about your photographer…

“Maria is a good friend of Carson and I. I follow her blog and all her social media. She is so talented! She made me feel confident in all the photo shoots we did with her. It is a little nerve wracking the be in front of the camera so much but she makes it easy.”

Don’t you just love it? Especially those cherubic flower girls!! Many congratulations to the happy couple, and special thanks to their lovely photographer Maria Grace Photography who did the most wonderful job of capturing their romantic day. If you would like to see more of Maria’s wonderful work do head over to her website mariagracephoto.com, and you can find and follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Amy

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Contributors & Credits

Photography ~ Maria Grace Photography // Planner ~ The Main Event by Emily // Wedding Dress ~ Maya Couture on Main // Hair & Makeup ~ Artistry by Margaret // Flowers ~ The Main Event // Groom & Groomsmen Attire ~ Jos. A. Bank // Bridesmaid Dresses ~ David’s Bridal // Ceremony Venue ~ Saint Lukes Historic Church in Smithfield // Reception Venue ~ Smithfield Center // Wedding Cake ~ Harmony Woods Catering and Confection // DJ ~ Chris Rice from Music Makes You Happy