A Fairytale Princess Wedding

I met Shannon and her mother, Pat, back in September 2007 to initially discuss the option of day-of coordination. Instead I was very fortunate to be brought into the planning process as her wedding planner and for the past 11 months had the opportunity to work very closely with Shannon and her family to prepare for her and Peter's big day.

Having already picked their venue, one of my very favorites - Whitehall Estate in Bluemont, Virginia - Shannon knew from the start that she wanted to make her dream fairytale princess wedding become a reality.

So, after 11 months of keeping our fingers crossed and offering up our first born to the weather gods, we were blessed with one of the most beautiful August days that I've ever experienced!

The guests were greeted with lemonade and custom-labeled water bottles, and then invited to be seated for the ceremony under the trees on the Whitehall front lawn. With the sun beginning to set behind the Virginia hills, Shannon and her father made their grand entrance on a horse-drawn carriage greeted by two ushers. After the ceremony, guests were invited into the Manor House for cocktails and soon after dinner. Shannon and Peter danced their first dance to one of my favorites - "Better Together" by Jack Johnson - and later in the night treated guests to a home made "Pink & White" candy buffet (the guests tore it apart!! :)), a very entertaining cake cutting and were sent off by their friends and family waving sparklers as they departed.

Their fantastic photographer, David Burke of Pittsburgh, has shared a preview of the pictures on his blog. Below are a couple I snagged :)






It was such a fun day and I got to work with some of my favorite vendors as well, which is such a plus! Kudos to everyone involved...

Venue - Whitehall Manor
Photographer - David Burke Photography
Flowers - Barbara von Elm, Growing Wild Floral
DJ - Kirk of Kirkabee DJs
Cake - Rocio Diaz, A Piece of Cake
Officiant - Rev. Wesley Peyton
Ceremony Musicians - Capitol Strings, Bialek's Music
Horse & Carriage - Shenandoah Carriage Company