It seems like just yesterday Blonnie and I were making the seven hour road trip down to Afton, Virginia for Rebecca + Kevin’s destination wedding. I had photographed at Veritas Vineyard and Winery before so I knew it was going to be an amazing location. Unfortunately, as the wedding approached so did the rainy weather. The staff at Veritas quickly arranged for a ceremony to be held on the deck under an awning to keep everyone dry but still be able to enjoy the gorgeous view of the vineyard and Virginia countryside. I was excited to hear that Shadow, Rebecca + Kevin’s labrador retriever was going to be making an appearance at the wedding, as I have a lab myself. Shadow was completely content during the ceremony as he sat there eating a bone while the couple said their I do’s. I’ll always remember the best man speech by Kevin’s brother as one of my favorites. During the speech he shared fond memories about his brother and eventually pulled out a giant photo cutout of Kevin at four years old wearing an Ewok vest from the movie Star Wars that had everyone in stitches. It’s been great getting to know you both over the last year. I’m excited to hear how your new jobs, home and married life in Miami will treat you. Best of luck to you both!

Afton, VA

Cake | Cakes Unlimited
Dress | Hannelore’s
Bridesmaid Dresses | Hannelore’s
Groomsmen Attire | Jos A Bank’s
Flowers | Blue Ridge Floral Design
DJ | King Studios
Musicians | Cville String Quartet
Officiant: Two Become One Ministry
Transportation | UVA’s Transit Service
Hair + Makeup | Judy from Bristles
Venue + Catering | Veritas Vineyard & Winery

FROM THE BRIDE + GROOM

What’s was the most memorable part of your day?

Rebecca: Being able to take photos with Kevin and Shadow. I was so happy to have Shadow there and also to get some great family photos of the 3 of us. Heh and I also remember balling my eyes out on my daddy’s shoulder during the Father/Daughter dance. Those tears just kept flowing!

Kevin: Being at the altar and seeing my bride walk down the aisle to me. (he’s a man of few words it seems)

What was your first song? Any special meaning?

Goo Goo Dolls’ “All That You Are”. We never really had a song and wanted to find something that would be special for us for our first dance. I love country and Kevin loves punk music, so made it a little hard to find. I heard “All That You Are” on the radio and it just seemed perfect. It’s also from the movie “Transformers”, which Kevin loves. I showed it to Kevin and he loved it too. The more we listened to it, the more we loved it and it seemed like every lyric was written just for us.

What is your favorite memory from your wedding day?

The speeches were awesome and absolutely hysterical. I’d say the funniest though was being chased around by the blow-up picture of Kevin at 4-years old wearing a Ewok vest from Star Wars. Everyone was passing around that thing. It photo-bombed pretty much every photo once it made its way to the party.

If you could do it all over again what would you do different?

Definitely would do the photo booth. Everything went by so fast and I felt I was just pulled in a million different directions, and I completely forgot about the photo booth. Would’ve loved to have some pictures with my groom and also my bridesmaids in there.

Where did you honeymoon?

Barcelona, Bordeaux, and Porto. We went for 2 weeks and had an amazing time! 

Any advice for future bride + groom’s?

Try to capture as much of the moment as you can. Our wedding seemed to sneak up on me and it was over before I knew it. If there are certain things you want/need to do during your wedding (like taking pictures in the photo booth or make it around to all the tables), make sure you have someone behind you with a list and pushing you along because you will be swamped and overwhelmed by everything. Everyone will be coming up to you and you want to chat with everyone, but you need to see everyone and also get the things done that you want to do.

Anything else?

Thank you Rob for such an amazing job! We absolutely loved our engagement photos and our wedding photos. Would have loved to get some outdoors ones, do the sunset pictures, and also the sparklers but the rain did not cooperate. We still had a blast and got some really great moments captured!