For my last wedding of 2014, I headed north to Charlottesville, VA for a winter soiree at Trump Winery. I first fell in love with Charlottesville when I attended the photographer festival LOOK3 and have actively been looking for excuses to return. Fortunately, I had 3 weddings in the area last year and am looking forward to capturing more love stories in this enchanting town.
In the couple of days I got to know Kelsey and Danny, I realized how they bring a peaceful balance to the other. Kelsey is an artistic, free-spirit and Danny is always cool and collected. One attribute they share is heart – these two have an immeasurable love for their friends and family. Even during their rehearsal and wedding day, their attentiveness towards their loved ones never ceased. And that sense of all inclusive love was seen in tears and laughter throughout the day – from people breaking out in laughter mid-ceremony, to joyful tears from their moms, to the emotional poignant pause in her father’s toast – it was a day cherish and celebrated by everyone there.
A perfect representation of this couple is their engagement story. Kelsey shared it with me early on:
“I will probably cry as I write this…it was just the sweetest moment I could ever have imagined! Danny and I had decided to have our Christmas together on December 19th. We always have ours early so it can be just the two of us. So nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I came home from work and he made me close my eyes so I wouldn’t see that he had decorated the entire kitchen and dining room with flowers and candles. After I got ready, we sat down and ate the most amazing dinner – beef tenderloin, veggies, and even homemade dessert! He even had a playlist of all of our songs playing through the whole thing. Of course, I cried half my makeup off at that point, but I had no idea what was going on! After dinner, we exchanged gifts. When he handed me mine, I honestly thought it was a cookbook, which we laugh about now. It ended up being the sweetest, most romantic book about our life together, with tons of pictures from our first date until now. I STILL had no idea what was going on, but I had cried the other half of my makeup off by this point. Then I got to the last page, which had the words: ‘WILL YOU MARRY ME?’ He got down on one knee and put the ring on my finger!”
After a storybook engagement, they planned a stunning wedding. Inspired by 1920s vintage style, they wanted to incorporate Gatsby-esque glitz and glam with sequins and textures, but maintain a classic palette of neutrals with accents of gold and silver. For the seated dinner they wanted a family style table that extended almost the entire length of the Trump Winery barn. After dining everyone danced under neon lights in the pavilion until late into the night. Congratulations Kelsey and Danny!
