Erin & Andy’s Wedding at Farmington Country Club

• Weddings

A hearty congratulations to Erin and Andy, who recently tied the knot here in lovely Charlottesville at Farmington Country Club. They were such a laid-back, easy-going couple and it was clear early on that their celebration would start early and last until the wee hours. Indeed it did! While they had held their late-afternoon ceremony on the back lawn of the club, the weather was sunny, but not too hot their guests – especially since they had colorful parasols to shade them while they watched Erin and Andy take their vows. The couple had decided to spend the majority of their cocktail hour enjoying the company of their friends and family, so we arranged to have them see each other privately just after they got ready, followed by some relaxed portraits of them (albeit mostly in the shade). In one funny moment with their entire wedding party on the club’s front steps, one of the buses carrying guests pulled up right in front of where we were, eliciting a vigorous response from the bridesmaids who, with Secret Service-intensity, simultaneously shielded Erin from prying eyes with their bouquets and bodies, and frantically waved the bus off to move forward to drop off the guests at the next door. The groomsmen, as might be expected, basically stood there and smiled.

The ever-talented Jennifer Carroll and Pat and Sherry of Pat’s Floral Designs had done an incredible job of setting up the ceremony site complete with color-coordinated ribbons tied around the backs of the chairs, said matching parasols, and a gorgeous vine and fabric altar under which the couple stood for the ceremony. Erin walked down the aisle escorted by both her mom and dad with broad smiles on all of their faces. Everyone was so laid back even her dad had his hands in his pockets as they strolled down the aisle to a waiting Andy and his groomsmen. We loved it! All the groomsmen wore matching tan and white seersucker suits, which we thought was a fantastic alternative to the more traditional blue and white pattern. We’d love to see more of this and think the color scheme went particularly well with the wedding.

After their brief ceremony with two readings by friends and a solo, they retreated back to the front of the clubhouse to celebrate and to do family portraits, and then joined their cocktail hour back on the lawn while sounds from their favorite music filled the early-evening air. Despite the July weather, their guests seemed reluctant to head indoors, but when there, they were treated to the sight of ribbons along the perimeter of the dance floor hanging lazily and adorned with cards with Erin and Andy’s initials as well as flowers, with a gobo of their wedding monogram lighting up the dance floor and setting the mood for the evening. Just outside the ballroom, Jennifer had set out dozens of green apples with lavender-colored paper leaves pinned to each apple. Each paper leaf contained the name of a guest and their table location, and made for a gorgeous display in the serene environment of Farmington. The club’s staff served a delicious meal which was followed by some heartfelt and amusing toasts by Andy’s brother and Erin’s closest friends and then a crazed night of dancing we’d not seen in quite some time.

Erin & Andy had extended the time of their reception by an hour just to get some more party time in, especially considering Erin’s parents had arranged for a favorite band, Cryin’ Out Loud, local to them in New York to come down to Virginia to play the reception for them. The band, themselves operating on just a few hours’ sleep, awakened the crowd for the night’s festivities, even using a trombone’s bar at one point as a limbo bar under which their friends narrowly bent backwards. Everybody was on the dance floor–it was awesome. We all concluded the evening with a sports event-style t-shirt toss (in lieu of a bouquet toss) from the balcony in the spacious Jefferson Room followed by an up-close-and-personal (and a little scary! 😉 ) sparkler departure for the two of them. We had such a fun time and were delighted to have been a part of it. Thank you, Erin and Andy, for everything and for including us in your wedding celebration!

Love this shot of Andy’s brother getting a shot of Andy and his mom dancing.

These next two cracked us up!

There were too many lovely details to try to fit into a collage, so you get to see them full-size. Enjoy!