Today I want to talk about one of my favorite shoots of the last few months: Peyton and Aaron’s rustic and elegant fall Virginia wedding at the Mayhurst Estate Inn.

The one word that Peyton used to describe her wedding was “dreamy” and I could not agree more. The personality and love of this couple shone through in every detail, and the picturesque Mayhurst Inn located in Orange, Virginia provided the perfect backdrop to celebrate their love.

Covid weddings have been difficult, but these two and their families navigated the obstacles like champions and planned a beautiful, safe, and special day to share with their loved ones. It was an honor to be involved in the festivities!

The Bride’s Vision

Q: What drew you to choose your venue? Was the location of your wedding what youʼd always dreamed of? What was your favorite part about the space?

A: The beautiful property and details of the home. I never really knew what my dream venue was until I saw this location. It had the perfect balance of grandeur and intimate charm. 

Q: Did you have an initial idea of what you wanted to wear? What about your partner? The bridal party?

A I had no idea what I wanted to wear other than ivory. I knew I wanted the bridal party to look their best and feel comfortable in what they were wearing. The girls chose a color from a palette that I had and chose from about 20 dress options. The guys were told any fitted gray suit that they love (or already own) and brown dress shoes. The best part about the girls’ dresses was that I had secretly in my head picked dresses that I thought they would love and they all ended up choosing those! It was fun to guess their styles.

Q: Did your wedding have a particular theme, color scheme, or décor style? How did you choose to decorate your space for the ceremony and reception? Was any part of the wedding DIY?

A: The goal was just for everything to be sweet and romantic, no particular theme. A LOT of DIY went into the wedding. Luckily, the ceremony in front of the beautiful main house didn’t need any decoration. We wanted the entire event to incorporate a lot of important things about our families and our relationship. We made many wooden lanterns, a ladder shelf, ceramic mugs with candles, handwritten signs, guest tags, and all of the homemade pies. All of the stationary (including the date change invitation) was DIY designed as well.

Q: What was the floral design like for your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements, like bouquets, centerpieces, or ceremony backdrop/altar?

A: Flowers were kept simple, just bouquets and boutonnieres for the bridal party. I gave the florist three words: classic, blush, and ivory. The rest was left up to her! 

Q: What was the most anticipated moment of your wedding day?

A: The homemade pies and getaway dinner.

Q: What “traditions” did you choose to keep for your wedding day? What traditions did you choose to not follow- and what (if anything) did you do in place?

A: The biggest ‘traditions’ we did were elements of the ceremony, the special dances (father-daughter and mother-son), and speeches/toasts. We didn’t have a bouquet toss, garter toss, bridal party walkout, or anything like that. We wanted to limit how structured our timeline had to be so we could just sit back and enjoy. We also did a wedding pie in place of a wedding cake. We both love pie and I also really didn’t want cake smushed in my face!

The Big Celebration

Q: Tell me about the reception. What kinds of personal touches did you choose to include?

A: The reception was really personalized to reflect the things we love and love about each other. Some were maybe unknown to guests (wooden shelves and lanterns), but we loved crafting the whole day together and seeing family and friends enjoy all of the details that we put together. The favor of candle mugs was the most personalized piece of the day. I had made hand-thrown mugs and filled them with coffee or chai tea candles to commemorate our first date.

Q: Music can play a valuable role in planning your wedding day. What songs did you choose and why did you choose them?

Processional song:
“Cover Me Up” – Jason Isbell; This song is really important to us and also to my dad.

Recessional song:
“With This Ring” – The Platters; This song fits with the theme and is really fun, but The Platters are also really special to me because of my late grandfather.

First Dance song:
“This Too Shall Last” – Anderson East; We LOVE Anderson East. We saw him live really early on in our relationship and this song really hit us and we both just kind of knew it would be the song.

Parent/Family Dance Songs:
“Letting You Go” – Jason Isbell; This was released in May 2020 and it was too perfect. My dad and I have seen Jason Isbell multiple times together and this song makes him cry every time he hears it…. 

“Boy” – Lee Brice; His mom has always wanted this song!

Reflections After The Wedding

Q: Is there anything else about your day that you want to tell me?! Something special that stood out!?

A: The great photography 🙂

Q: Tell me about life post-wedding? What is your best advice for newlyweds AFTER the wedding?

A: Keep helping each other with life things as much as you can. Plan to be EXHAUSTED after the wedding, for like a week…

Q: When you look back at your day, what are the moments that truly stand out in your memory?

A: My dad finally admitting that I was the favorite child, the fire-pit at the end of the night, an amazing bartender, and getting married!

Q: Do you have any advice for couples planning their big day?

A: Small purchases add up! Only invest in tiny details that are important to you, cause they definitely aren’t important to anyone else.

Keep scrolling to see some of my other favorite shots from their day!

Wedding Vendors

Photographer – Emily from EmmiClaire Photography

Venue – Mayhurst Inn

Wedding Dress – David’s Bridal

Accessories – Wish and Amazon 🙂

Bridesmaids Dresses – Azazie.com

Florist – Lisa Sparks

Caterer – Mayhurst Estate