06/10/2023
Kelly + Bert • June 3, 2023
The captions are not long enough for the absolute novel I could write about this day.
One of the most beautiful, floral-filled, intentional, magical weddings I have every witnessed. Kelly wanted it to be a fairy-forest-magic wedding day and that is exactly the vision that came to life. Her dress was custom made in New York with flowers stitched in to the light pink material. They sent matching flowers to be delicately put into her hair. I noticed the Braiding Sweetgrass book on a dresser at their getting ready cabin, one of her favorite books (and mine too, iykyk), and she had selected passages from the book to read during the ceremony. There were even braided tulip stems (no sweetgrass here) covering the ceremony space, what a beautiful detail.
The venue was picturesque. A gorgeous flower farm in the rolling hills of Virginia. And flowers were a big part of this day. Some of the most impressive floral work I have EVER seen. Flowers trailing up the ceremony tree, flower chandeliers in the reception barn, wildflower bouquets for the bridefolk, huge aisle flower baskets…everywhere just bursting with color. Truly impressive work.
The ceremony itself was so unique. An ode to the type of people Kelly + Bert are. Their “officiant” was their entire bridal party of friends, or as we called them...”bridefolk”. Each friend said a part during the ceremony. Everyone was in tears. There were no rings at this wedding. As this was not a wedding of belonging but rather BE-ing. Kelly and Bert placed hands on the tree and said their blessing and wishes, planted a sapling, played a card game, and read letters to each other. All the while a hawk chanted it’s approval from above. Magic.
There will be a part 2 posted as there is more to this story. For now enjoy flipping through these photographs 💛
A million thank yous to Kelly + Bert for hiring me and flying me out to Virginia for this special day. And a million thank yous to all of the vendors part of this enchanting day.
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