Real Wedding | Chelsea + Nick

I scream…you scream…we all scream…”We love this wedding!” Chelsea and Nick’s “Wine, Love, and Ice Cream” theme was just the right flavor for this fun and spirited wedding held at her family’s Virginia vineyard. Custom made corn-hole during the cocktail hour and a DIY photo booth at the reception are sure to inspire when planning your own celebration. Here’s to a lovely couple and their sweet celebration. Cheers!

Chelsea + Nick | September 24, 2011 | Potomac Point Winery, Stafford, Virginia

The wedding

The title for our wedding quickly became “Wine, Love & Ice Cream”, it’s the perfect combination to describe our relationship & wedding. My family owns a vineyard, Potomac Point Winery, so of course is was a no brainer to host our reception there.  The beautiful ballroom, stunning view of rolling vineyards and the sheer love that went into building the winery and vineyard; we knew there was no better place to celebrate our wedding!  As for the Ice cream part, that inspiration came from the proposal.  Both Nick & I love eating pints of Ben & Jerry’s and he thought of the most perfect plan to combine the three loves of my life…Ben, Jerry & Nick!  With a specially made Ben & Jerry’s pint, flavored “Will you Marry Me”, he scooped me off my feet and from there we decided to incorporate our love of ice cream into our big day.

We loved the personal details throughout the day.  My fiancé used his manly skills to build the frame for our Ice cream stand and he created some of the signage used.  Thankfully my grandmother and bridesmaid are very artistic and helped us paint the signs, for a fun personal touch.  The groom and my father each had a Potomac Point Winery cork mixed into their boutonnieres.  My bouquet of dahlias, roses, antiqued hydrangea and hanging amaranthus and even green grapes were tied perfectly together with twine.  I loved the Pale Yellow Cynthia Rowley Bridesmaid Dresses; they gave a perfect pop of color to the day & all of my bridesmaids looked stunning.

Our florist, Holly Heider Chapple, was amazing, and did a fabulous job of incorporating our ice cream color theme into romantic, vintage styled arrangements and centerpieces.  With the romantic charm of wine barrels around the vineyard and vintage wine bottle labels with Ben & Jerry’s flavors as table names; our theme of “Wine, Love & Ice cream” was combining nicely. My parents even had an oversized wine bottle etched with our names and wedding date to have signed by all of our guests.

Nick & I knew that we wanted everyone to have a great time at the reception.  We had our customized cornhole available for guests to play during cocktail hour & the photo booth “on a budget” for guests to utilize.  Once dinner was finished, we honored my parent’s anniversary with a dance to their wedding song & the party began!  We danced all night, only stopping for the ice cream bar, and ended with my family’s traditional bridal dance.  We truly had the wedding of our dreams and one day we want to do it all over again! 

How Chelsea found her dream dress

I had somewhat of an idea of what I wanted in a dress, but when I saw this Alvina Valenta in a magazine ad I fell in love.  I tracked it down to Katherine’s bridal boutique in Alexandria, tried it on and fell in love!

The way Chealsea felt in her wedding dress

Gorgeous, Sexy & Classic

Why she decided to sell her wedding dress

 I figured, where am I ever going to wear this again?!  And hey if I can pay off some of those wedding bills, great!

Dress: Alvina Valenta, AV 9060 / Photography: Genevieve Leiper Photography