Tag: Whitehall Estate

Did you miss Part 1 of Cristen and Grant’s story? One of my favorite elements for this wedding was the rehearsal dinner BBQ, catered by Willard’s BBQ in Chantilly. It was held at the Lakeview Picnic Pavilion located on the property of the Dulles Marriott Hotel. What a hidden gem! The difficulty with renting picnic pavilions for private events is that some do not allow consumption of alcohol. This pavilion does! Willard’s even had gluten free options. What a great casual and affordable option!

Here is a run down of team C&G:

Venue & Catering: Whitehall Manor, Bluemont, VA

Officiant: Mary Ellen Stanton, Northern Virginia Ethical Society

Floral Design: Barbara von Elm, Growing Wild Floral Company

Photographer: Mark Bettinger of Rodney Bailey

DJ: Mike Bell of MyDeejay

Transportation: Reston Limo

Hair & Makeup: Bridal Artistry

Rehearsal Dinner: Willard’s BBQ at the Lakeview Picnic Pavilion Dulles Marriott

Linens: Select Event Rentals. The tablecloths we chose were: Silver Shantung and Savvy Platinum. We also used the Tiffany sheer overlay and lavender napkins.

As I was trying to squeeze in Lindsay and Aaron’s wedding ceremony in Alexandria before the rain came, my associate Megan Farris was relocating Cristen and Grant’s wedding guests indoors in Bluemont, VA. No thanks to Mother Nature for not waiting one more hour! Nonetheless, the guests had a wonderful time and danced up a storm. All photos, except for the invitations, by Mark Bettinger of Rodney Bailey. More on this recap on Friday — Vicky

Design Scheme: Cristen and Grant’s life together really drove the inspiration for the design of their wedding. They first met at a nuclear energy conference in Japan. Cristen travels to Russia quite a bit for work, and they have both traveled extensively together. You will see all this reflected in the use of Japanese style paper, in the eclectic food choices on the dinner menu, the use of matryoshka dolls Cristen had collected over the years, and of course, some Russian Vodka.

Weaving all of this together, our graphic designer Lara Dalinsky created a logo for their wedding, affectionately known as the “nuclear snuggle” that we used on a few areas.