My Officer & A Gentleman Wedding

Where do I even start with Katie & Mike? I guess when Katie toured Keswick Vineyards. The two of us immediately hit it off. It felt like Katie & I were old friends being reunited. I just loved hearing about her love story with Mike who was unable to accompany her that day. I was so excited to hear that Mike was in the Air Force and was a pilot. He is the real, “Top Gun”! I told Katie that Mike had to wear his uniform and do the sword thing at the end of their ceremony because I am such a fan of that. She said she wasn’t sure about him doing this, but I kept telling her he had to (for meJ) When Mike came later to see the venue Katie had chosen, he was all smiles. I told him that my favorite movie is An Officer and a Gentleman, and my favorite scene is at that end when Richard Gere carries Debra Winger off for their happy ever ending. I told him that was another thing I needed on their wedding day (I guess I was asking for a lot. I mean, it is their wedding day).

Fast forward to a month before their wedding day, September 16th. Katie & Mike came to Keswick Vineyards to bury their bourbon! When they toured, I had told them about that Southern tradition. They went to Ironclad Distillery in Newport News, that sold a bury bourbon package. It was so cute! It had a bottle of whiskey in a box that also contained a little shovel, a flag to mark your spot and a little write up on the Southern tradition.

Fast forward another month and it’s their wedding day, September 16th. Lets start by saying the Southern tradition worked!!! They had the most perfect weather! They made sure to wait until their ceremony was over before unearthing the bourbon which they enjoyed drinking and sharing with their wedding party afterwards.

Katie looked AMAZING!!!! She had such a classic, elegant, timeless look. And Mike, well, he looked as handsome as ever in his dress blues. Thank you so much for wearing them!!! Mike and his groomsmen added a little bling to their shirts by having the sleeves be different. You will see what I’m talking about in their dancing photos. The two of them together, simply perfection. Magazine cover, gorgeous couple! And lets not forget their wedding party that looked amazing in their terracotta dresses and blue suits with terracotta ties to match.

For Katie & Mike’s ceremony, they chose to have the Keswick Vineyards viognier vineyard as their backdrop. With harvest already started, the vines were at their peak! And to my delight, they did the arch sword thing at the end of the ceremony to welcome Katie into the military family!

Now, look at their décor. I am in love with the large, 4-sided rattan colored bar they had for cocktail hour. Great way for everyone to be served quickly and then on each corner were self-served non-alcoholic containers with water, ice tea, etc. And just take a look at their cocktail napkins. They had several versions of fun facts about the two of them printed on them. And I can’t forget to mention how their escort cards were displayed. Katie spent a lot of time making them with our corks and she did an AMAZING job!

The tent, well just look at it. They kept it pretty simple to not compete with the natural beauty of Keswick Vineyards but to enhance it by carrying that greenery look and feel to under the tent. I also like how they rented rectangular king tables and mixed them with our round tables to give the tent a more spacious feel. Gorgeous! Guests had so much fun dancing the night away with these two.