Meriwether & Lee's Fall Wedding at WinMock | Featured in Bridal Guide Magazine

From the moment that we first met Meriwether and her parents, we knew this family and couple would be dream clients! They were eagerly searching for a creative team to help bring a vibrant vision to life and we couldn't wait to get started. Meriwether is a costume designer and Lee is a lighting designer. While these two now live and work in NYC, their story together began here in Winston-Salem many years ago, as students at the prestigious UNC School of the Arts. Anytime we have an opportunity to work with clients who are artists, I get so excited about the possibilities because I know they enter the process with a sense of adventure and an appreciation for the importance of aesthetics.

Sure enough - this was a dream process through and through. For our first creative session together, Meriwether, Lee, and her parents arrived with a beautifully packaged pecan pie they brought from Houston, where she grew up and her family still lives. For those of you who don't know...that is my hometown too! You can take the girl outta Texas, but you can't take the Texas outta the girl. Folks - it's true. It was the most thoughtful and special little treat and we spent the next 6-7 hours together developing some wonderful ideas and plans. We were off to the races and our mission was to craft an incredible weekend experience for an almost exclusively out-of-state guest list to highlight the beauty of the fall season in North Carolina for their October, 2015 wedding.

Sometimes designing a wedding around seasonal elements can be challenging. It would have been easy to just stick a bunch of leaves and pumpkins everywhere and call it a day...but that would have been cheesy and meaningless. As someone who works with textiles, Meriwether (and her incredibly talented mother - who also has quite an eye for design!) really dreamt of details with layers of texture and interest. Be still my heart.

As we do with all of our wedding clients, we worked in conjunction with our design team at Rebecca Rose Creative to design custom stationery and paper goods to set the tone for the weekend. The invitations were letterpress printed with a beautiful leafy texture and the pieces were layered into an antique gold box to highlight the colors of harvest. Goodness, we loved mailing those beauties out!

Vibrant saturation of color was important to Meriwether and it made life so much fun for me as their designer! The palette consisted of olive green, copper and brown tones, amber, wine/burgundy, burnt orange, antique gold and just a hint of peach for some added depth.

Meriwether's wedding dress was a true fashion highlight of last year. She selected an incredible gown by Ersa Atelier and it could not have been more stunning. The delicate details paired so beautifully with the rich patterns and colors of the men's suits. Lee wore a plaid suit and all of the groomsmen and bridesmen (no maids at this wedding!) looked dashing in their fall attire.

Image from Meriwether's bridal portrait session with Perry Vaile Photography at Lonesome Valley in Cashiers, North Carolina!

The ceremony was held inside the charming, rustic Granary Barn at WinMock. We framed the large window and used existing beam structures to create a floral installation similar to a traditional Jewish chuppah for Meriwether and Lee's interfaith ceremony. A rabbi and a pastor co-officiated and once the glass was broken, Meriwether and Lee happily walked up the aisle together as newlyweds.

After the ceremony, guests enjoyed an abundance of seasonal delectables at the outdoor cocktail hour on WinMock's West Terrace. Each food item was carefully chosen to reflect the local taste of the season and we had such fun working with Holly Tate Fine Catering to develop a menu that included a Bruschetta Bar and a Game Bar.

Though Meriwether and Lee had their first look photos finished prior to the ceremony, the sunset light was so dreamy after the ceremony that Perry Vaile snuck them away for a few more shots while guests made their way into the barn loft to be seated for dinner. Could that golden field be any more perfect for these two?!

The scene in the loft was one of our favorites of all time. It was designed to be experienced after sunset, so these daytime photos (snapped earlier in the afternoon) show things a little differently, but the atmosphere when the guests arrived into the room was perfect! Custom built strands of soft LED lighting created a feeling of starlight in the cavernous dark loft space and candles flickered on every table. Each of the tall centerpieces were highlighted with strategic pinspot lighting and Meriwether's color palette was on full display in the most glorious fashion. No two tables were quite alike, but all were layered with interesting textures and details.

After dining on a multi-course plated meal, guests enjoyed a time of toasting before being led downstairs to the final surprise of the evening...a tent on WinMock's East Terrace, where the band played, the dance floor beckoned, and wedding cake, a s'mores station, a bar and a hot cocoa station awaited!

Meriwether and Lee, your wedding was one of our favorite projects of all time... not only because it was so unique, but because we absolutely fell in love with the two of you and your family. Thank you for trusting us with such a special time in your lives and for inviting us in to be a part of this incredible celebration. We wish you two all the joy in the world and are so grateful to still be in touch with you as friends and not just clients!

~Becca