Charlottesville Wedding Photographers | Marshall Arts Photography

Julia + Andrew’s The Haven Wedding | Charlottesville Wedding Photographer

August in Virginia is always pretty toasty, and Julia and Andrew’s summer The Haven wedding in Charlottesville was no exception to this! But let me tell you, their wedding day was beautiful! We share the same favorite color, so their blue color scheme was already making my heart happy. But those blue skies with the big puffy clouds were the icing on the (wedding) cake!

Julia and Andrew met at Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) when they were students at Virginia Tech, but it was an RUF mission trip to Belize where the two really got to know one another.

Then, one day, Andrew took Julia on a scavenger hunt of sorts where they went to some different places that meant a lot to them. When they got to the location where they’d had their first kiss, Andrew asked Julia to be his wife!

I met the bridal party at a family friend’s beautiful home to start the day. In addition to graciously opening her home to us, she treated the bridal party to brunch before they stepped into their dresses. The girls loved the chilled melon soup and other goodies served up on china in the dining room.

Julia had several vintage pieces of jewelry in her details for me to photograph with her dress and invitation suite. Some of the jewelry had belonged to her grandmother and would be tucked under her bouquet of roses and hydrangeas as she walked down the aisle.

After the girls piled into the limo, I headed to The Haven to meet up with the guys for portraits before the ceremony. The Haven, whose historic sanctuary serves as a beautiful Virginia wedding venue, is also a day shelter in downtown Charlottesville supporting those who face homelessness. Proceeds from weddings held at The Haven directly support The Haven’s mission to help the homeless. The wedding officiant was Andy Wood, the pastor of VT RUF when the couple first met.

At the reception, touches of blue were evident as the hydrangeas in the arrangements popped off the white table linens. Around each of the florals were sweet little handmade ceramic blue birds that served as both the décor and as the favors for the guests. After the couple shared their first dance, and Julia danced with her dad, the groom and his mom took to the dance floor. They began with a traditional dance, but quickly separated and began demonstrating each of the different dances spelled out on posters held up by the groom’s sister. As the grand finale, they were joined on the dance floor by the groomsmen as they formed a train and danced across the floor.

The crowd favorite song of the night was ‘Enter Sandman, and all their VT friends packed the dance floor and bounced with arms raised as they energetically sang along. Afterward, everyone grabbed their bubbles and headed outdoors to send the couple off in style with a bubble exit!

It was such an honor getting to know Julia and Andrew and being able to serve this sweet couple as they begin their lives together. Julia and Andrew, I wish you the very best as you undertake your graduate studies in law and medicine. May you always continue to find humor in the same unusual things and be as happy as you were on this day!