Bride and groom in front of a Virginia manor house

Virginia · Private estate

An Anglo American celebration on a private estate

Two traditions, one family, a celebration that felt like home on both sides of the Atlantic.

A British and American family brought two sets of traditions to one private estate. MWP wove both into the day so each side recognised its own customs and felt fully at home.

Celebration: Private estate wedding
Cultures: British · American
Venue: Private estate

Bride in a gold and white veil seated beside the groom in an embroidered kaftan during a traditional ceremony — Day one, at the family home. The ceremony that comes first.

Two women in indigo and gold traditional dress seated in a wood-panelled room — Indigo, gold, and the elders in the good chairs.

Detail of a corded lace gown and cathedral veil trailing across estate lawn — Corded lace, cathedral veil, held against open grass.

Blush and white floral ceremony arch standing on estate lawns with the Virginia hills behind — One arch on open lawn. Nothing else needed.

Garden roses and eucalyptus marking the end of an aisle row of white ceremony chairs — The aisle, marked in garden roses rather than ribbon.

String quartet playing beneath a white pergola on the estate grounds — A quartet under the pergola, carrying guests to their seats.

Close detail of a place setting with cobalt glassware, pale florals and taper candles — Cobalt glass, taper candles, and roses cut that morning.

The reception room as evening falls, candlelight and florals reflected in dark manor windows — The room at dusk. Daylight to candlelight, without a beat missed.

Guests in brightly coloured gele head wraps and lace gowns gathered outside the manor — Gele, lace and colour, arriving on a Virginia terrace.

Couple embracing on the estate lawns at golden hour — The ten minutes we always protect.

Ceremony lawn and floral arch seen through a steel framed window from inside the manor — Seen from indoors, an hour before the doors opened.

Bride and groom before the columned brick facade of a Virginia manor house — The manor, and the reason the whole weekend held together.

Reception room seen from above with a monogrammed dance floor, a floral runner down the head table and a long king table — One room, set by noon: head table, king table, dance floor.

Garden rose and peony centrepiece with cobalt goblets and lavender tapers in a glasshouse reception room — Cobalt glass and garden roses against the tall windows.

Long reception table with cane chairs, low floral clusters and coloured glassware — Low clusters down the table, nothing above eye level.

String quartet rehearsing in the empty reception room before guests arrive — The quartet, running through the entrance an hour before doors.

White curved bar lined with bottles, the couple's crest hand painted on the front — The crest, painted onto the bar before the first pour.

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