fall garden wedding at raspberry plain manor || abby + russ || leesburg, va

October 10, 2018

it’s been so fun to go through our archives and bust out some of our older weddings for our blog. while we have lots and lots of current work to share as well, it’d be a shame to not show off these gorgeous events, and it’s exciting to mix it up a bit! we finally got organized and made a list, and we have over fifty weddings, portrait sessions, editorials, and events that we want to post– and that doesn’t even include our most recent weddings and sessions!

but since fall is in full swing over here, we’re excited to share this classic garden raspberry plain manor wedding with you today. we loved this wedding, and others did too; it was featured on district weddings last year! abby + russell were so, so wonderful to work with! i still distinctly remember receiving abby’s initial inquiry. i was sitting in the cafeteria at hopkins hospital and was struck by how ecstatic she was to get married and how lovely her event sounded. after a few quick e-mail exchanges, she told me something along the lines of, “i just get a really good feeling about you!” and that was one of the coolest things i’ve heard as a d.c. wedding photographer.

their northern virginia wedding epitomized everything sweet and charming. they diverged from the typical fall palettes of bold and deep colors and instead chose to focus their design elements on pale pinks, gold, thistle blue, and navy. abby and russ honored both their preppy d.c. roots and the beautiful, natural surroundings of their venue. they stuck with classic design elements in their invitations and cake but brought in natural, organic, and romantic touches with their beautiful textured table linens, just-a-tad-rustic florals, and the gorgeous, intricate back of abby’s maggie sottero ballgown.

instead of focusing on the season, abby snuck in sweet little reminders of fall in smaller parts of her design by using small painted pumpkins as decor and as floral pieces. they treated their guests to hot apple cider before their afternoon garden ceremony on the property of the historic raspberry plain manor, then celebrated the night away with dinner, drinks, and dancing.

we loved the real, intimate feeling of the event; since abby’s family is from pennsylvania and russell’s is from virginia, their wedding was focused on a true fusion of two families. the joy in the room was nearly palpable; one of the best moments of the evening occurred when everyone in the room linked arms in a large circle on the dance floor and singing john denver’s “country road” and “with the help of my friends” by the beatles.

thanks for letting us share your journey, russ + abby!

xo,

anna + mateo