Worthington Photography Blog

Kelly and John's Wedding on Saturday, May 31, 2008

At the beginning of the week before the wedding, Kelly and John were following the weather forecast. By the end of the week they were stalking the forecast, jointly intent on having their wedding ceremony outdoors on the lawn of Whitehall Manor in Bluemont, Virginia.

When I checked into the forecast on Saturday morning, it was as grim a wedding day forecast as I had ever read: "scattered thunderstorms with chance of severe weather including tornados and hail". Tornados and hail? Sure enough, as we drove through the gorgeous countryside towards Middleburg, the sky turned an ominous shade of black, rain began to pour and lightening struck a bit too close to the car for comfort. As we pulled up to the Manor the sky was clearing but it was still raining.

Five minutes before Kelly pulled up the sun came out. They had until 5pm, an hour before the ceremony, to make the call to stay outdoors or bring the ceremony inside. As they prepared, people darted in and out of rooms with reports from varying sources: cable radar, an uncle's knee that feels rain, radio broadcasts. All technology pointed to continued rain. All physical observations called for sun. If its possible for a group of 150 people to collectively will away rain, we did it. A brave and trusting thumbs up was given to a ceremony in the great outdoors.

It was visually stunning. The rain had made the greens of the grounds perk up while the sun cast a warm glow around the ceremony site. The temperature was cool and comfortable. The ceremony was as emotional, personal and moving as the weather was perfect. I laughed, I cried.

And here's a style swatch so you can see how the details of the day came together:


The party was kicked off by a Richmond band, The Wrest, who rocked (and rockabillied) the house. With the Wilbergers in attendance we knew the party would be live, it was great to catch up with Jennifer and Jay again and we're going to hold Dave to his promise of "Dave Dip" and drinks with the Cliftons.

Here's a slideshow with our favorites from the day and if you would like to be notified by email when all the photos are available for viewing, click here. Congratulations Kelly and John, we hope you are enjoying Greece and are excited for a whole new adventure when you return!

posted by Mel @ 10:14 AM