In the heartwarming tale of Sarah and Adam, a friendship blossomed into a beautiful love story. What started as a reconnection over a holiday weekend soon evolved into a deep bond that transcended physical distance and led Adam to uproot his life and move to New York City to be with Sarah. Sarah’s love for chic, maximalist styling inspired by her favorite interior designer, the couple envisioned a wedding that harmonized masculine and feminine energies with a clean, organic aesthetic of green, black, and white accented by luxurious marble details.
After reconnecting over a holiday weekend, Sarah and Adam’s longtime friendship evolved into something greater. Two years of long-distance dating later, Adam picked up and moved to New York City, where the two still live. A planner by nature, Adam had coordinated his proposal down to the details. However, he couldn’t have prepared for the bout of Covid that spoiled his well-laid plans! He quickly pivoted, popping the question while visiting Sarah’s family for Christmas instead. A surprise party awaited the newly engaged pair, where they celebrated the big news with their loved ones.
Inspired by her favorite interior designer, Sarah dreamed of a wedding that balanced masculine and feminine energies through chic, maximalist styling. Out of this vision, the couple chose a clean, organic aesthetic of green, black, and white with marble details. Sarah and Adam exchanged handwritten vows in a beautiful ceremony on the estate’s lawn overlooking the James River. Soft greenery complemented elegant, papery white blooms throughout the ceremony and reception spaces to match Sarah’s bouquet, which her high school friend designed. Simple, uncluttered tablescapes added to their wedding day’s crisp, sophisticated feel. Both music lovers, the couple hand-selected every song played during their wedding, which kept everyone on the ballroom dance floor! -Kim Moody of The Estate at River Run
How did you two meet? What were your first impressions of one another? We had been friends, but officially started dating after reconnecting over a holiday weekend. At the time, Sarah lived in New York City and Adam was living in DC. We dated for 2 years long distance, catching planes, trains and automobiles to see each other. Eventually, Adam moved to New York City. The pair now live in Brooklyn, New York.
Adam had a very thought out game plan for his proposal but unfortunately caught Covid before he could put his plan in place. He made a quick pivot and ultimately proposed over the Christmas holiday while the pair was visiting Richmond’s Botanical Gardens with Sarah’s family. There was a huge surprise party waiting for her at her brother’s apartment, who was living with his soon to be fiance at the time!
Describe a hurdle you had to overcome in your relationship or during your wedding planning. We actually had one honeymoon planned and completely canceled and rebooked 48 hours ahead of leaving due to some political upheaval in the country we had planned to visit. We pivoted to Switzerland and had the best time and the most magical trip. We rented a very cool European car and traveled all over the Swiss Rivera and Swiss Alps in September. It was charming and the quintessential honeymoon. We also took the majority of our pictures on film while there and absolutely loved how they turned out – we are blowing them up and putting them in our future home. 
Any special ways you incorporated your family or family history into your wedding day? I loved the speeches – we had 4 in total which was unique but it was really special to hear from both our fathers, our siblings and my man of honor. I would say that was also very special to me, I did not have a maid of honor but a man of honor.
We also honored our family in a big way in our vows and I think that was special to both of us. We also did a private cake tasting which was very special as well.
What part of your wedding day was/is most important to you? We loved that we had the full weekend at the same location and were able to really familiarize our immediate family and friends with the venue. The boys enjoyed a full day by the pool while the bridal party took over upstairs.
We both are very into music and hand chose every song played throughout the cocktail hour and wedding. The songs we chose during the ceremony were special to us and marked very special memories of ours throughout the years – we did not have traditional wedding music at all and played all genres and opted for “is this meaningful to us” versus “is this practical for a wedding song”
What was your favorite part about planning your wedding? I (Sarah) was very much into balancing both masculine and feminine energies into our day. I very much drew inspiration from my favorite interior designer Kelly Wearstler, well-known for her maximalist interior design style, which employs big pieces as focal points to create a buzzy atmosphere without being overly cluttered. Wearstler believes in design as storytelling and describes it as “a sort of falling in love over and over again” which was really inspiring for me.
The magic of the people you surround yourself with and the vendors you choose – everyone was absolutely a dream and I think that’s whats important – bringing people together and knowing everyone is doing their best to make your day special. Choose based on connections versus anything else!
If you had one piece of advice for other couples, what would it be? I recommend not sweating the small stuff. As a detail-oriented person, I quickly realized how easy it is to get completely distracted by it. The event itself is so special and will fly by in a flash. I wish we had a full-day event—we didn’t want our night to end!
Venue / The Estate at River Run / https://theestateatriverrun.com/ / @estateatriverrun
Photographer / Marshall Arts Photography / https://marshallarts.photography/ / @marshallarts.photography
Planning / Starry Night Events / https://www.starrynighteventsrva.com/ / @starrynighteventsrva
Florist / Vessel and Stem / https://www.vesselandstem.com/ / @vesselandstem
Music / Bunn DJ Company / https://bunndjcompany.com/ / @BunnDJRVA
Caterer / Cater 2 Events / https://www.cater2events.com/ / @cater2events
Gelato / North End Juice Co. / https://www.northendjuiceco.com/gelato / @northendjuiceco
Rentals / Rent-E-Quip / http://www.rentequip.com/
Furniture Rentals / Paisley and Jade / https://www.paisleyandjade.com/ / @paisleyandjade
Transportation / James Limousine / https://www.jameslimousine.com/ / @jameslimorichmond
Hair / Avenue 42 / https://www.ave42.com/ / @ave42salon
Makeup / Makeup by SAC / https://www.makeupbysac.com/ / @makeupbysac
Dress / Carolina Herrera / https://www.carolinaherrera.com/us/en/ / @carolinaherrera
Photography Assistance / Derek Fowler / https://derekfowlerproductions.com/ / @derek_fowler_productions
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