Lindsay + Ben by Joséphine Manet - Together Journal

Our key design words were “intentional , understated, intimate, timeless, romantic, elegant”.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

Seven years after falling in love (see story below), Ben and Lindsay are still settled in Atlanta and continue their coffee walks, brewery trips, and world travels. Next up, our honeymoon in Italy and Switzerland and then getting our first dog! We also love weekend trips to the lake, summer trips on Cape Cod, browsing our local bookstore, and planning our next trip together.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

It was the Fall of 2017. Charlottesville, VA. Two young twenty-somethings walked onto campus at the University of Virginia ready for an adventure. Ben and Lindsay each decided to pursue a global masters degree straight out of undergrad with the hopes of traveling the world and continuing their education. They ended up finding each other. The fall flew by, spent making lifelong friends from across the globe, Ben and Lindsay secretly eyeing each other from afar but not getting too close. After a short winter break, Lindsay traveling to Thailand for the new year and Ben traveling to Budapest and Prague, they met back up in Guangzhou, China. This is where the spark really ignited. Guangzhou Party Pier is exactly what it sounds like. A floating dance party made up of clubs, restaurants, and everything in between. It’s late at night, soon to be early in the morning, and Lindsay stands scanning the dance floor through the sea of expats and college kids for that cutie from Massachusetts, fueled by a little liquid courage to make her move. They make eye contact, she moves in, and only 6 short years later, they would be engaged. Over the next 6 months, Ben and Lindsay fell in love. On Valentine’s Day they had their first official date, attending a Guangzhou F.C. soccer game before venturing off to find a small craft brewery for a taste of home, the first of endless brewery trips for the two. They made playlists for each other to listen to while they toured around China and Europe together, seemingly testing each other to make sure their tastes aligned. Soon they were in Barcelona finishing up school, but only just beginning the rest of their lives together. After many days of Americanos in the morning, patatas bravas in the afternoon, and Estrella Damms in the evening, they graduated. Serendipitously, Ben had already accepted a job in Atlanta before starting the Masters program, and so he followed Lindsay to her home city. As was joked about before Ben set off to college in North Carolina, and only delayed by an extra year of graduate school, he had gone south (and all the way around the world), met the love of his life and never returned.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).

We wanted our wedding day to feel like an elevated version of the dinner parties we host in our backyard. We love entertaining our friends, and wanted this celebration to feel like an extension of that same atmosphere. The most important thing for us was for our guests to have fun and spend time together. That is why we decided on a destination weekend, back where we first met in Charlottesville. Our key design words were “intentional , understated, intimate, timeless, romantic, elegant”. Keeping the color palette centered on green and white and using a wild and natural floral aesthetic, allowed us to feel like we blended into the lush green mountain surroundings. I wanted the aisle florals to look like they were growing out of the ground, and the other florals to maintain the wild look throughout. Lighting and mood was also very important to me, so we incorporated soft candlelight tables to add to the mood when the string lights were dimmed.

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

In selecting our venue, we were drawn to outdoor options and allowed us to fully appreciate the beauty of Charlottesville in springtime. Eastwood offered the spectacular view of the Shenandoah mountains, and the white sailcloth tent of my dreams. When touring other venues in the area I did not like the feeling of being stuck in an indoor venue that already had various design elements I could not control, so I loved the beautiful blank slate that Eastwood offered. I wanted to be out in nature, surrounded by soft natural lighting and trees. The winery is also woman-owned, which we loved! Layering the wild and natural florals, neutral color palette, and soft lighting on top of such a beautiful base brought the vision to life.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

Our favorite pre-wedding activity was taking dance lessons together leading up to the big day. It allowed us a moment to connect and have fun with each other. We opted to have a longer engagement (18 months), and gave ourselves about 6 months after getting engaged to not do any planning and just enjoy the exciting stage together before inviting the stress of making plans. It’s easy to rush through the stages of life, and we wanted to savor the newness of brevity of being engaged, on the precipice of the rest of our lives together. We highly recommend doing this if time allows!

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

Our entire vendor team came together so seamlessly, and we feel so lucky to have experienced such joyful + calm humans across the board. We do have to give special mention to our planner + designer, Mary, who made the experience of planning a destination wedding so seamless for us. She understood our vision, kept us calm and on track throughout the entire process, connected us with so many of our vendors, and truly nailed the day of coordination. Having a wedding outside, we had to contend with some rain in the forecast, which Mary walked us through and helped us make a call on the rain plan. We got so lucky with the weather and the perfect spring day. What started off as an overcast morning, there were a few rain drops right before the bride walked down the aisle. Then the sun came out just in time for cocktail hour, and right after the reception ended, the skies opened up and the rain came down just in time for the after party to start!

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?

The wedding dress ended up being the star of the show. I (Lindsay) loved this dress the moment I put it on, as it was nothing like I’d ever seen but was the perfect combination of soft romance, with a uniquely modern edge. The challenge came when figuring out how to bustle the dress, given the unique texture of the fabric. I had the option to leave it long, but it was important to me to wear the dress as long as possible and give it all the glory it deserved! Working through the alterations with White Orchid Bridal, we came up with something perfect that worked with the organic movement of the dress. Although when it came time to do our first dance, Ben and I did one practice lift and when he picked me up, one of the clips ripped out! Thankfully our planner swooped in with safety pins and the party continued! Ben has always been a little bit of a sneakerhead, and while he wanted to wear the sneakers all night, he was convinced to save them for the party! When Lindsay changed into her second look, Ben also swapped for something more comfortable.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

Our wedding rings and Lindsay’s engagement ring were all custom designs in partnership with Highland Diamond. Lindsay had a clear vision for what she wanted, and Ben worked with them to bring that vision to life. For Lindsay’s wedding band, she re-set the diamond’s from her mother’s wedding ring into a new style. This was an important nod, as her mom passed away soon after Lindsay met Ben, and we wanted her to be a part of our day.

What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

Photography and music were the two priorities for our wedding day. We both love the look and feel that film brings to images, and we wanted a photographer that cared + understood the format. Working with Josephine was an absolute dream, starting with our engagement photos to our wedding weekend. We clicked with her instantly and felt that she understood us + our vision. We are also huge music lovers, and wanted our guests to have an amazing time, so we knew that we needed a band rather than a DJ to keep the party going all night long! We also spent months curating the playlists for our welcome party, pre-ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner music to make sure the mood was exactly what we wanted.

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

We opted to read our vows together privately, before our ceremony and right after we saw each other for the first time. We both love writing to each other, and at home pass a notebook back and forth with random love notes for each other to find. So it might surprise you that we both procrastinated and waited until the flight to Charlottesville to write our vows to each other (while side by side). We both ended up sharing similar sentiments with each other, through jokes and tears, we made promises to each other in the same place our spark first ignited. It was truly special to share this moment alone before the full ceremony and reception began! A funny side note to this moment was that due to some slightly poor planning, the bride arrived at this first look moment, which was located at the top of a steep gravel hill, in our photographer’s car that was not meant for offroading! Thankfully we made it up and down the mountain together in one piece, and we are thankful for the trusty Prius and Josephine coming through for us!!