Engagement | Love Story | Charlottesville, Virginia

When a new inquiry hits my inbox I always get butterflies as I open it, excited to see what the couple has in mind for their wedding. As soon as I read Hannah and Alex’s inquiry I knew this wedding was going to be one for the books! Virginia vineyard wedding. How can you not love those three words?! Hannah described her wedding style as classic trendy, which I absolutely love, taking classic elements and updating them for modern times. Not only is Hannah’s style impeccable, but her color palette might just be one of my all time favorites! For their vineyard wedding they chose shades of dusty and smoky blues paired with white and color. Classic yet trendy!

I absolutely adore getting to know my clients and cultivating a relationship with them. Being a hopeless romantic I’m a sucker for a good love story and I just love Hannah and Alex’s story! I mean just look at they way they look at each other! Swoon!!

Here is their love story from Hannah |

How did the two of you meet?

Alex and I both went to VCU for undergrad. I was a junior and he was a sophomore. We first were introduced while on a road trip to watch the VCU Men’s Basketball team play in the Final Four Tournament in Houston, Texas in the spring of 2011. A group of my sorority sisters and a group of his fraternity brothers followed each other in cars all the way to Houston..a 24-hour car ride. He was the only guy we didn’t know in the group. Alex and I didn’t talk much on the trip but once we got back to Richmond, we kept bumping into each other on campus. Finally, he asked me out on a date. He picked me up and we both ended up wearing red. The rest was history!

Tell me more about your love story!

Alex and I have been dating since 2011. However, in 2013, we had to do long distance for 2 years. He lived in Richmond, Virginia and I lived in Birmingham, Alabama so I could complete my Masters degree. Since I knew I was only going to be in Alabama for 2 years, we felt like it wasn’t worth him leaving his job temporarily, when we knew I’d have to move again to complete my residency. Those 2 years were some of the most challenging but rewarding times for us. We learned so much about ourselves and how strong our relationship really was. During that time, we learned we can get through anything and that being long distance was worth not being with each other at all.

Tell me about the proposal!

Alex proposed on Saturday, September 23rd at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. That morning he surprised me with 2 dozen roses from my favorite florist after getting home from workout class. Then we went out to our favorite breakfast place called Alon’s Bakery just down the road from our apartment. We decided that afternoon to go to the Botanical Gardens since we had recently gotten a annual membership and we hadn’t gone since we had purchased it. Living in the south, it was still very hot out. We walked the gardens for about an hour. I started to get a little impatient due to the heat (I feel bad now). Finally, he found a quiet spot under this beautiful gazebo. He sat me down and began to tell me why he loved me and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. After giving his “sales pitch”, he got down on one knee and proposed. After the proposal, we walked around the gardens a little more to soak in the moment just the two of us. We took a few selfies and then headed home. We immediately started calling our parents and close friends. After building up an appetite, he surprised me with dinner at Canoe, a restaurant on the Chattahoochee River. The meal was amazing. We finished dinner with drinks out by the river. To top the night off, he had our two really close couple friends meet us at a wine bar for champagne and late night snacks! That day was the perfect amount of alone time and celebration with close friends.

What’s your favorite thing about each other?

That we are best friends and can make each other laugh like no one else can.

I cannot wait for this beautiful couple to finally become husband and wife next Saturday! I was really in love with their proposal and inspired by the Botanical Gardens for their wedding stationery, so keep an eye out for pictures of all their custom wedding stationery. It has been so hard not to share all the beautiful details of their wedding paper but I promise it will be worth the wait!

Here’s to a beautiful wedding for Hannah + Alex, surrounded by their friends and family and a start to an even more beautiful marriage!

Photography | Kirstyn Marie Photography