Kate and Eric
October 26, 2019

How They Met
Kate and Eric met when they swiped right on each other on Tinder in 2014. The two had a couple of mutual friends, but had never met in person. At the time, they both were coming out of long term relationships. Kate explains their first date, “We were each other’s first date after becoming single and hit it off right away.”

For their first date, they shared dinner and drinks and ended up talking for hours. Their second date they headed to The Savory Grain, where they ultimately had their rehearsal dinner!

The Proposal
Eric popped the question to Kate on April 14, 2018. Kate was in her second year of medical school in Blacksburg, VA and was only able to come home to Richmond (and Eric) once or twice a month. “I planned on coming home to celebrate my birthday with Eric and my family about a week after my actual birthday.”

Eric had planned a picnic dinner in Libby Hill Park with just the two of them and their dog, Remi. They ate dinner together and chatted while watching the sun settle over the city. “As the sun was going down, Eric asked if I wanted to take a photo with Remi, so I squatted down to pose next to him.” Eric asked Kate to check Remi’s collar. “I checked the collar only to see a dog tag with ‘Kate will you marry me?’ engraved on it.” Kate was totally shocked and turned to find Eric down on one knee with a ring in his hand. Kate, of course, said yes.

The Details
Because Kate was still busy with medical school when they were engaged, they wanted a venue that would make the planning process easier. Their venue had everything included and they could have their ceremony and reception at the same place.

For their ceremony, they wanted it to be short and sweet under a huge oak tree at their venue. They trusted Remi with the rings. Kate explains, “He carried the rings down the aisle in a small pouch on his collar and did a great job.”

They had a close friend as their officiant and after they recited their vows to each other, they had a “Wine Box” ceremony. “For the “Wine Box” ceremony, Eric and I bought a nice bottle of wine to place in a wooden box…We also wrote letters to each other to place in the wine box. The letters explain why we fell in love and what we love about each other. We sealed the wine box during the ceremony.” They have that bottle of wine to remember why they fell in love in the first place, in good times and bad. “We wanted to include something unique and special for our ceremony and this seemed perfect for us.”

While they didn’t have a specific theme in mind, they wanted everything to be beautiful without being too fancy or rustic. They chose a lot of elements with wood to help create a nature-inspired palate. Their main colors were burgundy and navy, but they added pops of gold and bright colors to give some life to their decor, another unique touch to make their October wedding their’s. Their florals were bright and airy, using a mixture of dahlias, spray roses, ranunculus’, and more to create a dramatic floral theme, a focal point at their reception.

“We lucked out with perfect fall weather and a beautiful sunset around the time of the ceremony.” As their guests made their way over to their reception, they were met with plenty of delicious food and drinks to go around. Pete with Bunn DJ kept the dance floor packed all night long.

Favorite Part of the Day
Kate said it was hard to pick just one favorite part of the day, but her absolute favorite was when she and Eric went with their photographers to take a few sunset pictures while their guests were eating dinner. “At that point, Eric and I were so happy and carefree and we got to have a few moments of peace with just the two of us…The sunset was beautiful and everything felt perfect in those moments.”

Eric’s favorite part of the day was their first look. He loved getting to have that moment to take everything in and see Kate before their ceremony. “We loved having a first look because it helped us get rid of some of the nervousness about the ceremony and allowed us to join our guests during happy hour.”

Biggest Challenge
For Kate, the biggest challenge was still being in Medical School at the time. “I was studying for my board exam right after we got engaged and then started clinical rotations after that, so it was challenging to make time for wedding planning with everything else going on.”

The two leaned on their Day-Of Coordinator, Tatianna with Simply Charmed Weddings & Events, to help everything flow smoothly. “I didn’t want us or our families to have to worry about anything on our wedding day, and Tatianna was an excellent resource to have.”

Best Piece of Advice
“Try to have fun with everything. Little things can be stressful and start to bog you down, but you will only get married once (hopefully) so enjoy the process of planning and spending time with your fiancé…Don’t stress over the guest list, specific details here won’t matter the day of, you will just be happy to be surrounded by your friends and family you love. Also, make sure to take time to have a moment with your wife/husband on your wedding day (just the two of you). Whether that is a first look, sitting down and eating dinner together, or stealing away for a moment during the reception, just make sure you have time together the day of the wedding because it will fly by.”

*All information in our Featured Weddings is provided by the couple. Richmond Weddings™ is not responsible for discovering and adding vendors who were not on the submission form completed by the couple.* All photos courtesy of Michael & Laura Photography.