Real Richmond Wedding | Maryann and Burton at Linden Row Inn

 Maryann & Burton
October 29, 2022

Two seniors eyeing each other in their first-period math class turned into the winners of “cutest couple” of their high school in 1991. As the two embarked on their continuing education journeys they realized the distance was too hard and had to go their separate ways.

Separate ways turned into 26 years, 26 years of no contact, not even an email or an Instagram follow. Suddenly on an October afternoon, Burton texted Maryann out of the blue. As it turns out, mothers make for good matchmakers after all, after Burton’s mother tracked down Maryann’s Facebook and asked for her phone number!

The two traveled back to their hometown, Lynchburg, VA during Thanksgiving Break. Burton wasted no time greeting Maryann with an embrace as she had pulled into his mother’s driveway. The rekindle brought both of them at ease, a few months had past and Burton moved back to Virginia. A few months after that, he took Maryann to a walk on the beach at sunset where he asked her to spend forever with him.

Their dream wedding was intimate and beautiful. A perfect fall wedding with lots of dahlias and peonies at the Linden Row Inn. The two filled their wedding parties with their nieces and nephews who they loved as if they were their own. The bold-colored leaves that had begun to fall swept the ground as they danced the night away.

They wanted to incorporate elements of Filipino wedding traditions, such as the cord and veil ceremony which symbolizes unity. These elements surrounded their wedding day as their wedding cake topper read “Mahal Kita” which means “I love you” in Tagalog.

There were a lot of happy tears from everyone, especially when Maryanns sister sang One Heart from West Side Story and when Burton — who is a man of few words — said the sweetest vows.

Some last notes from the happy couple: “…That’s what is so lovely about having a small wedding. I planned my wedding all by myself, and I loved every second of it.Despite planning everything myself, I did need a lot of help on the actual day of the wedding. My day-of coordinator was my dear friend, Amy Williams, and I knew she’d do an amazing job directing everyone. And my DJ (Andrew Vessey) and my photographer (Ashley Hesse) also played integral leadership roles during our special day”