Real RVA Wedding: Wyndham Virginia Crossings Hotel Wedding Photos

Christina & Elias

October 11, 2015

How They Met

Christina tells us, “Elias and I have a lot of mutual friends but somehow we missed meeting each other for years—even when his best friend was dating my roommate. Our paths finally crossed in October 2009. After class one evening, I came back to my dorm, and there he was standing in the living room. I can still remember him standing there wearing a smile from ear to ear, a short brim fedora (which was an everyday accessory for Elias back then), and mix-matched Converse sneakers. We hit it off instantly and by the end of the night we jokingly declared that we were best friends.

How He Asked

Elias proposed on his birthday after the two spent the day doing all of his favorite things. While his roommate played their song, “The Only Exception” by Paramore, on the electric cello, Elias told Christina how much he loved her and appreciated all that she’d done for him, then told her, “I just have one more thing to ask you to do . . . Will you marry me?” In a pile of tears, she of course said, “YES!”

The Perfect Place

The bride says, “Wyndham Virginia Crossings simply checked off all the wants and needs on our list! We wanted a picturesque outdoor ceremony and indoor reception space. We also wanted the overnight accommodations to be close to the wedding location and have onsite activities for the convenience of our guests. Complete with views of rolling hills from the altar, a unique semi-circular ceremony seating arrangement, and a full service bar with billiards setup in the onsite restaurant, Wyndham Virginia Crossings was a one-stop shop for us.

We chose 3 shades of purple with silver accents. It was an easy choice. We both have birthdays in February, and we share Amethyst as a birthstone. Plus, purple has been my favorite color for years.

The Theme

We tried to think of a theme that would speak to our separate lives coming together. Elias is a skillful musician, and I have always had a great love of dance. We chose different musical elements to represent our theme of music, the thing that brings us together.

Our wedding programs were modeled after CD inserts with a ceremony timeline and family members featured in the ceremony instead of song list and featured artists. In lieu of the typical guestbook, we had our guests sign vinyl records, which are now framed and hung on our walls. We designed our escort cards to look like event tickets highlighting their table name in place of row/seat number. The tables were identified by some of our favorite songs instead of numbers.

The reception décor was our wow factor. We wanted our guests to feel like they were walking into an amethyst ballroom.

The rest of the décor (our wow factor) was the brain child of our wedding coordinator and florist. As I don’t know a lick about flowers, I simply told them the colors and overall vibe we wanted. They took that basic instruction and put together a freaking fairytale! My favorite of all their great ideas was the cupcake display. They were stacked on a 3-tiered wire stand with purple and green hydrangeas weaved around it. It was simply beautiful and so creative!

The Best Part

From the Bride: “Every second of the ceremony. It was so beautiful to be literally encircled by our family and friends as I married my favorite person.”

From the Groom: “At the reception, the band played Uptown Funk. As soon as they sang, “This hit, that ice cold!” everybody in the room stopped what they were doing and ran to the dancefloor. It was awesome! I’ll never forget it.”

Christina says, “October 11 was such a beautiful day all around, and for that I have to thank my team, my village! While it was a lot of work and stress for me to sort out all the details, I know it wouldn’t have been nearly as awesome without the help of our family, friends, and vendors!”

RW Vendors

Rehearsal Brunch: Mama J’s Kitchen

Venue, Catering & Accommodations: Wyndham Virginia Crossings Hotel

Hair & Makeup: Lou Stevens Glam Squad

Flowers Black Iris Floral Events

DJ/Band: Debonaire Entertainment’s DJ Eric Cunningham & Katz Band

Rentals: Classic Party Rentals of Virginia

Additional Vendors

Photography: Nat Wongsaroj Photography

Videography: Kwolity Productions

Shower Location: Ashcreek Clubhouse

Wedding Consultant: Richmond Bridal Consulting