Christine + Larry first met in college, dancing together in Virginia Tech’s hip hop dance crew. Friends at first, these two didn’t realize their story would become a love story until eight years later when they reconnected out of the blue.
“We realized we both have the same goofy sense of humor and love for music and dancing,” Christine says. “Larry first took me out on a date to Costco, and I took him out on a surprise date of skydiving.”
When they decided to get married, they knew they wanted to plan a wedding full of nods to their favorite things. “We both love music festivals so we wanted to create the feeling of being at a festival under the stars surrounded by plants and disco balls,” says the couple. “The goal was to have guests leaving the wedding saying: ‘Wow, that really felt like Christine and Larry.’”
So, collaborating with event designer + planner Anne of The Hive, Christine + Larry put together a Fall wedding at The Market at Grelen in Somerset, Virginia and filled it with warm, autumnal colors and dazzling disco balls.
There were music-inspired DIY masterpieces. There were delicious late night snacks. And! This talented bride + groom even surprised guests with a bucket drumming dance routine!
Christine + Adam’s happiness shined through in every detail of this fun + creative day, and Nessa K. Photography captured it all beautifully.
Loving the simplicity of Christine + Larry’s b+w minimal wedding invitations! And how cute are those his + hers vow booklets in the warm oranges of their color palette??
There’s no such thing as too many pumpkins! Take a look at our list of Fall wedding ideas to find a way to add some Harvest-core charm to your own autumn wedding day like Christine + Larry did.
Larry nailed it with this white weddings suit! We love to see a bride and groom both rocking white.
Weddings By Vogue created the day’s warm + abundant floral arrangements including this beautiful bridal bouquet packed with everything from sunflowers to dahlias to daisies.
“When it came to our wedding party we didn’t want our friends to feel tied to the gender construct of ‘bridesmaids’ and ‘groomsmen,'” says the couple, “so we decided to have a combined wedding party.”
“Even though it turned out to be a 21 person wedding party, we just loved the idea that our friends don’t belong to one side or the other but are shared among us. So it didn’t matter who they stood behind during the ceremony.”
“We wanted everyone to show their personality through their outfits, so we let them be creative with their fits as long as it fit a certain color palette. No two people looked the same.”
The Ceremony
How cool is this: the entire wedding party got to carry bouquets!
The more the merrier when it comes to officiants! “We wanted someone who knew us individually before dating and then were also with us throughout our journey together,” remember Christine + Larry. “Our two friends who are a married couple were THE perfect choice and we liked having 2 officiants since we personally haven’t seen that before.”
Take a peek at our list of the best terracotta bridesmaid dresses to create a wedding party look with a pumpkin spice palette like Christine + Larry did.
The Veil did such a beautiful job with Christine’s low, twisty bridal hairstyle and warm, glam wedding makeup.
The Reception
A wedding trend we’re loving lately? Couples taking a moment to themselves before the reception to see the way the space came together. Such a great way to take in the results of all your hard wedding planning work.
Obsessed with this super unique reception seating chart and the way it tied in Christine + Larry’s shared love of music 🎶
Even Christine + Larry’s guests went for looks in warm, Fall colors! Check out our guide to what to wear to a Fall wedding if you’re brainstorming a look for your next autumn event.
“Instead of renting chargers, I decided to thrift a bunch of vinyl records and spray painted each one and labeled with each guest name,” says Christine. “This acted as the charger, table card, AND party favor! It ended up looking so cool and everyone had fun turning the charger over to see what record they got (it was way too much work to spray paint both sides). I used the extra vinyls to create a seating chart display with each record representing a table. Guests loved it!”
Christine + Larry adorned each table’s number with baby pictures of themselves at that age! So cute!! 🥹
Retro font and vinyl record artwork kept the and reception’s punny wedding signs on theme as well!
Make sure your wedding day crew has the perfect tune for their big reception moment by looking through out list of the 125 Best Wedding Party Entrance Songs!
Love the clear top tent that these two went with and all of the natural light it allows!
Explore our collection of wedding tent decor ideas to find your fave decorative vibe for an indoor/outdoor celebration like Christine + Larry’s.
Larry’s mom is an absolute vision in that pink beaded mermaid mother of the groom dresses.
Who Needs Cake?
“There was a funny story when we first started dating that involved a PB&J sandwich…” say Christine + Larry.
“…so instead of cutting a cake, we cut a PB&J sandwich!”
There are so many directions you can go dessert-wise on your big day. “To honor Larry’s Filipino background, we served a variety of Filipino wedding desserts from Gwenie’s Pastries instead of serving cake,” say the bride + groom.
Time To Celebrate!
Christine + Larry’s guests enjoyed a reception dinner created by Groovin’ Gourmets.
Check out our collection of the best A-line wedding dress if you’re in love with Christine’s simple-yet-stunning bridal silhouette like we are.
“Larry and I both enjoy instant ramen whenever we come home from a night of dancing,” says Christine, “so we thought it’d be fitting to have a noodle bar with an array of instant ramen cups. Huge hit!”
The reception was stocked with cups of delicious instant noodles ready for some hot water and a set of chopsticks!
Dive into our list of late night wedding snack ideas to start brainstorming a reception-worthy bite your guests will love.
“We knew people were going to expect us to do a choreographed dance,” Christine says, “since we’re both dancers…”
“…so as an element of surprise, we did a bucket drumming performance that transitioned into a line dance that Larry and I made up.”
Also: how cute are the comfy black flatform Teva sandals that Christine switched into!
“We purposely didn’t tell anyone about it so that when we pulled people into the line dance, it felt organic and not rehearsed,” Christine remembers. “A lot of guests caught on!”
Scroll through our lists of the best bridal separates and bridal suits to recreate Christine’s iconic tailored reception look.
Congrats, Christine + Larry! Your fabulous Fall wedding was music to our ears! 🎶
Wedding Vendors
Photography: Nessa K Photography // Venue: The Market at Grelen // Event Design: Anne Forbes (The Hive) // Wedding Planner: Anne Forbes (The Hive Wedding Collective) // Florals: Weddings by Vogue // Hair Stylist: The Veil Bridal Co // Makeup Artist: The Veil Bridal Co // Catering: Groovin Gourmets // Desserts: Gwenies Pastries
