The striking monogram behind Samantha and Brad’s wedding cake, took your breath away when walking into the Hotel Roanoke ballroom. The tables had alternating colorful arrangements with orange, red and yellow flowers. The tall centerpieces were full round arrangements of white hydrangeas with gerbera daisies and roses providing pops of color. The finishing touch was the white curtain walls and uplighting that went around the edge of the room, creating a romantic glow. Congratulations Samantha & Brad, what a fun wedding!
Claire and Will, both Virginia Tech graduates who fell in love (with each other and the area) chose to host their wedding weekend in Roanoke, Virginia. With friends and family coming from across the country, Hotel Roanoke provided the perfect location for their guests to easily access downtown Roanoke dining and shopping, while being within walking distance of the ceremony at St. Andrews Catholic church. The couple wanted to spend cocktail hour with their guests so they had their “first look” before the ceremony and went around the hotel with Jeremy Pegg of Enigma Productions and the wedding party for pictures. As their deacon, Mike Ellerbrock reassured them, “it’s just superstition anyways” to see each other before the wedding. In typical Claire and Will fashion, they finished pictures early and got the church just before a heavy storm blew through Roanoke. The ceremony went off without a hitch and the rain stopped just as the ceremony ended so everyone could gather on the front steps of St. Andrews for a group picture. Guests made their way back to Hotel Roanoke for cocktail hour, patiently waiting for the reveal of the Crystal Ballroom. One of our favorite parts of the reception is bringing the bride and groom into the room to show them how everything has come together and let them take in their centerpieces, cake and all of the details. The room looked magical; the blue glow of the centerpieces by Gloriosa looked amazing and kept everyone talking. The DJ and master of ceremonies for the evening were Matt and Matt of RSP Entertainment. Guests were dancing all night long, sometimes to the vocal accompaniment from the dance floor. As the night came to an end the couple had their last dance and made their way to their room looking forward to wonderful week in Belize. It was a joy to get to know both Claire and Will and feel honored they chose us to help make their wedding wishes come true!
It was such a pleasure to work with Kristin and her mom Kathy from the very early stages in the planning process. In our first meeting I remember Kristin commenting on the two main requests she had for her wedding “open bar and chair covers” and from that point forward I knew we were going to have a fun yet classy wedding to plan.
Our biggest challenge was faced very early on. The realization soon set in that until the release of the Virginia Tech football schedule in late February, many local hotels in Roanoke and Blacksburg cannot secure a fall wedding date; Kristin decided that she really wanted to get married on September 26, 2009 at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Roanoke, Virginia. As we impatiently waited for the schedule to be released, checking the website multiple times a day, the time had finally come and the unthinkable happened, a Miami home game on the September 26th and they too would be staying at the Sheraton and using their ballroom the morning of the wedding. Nonetheless, Ginny Morgan, the Sheraton’s Catering Sales Manager, went to endless lengths to accommodate the wedding, quickly flip their ballroom and still maintain their superior service.
Wedding Weekend:
No detail was overlooked for the entire wedding weekend. As guests arrived to the Sheraton on Friday they received Welcome Bag’s at check-in. The rehearsal dinner, held at the Roanoke Country Club was decorated for an elegant BBQ. The tables were draped in black and white checkered linens with hanging lanterns as the centerpiece. A delicious buffet of southern comfort food was served before Kristin and Jan began presenting their wedding party with their gifts.
The weather report for Saturday, 100% chance of rain. Luckily Kristin’s photographer, Noah Magnifico of Magnifico Photography, had lots of suggestions for pictures in indoor locations around Roanoke, including Hotel Roanoke. He was able to get lots of great shots of the wedding party without letting rain get in the way of his creativity.
After pictures, the wedding party travelled to St. Andrews Catholic church for the ceremony. As Kristin made her way down the aisle, the sounds from the organ and trumpet, made a stunning and grandiose entrance, I even got chills on my arm! Afterwards guests travelled to the Sheraton to begin cocktail hour while the family stayed for pictures.
The ballroom at the Sheraton looked amazing, warm taupe table linens, mocha napkins and tall candle centerpieces designed by Jim Taetz of Crystal Orchid. The table numbers were bottles of wine with the couples monogram and the chocolates favors were made by Baylee’s Best Chocolate. The delicious wedding cake was made by Gail Wilson and had orange mini calla lily’s cascading down the sides. RSP Entertainment did a great job, the guests were energetic and dancing for hours, nobody wanted the night to end! When the couple arrived to their suite they found the letter “K” on the bed made in rose petals with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries (I love surprises!). Congratulations Kristin & Jan, it was such a pleasure to be a part of your wedding!
