Welcome back to Merritt and Sean’s at-home tented wedding in Upperville, Virginia, which is just outside of Middleburg. If you missed part 1 and part 2, please check them out. So much gorgeousness from Katie Stoops Photography. Today I am going over the reception. The Skyline Tent Company Sperry tent was set at the bottom of the hill below the home, where the ceremony and cocktail hour occurred. The tent overlooked the pond, and the slope of the ground was close to 14 feet for just the tent, so we had a pretty significant floor installed. It was important to us that the guests entered the tent at floor level, and not greeted by a tall wall of structural support and a flight of steps to enter the tent. As you can see, the entrance to the tent was right off the driveway, and we dressed it up with a ton of greenery and a gorgeous wreath. We also put a light here so that guests would be able to depart the tent safely at the end of the night.
The awesome silver chairs came from DC Rental. The linens and cushions came from La Tavola, who is based in California so Merritt actually got to pick them out herself in person. The gorgeous flowers were created by Lavender Green. The lanterns over the dance floor were from Pottery Barn and installed by Skyline Tent Company. Merritt and Sean sat with their wedding party and their guests at a long head table, while the remainder of their family and friends sat at round tables around them.
As I mentioned before, Merritt and Sean are both car enthusiasts and work in the automotive industry. Merritt had her floral vessels custom designed by a Californian and shipped to Virginia for the wedding. The base of the arrangement is a car brake disk, and the stem is a cam shaft from a car engine.
Shortly before the wedding, Merritt’s parents decided to add a deck onto the pond side of the tent. Skyline Tent Company was happy to oblige. We brought in some furniture from AFR, as well as cocktail tables and more of the Pottery Barn lanterns for decor.
Design Cuisine catered the wedding and they more than knocked it out of the park. When guests arrived at the tent, the tables were preset with an amuse bouche of a trio of compressed melon. First course was a caprese napoleon with basil sorbet. Dinner was a choice of filet mignon, halibut or roasted chicken.
The wedding cake, adorned with engine turbine-inspired pinwheels and atop a cake stand made of cam shafts, as well as the groom’s Nissan Skyline cake, were made by chef Jason Reeves. Immediately after the cake cutting, we had a surprise fireworks display from Digital Lightning. The Fabulous Classics from Atlanta kept the dance floor packed all night long. At the end of the night, Merritt and Sean left the reception in a vintage Cadillac from Prime Transportation.
Many thanks to Katie Stoops for all the gorgeous photos.
