A Pastel Wedding That Brought the South of France to Virginia

A Closer Look

As they began envisioning their wedding, Gaby and Zach looked to their travels, especially a trip to the South of France, where they fell in love with the charm of the vineyards and the region's unhurried ease. Stone Tower Winery offered that feeling closer to home. Its rolling Virginia hillsides were wide open, and its vines recalled the countryside they had imagined. Gaby's approach to everything else was simple. Rather than use every idea she came across, she kept the ones that would make the day better for their guests.

With Margot & Co Creative, the couple held the ceremony on the lawn, where rows of white garden chairs stretched across the grass toward the hills. Gaby chose her favorite flower, the hydrangea, as the foundation of the floral design. True Floral heaped it in soft pink, white and green on either side of the altar, and a few tall stems rose high above the mounds. Before guests arrived, the couple exchanged private vows. It was a quiet moment to celebrate seven years together and look ahead to the next chapter.

Gaby wore a strapless silk gown with a clean, minimalist silhouette that she felt reflected both the European feel of the day and her own style. She finished it with a cathedral veil edged in lace. Lined up together, her bridesmaids showed the full palette in mismatched gowns of pink, butter yellow, sage and dusty blue. Each carried a loose bunch of yellow tulips, white blooms or greenery tied in long sage ribbon. They looked like they had been picked up at a French market on the way.

Cocktail hour moved to a gravel terrace overlooking a pond and the valley, where white market umbrellas with scalloped edges shaded small round tables. Escort cards framed in pink and green and tied with lace bows waited on silver trays around a tiered table, and crowned with an urn of white roses.

Inside, Voile & Veil hung custom draping from the ceiling. The tables took two forms. Wooden farm tables were laid with eyelet runners, petal-edged plates and green-printed napkins. Pink hydrangeas and roses ran down their centers and climbed from beds of moss at the ends. Others were dressed in sage botanical linens and filled with low masses of butter-yellow gerbera daisies beneath silver candelabras. As the sun went down, hundreds of candles were lit across the room. "It made the entire room feel incredibly romantic," the couple shared.

For the dancing, Gaby changed into a beaded halter dress. Her bridesmaids in pink and sage crowded the floor beside her, along with the guests she had planned every detail around.