As many of you know, sibling weddings are some of my favorite weddings to photograph. I met Stephanie at her sister’s wedding, where Ashley and Joe got married at Army Navy Country Club. Stephanie was her maid of honor. Stephanie and Rick’s wedding was totally different though from her sisters wedding which I thought was so neat. I absolutely loved that Stephanie, as a expert in charcuterie, boards and cheese and wine, picked a winery as her venue. It was very fitting for her to get married to Rick in wine country. Steph and Rick got married in beautiful Leesburg at Stone Tower Winery. 

The whole day was beautiful and fun. Just the way Stephanie wanted it. The girls got ready on site on property at a guest house where brides and their wedding parties can get ready. Everyone was beautiful, sweet, helpful, and enjoyable to be around. The groom and groomsmen got ready off site, but arrive, dressed and looking dapper. What a great group of dudes.

We had never been to Stone Tower Winery, but I knew I wanted to capture their day, her gown, her details and their beautiful wedding accents in a very special way. I asked permission if I could hang her gown over near the guest attraction at the brewery and the patio. The staff was super flexible and wonderful to work with and more than happy for me to do it. It probably helped that I dropped the fact that Stephanie is an Instagram influencer and specializes in all things, cheese and wine and it would mean so much to her. Check her out here over on Instagram. I knew they would hook us up on her behalf. 

On that note, we photographed her details prior to her getting ready alongside her bridesmaids, her mom and her sister. She shared a beautiful first look with her dad which I absolutely loved. I love her whole family. Like I said, shooting siblings wedding is so helpful because we actually know the families and have relationships going into the wedding day. 

Rick is such a cool dude. Down to earth and while he may not like getting his photos taken, he’s a stud.  He totally trusted us and championed through the day. But he is so proud to be Stephanie’s husband and was so excited to see her walk down the aisle. Guests arrived by cars and buses and were welcomed with a flute of a champagne spritzer.

Stephanie walk down the aisle, but she didn’t walk down from a building. She came out from the vineyards which was such an awesome and unexpected reveal. The ceremony overlooked the rolling hills of the venues property and we felt for a moment like we were in Sonoma California in wine country. 

Stephanie shared with me how excited she was for the cheese wheel that would be at cocktail hour. We made sure to get lots of pictures of that for her from different angles so that she could show it off.  

After ceremony, we got family photos done so they could get to cocktail hour and then we cruised all over property to get magical photos of our wedding party and newlyweds. Stone tower has sooo many options for photos and their grotto wall was one of my fav spots! And then their patio where cocktail hour is, wow, what a space and a view. Just gorgeous.

Reception is so beautiful! The space is neat because the ballroom is ground level but underneath the winery… sounds weird looks awesome and made sense when we saw it in person.  Some of my favorite moments of reception were speeches from dad and sister, the best man, their cake display, their first dance and their private lady dance, and hands down the time we had in the wine cave followed by their sparkler, bubble and champagne pop at the end of the night. Wow, just wow. 

Stephanie and Rick, I can’t eat charcuterie without thinking about you guys. I also loved our time together cruising all around Alexandria with you, the Dissingers and Ashley. We love you and think you’re awesome and can’t wait for what’s ahead for you guys!

VENDORS

Wedding Planning: Boxwood & Bloom Events

DJ + Uplighting: MyDeejay

Florals: Twinbrook Florist 

Wedding + Reception Venue: Stone Tower Winery 

Catering + Cake: Purple Onion Catering

Rentals: Select Events 

Transportation: Prestige Limousine