Brooke & Casey had their hearts set on an outdoor wedding at Ash Lawn-Highland, the historic home of James Monroe. Unfortunately one of our first warm-weather thunderstorms necessitated a change to Plan B: ceremony under the pavilion with the beautiful green countryside as a backdrop. Once the rain stopped it was truly one of the most idyllic and beautiful days in the Virginia countryside that I'd ever witnessed. And, apparently, there was even a double rainbow in the sky behind us for a good part of the ceremony... the photo here shows you what remained by the time the ceremony was over.

Another unique feature of having a wedding at Ash Lawn is that you can actually "rent" James Monroe himself (a wonderful fellow who embodies Mr. Monroe and never, ever breaks out of character) who will greet your guests, welcoming them to his home and so forth. At first the guests seem quite tentative wondering if this guy's "for real"... but then they catch on and really enjoy his presence and amazing knowledge of the life and times of James Monroe.

Casey and Brooke included a wonderful little ritual as part of their ceremony: before the ceremony began officially both the bride and groom's mothers came up front and then invited family members (that had been pre-planned) two by two to come up with a handfull of flowers to add to the bride's bouquet and say a few words about the part of the family that they were honoring. At the end, the mothers tied up the bouquet with beautiful ribbons and went out to present it to the bride before she walked down the aisle. A lovely ritual honoring family and giving the Mother's a wonderful way of participating in the ceremony.

If you would like to find out more about having your wedding at Ash Lawn-Highland give Baylor a call at 434-293-9539 and visit their website too.