I met Christine and Dallas through my sweet long time friend Amanda. Christine grew up loving fairytales and the classic Disney films, like Beauty and the Beast. So, it should come as no surprise that their romantic Dover Hall wedding was the epitome of a Disney movie fairytale. Lush pink petals and rose vines trailed the grand staircase of their Manakin-Sabot, Virginia wedding venue. Antique keys and dusty rose ribbon place cards escorted the way to a luxurious pink and cream table setting. Similarly, the gold bridal suite (aka: the color of Belle’s dress) where Christine got ready in at Dover Hall Estate was the icing on the cake. Every aspect of their wedding day was just perfection, from the perfect 60 degree day in January, to the snowy send-off at the end of the night.
What’s better than glamming it up in Dover Hall’s bridal suite with RVA hair and makeup artist, Jennifer Saunders? Y’all, there is so much to love about this wedding venue.
Our bride started off her wedding day with this gorgeous view and a champagne toast with her bffs right before spending some time with her mom and maid of honor sister getting ready.
Shhhh…. here comes the reveal!
Yay! You look so stunning, Christine!
The parlor room and the bridal suite at Dover Hall Estate have this great window light that’s just perfect for some classic, timeless bridal portraits. Our RVA bride’s floral bouquet and wedding theme fit in perfectly with this space. Oh, and we cannot get enough of the photo of her grinning really big on the yellow sofa. It’s definitely one of our favorites from this part of the day.
While the bridesmaids got ready in one section of the venue, the groomsmen got ready in another: the billiards room. You’ve got to see this space; it’s so cool. It has animal print, a sleek leather couch, and a huge pool table. It made for some really neat getting ready indoor type photos for our groom and his squad, which we followed up with more photos outside beneath the pergola. This day looked so stunning from every angle. Dave knocked these photos out of the park.
Dover Hall has this grand staircase into the ballroom that’s perfect for some formal portraits (check out the first image in this post). It also doubles as an entrance into the ballroom, where our couple’s ceremony took place. We love this view looking at the bride and her dad walking down the aisle and seeing everyone’s reaction.
Oh my gosh, we mentioned that this day was straight romance, right? The trailing roses, towering florals, candles, and cream everything was just so dang beautiful.
You’re married; you did it! Congratulations to our newest #sarahanddavephotography newlyweds!
Dover Hall has a ton of great spots for photos. Because the weather was so awesome, we took full advantage outdoors and indoors and got some pictures in the ballroom, on the staircase, in the courtyard, on the lawn, on the balcony, and at the front entrance. Of course, we had to include the name of their RVA wedding venue in their formal portrait session. A funny moment that happened here was when Christine wanted to get one with all of the groomsmen swooning over her ring. Their reactions made us laugh so hard.
After the wedding ceremony, the ballroom was transformed into this romantic Dover Hall wedding reception that’s literally straight out of our dreams. Vintage decor, like mercury glass candle holders, silver trays for name cards, gold skeleton keys, and about a million roses filled all of the table settings. It was so pretty. The crew at Dover Hall Estate, Belles & Whistles, and Tourterelle Floral Design did an amazing job with this one.
The temperature today was 60 degrees with sun, so of course, there wasn’t actual snow here. But y’all, the fake snow used here was so cool! It wasn’t real, so our bride wasn’t freezing as she and her HUSBAND made their grand exit. Oh, and we made sure to get the Dover Hall sign in the backdrop, because their Richmond venue is just the coolest. Dover Hall, we’ll be back in a month or so for another epic wedding day! And to our couple, y’all are the best. We wish you a life of fairytale moments and Disney dreams.
Planning | Shannon Ontell and Honey Armstrong with Belles & Whistles RVA
Venue | Dover Hall Estate
Flowers | Lucia Evans-Morse with Tourterelle Floral Design
Hair & Makeup | Jennifer Saunders Bridal
Wedding Dress Designer | Martina Liana
Bridal Dress Shop | Elegance By Roya
Bridesmaids Dresses | Dessy from Brideside
Videography | Micah DeVries with DeVries Productions
DJ | John Lukehart with Black Tie Entertainment
Calligraphy | Victoria Oley with Pen and Chic
Wedding Cake | Jenny Peterson with Paradox Pastry Cafe
Bridal Shoes | Badgley Mischka
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