Christmas Wedding: Congratulations Sarah and Will!

Snow! Christmas! And lots of love! Sarah and Will had a beautiful, elegant, winter wedding with just the right touches of the holiday season. Sarah got ready for the day at the couple’s home in Alexandria, Virginia.

The ceremony took place at the Falls Church Presbyterian in Falls Church, Virginia. The stone church is surrounded by holly bushes and the grounds were covered in fresh white snow.

A sword arch is a special military tradition that requires the couple to kiss in order to pass under each set of swords. The tradition is meant to salute the newly married couple.

Sarah shares, “We chose to do a December wedding because that was the timeline our lives was leading us towards and we both love the holidays and liked the idea of capitalizing on the excitement and joy of the season. That said, we deliberately sought to go light on Christmas up until the reception, that way we could have some pictures and memories that weren’t entirely associated with Christmas!

I went to college in Scotland and we both have Scottish heritage so the thistle between all of the bouquets and boutonnières seemed appropriate. Another common theme in the flowers was the boxwood, which was included in honor of my dad (who loves and collects boxwood). We also weaved William’s family tartan into the aesthetic too, using it to wrap the bouquets, boutonnières, and for the flower girl sashes—I even had my shoes covered in it!

William added, “Sarah made me special chocolate chip cookies for the wedding reception (because I love her cookies and she spoils me!) but they were accidentally delivered to me early before the ceremony. While this was slightly distressing to Sarah when she caught wind of what happened, they were actually the perfect sugar pick me up that I needed to make it through the ceremony.”

William shares, “Our reception was at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington. We chose the club for several reasons. Growing up, I spent a lot of time there because my dad was also in the Navy and he was stationed in Northern Virginia for most of my childhood. When Sarah and I started dating we began going to the club together more and more and it quickly became a special place for us as a couple. Also, when we decided on December we gravitated towards the club because it looks particularly awesome at Christmas time.”

Sarah adds, “When it came to the reception we completely embraced Christmas! The club made that easy though since they had decorated for the season already with garland and Christmas trees everywhere. For the centerpieces we had boxwood wreaths and hurricanes with cranberries in water and floating candles. We had the guests take the wreaths for their doors at the end of the reception which was pretty fun! My favorite touch though was that we put together stockings for all of the kids who came and hung them on the fireplaces for them to open after dinner.”

Sarah and William danced their first dance to “Sleep on the Floor,” by The Lumineers.

The club looked particularly beautiful with all the Christmas decorations.

A blessing was said before dinner and then Sarah and her dad and William and his mom shared special parent dances.

The cake topper was custom made by the groom’s sister to represent the couple’s childhood stuffed bears that they both have to this day.

At the end of the evening guests were given little carol books and asked to join the bride and groom in the main lobby to sing some of their favorite Christmas songs. It was such a sweet and unique way to end the evening!