Hey friends. Today we are sharing Alanna and Niall’s Whitehall Estate mini wedding. 

So they got married at Whitehall Estate up in Northern Virginia. In Bluemont. Michael thinks that Northern Virginia is all one place. Anywhere north of Fredericksburg and south of Maryland is northern Virginia. Haha

Bluemont was just gorgeous though. It was the perfect time of year to get married there. The trees were insane the temperature was perfect. It was a perfect day.

They are planning to continue the party next year as well.

Arriving at Whitehall Estate

So it was just their immediate family and bridal party members who attended. I think it was like 19 people. We got there early as we always do on the wedding day. We were shooting details of the building which is just gorgeous. Stepping on all the persimmons which were all over the ground.

I texted the maid of honor which was actually a past bride of ours. Saying, ‘hey we’re here just checking in’. They were running a little bit late and weren’t there yet. And she said ‘we’re almost there’. 

What we didn’t realize is that all 19 guests and Alanna and Niall, came on a party bus. They had rented it like a limousine bus for them to all travel to Whitehall Estate together. (And their dog came later.)

They all came on the bus and arrived at the same time. Then Alanna of ran to the back of the house to the bridal suite put on her dress the fastest that I have ever seen a bride get ready.

She had a really sweet moment with her mom after getting her dress on. An adorable first look with her dad. And stepped right out of the bridal suite doors to Whitehall’s beautiful property and had a first look with Niall.

We’ve never shot at Whitehall Estate before. They have a number of different ceremony spots. Alanna and Niall decided to have their ceremony facing the mountains/rolling hills of fall color for their fall Whitehall Estate mini wedding.

It was kind of fun. On the spot they were deciding what their timeline was. Because they were running a little bit late, they were making decisions of when to take pictures and when to have their ceremony right then. Which was easy because everyone has come together.

Whitehall Estate Mini wedding details

So they did their ceremony which was fantastic. It was officiated by one of our past brides/maid of honor.  And videoed by a future bride.

Usually, we hate when people have their phones out during their ceremonies. Be present, enjoy the ceremony, and we will take pictures for you. We promise to share them.  But I am loving seeing everyone videoing in people who weren’t able to be there.

Niall’s family is actually from Ireland, so they weren’t able to all travel over. Which I think is one of the reasons that they decided to make it smaller this year, aside from Covid concerns. But it was really sweet that they were still able to watch it.

I love when people pick a family or friend to be a part of the wedding in that way. As an officiant. Those are our favorite weddings.

It was such a relaxed and laid-back day. Which I think is one of the coolest parts of these mini weddings. Just the stress of the day is so much lower.

We did family and bridal party in two different spots. Because at Whitehall Estate, you can’t really pick a bad spot.  Then, we took a few more of Alanna and Niall before sunset. Or really post sunset.

It was pretty dark when we were taking pictures but that meant that Michael got to do a flash one which is one of his favorites.

The benefits of a mini wedding

After that, they did their reception.  It was amazing. It was one long table in the beautiful Whitehall Estate home. He is saying that it was amazing because Alanna and Niall invited us to sit at the table and stay. So we were sitting at the bride and groom’s table.

It was so sweet of them to have us come sit down with them for the meal.  And it was the BEST MEAL. It was delicious.  Then dinner was over they hopped on the bus and went to another party.  It was such a fun day.

I know I have said it a thousand, million times but I am loving mini weddings. That sucks and it’s terrible that people are having to adjust. But I think that it is so cool that people are able to have these intimate, casual, not so stressed weddings while still being able to have a huge party for their anniversary.

I say casual, but they all looked flawless. Alanna’s dress was incredible.  The suits were amazing.  The bridesmaids’ dresses were some of my favorites to date.

But it was such a calm, relaxed day.  Even running late.. which you would assume would make things really stressful. 

Enjoy some of our favorites from this mini wedding.

See Alanna and Niall’s engagement session