Today we are sharing Allison & Tyler’s historic Waverly Estate Virginia wedding in Lunenberg this summer. 

If you haven’t heard of Waverly Estate, it’s a historic home with gorgeous getting ready spaces, a chapel on the property in case it rains or want an indoor ceremony, and a gorgeous new permanent tent reception space. Yea, it’s like a proper reception hall with a real roof, proper bathrooms and kitchen, but all the walls are screened doors that open up. It was especially good on their wedding day because it initially was raining, but then the skies cleared up and turned into a beautiful evening.

They also have an additional space that’s a small hotel right in town a few minutes from the venue. It is not close to any hotels, so its good that they have a place to stay nearby. 

Allison & Tyler’s Engagement

So we shot Allison and Tyler’s engagement session exactly a year ago to the day. It’s all the anniversaries. Their first date, engagement session, and now wedding all share the same date. Yea, and Allison and Tyler just graduated college, and being so young, these two are so caring and all about thinking of others before themselves. Yea Allison was so sweet, and such a doll as a person. And Tyler reminds me why I love our business so much. We often have these grooms that are super involved, and Tyler is the best of the lot. There wasn’t a moment when he was tired of photos, or over something that was happening, he was just there to make sure Allison had everything that she wanted on the day.

Even when they left, we normally just wave and say goodbye, but Allison and Tyler both came over from dancing to give us a hug and say how thankful they were for us to be there and how much fun they had. 

A few highlights – Historic Waverly Estate Virginia Wedding

Allison’s first look with her dad was so cute. Allison’s dad gave her a necklace during their first look, her mom was there, and that moment was really adorable.Tyler’s youth pastor married them, and it was the most adorable ceremony ever. They were both so excited the entire time, and couldn’t wait. And Allison was jumping with excitement throughout the ceremony. Also, it rained quite a bit, and they had the best demeanor!

1. Setting expectations for speeches

You can set a limit for how long you want your toast speakers to be, like Allison and Tyler did. They told each one to talk for about a minute long. Sometimes speeches can drag on longer than expected, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it is a good idea to let your speakers to know how long you’d like them to talk for.

2. Secret Honeymoon – Historic Waverly Estate Virginia Wedding

As a gift for their bridal shower, they asked if their family would surprise them with planning the honeymoon! Allison and Tyler planned most of their wedding on their own, so giving the family the task of planning the honeymoon was a great idea! They told their family their budget, and some guidelines, but left it open so their family could plan the rest. They organized daily excursions, itineraries for travel, and accommodation, all planned out. Sometimes people are really excited and want to help, and this is a great way to get those people involved.

3. Sparkler and Champagne farewell

Allison and Tyler had a long reception and we left before the end. It’s always going to be better value to have your photographers come to capture more of the beginning of the day rather than stay through a long reception of mostly just dancing. So they planned a ‘fake exit’ that wasn’t really even a fake exit. It was more of a fun idea that helps mark the reception, and only pulled their bridal party out and shared a fun moment with them. Bridal party all had sparklers while Allison and Tyler shook up some champagne. A great way to mark the end of the evening without stopping the party!

Enjoy all of our favorites from Allison and Tyler’s historic Waverly Estate Virginia wedding. Congrats you guys!

The vendor Team

Wedding Planner | Johanna Milby @jlmdesignandevents
Florist | Over the Top Flower Shop @overthetopflowers
Bakery | Carytown Cupcakes @carytowncupcakes, Fat Rabbit @fatrabbitcakes
DJ | Chuck with Cluster Entertainment @clusterentertainment
Bridal Salon | Urban Set Bride @urbansetbride Style: Lillian West @bylillianwest SEAMS Alterations @seamsalterations 
Bridesmaid’s Dresses | Azazie @azazieofficial
Videographer | Alex Wheeler Media @alexwheelermedia