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Jen & Chris in Charlottesville, VA

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Photos By: Lynne Brubaker Photography, Charlottesville

Event Planning: The Event Company

The couple chose to have their nuptials at their own home, “It was very special to be married at home and, now, to see the spot where it happened every day,” Jen says.

Jen and Chris exchanged vows outdoors, standing beneath a huge grapevine wreath hung from a large tree. Their 80 guests surrounded them sitting atop linen-covered hay bales.

Even the younger attendants fit the autumnal theme with rich-colored dresses and rustic bouquets.

Jen and Chris chose rustic, fall blooms for their ceremony decor and bouquets.

Hand-calligraphed cards attached to apples directed guests to their seats.

Being so busy with renovations, Jen put off shopping for a wedding gown until it was too late. “I honestly had no idea how long it took to get a wedding dress!” she remembers. It happened that designer Richard Glasgow was in the bridal salon packing up from a trunk show and overheard her dilemma. The two hit it off, and he soon offered to custom create a gown for Jen -- a strapless, ivory, silk gown accented with brown stitching on the bodice.

Chris had mowed an area in a field of three-foot-tall grass to create the space where the reception was held.

Dinner took place beneath a tent lit in amber and pink, and guests sat at long tables with burlap linens and brick-colored runners. Hand-calligraphed menus sat at each seat, along with napkins garnished with sprigs of fresh rosemary and rosehips.

Earthware vessels filled with millet, rosehips, red amaryllis, ranunculus, and asclepiad sat atop a burlap linen and brick-colored runner. Amber-hued piller candles and olive oil bottle also graced the tables, which were set with hammered coper chargers and napkins garnished with sprigs of fresh rosemary and rosehips.

The newlyweds kicked off the party with a first dance to David Gray’s “Sail Away With Me.”

Jen and Chris cut into a two-tiered tiramisu cake iced in buttercream.

Guests received small brown buckets filled with tulips or chrysanthemum bulbs as favors.

Jen and Chris met years ago when both were working for the alternative weekly newspaper in Charlottesville. Chris had just relocated from Rhode Island, and, he says, he and Jen “clicked from day one.”

The Bride Jen Fariello, 32, photographer
The Groom Chris Conklin, 32, graphic designer

Two years later, Chris presented Jen with a very special birthday gift -- a camera bag packed with goodies that represented their time together. Along with a favorite CD and a bottle of their favorite wine, Jen found a new favorite thing -- an engagement ring. The couple used their long engagement (four years!) to their advantage, planning out every detail of their intimate autumn wedding hosted at their Virginia home.

-- Kate Wood

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