You might remember Tim & Megan’s theatrical engagement session (it was captured at the George Mason University theater – where their love story began), it’s the one with a super awesome setting, outfits, and Megan’s fire engine red hair (of which, I have SO much envy). Well now they’re back, but this time with their theater and movie-themed wedding in Virginia! Megan’s hair is still as brilliant as ever, but it’s their centerpieces that really got me this time! To mirror their love of film and literature the couple created pop-up book centerpieces that featured films that meant something to them as a couple or as individuals.
Yes, the groom designed and built over 10 pop-up books for their wedding centerpieces and then the couple painted the books over the course of several weekends. This groom DIYed even more than that too! He helped make the bouquets & bouts and designed the floorplan & lighting too!
I cannot even begin to explain just how awesome and badass these centerpieces and entire wedding are. So I won’t, I’ll just show you instead! Thanks to Stephen Gosling Photo (one of our AMAZING sponsors) for sharing this one!
 Tim & Megan’s Offbeat, Film & Literature Themed Wedding in Virginia
Vendors:
Photographer: Â Stephen Gosling Photography |Â Venue: Christ Church | Cake Designer: Fluffy Thoughts Cakes | Caterer: Ridgewells | Floral Designer: The Virginia Florist | Bride’s Gown: Ann’s Bridal | Groom’s Attire: Men’s Warehouse | Invitations: LilyPad Weddings | DJ & Lighting: Musical DJs | Bouquets & Boutonnieres: Sharon Nagassar Designs | Submitted via Two Bright Lights
The couple intended to be married in the fall as it is the couple’s favorite season. The colors of the season also matched the colors that the bride wanted for the wedding. Gold and the rich colors of eggplant, crimson, and orange just shout lavishness.
On their awesome wedding theme of combining film & literature:
After choosing a color scheme, Megan and Tim wanted to make their shared passion for storytelling the main theme for the wedding. Working with Lilypad, the couple designed save the dates and invitations that harkened back to old fashioned theatre tickets and movie announcements. To tie back to their dating story, Megan designed a “wedbill”, a wedding program formatted and designed just like a theatre playbill. For the cocktail hour, bundled stacks of antique books, which Megan and her sister found at used book stores, graced each table.
Click inside for the rest of Tim & Megan’s film & literature themed Virginia wedding!
On choosing their Northern Virginia wedding venue:
Choosing our wedding venue is a tale in and of itself. Here’s the cliff notes version. After becoming engaged, we decided to take our time planning the wedding. We originally planned to be wed in the bride’s home in Tennessee. Megan quickly discovered that planning a wedding from a distance would not work for her. After months of searching and actually booking one venue, the groom’s parents stumbled upon Christ Church and made first contact. Megan and Tim are the first non-member couple to be married at Christ Church. Taking a tour, the venue immediately spoke to the couple. George Washington and other historical figures attended there, the accompanying building is named “Fowler”, and the church had the best reception venue in the area. The church had everything: venues for ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception and a unique history, charm and beauty.
Talk about a labor of love – their friends & family helped out BIG TIME for their wedding:
The groom’s parents live locally and were a great help throughout the planning. The couple asked them to take over the catering research and scheduling, which worked out great. They scheduled the tasting with Ridgewells, which was one of the best choices of the entire wedding process. During the week of the wedding, the bride’s sister (she teleworked and took some extra vacation time) stayed with the couple. The couple would make her a daily to-do list which she would offer to complete. She even made dinner every night! She picked out the mums, which were used to decorate a stairwell to the reception hall, carved pumpkins, bought books for decorations, and ran those crazy, little errands that couples have right before a wedding. On Friday, she and the groom’s mother decorated the stairwell. Three dear friends transitioned items from the church to the reception on the wedding day. A very talented friend and former co-worker of the groom made the couple a card box; he designed, fabricated and painted it. Everyone at the wedding loved the box and wanted one for upcoming weddings.
Wanting the guests to leave with something they could use, the couple decided to use old-time, stripped popcorn containers and fill them with candy and popcorn. Tim designed the chocolate bar wrapper to resemble the save-the-date.
Tim made the cake topper as a chess king and queen as Tim taught Megan how to play chess when they were dating.
Talk about a DIY groom!!
Tim also built most of the bouquets himself, selecting real-touch flowers online to assemble them. Using his design skills, Tim modeled the spaces in CAD and then designed the lighting and arranged the seating.
OK and now the COOLEST wedding centerpieces you will EVER see. Seriously. Ever:
To combine film and literature, Megan and Tim thought to create pop-up books that featured films that were important to them as a couple and as individuals. Tim designed and built the books and pop-up figures. Watching their favorite movies, the couple painted the books over several weekends.
When making their entrance at the reception, the DJ played Star Wars’ IV final scene (throne room). All the guests cheered when they finally recognized the music when the Star Wars theme played. During dinner, the DJ played movie themes from composer such as Danny Elfman, John Williams, Reinhold Heil, and others.
As Alexandria does not permit sparklers, Megan researched alternatives and found a wholesale dealer for fiber-optic sparklers.
Congratulations Tim & Megan! Thank you for sharing your super awesome, literature & film themed wedding with us! A special thanks again to Stephen Gosling Photography for sharing this Virginia wedding with us via Two Bright Lights.
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