Elegant Virginia Manor Wedding with Military Traditions

After getting ready at the Willard hotel and taking photos around the Washington Monuments, the bride and groom made their way to the beautiful Bristow Manor. The bride wore a gorgeous lace gown and the groom wore his military evening dress suit.
During the ceremony, the couple did a “Love Letter & Wine Box Ceremony” tradition in which they placed private love letters into a box with a bottle of wine and sealed the box with a hammer. The box is to be opened on their 1st anniversary, wine shared, and love letters read. At the end of the ceremony, four Navy servicemen were there to do The Arch of the Swords Ceremony where the couple was asked to kiss before being able to pass underneath the swords. By tradition, the last serviceman gives the bride a tap on the backside with the sword and a “Welcome to the Navy” greeting.
The couple left by horse-drawn carriage and we went to a few locations in the fields and around the Manor for some photographs before enjoying the rest of their night dining and dancing at this beautiful mansion. Click here to view more images of this elegant manor wedding in Virginia