Destination Classic Black Tie Wedding

Adam Barnes Photography

Cara and Adam live in NYC, but they dreamed of hosting their guests in the beauty of the south. After searching all over the southeast, Keswick Hall in beautiful Keswick, VA became their destination of choice.
This classic black tie wedding exudes elegance and sophistication. The two were surrounded by guests as they said their vows under a canopy of the beautifully simplistic huppah with much cheer as they recessed as newlyweds! Fill up on ideas from the full gallery here, captured by Adam Barnes Photography.

shining silver wedding shoes

getting wedding ready

long pink bridesmaids dresses

blush bridesmaids ideas

classic black groosmen attire

once chance to wear a veil

The best advice I can give to future brides is to enjoy every minute of your wedding, this was the piece of advice I heard most often when planning our wedding, but it was also the most pertinent. The day goes by in a blink, so enjoy every second surrounded by friends and family celebrating this amazing day with the one you love. We were incredibly fortunate, in that, after the wedding we both said to one another that we wouldn't have changed a thing. I am a huge proponent of veils, it's the only time you get to wear one and they are so simple and yet so beautiful; I had two, one long veil for the ceremony and one short veil for the reception, I know some brides choose not to wear one, but to me it is quintessentially bridal.

wedding ceremony draped arch

lovely classic wedding ceremony

roses used for ceremony decor

beautiful classic wedding ceremony

Black Tie requirements

If you've been invited to a fancy wedding then there's a possibility that the dress code will be black tie and you'll need to dress appropriately or you risk offending the couple. According to Beckett Simonon, black tie requirements are as follow. The famous tuxedo is the main character here. Despite the name, nowadays it’s also accepted in midnight dark blue. Another variation is with white dinner jacket and black pants but it’s only advisable for warm weather. The traditional attire includes: single breasted tuxedo (with or without silk facings), black cummerbund, black bow tie, white turn-down spread collar shirt (with a pleated front) and black formal shoes such as oxfords. Ladies, dress appropriately to match your man's classy attire.

black tie attire for wedding

black tie wedding attire ideas

Don't be afraid to change your mind

I did learn that through the planning process there are a lot of opinions, but in the end we found that we were really happy that we chose to go with what we liked the best, even if that wasn't necessarily consensus. Right before the wedding we had a meeting with our florist where we saw samples of the centerpieces and while they were beautiful we decided we wanted a few tweaks, additions and changes, so we sat with our amazing florists and we edited and played and the end result on the day of our wedding was so much more than we ever could have imagined. So future brides have fun with the planning, don't be afraid to change your mind, and most importantly don't stress out because in the end it truly will be a magical day.

favor bag with assorted goodies