I love garden weddings! There’s something so romantic and whimsical about a garden wedding and I’ve always been partial to them – maybe it’s because I also love flowers and vibrant colors and anything that makes me think of warmer months like a lush garden does. One of my favorite garden wedding venues in Northern Virginia is Green Spring Gardens Park, which is run by Fairfax County Parks Services. It’s absolutely beautiful and has two distinct garden areas, a gazebo, a historic house, and a short walk away there’s a pond with an additional gazebo that I haven’t even gotten to explore yet! I photographed portraits here a few times before – you can see a highlight of my favorite sessions and spots within the park on my Green Spring Gardens location spotlight. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to photograph at Green Spring Gardens, so I was thrilled to hear that Kris and Andrew were hosting their micro wedding at the gazebo here!

Kris is the sister of another Beauty of the Soul Studio bride, Sarah – who also had a small COVID wedding just a few months ago when she and Adam tied the knot at St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church. Their family is super sweet and while I’m bummed for them that they had two weddings affected so deeply by the pandemic, I’m so glad I got to be among the small group of people celebrating with them. They pulled together this micro wedding so well! The family bought a ton of flowers to arrange in front of the gazebo where they would exchange vows, and hung simple but beautiful white drapery inside to dress it up a bit. Kris had a dreamy wedding dress with puffy sleeves and a flow-y skirt, and her hair was styled long which added to that dreamy vibe. Andrew had a simple, dapper suit and they were good to go!

As much as I love and appreciate wedding ceremonies (and really, I do!) I also have to say that getting to photograph bride and groom portraits in the vibrant, blooming garden was a DREAM. The flowers were perfect on the cusp of fall – still a ton of greenery, bright colors like pink and blue and purple, and just the hint of fall colors coming through the trees above. Even though there were a few people enjoying the nice weather (well, mostly nice – it did sprinkle on us a bit before the ceremony started!) there was enough privacy to allow the couple to comfortably take their masks off for this portion of their day. And that translated well into their photos, which feel intimate and private as well! We could have spent a full hour shooting in these gardens and exploring the rest of the park grounds but alas, their lunch plans with family awaited and we managed to get a huge variety of beautiful photos in just 30 or so minutes.

I can’t wait to photograph more weddings here in the future! In the meantime, I’ll be daydreaming about this gorgeous garden wedding in Northern Virginia!