Romance in the Air

Inspired by the 1950s marriages of her grandmothers and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn, Rachel Waybright creates her own unique and timeless wedding in Romance, West Virginia.

Rachel Waybright & Terry Tignor
Romance | 09.26.09

Written by Nikki Bowman
Photography by Justin & Mary

Before Rachel Waybright and Terry Tignor were even engaged they knew who they wanted to photograph their wedding—nationally acclaimed photographers Justin and Mary Marantz of Connecticut. Mary, who is from Richwood, West Virginia, and a graduate of West Virginia University, had photographed Terry’s best friend’s wedding. “Justin and Mary are highly selective and sought after, so when they agreed to be our photographers, I booked my wedding around their open dates a year in advance,” Rachel says.

Soon after, Terry proposed and Rachel began planning her dream wedding. “Even though we had limited resources, I still wanted something different. I wanted our wedding to be a celebration of our love for each other and not focus on the commercialism of many modern weddings.” Rachel looked into the past for inspiration. She explains, “During the 1950s, weddings were simple and elegant. This is what I dreamed of for our wedding—classic and timeless.”

The Details… Rachel enjoyed every minute of the planning process. She reveled in the details. “People told me to take the time to enjoy planning the wedding, and I’m glad I did because the actual wedding day came and went quickly,” she says. “Planning should be treated as part of the whole wedding celebration.” “My vision definitely evolved as I gathered ideas,” she says. I didn’t want it to be
dated. I didn’t want to look back at the pictures years from now and say, ‘That was a 2009 wedding.’”

Rachel, a fan of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Funny Face, used Audrey Hepburn as one of her inspirations. “The first gift that Terry ever gave me was from Tiffany’s, so I wanted to incorporate that aspect of our relationship without using the typical Tiffany Blue color scheme,” she says.

One of the first things most brides do when planning their wedding is choose a color palette. But color wasn’t a dominant factor for Rachel. “I didn’t want the color to dictate the details,” she says. However, she knew she wanted to incorporate peacock feathers. She says, “I was a princess in the Mountain State Forest Festival, and that year the color theme of the highland pageantry was taken from the vibrant jewel tones of the peacock feather. The feathers were also incorporated into our headpieces, and I loved it. When planning our wedding, I chose everything with a purpose.”

The Dress… Rachel’s dress was a showstopper. Reminiscent of her grandmothers’ 1950s tea-length wedding gowns, it set the stage for the entire wedding. “I spent three months combing the Internet and magazines for a dress. I just wasn’t finding what I was looking for,” she recalls. “Although I was leaning towards something vintage-inspired, I didn’t want my dress to be a costume.”

After combing the country, she finally found the perfect gown in her hometown at Vienna Floral and Bridal Boutique in Vienna. “It is a really small shop and I didn’t expect to find anything there, but my mother encouraged me to visit,” she recalls. “I’m so glad we did. After we left, my mother told me that she had bought her own wedding dress there. That just made it extra special.” The gown that Rachel tried on bore little resemblance to the dress she would end up wearing on her special day. “It was a full-length gown with a four-foot train and was several sizes too big,” Rachel says. “But I loved the open back and the bow details—that’s what everyone looks at anyway.” She immediately visited Nguyet Tran of Professional Tailor of Vienna.

“When I showed Nguyet the dress and asked her to transform it into a tea-length gown, her mouth dropped open and she said, “You want me to cut it all off?” “I knew I wanted a tea length dress because, well…I love shoes,” Rachel laughs. “I spent a lot of time finding them, I didn’t want my shoes to be hidden underneath a dress!” Rachel didn’t have just one pair of shoes for her wedding day. She splurged on a pair of pearl satin “Nooka” Christian Louboutin slingbacks for the ceremony, and then changed into a pair of bright red “Keeden” satin Kate Spade heels for the reception.

The Ceremony… Rachel and Terry’s intimate ceremony was held at Fisher Chapel United Methodist Church in Romance, West Virginia. The chapel was decorated with white roses and carnations. White carnation wreaths hung from the pews. Two large arrangements of white roses, Granny Smith apples, peacock feathers, and gold poppy pods adorned the front of the church.

The Reception… The reception was held in The Clay Center’s Walker Theater. The neon blue light around the perimeter of the room was perfect for the jazz-club. A 6-foot-tall cast iron tree with seed lights, created by Winter Floral, transformed the escort card table into a focal point. “I made all the cards. I bought vintage Happy Housewife cards and peacock postcards that I found on Etsy.com and placed them in frames from the Dollar Store. I didn’t want it to be matchy-matchy,” Rachel says. Arrangements of peacock feathers, apples, and blue thistle were chosen as centerpieces for each table. “Winter Floral was amazing. They were so much fun to work with and the arrangements and bouquets were stunning,” says Rachel. Rachel turned to her grandmothers’ 1950s wedding pictures for inspiration on cake design. The
three-tiered, white almond cake with raspberry filling was displayed atop a 13-inch blue Depression
glass pedestal.

The Photography. “I desperately wanted to be a ”Justin & Mary” bride! Their photos are nothing short of phenomenal. We didn’t cut corners on the photography,” says Rachel. “Mary and Justin are devoted to their craft, and I knew we wouldn’t be treated like just another wedding.” Rachel believes that her choice in photographers was one of the most important decisions she made. “The flowers are dead. The dress is in the closet. The pictures are all I have left. Mary and Justin painted my wedding memories for me,” she says. “We got more than pictures. We got art.”