Valerie and Greg were married at the stunning Raspberry Plain mansion in Leesburg, VA and were surrounded by stunning unique and handmade details. As I mentioned in their blog post, as a young girl, Valerie read a story of a Japanese woman who dreamed of creating one thousand paper cranes before she died. It is believed in their culture that cranes are holy creatures who live for up to 1,000 years, so one must craft a crane for each year to be granted eternal good luck. Although Valerie said she didn’t believe the myth, she did love the tradition and wanted it to be part of her wedding day. She got to work, one by one, creating a labor of love (it took years, so it’s good she started on this project before they actually got engaged!). 

Once Greg proposed, she shared her vision of being married under these cranes she had so carefully developed over many years. He fully supported this idea and actually started building a bamboo frame from which they could hang them. The colorful cranes were hung from yards of fishing line, making it look as if they were floating behind them at their altar. It’s truly one of the more personal touches I’ve ever seen at a wedding and was such a joy to photograph. Greg’s mom, a professional baker, was excited to get in on the action as well! She developed fondant paper cranes that would accent their three-tiered cake as a nod to their design. In the end, it really was a blending of families that made this day a possibility!

I wanted to find the perfect blog to showcase their day and was ecstatic when the amazing wedding blog Fab You Bliss accepted their feature! They did such a great job showing off all of Valerie’s planning and it was such a fun way to relive their wedding day. Thank you again to Fab You Bliss!

See the full post here!