Sweeney Barn Fun Winter Wedding

Wedding Highlight

Our first wedding of 2022 saw the fun-loving Sarah and Billy get married on a perfect weather day in early March at Sweeney Barn. We mean it when we say perfect weather! We’d planned an indoor ceremony assuming that it would be a typical colder late winter day for Manassas, Virginia, but were pleasantly shocked when the forecast continuously showed warmer temperatures and sunshine for their wedding weekend. We made the swap to an outdoor ceremony two days prior. All the vendors worked together quickly and seamlessly to swap the layout to outdoors and make adjustments in the timeline. It was worth it!

Keep reading for more of their easy-flowing, beautiful day below.

Pre-Ceremony Moments

The earlier parts of the day were devoted to getting ready, hanging out, and a sweet first look between Sarah and her father. Take a peek at the moment below! Seriously, it was the sweetest.

The couple’s photographer, Rob Jinks Photography, has a unique people-centric and artistic style of shooting. Honestly, we love it! You can feel the happiness and emotions in his photos. They are an accurate depiction of the day as a whole. Plus, we’re honored that he captured a few images of us doing our work – that’s rare!

The Ceremony

Sarah and Billy opted to not do a first look prior to the ceremony, so the moment of walking down the aisle was highly anticipated for both of them. They hired an officiant, Reverend Mary Stone, to oversee the ceremony itself. She did an incredible job of incorporating their story into the flow of the ceremony. Witnessing their love and legal union was a treat!

The Reception

If we know anything, it’s that Sarah and Billy’s family and friends know how to throw a party. From the speeches to the sparkler exit, their reception flowed easily from one exciting moment to another. Kudos to their DJ, Chris Laing of Black Tie Entertainment, for keeping the party going. This is our second time working with Chris – we highly recommend him!

Since the couple opted out of doing a first look, we stole them out for newlywed and sunset portraits before end-of-dinner toasts. On occasion, we have to get creative with the photography timeline to make sure the couple gets all the good photos without sacrificing any fun. This worked out well for everyone involved – the couple got some alone time taking photographs while guests went through the buffet line and ate. Wondering when the couple ate? Their plates were already at their sweetheart table when they entered the reception so they could eat during parent dances and the start of the buffet line! At minimum, we recommend hiring professionals to work out details like these; Sarah and Billy’s day wouldn’t have flowed so well without the excellent vendor team they assembled.

The venue itself, Sweeney Barn, includes a stunning line of chandeliers in the upper portion of the barn. We had control of the dimming for each individual chandelier, which made for some fun swaps of lighting during different parts of the night. Check it out in the photos! Included below is also a photo of their sweet private dance. We like to have our couples do that while we line their guests up for a special exit!