If you are not from the Winchester, VA area, do you know about the Handley Library? I didn’t until Olivia’s email came through at the end of January and I promptly texted my cousin Robin, she herself a Winchester native, and asked, “Where can I shoot in Winchester!?” Olivia and Nathan were planning on eloping at the start of spring, a super-private affair that Olivia tells me is a tradition in her family with her parents and grandparents all having courthouse weddings and it felt right to do the same. The gut. You gotta go with it.

Our original plan was to meet at the courthouse for the ceremony and portraits afterward, and the evening before the wedding, the forecast was pure misery. Cold, rainy, overcast….all. day. long. We talked about moving to a new location that wasn’t super ideal for what she envisioned but when you don’t have all the moving parts of a “big” wedding day, you can simply bump things ahead a day and find yourself with sunny skies and a cool breeze and everything you hoped for.

And a bonus – the historic Handley Library is closed on Sundays so we had the entire property to ourselves and we made some serious magic (minus the brief moment when I accidentally kicked over the open champagne bottle and we toasted to all the books inside). What a special day for two wonderful people!

Getting married in Winchester, VA? See more weddings here and then get in touch, I’d love to hear from you!