At Fearrington House Restaurant, Real Weddings
Hannah & Christopher
Hannah & Christopher tied the knot on October 15, 2017. These newlyweds said their “I do”s under the Willow Oaks and danced the day away on The Garden Terrace!
How did you and your partner meet?
Christopher and I first met at work. We both worked together at a spa for years.
Tell us about the engagement?
It happened on October 18, 2016. We were in the process of moving in together trying to take our relationship to the next level, or at least seeing where it was going to go. After a long day, we decided to have dinner at Chuck’s in downtown Raleigh. Usually after eating, we will go for a little walk, especially downtown. Instead of walking around Raleigh he asked me if I wanted to walk around the art museum. The art museum is one of the places we will go for a run, workout or just to walk and talk. I gave him a confused look and said “I guess so, but it’s dark outside. We won’t be able to walk very far”. But we went there anyways, me oblivious to his reason as to why he picked that spot. That night had a nice cool breeze and he asks me should he take a jacket. I am always cold, so I said “yes”, but he gets hot easily, so again, not really sure why he asked my opinion about the jacket. I get out and wait for him to get his jacket from the back seat. We walk towards the main building looking at the sculptures and talking. We were heading back from the building on the left and stopped in front of the water feature and the huge statute in front.
He looks at me and smiles and I say “what?” and just start laughing. And I asked him if he was thinking what I was thinking. He says “what were you thinking?” My response was “I was thinking about pushing you into the water” as I laughed. We tend to play a lot and I thought it would be a funny prank. He laughs and tells me “Noooo”. As he is laughing he pulls a box from his jacket pocket. My jaw dropped and I was completely shocked! I said “Are you serious right now?!” I was not expecting him to propose. Our previous conversations led me to believe that he would propose by next year after we had lived together for a while. He grabs my hand as he gets on one knee and I just start balling my eyes out. He’s trying to keep it together and I’m trying to listen to his proposal with butterflies in my stomach, shaking my head in disbelief and big crocodile tears running down my face. He says “Hannah Bernice Mitchell (figures he would use my full name, lol), will you do me the honor of being my wife?” I shook my head yes and for a split second realized I actually need to same something. My answer was obviously yes!
What made Fearrington the place for you to say “I do?’
We both have been to the Fearrington a few times before and love the quiet and beautiful scenery. We made a deal that I would allow him to pick the venue, but had the final say so on everything else. I was trying to be fair, but the Fearrington was just an obvious choice.
Describe the highlight moment of your wedding day.
The biggest moment for me, although there were many, was when I was walking down the aisle with my dad and Christopher wipes tears from his eyes. I smiled so hard, but it was so sweet because he is not a crier and we had a bet going as to whether or not he would cry. I won!
What was the biggest surprise of the day?
The biggest surprise for me was when my mom gave Christopher a hug after the wedding. They did not see eye to eye at first and in the end they showed love to one another. It made me cry.
Anything you want to add about your wedding story?
Our wedding was a perfect day! The sun came out just at the right moment, and the weather couldn’t have been better. The food was delicious and the décor was fabulous! I could not have been happier that day with the way things went. To the Fearrington staff, thank you for all of your hard work and dedication!
This wedding was designed and coordinated by Fearrington’s own Gilda McDaniel. Photography by Krystal Kast