Rustic Chic Wedding at Bluemont Vineyard in Virginia

Sometimes, even in a crowded room, persistence pays off. Such was the case for Kyle Strayer, who three years ago was staffing a booth at the World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas, just across the aisle from a booth under the charge of Lalaine (Lally) Gruttemeyer. Though it was a bustling convention over several days with a steady stream of attendees, nothing could keep Kyle from noticing Lally. He asked her out while the two were still in Vegas, and though she declined, they kept in contact after each returned home, he to Erie, Pennsylvania, she to Newport News, Virginia.

Eventually they got together, shortening the miles of their long-distance relationship by often meeting halfway between the two cities, including at a little vineyard near Leesburg. “Bluemont was where we really got to know each other and fall in love,” says Lally, a portfolio manager at a bank in Erie, so it made sense that they would return to their favorite winery to be married. Their celebration was filled with personal touches, from handwritten vows to heartfelt toasts from family and friends to bountiful floral arrangements. “It was the most incredible day of my life,” says Kyle.