Weddings

Real Weddings: A Policy Advisor’s Rustic Virginia Wedding with a Traditional Korean Paebaek

Sabina Kook and Aaron Mintz wed in July of 2017 at Tranquility Farm in Purcellville, VA.

All Photography by Sincereli Photography

Sabina Kook, a senior policy advisor from Vienna, Virginia, and Aaron Mintz, an IT manager from Columbia, Maryland, met at work. Aaron was so struck by Sabina’s beauty he found himself tongue-tied.  A few weeks later he found the courage to ask her out for dinner and drinks. Conversation flowed, and they dated for two years. On the day Aaron proposed with a ring fastened to the collar of Sabina’s parents’ dog, “I said yes before he could even pop the question,” Sabina remembers. “I actually think my mom may have said yes before I did.”

Six months later, they tied the knot in a rustic outdoor celebration at a Virginia farm. That day, as they sat together in their hotel suite memorizing their vows, “We didn’t say a word, other than mouthing our respective vows to ourselves,” says Aaron, “but I’d never felt more like a team.”

In the Korean tradition, the couple and their families participated in a colorful paebaek ceremony. The reception buffet included Korean prime rib, shrimp-and-bacon wraps, California rolls, and baked teriyaki salmon. For dessert: a vanilla-and-whipped-cream cake. His-and-hers signature drinks were bourbon with Diet Coke and Fireball iced tea alongside pomegranate spritzers and grapefruit cocktails.

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The Details

Photography: Sincereli Photography | Event Planning & Design: MAED Events & Design | Florist: Buttercups Floral Design | Invitations: MAED Events Cake: Napoleon Bakery | Hairstylist: Ashley Peters, Jewel Hair Design | Makeup Artist: Susan Lim Makeup Artist Bride’s Attire: Watters, BHLDN Georgetown | Groom’s Attire: Ted Baker, Nordstrom | Music: DJ Chau Nguyen | Favors: Sunday Morning Bakehouse | Calligraphy: Leah Letters | Bar & Farm Table: Local Wood Event Rentals

Amy Moeller
Fashion & Weddings Editor

Amy leads Washingtonian Weddings and writes Style Setters for Washingtonian. Prior to joining Washingtonian in March 2016, she was the editor of Capitol File magazine in DC and before that, editor of What’s Up? Weddings in Annapolis.