October 15, 2016 • Grace Episcopal Church, Petersburg
The wedding of Virginia “Gini” John Phipps, daughter of Roanoke and Dinwiddie County natives William and Donna Phipps, and Sean Michael Hetherington, son of Robert and Marlena Hetherington of Rockville, Maryland, took place Oct. 15, 2016 at the 175- year-old Christ and Grace Episcopal Church in Petersburg. The bride wore an Allure Bridal gown and was attended by 16 bridesmaids, also dressed in white, while Sean and his 15 groomsmen wore midnight blue tuxedos. A reception was held later in the evening at Shirley Plantation in Charles City.
The couple both attended Elon University in North Carolina, but were formally introduced by a mutual friend in 2011, after both had graduated and moved to Washington, D.C. In 2015, Gini visited Sean at the end of a study-abroad program in Italy, undertaken as part of his MBA. During a two-week backpacking tour of Cinque Terre, the groom proposed.
Looking back on her wedding day, Gini says some of her favorite moments were with her dad. For the father-daughter dance, the bride chose Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” which, she says, “has always been our ‘thing.’ I can remember stepping on top of [my father’s] shoes while he spun me across the dance floor, so you can imagine that when we danced to it on my wedding day, it was a whirlwind of emotions.”
Another sweet memory? Gini and Sean were able to steal a few private moments during the cocktail hour, where they sat together on the steps of Shirley’s Great House: “The sun was setting, there was a perfect breeze […] and I think we were in our natural environment just taking everything in.”
Although the couple has recently moved from D.C. to Bethesda, Maryland so their Newfoundland, Pinot, can have more space to roam, their wedding last year was completely rooted in Virginia. From custom watercolor invitations, letterpressed and featuring the Phipps family crest, to the James River plantation reception site, locally-sourced game and seafood, and arrangements created with native plants and flowers, the Phipps-Hetherington wedding sought to celebrate the Phipps’ family heritage. Says the mother of the bride, “We forgive the groom for being a native of Maryland, but we give him credit for recognizing a good thing when he sees it!”
Photographer: Grant and Deb Perry, GrantDeb.com Gown: Caryn’s Bridal, CarynsBridals.com Florals: Anita Hume, Richmond Stationery: Paper on the Avenue, PaperOnTheAvenue.com Cake and Desserts: Pearls, PearlsBakeShoppe.com
