“It was truly hilarious to see people
I’ve known my whole life jumping
onstage with Lionel,” Jill says.Tall arrangements
of hydrangeas,
roses, and astil-
bes helped fill the
massive space.When Jill Justice and
Adam Long first got
engaged, they wanted
a small wedding—but
that’s decidedly not
what they got. Since the
bride’s family owns the Greenbrier,
an 18th-centur y resort in West
Virginia’s Allegheny Mountains,
the venue was a given, and an
intimate affair didn’t quite work
with such a grand backdrop.
So the pair decided to go really,
really big, inviting 1,250 guests
(almost ever yone in both of their
small hometowns!) to their Sep-
tember 5, 2015, nuptials, held in
an on-site chapel built just for
the occasion. There, 500 of the
guests watched as Jill and Adam
exchanged vows in front of a
massive stained-glass window,
surrounded by hundreds of
blooms and a dozen potted maple
trees. (The other 750 guests
started cocktail hour early, before
the whole group united for a
tented reception on the golf
course’s 17th hole.) A f ter dinner,
the father of the bride surprised
the crowd (and the couple!) when
Lionel Richie walked out to per-
form an hourlong set that started
with “Once, Twice, Three Times
a Lady” for the father-daughter
dance. “I had picked the song
because my dad and I both love it,
but I didn’t tell him my choice
until two days before the wed-
ding,” Jill says. “I had zero inkling
that there would be a live perfor-
mance.” Glow sticks and a Motown
band kept the floor filled until
midnight, when confetti fell from
the ceiling as a grand finale. “That
was our cue to exit, but we weren’t
ready to leave,” says the bride.
So they didn’t. (It helps when you
own the place!) The band struck
up again, and ever yone danced
for one more hour. Says the bride,
“They definitely did not kick us
out at curfew.”Venue, planning, and
catering The Greenbrier;
greenbrier.com. Dress
Tony Ward; tonyward.net.
Floral design and rentals
Gillespie’s Flowers and
Productions; gillespies
flowers.com. Additional
rentals Select Event Group;
selecteventgroup.com.
Photography Hopkins
Studios; hopkinsstudios.com.Custom let-
terpress and
foil invitation,
price upon
request,
Southern
Fried Paper;
southern
friedpaper
.com.GE T THE
LOOK
“Belle Haven”
china, $186 for
a five-piece
place setting,
Lenox; lenox
.com.Cake, $10 per
slice, Coco
Paloma Desserts;
cocopaloma
desserts.com.Lace top and silk-
taffeta-organza
skirt, prices upon
request, Watters;
watters.com.JUNE/JULY 2016 245INVITE AND DRESS IN GET THE LOOK: DYAD PHOTOGRAPHY, STYLING BY MIAKO KATOH (2); CAKE: COCO PALOMA DESSERTS; PLATE: COURTESY OF LENOX
TO SEE MORE CLASSIC WEDDINGS, VISIT BRIDES.COM/REALWEDDINGS.