A Traditional Valentine's Day Wedding at Chamas Brazilian Steakhouse in Durham, North Carolina

Catharine and Cory's wedding was both traditional and unique. The couple tied the knot on Valentine's Day surrounded by their closest friends and family at the Duke University Chapel, Cory's alma mater. While their ceremony fulfilled Catharine's desire for a grand, gothic-style ceremony, the couple made their reception at Chamas Brazilian Steakhouse distinctly them. The old tobacco warehouse served their shared love of food, culture and travel, giving the two a chance to serve a gaucho-style feast as well as hot mulled wine as a tribute to their time in Prague. "The entire reception was candlelit, which worked well when the electricity went out in the middle of the reception due to a snowstorm," says Catharine. To ensure family members and friends were able to spend time together throughout the wedding weekend, Catharine and Cory invited 40 guests to stay with them at the King's Daughters Inn. With full Carolina barbecue and family game night, "guests commented that the inn felt like home by the end of the weekend," says Catharine. For a touch of glitz and glamour, Catharine added a beaded Marchesa sash to the bodice of her Reem Acra wedding gown from L'Elite Bridal Boutique in Boston, Massachusetts. All said and done, the bride notes, "In the end, there was so much planning around the reception, the transportation, the flowers, that I didn't realize how wonderful and peaceful the ceremony itself would be. Once we got to the altar, we realized that all the planning was really to get us to this one moment, and it was totally worth it."