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| Claire Coffee at Blackberry Farm in her 1937 lace wedding gown from Xtabay. All images of Claire and Chris are courtesy of Viera Photographics . |
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| Claire wearing vintage fur, veil and shoes from Xtabay Vintage Bridal Salon. |
When Claire came in looking for a wedding gown we were more than just a little excited. So excited in fact that Xtabay owner (that's me) made a major public faux pas that had to be immediately remedied in order not to spoil anything. Whoops. My tail is still tucked between my legs so if you want details we can privately discuss what NOT to do before someone gets married. Fortunately Claire has the most loving and forgiving spirit and didn't cast any evil spells on me.
In fact Claire may be the kindest and loveliest person the Xtabay has ever had the pleasure of working with (...other than you, of course). She lights up the room wherever she goes and brightened many a day up in our vintage bridal salon.
She fell in love with a light as air lace wedding gown from 1937 that still had part of the original hang tag attached. The dress featured long lace sleeves, sheer gored panels of silk net and delicate buttons up the front. It was a gown we'd had for awhile and it was hanging up high in the back room. I had always feared the fate of that dress, it was so delicate and small that like Cinderella's glass slipper, if the wrong person tried it on it would instantly break. Claire was the Cinderella the dress had been waiting for. It fit her perfectly and for the first time in 76 years it was worn down the aisle.
Her wedding to musician Chris Thile has been all over the news since it happened on December 23rd.
Here's what People magazine reported:
"Grimm's alluring villainess wed her Prince Charming – musician Chris Thile of the Punch Brothers – Dec. 23 in an intimate Smoky Mountain wedding, PEOPLE confirms.
The duo tied the knot at Blackberry Farm, a rustic luxury resort in pastoral Tennessee, after two and a half years together.
The couple made it a decidedly small, family-oriented affair.
"[There were] 20 people in attendance TOTAL," Coffee tells PEOPLE. "Our immediate family and grandparents, plus Chris's best friend Rob Moose [of Bon Iver], who played Bach on violin for my walk down the aisle."
Coffee said her sister Abbie officiated the ceremony, which they wrote themselves, aside from the traditional Irish vows they used to swap "I do's."
The bride, 33, tells PEOPLE she wore a 76-year-old vintage lace gown, purchased alongside her vintage veil at Xtabay Vintage Bridal Salon in Portland, Ore., where Grimm shoots. The groom, 32, donned a dark brown wool suit custom made by Against Nature in New York City. After the ceremony, the just-married couple and their guests dined in the resort's award-winning wine cellar.
The hard-working newlyweds don't have time for honeymoon, Coffee shares, but "we spent Christmas with our families at Blackberry after the wedding."
It was presumably there that she first discovered one of the fringe benefits of marriage.
"Forcing @christhile to listen to the new Beyoncé album in its entirety because as his wife it is now legal for me to do so," she Tweeted earlier in the week. "
To Claire and Chris, we wish you all the love and happiness in the world! Thank you for letting us play a small part in such a beautiful, sacred occasion.
Love,
Liz, Margot, Erin, Rachael, Emily and Stephanie.
Thanks to http://www.vieraphotographics.com/blog/category/weddings for the images.
