From Branded Welcome Bags to Custom Napkin Rings, No Detail Was Missed at This Stationers' Fall Wedding in Asheville, North Carolina

When Dominique Lee and Brian Regan met on Hinge in the summer of 2021, their connection bloomed over their mutual love of sailing and climbing. Despite their commonalities, it took a few weeks to schedule their first date because of Brian’s demanding work schedule running an ICU two hours from his home. When they did finally get a date on the books, Brian unintentionally stood Dominique up—he accidentally slept through their date after a long night on call. "I was very upset, but he convinced me to give him another chance," Dominique remembers. "That same night we spontaneously went to a jazz bar and a late dinner, and hit it off right away." A few weeks after they met, the couple went to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina for a rock climbing trip. They camped in a van for three nights before Brian surprised Dominique with a night at the Biltmore Estate. “That early autumn getaway marked the start of our love story, and we knew that we would get married there someday,” Dominique says.

In the fall of 2022, the couple decided to take an unconventional approach to planning their dream wedding: Despite the fact that they weren't engaged, the duo took a rooftop tour of the Biltmore Estate and locked in their dream wedding date of October 14, 2023. “Brian was in the process of having my engagement ring custom made, and we knew our preferred date coincided with the venue's most sought-after weekend,” Dominique explains. “We loved the contrast between the polished, old-world manor, the English garden, and the rugged mountain beauty.”

Once Brian popped the question, planning was already well underway. In the end, the pair invited 47 guests to watch them tie the knot at the venue’s Walled Garden. “It reflected our shared love of botany, and we felt the tropical garden inside the conservatory added a hint of Brazilian flair to our day,” Dominique says. As a professional stationer, Dominique took on all the branding for the day, but the couple worked with Katie Jansen at Rowyn Events for full-service wedding planning.

Ahead, see all the ways the bride and groom incorporated nods to the venue, their lives together, and the monarch butterflies that migrate through the Blue Ridge Mountains each fall into their wedding, all documented by Radian Photography.

The couple’s invitation suite—which the bride's company, Dominique Alba Studio, created—arrived in handmade leather envelopes lined with an antique painting that guests could re-use as makeup pouches or document holders. The painting was later seen throughout the wedding's décor, including at the bars and on custom wooden drink trays. The invitations had subtle details of butterflies (another motif that the couple and their planning team included throughout the day’s design), and irises, which were a nod to the backyard at the couple’s shared first home. They also included an illustrated map of the Biltmore Estate, as many of their guests were traveling from abroad and staying on-site for the weekend.

Upon arrival, guests received French market totes filled with local goodies from Asheville and the venue itself. Wine, scented candles, thematic sandals, and snacks were all tucked inside for loved ones to enjoy. The bride and groom also added printed leather tags to each bag with their reference painting; these doubled as luggage tag favors. 

Dominique bought a wedding dress a month after getting engaged, but as the celebration's design evolved, she realized it was no longer the right fit. Four months before the big day, she tried on a beaded Lazaro A-line wedding dress with an illusion neckline and a horsehair hemline, and something finally clicked. “The moment I saw myself in my gown was when I felt like a bride for the first time,” she says. On the big day, she paired that gown with a pair Bella Belle ballerina flats, Nicola Bathie earrings and other heirloom jewelry, and a cathedral-length veil from Anthropologie. 

Dominique showed her bridesmaids the wedding color palette and let them pick their own mismatched dresses. One wore a patterned tulle gown with a velvet ribbon belt from Marchesa, while the other chose a blush silk BHLDN dress. Each important woman held a miniature version of Dominique’s bridal bouquet, which consisted largely of ranunculus, dahlias, roses, and tulips. “To enhance the texture [of my bouquet], she added some berry branches and fall foliage,” Dominique says of her florist at Mood Fleuriste. “She also surprised me by including my favorite flowers—sweet peas—each hand-painted to achieve a stunning ombré effect transitioning from orange to lavender.”

Brian wore a custom peak lapel tuxedo from Indochino with a black bow tie and velvet slippers for the ceremony. “To honor his own family history, Brian and his groomsmen wore heirloom pocket squares from his late grandfather’s handkerchief factory,” Dominique says. “I also had custom silver carabiner cufflinks made for him, gifted on our wedding day, as a nod to our shared love of climbing.”

Dominique and Brian chose to have a first look to take advantage of the light before their evening ceremony. “I also wanted to spend as much time as possible with him on our wedding day, so it just made sense,” Dominique says. “The decision to do it was initially logistical, but it ended up being one of my favorite moments! I was very nervous but as soon as I saw him, I felt calm.”

Dominique’s childhood best friend served as her man of honor. “We’ve known each other since we were born, and I couldn’t imagine having anyone by my side that day!” the bride says. “He’s always the life of the party, and it was so fun having him with us ladies while we got ready in the morning.” He matched Brian and the groomsmen, the groom's four best friends, in black tuxedos. “They’ve been inseparable since med school, and have all been groomsmen at each other’s weddings."

The couple's wedding ceremony took place on the venue’s lawn among the rose and mum gardens. To decorate the space, their florist created a grounded floral arch as the focal point and lined the aisles with lush arrangements in shades of rust, mustard, lilac, mauve, and rose. “We added personal touches such as lithographed linen petal toss bags with calligraphy tags, colorful name tags with our theme painting for the reserved seats, and custom vow books, officiant binder and a letter ceremony box matching our save the date boxes,” the bride says.

At the start of the ceremony, Brian and the wedding party walked down the aisle to “God Only Knows” by Imaginary Future & Kina Grannis. Then, Dominique made her entrance with her father by her side to the tune of “Such Great Heights” by Iron and Wine. “I opened my vows with the anecdote about how Brian stood me up on our first date and how giving him a second chance was the best decision I’ve ever made, which made everyone laugh,” she says. “And he included a quote from Mr. Darcy’s speech (I’m a huge Jane Austen fan), which made everyone tear up.”

Once officially married, Brian dipped Dominique with a kiss on their way back up the aisle. Guests showered the duo in flower petals as “Real Love Baby” by Father John Misty played. “A welcomed surprise happened during the recessional at sunset—the winds picked up and fall leaves started falling everywhere,” Dominique says. “It was magical!”

Guests moved to the lower garden for the cocktail hour, where they enjoyed light samba and bossa nova tunes and explored the tropical plants in the greenhouse. “Both being into botany, we used a botanical coffee table book as the guest book and a tiny greenhouse over a bed of moss for cards,” Dominique says. Guests mentioned it all really felt like 'us,' with a few even drawing comparisons to Fleur and Bill’s wedding in Harry Potter, and although we are Potterheads, that wasn’t intentional!.”

The couple used as many reusable items as possible throughout the day’s design. The greenhouse cardholder now holds their air plants in their home and the custom fabric-wrapped signage frames display their wedding photos.

The couple’s seating chart was inspired by the Biltmore’s roof, an area of the venue they toured when they unofficially officially got engaged by locking in their wedding date. “As a nod to Biltmore's first wedding in 1924, Cornelia Vanderbilt's, we subtly included art deco touches, such as the aged brass from our seating chart with cutouts of our monogram and irises,” Dominique says.  

The newlyweds served a “Fall Old Fashioned” signature cocktail with bourbon, apple cider, bitters, and spiced simple syrup. “The second cocktail I came up with after testing multiple versions with my bridesmaids,” Dominique says. The “Regan Kir Royale” was a twist on a kir royale with sparkling wine, Chambord, Grand Marnier, and fresh raspberries.

Servers displayed the evening's drink menu on printed linen cocktail napkins on wooden drink trays that had been printed with the antique painting seen on the couple’s invitations. They also had engraved slate cocktail signs displayed in beds of moss at the bar, which featured custom vinyl panels with the painting, too.

Guests grabbed pashminas and Havaianas flip flops customized with the antique painting seen throughout the day as they headed into the celebration. “A must for any Brazilian wedding,” Dominique laughs. “So we can dance all night!”

The couple’s reception took place under a sailcloth tent, where the poles were wrapped in greenery, twinkle lights illuminated the space, and fall foliage decorated the bar. “We wanted our wedding to feel like a cozy but elevated dinner at home, blending Brian's European background with my Brazilian roots,” Dominique says. They even handcrafted the DJ booth to mimic their dining room walls at home, matching the exact paint color.

Two long dinner tables were topped with neutral linens and decorated with taupe taper candles at varying heights. A mix of different votive candles and organic floral centerpieces in pink, peach, and pops of burgundy rounded out the design. The bride also made sure to personalize as much of the reception as possible. “The place cards weere brass napkin rings, which were cut and bent by Brian, and they also doubled as wedding favors,” Dominique says. “Although meant for the table, it was hilarious to see women wearing them as bracelets on the dance floor.”

At each place setting, guests found small gift boxes wrapped in the antique painting and finished with gold velvet ribbon. The boxes contained bem-casados (translated in English to “well married”), a Brazilian wedding cookie. For a garden feel, the table numbers incorporated a mix of cut brass and hand-carved soapstone nestled in a bed of moss.

At the reception, Dominique and Brian changed into second looks. Brian wore a Tom Ford custom shawl collar velvet tux, while Dominique changed into a one-shoulder Sachin & Babi gown with an oversized bow detail on the shoulder. “It was great for dancing!” she says. “For the reception, I chose a pair of pearly block-heel Jimmy Choos.”

Dominique and Brian shared their first dance to “Love” by Nat King Cole. “We spent almost a year working with a choreographer on our first dance, and we wanted it to be as absurd, over the top, and Fred and Ginger as possible,” the bride says.

The couple’s wedding cake had three tiers and was embellished with embossed iris designs matching the couple’s invitation suite, along with brass butterflies seen in the couple’s favors; a cake meadow ensured the display popped. The pair chose almond cake with chocolate and chambord truffle buttercream and chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream flavors.

To couples planning their wedding, Dominique and Brian recommend filtering out the noise. “Trends will come and go, everything is a reflection of a time period, and in the end, the coolest weddings are actually the ones that are authentic to the couple’s tastes and personal background,” Dominique says. “We knew some things we chose to do weren’t cool, but we tried not to let it dictate our decisions.”