About

The Brand and Community

Launched in December 2013, Tidewater and Tulle is the online wedding magazine publication for couples getting married in or around the southeastern coastal region of Virginia. Whether it is in the sands of Virginia Beach, on the cobblestone streets of historic Williamsburg, or in a rustic barn outside of Richmond, Tidewater and Tulle is the community for anyone with a love of celebrating diversity in weddings, travel, and life.

The blog's signature colors of Pantone's Grayed Jade and Dusty Blue and its logo represent the land ("Tidewater") and the water ("Hampton Roads") that make up our beautiful region.

Using a 2 hours driving hours radius from the City of Hampton as a guideline, Tidewater and Tulle represents weddings, sessions, and wedding-related inspiration in Hampton Roads (Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Yorktown, Poquoson, and Williamsburg), Richmond, Emporia and surrounding areas, and the Eastern Shore in the beautiful coastal region of Virginia as well as the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

New to Tidewater and Tulle? Start Here!

• Stay current, see how COVID-19 is affecting local Coastal Virginia weddings, and save ideas for your own upcoming pandemic-safe wedding.
• Beach wedding? LGBTQ wedding? No matter your celebration, we love them all and have real weddings and inspiration categorized on our main page under the Weddings menu to help you get started.
• Read our Statement of Love, Action, and Solidarity and why we have been celebrating diversity in love since day one.
• Our DIY projects are our most popular features. Get ready to get crafty!
• Scroll down to meet our Crew, and afterwards, follow us on Instagram to connect.

The Owner and Editor-in-Chief

Tidewater and Tulle was founded by Virginia Beach native and former Williamsburg resident, Chelsea LaVere Barton. She grew up surrounded by the region's beaches, forests, and fields and fell in love with the natural diversity that only Hampton Roads has. (But let's not chat about the bridge-tunnels—we all know how we feel about those!)

As a retired local wedding photographer completely obsessed with the wedding industry and wielding a little ole bachelor's degree in English, Chelsea has always had a passion in helping brides and grooms find their perfect wedding teams and highlighting incredible local resources through the written word and social media for 12 years.

When Chelsea isn't writing or scheduling content, she's either being a cat mom to Pickles Barrington, sharing her American tales about becoming British on It's a Hard Biscuit Life, traveling, or looking for the best gluten-free food. In true Hollywood rom-com style, Chelsea met her soulmate in the form of a Englishman when on sabbatical in the UK, and now she's living out her Jane Austen life across the pond. When she comes back to the area to visit loved ones, her local eatery favorite is Bangkok Garden in Williamsburg, and her favorite staple since high school, Reginella's, in Virginia Beach. You can get to know Chelsea more on www.chelsealavere.com.

The Editorial Team

Maria Grace
FEATURES EDITOR
Maria Grace is a Hampton Roads and destination wedding photographer with a love for travel and a heart for seeing marriages last. She is passionate about running, all things organic, and creating memories that last longer than a lifetime. She and her husband, Nathan, welcomed their sweet daughter Willow through adoption in June 2017. Not to be confused with PF Chang's, Maria's favorite restaurant is Peter Chang's in Virginia Beach and Williamsburg. Having had some abroad experience in China, she can vouch that it has truly authentic Chinese food - not for the faint of heart!