We present an analysis of the dynamics of ion-pairing of lithium fluoride (LiF) in aqueous solvent using both detailed molecular simulation as well as reduced models within a generalized Langevin equation (GLE) framework. We explored the sensitivity of the ion-pairing phenomena to the details of descriptions of molecular interaction, comparing two empirical potentials to explicit quantum based density functional theory. We find quantitative differences in the potentials of mean force for ion pairing as well as time dependent frictions that lead to variations in the rate constant and reactive flux correlation functions. These details reflect differences in solvent response to ion-pairing between different representations of molecular interaction and influence anharmonicity of the dynamic response. We find that the short-time anharmonic response is recovered with a GLE parametrization. Recovery of the details of long time response may require extensions to the reduced model. We show that the utility of using a reduced model leads to a straightforward application of variational transition state theory concepts to the condensed phase system. The significance of this is reflected in the analysis of committor distributions and the variation of planar hypersurfaces, leading to an improved understanding of factors that determine the rate of LiF ion-pairing.