My Friend's Wedding | Susan & Steve
Keswick Vineyards hosted the marriage of Susan & Steve on Thursday, August 4th. This wedding was extra special for Al & I. We have been friends with Steve for many, many years sharing some wonderful memories together. Through those years we were able to see Steve enjoy his bachelor lifestyle. I guess we never thought Steve would ever get married again until he brought Susan over to meet us some 2 years ago. Right away both Al & I saw something different with Susan. Could she be the one? You could instantly see a connection with these two. Our gut was telling us that Susan was the one. And we were right!
During the past two years of us getting to know Susan we always had an on going conversation of Al’s fountain duty he has for all our weddings. It was always a topic of conversation because they usually came for a visit on Saturday’s and Al would always say how he had to get back to do fountain duty. With the “fountain” being such a focal point for all of us it was a natural choice for the location Steve would propose to Susan last year. With me hiding to capture the moment on film, Steve dropt to his knee to ask for her hand in marriage. When she said yes, Al triggered the fountain to go on and they finally got to experience what they had heard for a year themselves.
Al & I were flattered when they told us that they wanted to get married at Keswick Vineyards. Of course, they would choose the fountain as their location for their ceremony. Susan knew they wanted a really relaxed and casual style to their wedding day to match their personalities. She envisioned guests seated out in the lawn area for the cocktail/reception time versus under our Sperry tent. Steve envisioned a bourbon & cigar bar and they both agreed that having a food truck was the perfect choice to pull off their casual/partying theme. I was a little concerned about doing the entire wedding outside of the tent in August since it is normally hot and people would want to be under a tent for shade and fans but I kept an open mind. Who would have known that they had chosen the most perfect day you could have possibly had? Perhaps burying the bourbon bottle a month earlier had something to do with it?
Their day started with the guys relaxing in the “man’s cave” playing pool while the girls got their hair and make-up done at Moxie Hair Salon. The ceremony was to be intimate with only the immediate family attending. Susan was walked down the aisle by her two sons while her daughter was a junior bridesmaid. Steve had his son and father as his best men. Look closely at the photos and you will see our winemaker, Stephen, as their officiant. As Stephen made reference to remembering Steve’s Mother who died earlier this year from a courageous battle against cancer, a butterfly swooped down as to make her presence known. When Stephen announced that Steve could now kiss his wife, Al with his exact timing had the fountain come on.
After the ceremony the rest of the guests arrived. They enjoyed drinks & appetizers while mingling and headed over to the Bavarian Chef food truck to get more delicious food when needed. After a couple of hours everyone went under the tent for speeches and dancing! Finally, the moment most of the guests were waiting for happened. The bourbon & cigar bars opened! I’ve never seen so many happy faces. It was like children in a candy store. Ron Barker provided the cigars and was on hand to help the guests pick the perfect cigar for them. As you can see by my photo everyone really enjoyed hanging outside the tent enjoying themselves all night long.
Special thanks to everyone who helped Susan & Steve have the wedding of their dreams: Catering by Bavarian Chef Food Truck, Event Planner Cindy Schornberg, Photographer Cindy Schornberg, Officiant Stephen Barnard, Florist Verde Natural Florals, Cupcakes by Pearl’s Cupcake Shoppe, Cigars by Ron Barker with CigarVolante, DJ Kevin Graham, Buses by UVA Transit, Hair & Make-up by Moxie Hair Salon, Rentals from MS Events, and of course, fountain duty by Al Schornberg!
