Our Wedding Blog

Keswick 10/20/17 Keswick 10/20/17

The Sweetest Thing! | Lyndsay & Rick

It’s hard to beat the beauty of a fall October day in Virginia. Anyone who works in the wedding business knows how crazy busy it is for us. On top of having triple weddings every weekend in October, I have numerous birthdays in our family. This year, our youngest was turning 16. I happened to mention it to this bride, Lyndsey, when she did her final walk thru. I mentioned how long her wedding weekend would be for me because not only did I have 3 weddings, but also had a Sweet 16 birthday to celebrate. So, what did Lyndsey do the day before her wedding as if she had nothing else to do? She baked my daughter her favorite flavor of cupcakes with whip cream frosting (her favorite again) and brought them to her rehearsal along with a card. Wow! Do I not have the best couples and families getting married here? I couldn’t believe she remembered something I just mentioned as small talk and then took the time to make my daughter’s birthday even more special. Thank you so much Lyndsey for your thoughtfulness! Its the sweetest thing!

Lyndsey & Rick were married on Friday, October 20, 2017 at Keswick Vineyards. The weather was something a couple would pray for. Simply perfect! Lyndsey and Rick chose to get married in what we call our “fall” location. We nick named it that because of the panoramic views you have and in the fall, they are hard to beat. Accentuating the view, Lyndsey’s father made these doors that were used as a backdrop for their ceremony. After the ceremony, they were moved to the reception to be placed behind the couple chairs.

Lyndsey & Rick decided to do the “wine box” tradition during their ceremony. Rick added his personal touch to what was included in the box. Most people place a nice bottle of red wine in it. Not Rick. He is a bourbon guy so besides the bottle of wine he also added a nice bottle of bourbon!

For the reception, a chandelier was hung just over the dance floor. This is one of my favorite looks because it is so pretty to see the couple do their first dance under it. A very long head table with farm tables was also used. And, one of my favorite little detail from this wedding, pretzels that were decorated to be a bride and groom were at each place setting. They are adorable!

Another successful wedding thanks to the magical team of:

Event Planners: Keswick Vineyards, Catering: Goodrich Gourmet Catering, Wedding Cake: Cakes by Rachel, DJ: DJ Fit (Nathan May), Photographer: Nichole Haun and her husband Scott (see their photos here!), Florals: Foxtail Cottage Floral, Hair & Make-up: Jennifer Saunders, Photo Booth: Grinnin’ Photo Booth, Transportation: Easy Rider Bus Company, Rentals: MS Events and Skyline Tent Company.

Keswick 10/15/17 Keswick 10/15/17

#fallforthekossakowskis | Melissa & Marcin

Wrapping up our 3rd wedding for this weekend was the marriage of Melissa & Marcin on Sunday, October 15, 2017 at Keswick Vineyards. The weather was just beautiful for them! With Marcin’s family visiting the United States for the first time from Poland, I was so happy they got to experience a beautiful Virginia fall day.

Melissa & Marcin had their dog Leo be their ring bearer. He did such a great job! Isn’t he adorable? I just love the “family” photo I took of them.Melissa & Marcin had so much fun on their wedding day. I always love it when Photographer Robert Radifera is here. We have such a fun time working together. What I love about Robert is he will show the couple a sneak peak of some of the photos he has just taken of them. I always try to capture that moment. It is a great thing to do because the couple gets a glimpse of how beautiful they are looking and it just makes taking more photos so much easier because the couple is liking what they are seeing and want more. So, we gave them more by taking photos in the vineyard, in front of the Estate, by the pool, in front of the fountain, I could go on and on but I think you get the point. LOTS of photos with numerous back drops.

Guests were able to help themselves to a delicious buffet dinner prepared by Harvest Moon. Afterwards there were plenty of desserts to satisfy any sweet tooth! But for those that might not have a sweet tooth, no worries. The couple had a bourbon bar ready to go in the gazebo for the final night cap. And to finish out the evening guests dance the night away and then sent the couple off with a sparkler departure.

Special thanks to the following vendors:

Day of Event Coordinator: Keswick Vineyards, Caterer: Harvest Moon Catering, Officiant: Bhavani Metro, Desserts: Cakes by Rachel, DJ: DJ Fit (Nathan May), Photographer: Robert Radifera, Hair & Make-up: The Spot Beauty Shop (Glo-out Glamor Bar), Florist: Foxtail Cottage Floral, Tent Lighting: Skyline Tent Company, Transportation: Easy Riders Bus Company, Musicians: Charlottesville String Quartet.

Keswick 10/14/17 Keswick 10/14/17

Her "American Aladdin" | Sasha & Russell

Sasha and Russell were married on Saturday, October 14, 2017 at Keswick Vineyards in front of the vineyard with the mountains as their backdrop. Sasha’s older sister acted as their officiant. Sasha is a beautiful bride that had 3 different dresses to wear for her wedding day. She started with a beautiful traditional gold Indian dress for the ceremony. After the ceremony and some photos, she and Russell did a quick change. She now was wearing a gorgeous red sarong while Russell changed out of his tuxedo jacket to a traditional Indian shirt. It was so cute hearing Sasha call Russell her “American Aladin” while he was in that attire. And then, after dinner, one more quick change and Russell was back into his tuxedo jacket while Sasha appeared in this very dark blue evening dress with pink embellishments on it. She looked stunning! I can see why Sasha couldn’t decide on just one dress and went with all three.

Besides Sasha’s amazing dresses their food choices were the best! Eric Stamer Catering provided a traditional buffet line which included a beef carving station at the end but also had a pasta station. Guess could pick from several pasta sauces and toppings and have it cooked right there in front of them. I couldn’t pass on trying this one out and went with a combination of alfredo sauce and pesto sauce and a bit of that beef tenderloin. That was some of the best catering food I have tasted! The beef was so tender that it seemed to melt in your mouth. I can see why I saw so many guests going back for seconds and thirds!

And finally, the décor of the tent was simply elegant. This couple chose to have 3 chandeliers hanging in the tent making sure to have one over the dance floor. They also chose to switch out the gels in the up lighting to a blue color versus our standard gold/bronze gel. As you can see from my photos, this inexpensive change to the lighting totally changes the look of the tent.

None of this would have been possible without the amazing vendor team this couple formed including:
Event Planner:   Barb Wired Event Planning
Catering Team:   Eric Stamer Catering
DJ:   TD Layman of Sound Enforcement
Hair & Make-up:   The Spot Beauty Shop
Florist: Hedge Fine Blooms
Musician:  Guitar Musician Vincent Zorn
Transportation:  A&A Limousine
Photographer:  Photographer Ruby Sky
Cake:  Pearls Bake Shop
Officiant: Sonia Sabir (Sasha's Sister)
Rentals (including the chandeliers):  MS Events
and Skyline Tent Company.

Keswick 10/13/17 Keswick 10/13/17

This Savvy Shopper Bride! | Shelby & Nate

Shelby and Nate were married on Friday, October 13, 2017 at Keswick Vineyards starting off another 3-wedding weekend for this very popular Charlottesville wedding venue. For those that know me know I love a good deal and that I am a thrifty shopper. Right away I knew I loved this bride when she told me some of her money saving ideas! What a brilliant idea she had that I’m not sure why I never thought of it. Well, we all know how groomsmen all rent their tuxedo’s, right? But the bridesmaids have to buy their dresses which can get really expensive and they usually never wear them again so, why wouldn’t you rent those too????? With Rent-A-Runway, you can! All the bridesmaids wore the same dress. With this online web site, you can order a dress and get it in a couple of sizes if you are unsure of what would fit you best. When you are finished you just simply mail them back and that’s it! How simple is that? I think Shelby said these dresses retailed at $2,000.00 or $3,000.00 and rented for $90.00!

Now, if that wasn’t amazing enough, I have one more to share from Shelby. Just look at her dress. Isn’t it amazing? It was definitely made for her, right? Well, not exactly. She bought it from a consignment shop! Can you believe that? I couldn’t. She saved thousands of dollars and no one would ever guess!

Now, onto the wedding part. You have read in my previous blogs how I love it when the officiant has some personal connection with the couple. Well, something else I love to see is when the best man or matron of honor is a parent. Yep, Shelby’s matron of honor was her mother and you could see the special bond these two share throughout the day and evening. I hope one day to be one of my daughter’s matron of honor.

So, with Shelby’s Mom being the matron of honor, what could her father do besides giver her away? Well, how about him playing the guitar while her younger sister sings for their first dance? Yep, that happened! What a great wedding for so many reasons.

Thanks to the following vendors for all their help: Keswick Vineyards providing day of coordinator service, Catering by Catering Outfit, Paradox Pastry providing the wedding cake, DJ Mark Allen, Photographer Crystal Image Photography, Hair & Make-up done off-site at Salon DeShano, Flowers by Barn Swallow Blooms, Festive Fare for rentals, Officiant Jeff Cramer and Skyline Tent Company for lighting.