Our Wedding Blog

Keswick 8/17/19 Keswick 8/17/19

Beating the Heat BOHO style! | Jamie & Hunter

Saturday, August 17th, was a bit hotter than usual as Jamie and Hunter tied the knot and celebrated their beautiful union at Keswick Vineyards. Hunter wanted his guests to be as comfortable as possible, especially “Nana”, and their original ceremony location had everyone sitting in the sun. With quick thinking and an unmatched eye for beauty, owner of Keswick Vineyards, Cindy Schornberg, converted a little forest grove on the grounds into a stunning, shaded BOHO ceremony site! All the guests were seated in the shade and Nana had a front row view of her grandson marrying the love of his life. Using our wooden pergola, two wine barrels, rugs rented from Paisley & Jade and some Bohemian florals from Colonial Florist, this little wooded and mossy grove was totally transformed! I think we will call this our Enchanted Forest location.

After the ceremony, guests continued over to cocktail hour where they again enjoyed the shade of the trees while still having beautiful garden, vineyard and mountain views. Here they were entertained by a wonderful bluegrass band, The Harwell Grice Band, who kept the atmosphere fresh and upbeat! We absolutely love having talented musicians perform during ceremonies and cocktail hour.

In the evening, we had eight fans running through the tent keeping a nice breeze going. Tables were dismissed one by one to visit the incredible BBQ spread put on by Exchange Events. After dinner, the guests were treated to this beautiful, two-tier naked cake and an assortment of pies; including peach, Strawberry and chocolate, all beautifully arranged and presented in the gazebo, adjacent to our Aurora tent.

One of the coolest parts about this wedding was the photobooth! We’ve had lots of photobooths here at Keswick Vineyards but this one was totally different. The couple hired a photobooth trailer that backed right up to the Aurora tent where people would head inside and make all the fun and silly faces they wanted. What a hit this was with all the guests! Finishing out the night, Jamie and Hunter had yet another treat for their guests. They all were surprised when Chik-Fil-A delivered fresh chicken sandwiches to the reception for a late night snack!

Special Thanks to all the amazing vendors that helped put this wedding together!

Wedding Planner; Hannah Dubit (Exchange Events)
Caterer; Exchange Events
DJ; Class Productions (Mark Allen)
Musicians; Harwell Grice Band
Photographer; Anna Lazarides (photographs in blog were taken by owner of Keswick Vineyards, Cindy Schornberg)
Pastry Chef/Desserts; Family Ties and Pies
Florist; Colonial Florist
Officiant; Gay Lee Einstein
Hair; Lauren Perkins
Transportation; Cville Transportation
Rentals; MS Events and Paisley & Jade
Additional Lighting; Skyline Tent Company
Photobooth; Rosy Co. Photobooth

Keswick 7/27/19 Keswick 7/27/19

A Perfect Pairing | Kevin & Stephanie

Congratulations to Kevin and Stephanie who were married at Keswick Vineyards on Saturday, June 29th. They may not be nearly the same height, but their vows were all about how they balance each other out! Like how she loves to cook, and he loves to eat, a perfect pairing! At their ceremony they chose to use Keswick Vineyards’ pergola and decorate it with lots of summer florals. They had such a beautiful summer day and it was accented by how green everything was!

Their reception was a first for us, having no formal dinner and instead turning the evening celebration into an extended cocktail hour! They started off with a great bluegrass band who kept everyone entertained in the East Lawn before transitioning into the tent for the evening with a DJ.

The tent was set up with lots of bistro tables and food stations, each with a large green centerpiece that really matched the green, lush nature around the tent. People mingled and moved about the tent from station to station catching up with all their old friends and family. As the sun set behind the mountains in the evening, they continued to mingle and dance under the glow of the Aurora tent.

Special thanks to the following vendors to make this such a unique wedding:

Wedding Planner: Danielle Johnson (Roadside Chive)
Catering: Roadside Chive
DJ: John Garland
Musicians: Bent Mountain Trio
Photographer: Lia Everette (the photos in this blog were taken by owner Cindy Schornberg)
Cake: Maliha Creations
Florals: Barnswallow Blooms
Hair and Make Up: Studio 321
Transportation: A&A Limousine
Rentals: MS Events
Lighting: Skyline Tent Company

Keswick 6/22/19 Keswick 6/22/19

The Details Are In The Florals | Kaliane & Donald

For many wedding couples, florals play a very important role in their overall design. It was obvious to all that for Kaliane and Donald’s wedding at Keswick Vineyards on Saturday, June 22nd, that florals were to be front and center everywhere!

Let’s start with the ceremony. Kaliane & Donald chose to have their ceremony as close to the vineyard as one can get. With the natural greenery of a vineyard many couples do nothing but let the beauty of the vineyard speak for itself. Not for this couple. They had a beautiful circular arch decorated with flowers to frame them at the top of the aisle. Afterwards, using this circular arch for photos was just picture perfect!

Moving to the reception, the Aurora tent had a natural embankment full of hydrangeas and lilies to compliment the floral centerpieces on every other table while candles and greenery were on the others. Kaliane & Donald also decided to “dress-up” the Aurora tent by adding bistro lighting and Asian lanterns just over the dance floor. And who could miss that little detail of having their DJ project on the canopy of the tent their initials.

Kaliane & Donald also carried their floral theme to their wedding cake. Pictured is the extremely talented Anita Gupta and her husband Uday who are the owners of Maliha Creations. Anita never disappoints with how beautiful her cakes look nor taste. So many cakes can look beautiful but lack in taste. Anita is one whose cakes taste as good as they look, and I highly recommend her. Competing that night with the 3-tiered wedding cake was some Brazillian desserts that were displayed to look like flowers too!

And finally, I love the look of their chalkboard bar under the Aurora tent and the long head table created by using farm tables. It is a popular look chosen by many of our wedding couples and you can see why.

What a beautiful overall designed wedding these two created along with their amazing vendor team including:

Florals by Tourterelle (and Mother Nature)
Event Planning by Barb Wired
Catering by Harvest Moon
Entertainment by TD Laymen of Sound Enforcement
Music by The Bloom Trio
Photography by Aaron Watson
Cake by Maliha Creations
Officiating by Gay Einstein
Transportation by A&A Limousine
Lightning by Skyline Tent Company
Rentals by Paisley & Jade, Harvest Moon and MS Events

Keswick 6/15/19 Keswick 6/15/19

Parents Know Best | Meredith & Yale

How many brides out there would trust their parents to pick out their wedding venue????? Well, that’s what this bride had to do. Meredith & Yale were married at Keswick Vineyards, one of Charlottesville top wedding venue, on Saturday, June 15th, 2019 surrounded by family and close friends.

Immediately we felt a connection with the bride’s family. The bride’s Mother currently homeschools Meredith’s younger sisters and Meredith graduated from the same high school that the owners of Keswick Vineyards daughter attends. So right away we had something to talk about. We found out that Meredith was in Spain and was relying on her parents (and fiancé) to scout out the perfect venue for them. With Keswick Vineyards being so close to their home and our personal connection that just felt so natural, the decision was made to have their daughter’s wedding at Keswick Vineyards!

Meredith & Yale’s wedding day was just perfect! Mother Nature gave them a beautiful day; not too cold, not too hot, just right with a slight breeze. They chose to have their ceremony in what we call our “shade location” not for the shade, but because Meredith loved the tree that provided the shade. With the back drop of the fountain and mountain, I think all the guests agreed she chose the perfect location to say, “I do”.

After the ceremony while the couple did photos, guest enjoy cocktails and appetizers while playing lawn games like Jenga. It is a great idea that many of our couples do. It gives their guests something to do during cocktail hour while enjoying time with family and friends.

I really liked how the tent looked for this wedding. By using green napkins on the white linens tied the greenery on the center tent poles and the greenery of the vineyard outside together. A special treat for all the guest at each table setting was a small canvas painting that the bride had painted herself just weeks before her wedding day! And finally, with the bistro lights hung throughout the tent, provided a star like canopy for everyone to dance under. I think by the look on Meredith’s face that she got the wedding of her dreams and we were so happy to be part of it.

Special thanks to the following vendors: Event Planners – Keswick Vineyards, Caterer – Goodrich Gourmet, DJ – Mark Allen, Musicians – Charlottesville String Duo, Florist – Colonial Florist, Tent Lighting – Skyline Tent Company, Cake – Sweet Holly Desserts, Rentals – MS Events, Photographer – Amy Jackson, Officiant – Ben Robertson, Hair & Make-up – Studio FBJ & Joy Fister