It Takes A Village | Armin & Eric
We all know the saying that it takes a village to raise a child, right? Well, I would have to say it takes a village to pull off a dream wedding. Thankfully, when Armin & Eric got married at Keswick Vineyards on Saturday, May 11th, their village really came through for them!
Armin & Eric’s weather was not what they pictured for their wedding day. For them, Mother Nature decided to rain all day. As everyone prepared themselves for our rain plan, we all still held onto hope that a miracle would happen, and Armin & Eric would be able to have their ceremony outside amongst the vineyard. Everyone knew that was Armin’s dream. As the day progressed, we could see on the radar that there was a window of opportunity that just might happen. It was at that time that Eric’s father told me that when his daughter got married in Tennessee, it was pouring rain for her wedding day also. When he went outside, he clapped his hands and just at the same time the rain stopped for her. So, we figured he had one powerful clap and we would wait until we got closer to the ceremony time before we would put his clap to work for his son in Virginia.
Everything was set for our rain plan under the tent. As you can see by the photos, our rain plan is just as beautiful. Armin and Eric had a beautiful, birch wood arbor adorn with greenery and flowers framing their ceremonial table to incorporate Persian traditions into their ceremony. Musicians were seated and playing as guests arrived. We were about 15 minutes from ceremony time when our miracle happened! Eric’s father did his clap and the rain stopped, and we were a go to quickly do the ceremony outside to fulfill Armin & Eric’s dream!!!
It is no easy task to do this. You have to imagine that all day we have prepared for a beautiful ceremony under the tent and have everything ready to go when, within minutes, we need to go in a totally different direction and assemble the same ceremony look within minutes. I would have to say that 99.9% of venues, event planners and caterers would have said no way, it is too late to change this and we are sticking with the rain plan. It kills me when I hear vendors take that attitude. For me, this is their one and only wedding day and if it means we have to go that extra mile for them to have their dream wedding, well then, that’s what we all do. Thankfully, the caterer, who was also acting as their wedding planner, had that same attitude. So, the village went to work including some of the groomsmen that helped transport that birch wood arbor to the outdoor location.
“It was a crazy 15 minutes, but we did it! At 4:33pm, Armin & Eric’s dream outdoor ceremony began!”
There was so much beauty to this wedding that my photos don’t do it justice. Just look at the beautiful floral arrangement hanging above the head table. And who doesn’t love the look of a long farm table with cross-back chairs for the head table? Did you notice the chandelier over the dance floor? And who couldn’t help but notice the delicious cake! And then, of course, there is Armin and Eric. To see their happiness of being able to have their ceremony outside made all that hard work so worth it.
So, as you can see, it does take a village to pull off a dream wedding. It is for that reason Keswick Vineyards has a list of preferred vendors to make sure we make everyone’s wedding their dream wedding! Special shout out, and I mean a LOUD shout out, to Cristelle from C&O catering for remembering that we work for our couples and it should be our priority to do whatever we can to make their wedding a day their dream wedding day. Thank you Cristelle for going that extra mile along with the Keswick Vineyards team of Brian, Doug, Ryan and myself.
A special thanks to the other vendors too for their exceptional talents:
Catering by: C & O Catering
Event Planning by: Cristelle of C&O Catering
Officiating by: John Gownley
Cake by: Cakes by Rachel
Entertainment by: DJ Derek Tobler
Photography by: Aaron Watson Photography (the photos in this blog were taken by owner of Keswick Vineyards, Cindy Schornberg. )
Videography by: Paul Kwak Films
Hair by: Brianna Adams
Make-up by: Claire Ashley & Rouge 9
Florals by: Southern Blooms
Transportation by: Albemarle Limousine
Lounge Furniture by: Paisley & Jade
and Mouth Wide Open Food Truck for late night snacks.