Our Wedding Blog

Keswick 10/16/15 Keswick 10/16/15

A Cats Wedding? | Jordan & Chris

It was such a pleasure to host Jordan & Chris’s wedding at Keswick Vineyards on Friday, October 16th. Jordan is a cat lover. That is probably an understatement. Her love for cats was everywhere except for the ceremony location but that was only because Scraps, Keswick Vineyards cat, wouldn’t cooperate. Nothing would have made Jordan happier than to have Scraps crash her wedding. Unfortunately, Scraps just watched from the distance. Perhaps it was the cat theme wedding cake or all the cat pictures that adorned each guest table that kept Scraps away? Regardless, Scraps acted like a normal cat and did what she wanted. Thankfully, Reverend Claire Goodman was able to incorporate cats into the ceremony. Who knew that October 16th was National Feral Cat Day? Jordan did, that’s who!

One of the best things from this wedding was definitely the 1930 Ford Model A Town Sedan antique car Jordan road in to make her entrance to the ceremony site. What was so special about this car? Well, it was the exact same car that her father drove her home from the hospital in when she was born! How incredible is that? Can you imagine what it had to feel like for her father as he drove her up the long, winding drive way to give her away? So special!

Jordan & Chris chose a new location for their ceremony. They actually had their guests face Edgewood Estate. This allowed for her grand entrance coming up the drive way in that antique car. Not a bad backdrop as you can see.

Special thanks to the following vendors: Wedding Planner Erin Spencer of Spectacular Events by Erin, Officiant Rev. Claire Goodman, Caterer Travinia Italian Kitchen, Cakes by Cathy Stewart, DJ Nathan King of King Studios, Photographer Robert Radifera (love the photo I got of him in action!), Florist Shelby Alexander of The Flower Girl and Quick’s Bus for transportation.

Keswick 10/11/15 Keswick 10/11/15

Ashley & Jim’s Whimsical Wedding | Ashley & Jim

Well, it was obvious when I finally saw all the work that Ashley and her Mother Carla had been doing over the past year that this was going to be one spectacular wedding! You definitely could tell that Carla was in the event business and brought in her “A team” to make her daughters fairy tale wedding come true. Everything from this wedding looked like a staged photo shoot. Let’s start with the flowers. OMG! Isha Foss was her florist from Virginia Beach. The richness of the color palette used for the flowers along with ribbons hanging from each bouquet were so elegant. Isha draped the entrances of the Sperry tent with greenery also just to add more loveliness to the tent. The centerpieces were highlighted with spot lighting. At night the tent just looked so beautiful with those centerpieces popping under the glow of the tent. My pictures just don’t do it justice.

Now, how about the bride, groom and wedding party? Breathtaking! Ashley’s handmade dress from Italy had that whimsical fairy tale feel to it. I just wanted to see her running through the vineyard. The guys were so handsome in their black tuxedos. The bridesmaids, in their gold tone gowns with those gorgeous bouquets, just spectacular. Like I said earlier, photo shoot material all the way!
Lets not forget about the food. Harvest Moon Catering did an awesome job by providing a variety of food stations for guests to explore through out the tent. One of my favorites that tortured me for hours smelling was chicken in waffles with a honey mustard sauce. I forgot how wonderful waffles cooking smell. Another delicious dish was shrimp and grits. Yummy!

But probably the best thing from this wedding was the wedding cake and desserts. Why? Well, Ashley’s Mom, Carla, owns a bakery in Virginia Beach and she personally made the wedding cake plus the 120 miniature cakes for the guests. How special is that for both Ashley and Carla? Just as good as the wedding cake was the macaroons made by Hummingbird Bakery.
Finally, the guests got to enjoy a brandy bar and cigars while dancing the night away with DJ Roger Cruz from Virginia Beach also. I can’t wait to see Photographer Rachael May’s photos from this wedding. I’m sure we will be seeing them in magazines!

One final thing, I’ve never seen this before at any of our weddings, at the end of the evening guests were told to leave the tent for a sparkler departure. Once the tent was empty, Ashley & Jim shared a private moment together under the spotlight on the dance floor for one last dance, just the two of them. Isn’t that great? What a wonderful way to end your wedding day.

Special thanks to the following vendors for making this wedding dream come true: Wedding Planner Lindsey Hocker of Simply Perfect Events (out of Virginia Beach) and assistant Lauren Dunn, Harvest Moon Catering, DJ Roger Cruz of Astro Entertainment, Photographer Rachael May, Video by Caleb from East West Production, Florist Isha Foss, Transportation by Ambassador Limousine, Musician for ceremony & cocktail hour Plum Blossom Quartet, Hair & Make-up by Ave 42, Desserts by Just Cupcakes.

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

Elissa & Nathan’s Beautiful Fall Wedding | Elissa & Nathan

Congratulations to Elissa & Nathan who tied the knot of Saturday, October 10th, at Keswick Vineyards. What a perfect day for a wedding! The sun was out to keep you warm yet there was a coolness also to make it just right. Elissa & Nathan chose our “fall” location for their ceremony. This location is to the east side of Edgewood Estate and takes advantage of a spectacular panorama view of the Estate, the fountain, the vineyard and the mountains all starting to glow with fall colors. An amazing view! Reverend Sam Ferguson from Falls Church did a beautiful ceremony. My favorite part was after Elissa & Nathan were pronounced husband & wife, their first act together as a married couple was to kneel and pray together. First time for me to see this here and I thought it was a lovely touch.

After the ceremony guests enjoyed some delicious hors d’oeuvres while listening to a violinist & harpist play along with some recorded music. Highly recommend these musicians. Escort cards were displayed pinned on strings secured to a frame. Once the couple was done with photos everyone went under the heated Sperry tent to enjoy a plated dinner prepared by Roadside Chive. After dinner desserts of a wedding cake and District Donuts were available.

To work off some of those calories guests danced the night away with DJ TD Layman at the controls. It was so much fun with all the dancing. There actually was this “fun” dance off between one of the groomsmen and a younger guest. I must say, they both had the moves but that young boy, look out!

Special thanks to all the vendors that night for working so hard to make Elissa & Nathan’s dream wedding come true: Caterer Roadside Chive, DJ TD Layman of Sound Enforcement Studios, Wedding Cake by Maliha Creations, Officiant Reverend Sam Ferguson, Musician for ceremony & cocktail hour Shelley Green of Harmony of Virginia, Photographer Sarah Goodwin, Hair & Make-up by Cindy Elliott-Semrau, Flowers by Hedge Fine Blooms, Transportation by Platinum Tours & Camryn Limo and Keswick Vineyards acting as their Day Of Coordinator.

Keswick 9/26/15 Keswick 9/26/15

Once Upon A Time... | Jessica & Joshua

Jessica & Joshua’s relationship reads like one of those storybook fairy tales. Joshua knew after spending 4 hours in a park on a see saw talking to Jess about their favorite books that she was the one for him. Their love for literature was the theme for their wedding held at Keswick Vineyards on Saturday, September 26th. For centerpieces they used some of their favorite leather bond books stacked three high with a candle on top and a floral arrangement to adore each table. They also had book ends with numbers to use as their table numbers. Instead of a guest sign in book they had a framed black & white print of stacked books that each guest would sign. They also had a display of books as party favors for their guests to take with personalized book marks that Jess had made.

Jessica & Joshua are one of those couples that you just love being around. Their smiles and laughter is infectious to all. Even when we were down by the pond for some photos I swear I heard our swans copying the laughter they could hear from these two. Even though Mother Nature didn’t provide the best of weather these two didn’t mind. We went with our rain plan and held the ceremony under the Sperry tent. You will see from my photos that it is just beautiful. Harvest Moon was the caterer and served a plated dinner for all the guest and had made some miniature desserts that were so yummy!

Special thanks to all the vendors for making this fairy tale wedding come true for these two: Caterer Harvest Moon, Day of Coordinator Keswick Vineyards, Officiant Reverend Gay Lee Einstein, Wedding Cake by Rachel, DJ TD Layman of Sound Enforcement, Photographer Tyler Corvin, Musicians for Ceremony Charlottesville String Quartet, Hair & Make-up by Studio FBJ, Florist Flowers by Natalie and Albemarle Limousine for transportation.