Our Wedding Blog

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

Nothing Like a Mother's Touch | Kenny & Molly

On Saturday, October 15th Kenny and Molly were married! Much anticipation led up to their big day and the couple and their families both came from afar to share and celebrate with them. Many months of planning went into developing the perfect plan for Kenny and Molly’s big day. In the end, it was well worth it!

Molly’s mother did the heavy lifting of the planning. Her and her husband wanted to make sure that their daughter’s wedding not only went off without a hitch but also was one that she would be proud to remember fondly for the rest of her life. Of course, every wedding at Keswick Vineyards is remembered fondly, but Molly’s mother went above and beyond to add personal touches throughout the evening that were tailored specifically for the bride and groom.

Molly loved sunflowers. It was one of the very first things I learned about her when we first met. Naturally, sunflowers became a beautiful addition to her wedding florals and were also beautifully mixed in with other flowers in her bouquet. The bright yellow provided the perfect pop to her rich navy and sage color palate.

The navy and sage worked wonderfully together on their dining tables. Navy linens were the base for guest tables with navy lace slips over ivory napkins. (A beautiful touch). At each place setting guests had several items that all served a purpose throughout the evening. The first was their name cards, which were handmade wine cork name card holders which indicated what meal they chose for dinner service. The second was a scratch off ticket that put them in the pool for winning a prize to take home with them at the end of the night! What was that prize? Keswick Vineyard’s forever famous Viognier Reserve! The last of the items placed in front of each guest was a charity donation announcement which let them know that in lieu of favors a donation has been made in their honor.

Just like Molly’s parents, Kenny’s parents wanted to make sure that they had their hand in making their son’s wedding memorable as well! If there was anything you should know about this couple, it was that they loved pie. Pie became a big focal point for their wedding. They even replaced their wedding cake with a heart shaped wedding pie! They had their big cutting pie and miniatures for their guests to enjoy with mini Ben & Jerry’s ice creams. There was something for everyone! To attract guests towards this area (though the smell naturally did the trick) Kenny’s dad handmade a “PIE” marque sign. It was well crafted and perfect for their display!

I think it’s safe to say that they will forever very fondly remember their wedding day and all of its pie eating bliss!

Day of Coordinator, Keswick Vineyards. Catering, C&O Catering. Photography, Ruby Sky Photography. Rentals, MS Events. Florist, The Faded Poppy. Desserts, Paradox Pastry and Ben & Jerry’s. Hair and Makeup, Charlottesville Makeup Artist. DJ, Dennis Payne. Musician, Terra Voce. Nanny, Local Nanny Network. Transportation, A Goff Limousine and Albemarle Limousine. Lighting, Skyline Tent Company. Officiant, Reverend Rick Hudock.

Keswick 10/14/16 Keswick 10/14/16

Meet the McCarthy's | Tean & Kevin

Over ten years ago, back in my hometown of Herndon, VA I met the bride. Her name is Tean. Tean was friends with my older sister and I was friends with her younger brother. We all went to high school together and have years worth of memories. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that a decade later we’d all reconnect at the beautiful Keswick Vineyards where I’d then be helping her plan her wedding to the love of her life, Kevin!

Kevin and Tean were married on Friday, October 14th. With our close ties to one another they, of course, hired us to be their day of coordinators! Just as all of our couples know, they knew that we’d take care of them and help make their wedding dreams a reality.

Tean and Kevin have been together for 8 incredible years. During those eight years they’ve had time to make memories and develop a deep and forever bond. As part of their marriage ceremony they wanted a way to symbolize just that, their deep and forever bond. They decided that the perfect way to do so would be to incorporate a wine box ceremony into their wedding day.

During wine box ceremonies, each couple is tasked with hand-writing a letter to one another. After exchanging their vows to one another, the couples seal away their letters into a box that contains one bottle of wine. You are to open that bottle of wine on your 1st, 5th or 10th anniversary and enjoy the wine while reading those letters. But, if before that, you hit a rough patch in your marriage, you are to open that box, have some wine and read those letters to remind each other why you fell in love with each other. Reading the words that were written for you by the love of your life on your wedding day will get you through that hump and bring you back to one of the happiest days of your life.

You’ll then remember what is the most important. Each other. You’ll forget the silly little argument you two had and remember the reason why you vowed “for better or for worse”.

Tean and Kevin, we are so fortunate to have been able to share that day with you both. Best of luck to you both, many happy years, and (hopefully) decades until you feel the urge to crack open that sealed box of wine!

Day of Coordinator, Keswick Vineyards. Caterer, Harvest Moon Catering. Photography, Jessica Smith Photography. Officiant, Claire Goodman with Sacred Ground Ceremonies. DJ, Chris Rice with Music Makes You Happy Entertainment. Lighting, Skyline Tent Company. Hair & Makeup, Ashley & Leah. Florist, Hedge Fine Blooms. Desserts, Ashley Soloman.

Keswick 10/8/16 Keswick 10/8/16

Hurricane Matthew | Kari & Harrison

Anyone who turned on the news knew that Hurricane Matthew was approaching. For all of Charlottesville, wedding professionals were also playing storm watchers in anticipation of their weekend’s weddings. In preparation for our upcoming wedding on Saturday, October 8th, that is exactly what Keswick Vineyards was doing!

Despite the pending hurricane, you could not keep the smiles from Kari and Harrison's faces. This storm definitely did not damper their moods. They relished in the fact that they were finally getting married (after having booked with us over two years ago!) They had the right attitude and that is what's most important!

With the misty and unpredictable weather forecast, the couple decided to make the best of what they had to work with and divided the tent. In doing so, they created a warm and intimate environment on what could've been a very dreary day. Half of the tent was sectioned off for the ceremony. They were able to have full church style seating on one half of our Sperry tent with their guests facing towards the vineyard. How beautiful! The other half of the tent was designated for formal dinner seating. Dividing the tent in the way they did brought a cozy element to their wedding that I'm sure guests weren't expecting on such a temperamental weather weekend. Let's just say they proved them wrong! Their layout and perfectly fall decor definitely kept the chill away from the storm.

After the weather cleared, Kari and Harrison were able to go out into the vineyard and capture beautiful photos! Storms don't stay around long here with the mountain helping to break up those less than favorable weather patterns. With the weather cooperating so much, even one of our vineyard cats Indy decided to join the couple and their wedding party for some photo fun! The couple remembered one of our other vineyard cats, Scraps, from back when they first toured the property. Seeing Indy during their photos was a nice surprise to these cat lovers! They loved having both Indy and Scraps present on their wedding day.

The moral of the story is this...with the right attitude greatness is achieved! Congratulations again to Kari and Harrison!

Catering, Roadside Chive Catering. Photography, William Walker Photography. Videographer, Hoopla Media Studios. Rentals, MS Events. Florist, Whimsical Floral Design. Hair & Makeup, Avenue 42 Salon. DJ, Andy Wilfong. Desserts, Favorite Cakes. Lighting, Skyline Tent Company. Officiant, Robb Jacobson. Transportation, A Goff Limousine & Bus Company.

Keswick 10/7/16 Keswick 10/7/16

Let's Get This Party Started | Liz & Scott

This wedding weekend we started off with the marriage of Liz and Scott on Friday, October 7th. Often times with our couples, Friday weddings can seem tough and not feasible with family and friends traveling from all corners of the world. In retrospect, it can be quite the opposite! One of the best part about getting married on a Friday is that you and your guests have the rest of the entire weekend to enjoy the surrounding beauty of Charlottesville. There are so many iconic sights and scenes to explore that your guests will thank you for it in the end.

Liz and Scott’s Friday wedding at Keswick Vineyards brought along quite the crowd. They had an impressive guest count of 150, which shows that no matter what day of the week you land at a beautiful location the ones you love will attend!

As with all marriages, you can’t go on without a little support. For their ceremony the couple asked their guests to join them in a prayer circle. The prayer circle was asking their guests to pray together for the happiness and success of their marriage. It was the perfect way for them to soak in the reason why they were together that day and to have them enter married life with the strength and support of their loved ones backing them up.

After that…it was party time! During cocktail hour they had one of their friends sing and play guitar. We all really enjoyed the energy and life he brought to that hour! We can’t wait to have him come back to the vineyard again. He sent guests off to the reception with the ever-famous “Hey Jude” and then it was time to eat!

Once their bellies were full of good food and great wine, the party really started. Liz and Scott hit the dance floor with gigantic cut outs of their faces encouraging guests to follow them. They were a gift from the best man and everyone took turns using them as props on the dance floor. They were definitely a dancing crowd and the dance floor stayed full all night!

Some dessert and a sparkler send off later and that’s a wrap! Congratulations to you both! You hosted a great wedding worthy of remembering!

Day of Coordinator, Olivia Nguyen. Catering, Hank’s Smokehouse. Photography, Christian Agha Photo. Florist, Amy Watson. Rentals, MS Events. Lighting, Skyline Tent Company. Hair & Makeup, First Look Artistry. Musician, Bennett Wales. DJ, Black Tie Entertainment. Transportation, City of Charlottesville and Camryn Limousine. Officiant, Sharon Erb.