Our Wedding Blog

Keswick 9/24/22 Keswick 9/24/22

Pennsylvania Cookie Bar

Alison & Rob, who were married at Keswick Vineyards on Saturday, September 24th, had the weather every couple dream of. Who do you think they have to thank??? Yep, you guessed it. Alison & Rob buried their bottle of bourbon exactly one month before their wedding date and was guaranteed that the weather Gods would take care of them. This tradition is still, 100% effective for our couples at Keswick Vineyards. Lets keep that track record going!

I love the idea of Alison & Rob’s guest book. They chose to have several bottles of wine, each representing an anniversary. Guests would use a metallic marker to sign a bottle. What a wonderful way to reflect on your wedding day on that anniversary as you open a bottle of wine from your wedding day. Also take a look at the lovely memorial table they did for loved ones who couldn’t be there on wedding day. This was such a special thing for guests to be able to look at on the way into the ceremony.

The biggest hit of Alison & Rob’s wedding had to be the Pittsburg cookie bar. We have had many cookie bars from our Pennsylvania couples, but I have never had one with 6000 cookies!!! Nope, that isn’t a typo, 6000! Rob’s Mother, Jamie, started back in June making 80% of these cookies. As part of my job I, I just had to try one or two (or more) They were AMAZING!!!! And on top of all those cookies, guests also could have some wedding cake! Glucose overload for everyone this evening but so worth it!

Thank you to their vendor team for always doing an excellent job at what we do; making memories:

Little Acorn Events

Harvest Moon Catering

DJ Fit – Nathan May

Musician Virginia Schweninger

Photographer Ashley Eagleson

Videographer Erin Adelman of This Is Double Take

Sugar on Top Bakery

Colonial Florist

Officiant Phil Gates

Hair & Makeup by Charlottesville Makeup Artist

Rental by MS Events

Transportation provided by Ambassador Limousine, Albemarle Limousine & Camryn Limousine

Keswick 9/23/22 Keswick 9/23/22

Burying The Bourbon Works Again!

Kirsten and Mark were married on September 23rd, 2022 here at Keswick Vineyards. Their wedding was truly the first one of the season where we all started to feel that crisp fall air. Kirsten and Mark decided to bury a bottle of bourbon on our property exactly one month prior to their wedding date in hopes that it would bring them perfect weather on their wedding day and boy oh boy did it work! Crisp air and sunny skies filled their wedding day!

This couple also did something that we have never seen here at Keswick Vineyards! Kirsten and Mark decided to eat their dinner in our carriage house instead of eating dinner under the tent with the rest of their guests. This allowed the couple an opportunity to have a private moment to enjoy their meal together before making their way under the tent to mingle with their guests!

The decor for their wedding was kept very simple and elegant. Since they got blessed with perfect weather, keeping the decor simple really allowed to beauty of the property to speak for itself.

They also decided to have custom koozies at their bar. This is a wonderful addition to any wedding as it not only adds a little something to the bar display but it is a great takeaway for guests from the wedding!

We are so thankful to have hosted Kirsten and Marks special day! We wish the two of you nothing but happiness and hope you come back to visit us in the future!

A special thank you to all of their vendors:

Wedding Planner - Jazmin Portnow

Catering - Harvest Moon

DJ - T.D. Layman

Photographer - Aaron Watson

Pastry Chef - Cake Bloom

Florist - Colonial Florist

Officiant - Family Friend

Hair and Make-up - The Veil Bride

Transportation - Easy Rider and Albemarle Limousine

Rentals - MS Events

Food Truck - Moo Thru Ice Cream

Keswick 9/17/22 Keswick 9/17/22

Salsa Dance Party!

Oh, what fun everyone had at Allison & Giulio’s wedding at Keswick Vineyards on Saturday, September 17th. It was a long day waited by many for over 2 years to happen because of covid but it sure seems like it was worth the wait.

Mother Nature provided them with the perfect weather. It is weather like today that makes outdoor weddings so spectacular. Allison & Giulio chose to have their ceremony amongst the vines. Framing the two of them was our pergola decorated with florals with two large florals on our wine barrels at the back of the aisle.

Allison & Giulio found the love of dancing while attending college where they both took salsa classes. It was a beautiful site all evening to watch so many couples dancing like professional dancers. At 10:00pm, crazy hour started. That’s when Allison made her appearance in another short, fun, white dress wearing a mask and approached her husband for him to put on his mask too. Hats, beads and masks were handed out to all the guests to join in the final “crazy” hour of the night. As you can see, it was a big hit!

Special shout out to their DJ, Nathan May of DJ Fit. This was a bi-lingual wedding and Nathan did an incredible job translating announcements throughout the evening in Spanish.

And thanks to the following vendors for making Allison & Giulio’s long and awaited wedding day picture perfect:

Wedding Planner Kaitlin Everett

Harvest Moon Catering

Photographer Kristen Meadows

Cake by Cake Bloom

Something Borrowed Blooms florist

Officiant Rev. Dr. Peter Fraser-Morris & Dr. Eric X. Jarrard

Albemarle Limousine & James Limousine for transportation

Beauty Partner with Makeup by Holly

MS Events for rentals

Blue Ridge Lighting for adding the Asian lanterns under the tent

Keswick 9/16/22 Keswick 9/16/22

My Officer & A Gentleman Wedding

Where do I even start with Katie & Mike? I guess when Katie toured Keswick Vineyards. The two of us immediately hit it off. It felt like Katie & I were old friends being reunited. I just loved hearing about her love story with Mike who was unable to accompany her that day. I was so excited to hear that Mike was in the Air Force and was a pilot. He is the real, “Top Gun”! I told Katie that Mike had to wear his uniform and do the sword thing at the end of their ceremony because I am such a fan of that. She said she wasn’t sure about him doing this, but I kept telling her he had to (for meJ) When Mike came later to see the venue Katie had chosen, he was all smiles. I told him that my favorite movie is An Officer and a Gentleman, and my favorite scene is at that end when Richard Gere carries Debra Winger off for their happy ever ending. I told him that was another thing I needed on their wedding day (I guess I was asking for a lot. I mean, it is their wedding day).

Fast forward to a month before their wedding day, September 16th. Katie & Mike came to Keswick Vineyards to bury their bourbon! When they toured, I had told them about that Southern tradition. They went to Ironclad Distillery in Newport News, that sold a bury bourbon package. It was so cute! It had a bottle of whiskey in a box that also contained a little shovel, a flag to mark your spot and a little write up on the Southern tradition.

Fast forward another month and it’s their wedding day, September 16th. Lets start by saying the Southern tradition worked!!! They had the most perfect weather! They made sure to wait until their ceremony was over before unearthing the bourbon which they enjoyed drinking and sharing with their wedding party afterwards.

Katie looked AMAZING!!!! She had such a classic, elegant, timeless look. And Mike, well, he looked as handsome as ever in his dress blues. Thank you so much for wearing them!!! Mike and his groomsmen added a little bling to their shirts by having the sleeves be different. You will see what I’m talking about in their dancing photos. The two of them together, simply perfection. Magazine cover, gorgeous couple! And lets not forget their wedding party that looked amazing in their terracotta dresses and blue suits with terracotta ties to match.

For Katie & Mike’s ceremony, they chose to have the Keswick Vineyards viognier vineyard as their backdrop. With harvest already started, the vines were at their peak! And to my delight, they did the arch sword thing at the end of the ceremony to welcome Katie into the military family!

Now, look at their décor. I am in love with the large, 4-sided rattan colored bar they had for cocktail hour. Great way for everyone to be served quickly and then on each corner were self-served non-alcoholic containers with water, ice tea, etc. And just take a look at their cocktail napkins. They had several versions of fun facts about the two of them printed on them. And I can’t forget to mention how their escort cards were displayed. Katie spent a lot of time making them with our corks and she did an AMAZING job!

The tent, well just look at it. They kept it pretty simple to not compete with the natural beauty of Keswick Vineyards but to enhance it by carrying that greenery look and feel to under the tent. I also like how they rented rectangular king tables and mixed them with our round tables to give the tent a more spacious feel. Gorgeous! Guests had so much fun dancing the night away with these two.