Our Wedding Blog

Keswick 11/12/22 Keswick 11/12/22

Last Wedding of 2022

Saturday, November 12th, we closed out our 2022 wedding season with the marriage of Caroline & Zachary and what a wonderful way to end our season. Caroline & Zachary had their ceremony at the UVA chapel. Many of our couples are UVA graduates that want to get married in that chapel. The hard part with that chapel is you don’t know for sure what time slot you will get until later which can lead to some logistical problems with your venue. Not at Keswick Vineyards! Because our tasting room is totally separate from our wedding venue, you have the flexibility then to start your cocktail hour/reception at any time. You don’t have to wait for our tasting room to close to be private. That is huge when it comes to the logistics of an off-site ceremony. Something for future couples to take into consideration.

I was told by many family members, as well as in the father of the brides’ toast, that Caroline & Zachary knew immediately when they toured here that this was the place for them. They had spent the entire day looking at other venues but none of them gave them the elegant, sophisticated and timelessness feeling they were searching for. Now that their wedding day was here, I can truly see why they chose Keswick Vineyards.

Caroline & Zachary went with a classic, black and white wedding. What a spectacular backdrop the estate provided for those photos. Just look at how classic these two look in front of Edgewood Estate with that black vintage car! Perfection!!!! The dress Caroline wore exemplified pure sophistication and elegance. She reminded me of Grace Kelly. And I love how Zachary wore a white tie and cummerbund to differentiate himself from the groomsmen. And thank you Mother Nature for providing them with perfect weather and one of those remarkable glowing sunsets!

One of the little details I really liked from this wedding was their escort cards. Each had a wax seal indicating the food choice each guest had made. Just another little upscale look versus a stamp imprint of a fish or cow.

One thing for sure, Caroline and Zachary wanted to have fun at their wedding and boy did they do that! I just loved the wedding gift Caroline surprised Zachary with; light up tennis shoes! It sure was easy to spot him on the dance floorJ Guests also got to enjoy a late-night snack from Chick-fil-a of some nuggets and fries. Who doesn’t love Chick-fil-a?

Lastly, Caroline & Zachary had a grand sparkler send off as they made their way to the black vintage car ready to take them away. What a perfect way to end a fairytale wedding!

Thanks to the following vendors for making their dream wedding come true:

Wedding Planner Cristelle Koerper from C&O

Catering by C&O

DJ Derek Tobler

Musician Mike Dantoni

Photographer Sarah Houston

Cakes by Rachel

Tourterelle Floral Designs

Hair & Makeup by Charlottesville Makeup Artist

Rentals by MS Events

Transportation by Easy Riders and Albemarle Limousine

Keswick 11/5/22 Keswick 11/5/22

Leone at Last!

Congratulations to Melanie & Tommy who were married at Keswick Vineyards on Saturday, November 5th. Melanie & Tommy chose to have their ceremony right up against the vineyard with the Southwest Mountains behind them popping with fall colors. I would have to say that last weekend was the peak of colors but there definitely was enough to provide a beautiful backdrop for photos. Being they were married on day light savings day; Melanie & Tommy did a first look so they could get most of their photos done during the day with plenty of light.

Melanie & Tommy are the proud parents of 2 dogs which they of course had to include in their wedding day. It’s a nice touch to include your furry friends in your special day but please make sure you have hired a dog handler to help. By having a professional handler on hand, everyone can relax knowing their pets are being well taken care of.

Versus having a traditional guest book, Melanie & Tommy had a circular wood board with their last name on it for everyone to sign. I can imagine how beautiful that will look hanging in their home as a daily reminder of this beautiful day.

Special thanks to the following vendors:

Barb Wired Event Planner

Eric Stamer Catering

DJ Ricky of Party Masters

Photographer Heather Dodge

Passionflower Cakes

Verde Natural Florals

Reverend Jamie Lynn Haskins

Lou Stevens Glam Squad for hair & makeup

Photobooth of Charlottesville

MS Events for rentals

Keswick 11/4/22 Keswick 11/4/22

FINALLY!!!!

Back in August 2019, when Elizabeth & Bradley chose to get married at Keswick Vineyards, little did they know that it would be take over 3 years for that day to happen. You see, there was this little thing called covid that altered so many originally planned 2020 weddings. Like many couples that were affected by this, Elizabeth & Bradley got married earlier, had two beautiful little girls all before their event at Keswick Vineyards on Friday, November 4th.

I think Mother Nature was happy for them to finally have their day that she gave them a beautiful, warmer fall day. The leaves were starting to fall now yet still provided lots of color for those photos.

I really like how Elizabeth & Bradley had on their welcome table wedding photos of their parents wedding day. Another thing I really liked about their wedding was having a trio band play during cocktail hour. Having some entertainment during cocktail hour is a great idea, especially for those guests that may not know many people attending. It gives them something to watch and enjoy while sipping on a drink or two.

And just look at their desserts! Have you ever seen macaroons this big???? And those cinnamon rolls, delicious! Not the typical desserts you find at a wedding, but I didn’t hear anyone complaining.

Thank you to the following vendors that patiently waited for this wedding day to finally happen:

Marylee Marmer as their wedding planner

L’Etoile catering

DJ Frank Smith of Primetime DJ

Musicians Brent Mountain Trio

Celest Photography

Officiant Dan Mathers

Hair & Makeup by Avenue 42

Bower Bird Bakery

Monticello Nannies for childcare

Albemarle Limousine for transportation

Keswick 10/30/22 Keswick 10/30/22

The Peak of Fall

When Alvina & Mike toured Keswick Vineyards searching for their wedding venue, I remember telling them how the date they were considering booking would have a great chance of hitting our peak of fall colors and boy was I right! Just look at Mother Nature showing off her colors on Sunday, October 30th. The weather was perfect! Cloud coverage so pictures would be perfect, no breeze, warmer temperatures during the day and then cooling off just enough at night to keep you comfortable as you dance the night away. It’s days like this that make fall weddings in Virginia impossible to beat.

For Alvina and Mike, their pets are their children. This was another item they asked of me when they toured, “Can their dogs be part of their wedding day?” Of course! So, Layla & Scooter were part of their wedding party with Scooter being the ring bearer carrying those rings attached to his collar. I’ve never seen such well-behaved dogs before. Take a close look at my photo and you will see Scooter just laying near the feet of Mike.

It was so cute to see the surprise reaction when Alvina discovered that on the back of her wedding cake was a picture of their cats. Her reaction was priceless! She made her guests come up to the cake and check it out before cutting her cake. I’m not sure who did this surprise, but well done!

The décor for this wedding was right on! Again, using those rich, fall colors with velvet linens, perfection! But something that really added to this wedding day was having a grill to cook quail on during cocktail hour. Nothing like the smell of a grill to make your mouth water. And guests just loved seeing the chef cook in front of them and then to serve hot appetizer to them. Highly recommend!