Our Wedding Blog

Keswick 4/26/14 Keswick 4/26/14

Non-Stop Dancing for This Wedding! | Jennifer & Dan

Jennifer and Dan had one fun Charlottesville vineyard wedding on Saturday, April 26th, at Keswick Vineyards. I've never seen such a fun, dancing group of guest as I have from this wedding. With Jennifer's family being from the Dominion Republic, guests danced the night away to Spanish music and brought that rhythm with them. The energy coming from that dance floor was amazing! I don't think I ever saw Jennifer not dancing. Did I mention how beautiful Jennifer looked? Breathtaking is all I can say. There was a moment when she was coming down the stairs heading out to the ceremony when the sunlight hit her just right to create one of those moments. Wish I would of gotten that one with my camera. Southern Inn Catering did a great job creating food stations for the reception. I love how they used shadow boxes to display the desserts for the evening. Jennifer's sister Newsy did an amazing job acting as her wedding coordinator. Newsy's daughter was one of the flower girls who wore the cutest dress. What a great job she did!

Special thanks to all the Charlottesville wedding vendors for making this wedding an unforgettable night: Southern Inn Catering, DJ Ran Henry with Blue Mountain Weddings, Photographer April Bennett & Aaron, Videographer Ian Atkins, Flowers by Whimsical Floral Design, Cake by Paradox Pastry, Photo Booth of Charlottesville, Officiant Brian Purcell, UTS Charters for buses, Hair & Make-up by Moxie and Skyline Tent Company. Click here for a sneak peak at some photos by April Bennett. Click here to view video by Ian Atkins. Click here to see this wedding featured on Borrowed & Blue.

Keswick 4/19/14 Keswick 4/19/14

Mary Beth & Sameer's Double Ceremony | Mary Beth & Sameer

I just love it when couples with two different ethnic backgrounds get married at Keswick Vineyards. It is such an experience to see wedding ceremonies of another culture. For Mary Beth & Sameer, it was a combination of American and Indian traditions. The day started with the Hindu ceremony. MS Events did a beautiful job building a staged wrapped with fabric and garland with flowers by Verde Natural Florals. Mary Beth and Sameer looked beautiful in their traditional Indian attire. I find this ceremony so fascinating to watch with all the symbolism they use through out the ceremony. It starts with a cloth separating the couple from seeing one another. Once they have seen each other Sameer applies a red powder to Mary Beth's parting hair as a symbol of her married status. Sameer then adorns her with a sacred black beaded necklace symbolizing his love for her. A fire is then lit with prayers being offered. They then walk around the fire 4 times to symbolize the four goals of human existence. Towards the end, they both step on a stone and offer a prayer for their mutual love to be firm and steadfast like a stone. Finally, they take seven steps together which represents the Hindu belief that they will remain lifelong friends. Isn't that a beautiful ceremony??? After that ceremony, guests enjoyed some refreshments prepared by Harvest Moon Catering while the wedding party did a quick change for the American ceremony. Pastor Brian Purcell lead the American ceremony. I love how Mary Beth & Sameer wrote love letters to each other that were placed in a box, along with a bottle of Keswick Vineyards wine, that is locked until their 1st anniversary. Those letters will always remind them of the reasons why they love one another so much and why they chose to get married. After that ceremony guests enjoyed a few more refreshments while pictures were taken. I just love Photographer William Walker. He really gets into his work. He needed to show Mary Beth & Sameer a look he wanted for a photo so he quickly grabbed his wife who is also his second shooter, Jessica, to give a quick demo (see my photo below). So glad I was able to capture that fun moment. Dinner was then served buffet style by Harvest Moon Catering. Guests were then treated by one of those spectacular Virginia sunsets that are just amazing to witness. How special was that????? Once under the Sperry tent for the evening, DJ TD Layman kept the dance floor packed while guests danced the night away. Mary Beth & Sameer's entire day was flawless under the direction of Barbara Lundgren and her Barb Wired team.

None of this would be possible without the teamwork of the following vendors: Harvest Moon Catering, Barb Wired Event Planning, DJ TD Layman of Sound Enforcement, Photographer William Walker and his wife Jessica, Verde Natural Florals, Favorite Cakes, MS Events, Pastor Brian Purcell, Hair & Make-up Artist Marci Corle with A More Beautiful You and UTS Buses.

Keswick 4/5/14 Keswick 4/5/14

2014 Wedding Season Begins!!! | Brooke & Matt

Saturday, April 5th, started Keswick Vineyards 2014 Charlottesville wedding season with the marriage of Brooke & Matt. It was hard to believe that just a week earlier we were still getting snow! Thankfully, Mother Nature welcomed this wedding day with a beautiful Virginia Spring day. Brooke and her family made sure the day was filled with plenty of personal DIY details that were just perfect for a winery wedding. Everyone loved Brooke's centerpieces; she glued together 3 wine bottles, wrapped some ribbons around them and put a card holder down the center to hold the table numbers. Verde Natural Florals added a few flowers into each wine bottle and that was it. She set them on top of a piece of wood just to add a little something extra to the look. Brooke & Matt also made a cork board to display the names for the seating at each table. Her father made several wood signs to put through out the property including one that showed how many different locations people traveled from to attend this wedding and how far away each one was. The wedding party looked so sharp with the bridesmaids being in a light pink color and the groomsmen in a charcoal grey suit. Guests enjoyed cocktail hour while listening to musician Peter Richardson play his guitar. Afterwards guests were seated under the Sperry tent to enjoy a buffet dinner prepared by Southern Inn Catering.

Thanks to the following Charlottesville wedding vendors for doing such a great "opening day" wedding: Caterer Southern Inn Catering, DJ Mark Allen, Photographer Jamie Kay, Florist Verde Natural Florals, Pastry Chef Albemarle Baking Company, Officiant Ryan Thompson, Hair by Kimberly and Musician Peter Richardson. Click here to see photos by Charlottesville wedding photographer, Jamie Kay.