It’s so much fun for me to be able to share this wedding with you because the bride and groom are two of my favorite people. In the course of working in the wedding community I met Jessica several years ago and last year she and I teamed up on a couple of business projects so I’ve had an opportunity to get to know this wonderful person. Seeing her marry such a great guy was a joy and although it’s a few months after the fact I am so excited to show you some of the highlights of their out-of-the-box wedding weekend. Jessica wrote a wonderful narrative that I am also happy to share… so enjoy!

I was a wedding & event planner in Charlottesville, VA for about 8 years when I met Chris who had recently moved to town from Vermont. We got engaged in October of 2009 in Vermont after Chris had a custom Garnet engagement ring designed by a favorite local jewelry designer of mine. When we started to talk about wedding plans we knew that we wanted it to be fun, unique and somewhat casual. We wanted it to really reflect us and our favorite places & things. (And I wanted it to be totally different from any wedding I had planned in the past). We also wanted to have the ceremony on Friday and the reception on Saturday so we could spend plenty of time with everyone. Wow, this was going to be a challenge! As we started making wedding plans, Chris deployed to Afghanistan for a year. While he was home on leave in July of 2010 we decided to surprise our parents and just a few friends and we got married in our living room after inviting them all for a BBQ. It was the best day ever because we were married but we decided that we still wanted to bring all of our family & friends to Charlottesville for a ceremony and celebration on May 7, 2011.

CEREMONY:
Although we wanted to share the same ceremony from our original wedding with family and friends, we decided to keep it pretty small and invited about 75 people to the Clifton Inn on a Friday afternoon where we got married…again…in their beautiful garden with the oldest cottage on the property as a backdrop. I worked at Clifton for 4 years and met a lot of my closest friends there so it’s a very special place to me and had always envisioned a ceremony in this garden but fortunately no one ever took me up on it so I was able to do it myself! We stuck to a small wedding party of my 2 best friends and Chris’ brother and closest friend from his deployment. We did have a flower girl, Edie, who is one of the toughest little girls we know as she was battling childhood cancer at the time and our nephew, Chase, who wore a Red Sox shirt with ‘Bullard’ on the back to represent Chris’ favorite team and our now last name! Since we were already ‘legally’ married a close friend performed the ceremony and another close friend joined the guitar player we had hired to sing ‘Lucky” as we entered and ‘Smile’ as we exited. It was all very intimate and beautiful despite the downpour of rain that occurred right before the ceremony! Luckily the owner of the event planning company I used to work for called to warn us just in time so we delayed the ceremony a bit and just joined our guests…and opened the bar! It really helped everyone to relax (including us) and I think it made the ceremony even better. We went with a casual attire for the wedding party- the girls wore navy dresses and the guys matching red & blue plaid shirts. My bouquet was one of my favorite parts…I was inspired by the ‘brooch bouquet’ to collect a piece of jewelry (or something similar) from all of may friends and family members and I had what the designer decided to call a ‘memory bouquet’ made. It was beautiful…and heavy!

AFTER THE CEREMONY…
In place of a rehearsal dinner, Chris’ parents hosted a cocktail reception on the Clifton croquet lawn. We really tried to tie in the Virginia/Vermont theme by serving favorite foods from both areas and a beer from each as well- Starr Hill ‘Love’ from VA and a Harpoon IPA from Vermont which Chris’ dad and I both love. The flower containers were VA and VT glasses. We exited through bubbles to a 1949 Vintage Cadillac. We returned to have dinner in the Clifton wine cellar with our parents & the wedding party. A friend, Tucker Yoder, is the chef at Clifton so it was fun to have him create our dinner menu. That evening, all guests were invited to meet up at the place where we met, The X Lounge where DJ Western Front performed.

THE RECEPTION
Obviously we took the ceremony very seriously but we wanted the reception to be nothing but unique and fun! A friend later described it as ‘kick ass and classy’. Exactly what we were going for
Location:  We originally chose a beautiful little cabin at one of the local vineyards but when our guest list outgrew it, we decided on Old Trail Golf Club for it’s beautiful mountain views and convenient location.  We didn’t actually use the building though…we placed a round Sperry tent on the edge of the golf course and the party was held there.
Décor: I had seen more round tables with beautiful linens that I could handle in my career so we changed it up a bit and went with picnic tables with burlap runners and assorted red and blue flower containers.  These were a DIY project- we collected lots of blue mason jars but also mixed them in with homemade patterned containers stamped with a ‘B’ for our new last name.  The flowers were very simple- white tulips, hydrangea and a few gerber daisies mixed in too.  We did a mix of red & blue linen napkins with napkin rings (also DIY) that matched the floral containers.  It was all very bright, fun and comfortable.

Food:
This was a hard one for us. I honestly couldn’t think of an event I had done that included exactly what I would want in terms of food. Then Chris said ‘What about those pizza guys we met at the wine & beer festival last year? Do you think they cater?” I didn’t even pause to think he had lost his mind…we called them up and begged them to come. They aren’t just any pizza guys. They have a wood fired oven…on the back of a truck…they use all local ingredients…and they make the best pizza I’d ever tasted. We gave them the freedom to make whatever was local, seasonal and good at the time and it worked out perfectly! We added some salads and we were all set. I think we proved to everyone that pizza can be done at a wedding!
At the suggestion of my mom, we served favorites from the place Chris & I met for hors d’ oeuvres: White Truffle Mac n’ Cheese in tiny jars, Mini Burgers and Shrimp and Avocado Gaufrettes.

Beverages:
We decided to stick with beer and wine. The wine was pretty simple to choose but we got way more creative with the beer since Chris is a beer lover, home brewer and even has a blog about it. Chris, his brother and step-brothers spent several weekends home brewing & bottling cases of an Amber and an IPA for the big day. We had fun labels made to match everything else and he came up with the names, descriptions and a catchy tagline ‘to have and to hold and to drink ice cold’ for them. We also offered two local brews from Blue Mountain Brewery & Starr Hill. The homebrew was a BIG hit!! We also served trays of Orange Crush, Classic Coke Bottles and Root Beer with red & white striped straws. These were really for kids but the adults loved them too!

Music:
The band was the first thing we chose, even before we had a venue. I had worked with The Dickens many times before. They are super nice guys, a great band and it isn’t possible to not have fun when they are in the room! They were awesome as usual and everyone had their chance to dance on stage with them (and some even danced on the tables). The big surprise of the night was when our friend and wedding planner joined them on stage to sing. We had no idea she could sing but she’d arranged it all in advance and she was amazing.

We also decided to add a local favorite, Bennie Dodd, to the mix for the cocktail portion. He does southern rock and country, which added the one musical element that we were missing. He also happened to go to high school with my parents so he knew many of our guests and even stayed to perform with the Dickens later that night.

Sweets:
Chris loves cupcakes and the Red Sox so since ‘B’ also stands for our new last name I ordered Red Sox cupcakes with a small cake for us to cut. These weren’t just any cupcakes though. Anita at Maliha Creations came up with Lemon with Ginger Cloud Frosting (my 2 favorite flavors) and Red Velvet with Vermont Maple Frosting (Chris’ favorites). They were SO good! People loved the ‘keep calm and eat a cupcake’ sign that I ordered from Etsy. We also had organic cider donuts by the Carpe Donut truck. I had worked with them for years and since they donuts reminded me of the ones we get in Vermont I thought it was another great way to tie in where Chris is from…and have yummy donuts too!

Fun Stuff:
We added a photo booth at the last minute and were so glad we did! We provided some props but the photographer showed up with lots more and everyone had a great time with it. They turned out to be some of our favorite photos.

It was important to Chris that we got a photo of everyone in the group. As a planner, I know that is a pain to pull off but we did it and it’s another favorite photo of our. All of our favorite people under one tent…that was our goal…and now we have that photo to remember it by!

I now own a small marketing & social media company so I spend a LOT of time on Facebook. ‘Late night’ we had the bars switch to cocktail napkins that said ‘What happens tonight will go on Facbeook tomorrow’ People loved them.

We booked ‘The Wahooptie’ (a pink old school limo) to drive us and the wedding party back to town from the reception. It was fun and a great way to hang out with them for a bit longer at the end of the night!

Overall the weekend was exactly what we wanted it to be- a comfortable, fun, unique weekend that perfectly represented ‘us’ with all of our family & friends there. Being a planner, I kind of feel that we proved that it’s OK to do something different. When we originally told people that we were ‘making the beer and serving pizza’ I think they thought we had lost our minds but it all worked out perfectly and in the end people said it was the best, most fun wedding they had been to. I will admit that I spent weeks focusing on how I was going to let go of all of the details that a wedding planner usually worries about on my own wedding day but with everyone there and all of the perfect vendors chosen, it wasn’t really that difficult at all!

Contact Information for Sarah Downey Photography:
~ website: www.sarahdowneyphotos.com
~ blog: www.sarahdowneyphotos.com/blogs
~ phone: 540-840-4139
~ e-mail: sarah@sarahdowneyphotos.com

Additional Vendors
~ Engagement Ring: Erin McDermott Jewelry
~ Wedding Band: Angelo & Floyd Jewelers
~ Paper: Invitations, Beer Labels & Programs scissorhands on Etsy
~ Printing: Charlottesville Press
~ Coordinator: Barb Wired Events
~ Ceremony Location & Cocktail Party Food & Beverage: The Clifton Inn
~ Ceremony & Rehearsal Dinner Music: Crawford Smith, guitar & Lori Kush (vocals)
~ Brooch Bouquet- Lionsgate Designs on Etsy
~ Welcome Party DJ: DJ Western Front
~ Photographer: Sarah Downey Photography
~ Videographer: Ian Atkins of Ian’s Creations
Officiants:
~ Original ceremony- Claire Goodman, Sacred Ground Ceremonies
~ Clifton ceremony- Nick Gilger, friend
~ Vintage Limo: Albemarle Vintage Limousine
~ Friday Hair and Make-Up: Lora Elaine
~ Reception Venue & Hors d’ oeuvres: Old Trail Golf Club & The Event Company
~ Reception Food: Dogtown Pizza
~ Cupcakes & Cake: Maliha Creations
~ Donut Truck: Carpe Donut
~ Flowers and Containers: DIY
~ Tent & Picnic Tables; Skyline Tent Company
~ Rentals: Classic Party Rentals
~ Lighting: The AV Company
~ Saturday Cocktail Music: Bennie Dodd (booked through Sam Hill Entertainment)
~ Saturday Band: The Dickens (booked through Sam Hill Entertainment)
~ Saturday Hair & Make-Up: Face Value Studio

I know this is a little different from what I usually share here on the blog, but I love this song and if I were planning my own wedding now, this what I would like to have sung… I hope that you enjoy it too.

If you are seeking amazing and beautiful music for your wedding (or even if you’re not) I have a great treat for you! Elizabeth Brightbill (flute) and Andrew Gabbert (cello) of Terra Voce will be performing at LIve Arts later this month. This will give you an opportunity to hear this wonderful duo in person at one of Charlottesville’s unique venues… I know you’ll just love their music!

If you’d like to hear some clips from their repertoire please go here and if you’d like to find out if Terra Voce might be available for your wedding date e-mail them at info@terravoce.com or give them a call at 434-823-7652.

You might also enjoy watching them play at the Kennedy Center last October here.

Shannon & Clancy chose a very informal morning ceremony in the lovely Garden VIII at UVA with a group of about 35 or 40 of their closest family and friends.  After all the great professional photography I’ve shared with you on this blog, I hope that you won’t mind that this post has photos taken only by me with my highly unprofessional camera.  Shannon and Clancy included a couple of very special elements in their ceremony: a Hand Blessing ceremony (based on a Celtic Handfasting) and they also prepared and handed out personalized scrolled messages to each and every one of their 40 guests.  It was a lovely celebration… oh, and I wanted to be sure to tell you about the Rick Olivarez Trio… 2/3 of the Trio played for the ceremony and their music was fantastic!

Thank you for the honor of being a part of your big day… I wish you both a lifetime of happiness!

Beautiful bride!

Just married!

A message of love for each friend and family member.

After the ceremony everyone gathered for a group shot

2/3 of the Rick Olivarez Trio... amazing music!

Happy pup with Mom & Dad!

All in all a beautiful day at UVA... congratulations Shannon & Clancy!

Guest Post by Peter Markush of the Plum Blossom String Quartet

Planning the music for your wedding ceremony can be challenging but also very rewarding. Your first decision is whether to use live or pre-recorded music. If you choose live music, you have to decide what instrumentation you want, then find and hire musicians who play those instruments. Finally, you will need to determine which events during the ceremony will be accompanied by music and choose specific musical selections for those events.

As is true of many aspects of your wedding, many of these choices will be influenced by your budget. For the most part, the more musicians you hire and the more of their time you require, the more you will have to pay.

If your budget is limited, be creative with ways to make your ceremony music special. While pre-recorded music is generally the least expensive option, the right solo musician can add that special touch that only live music can and still not cost you an arm and a leg.

To save money, consider asking family or friends who are musicians if they might be willing to play as a wedding gift or at a discount, or for room and board or other barter. While professional musicians are less willing and able to do this, sometimes an amateur musician who has a relationship with the bride and groom can lend special meaning to the ceremony.

Another way to save money is to have the ceremony musicians also play for the cocktail hour and/or reception. While these different situations often require different styles of music, some musicians are versatile enough to make it work, and it is generally cheaper than hiring separate groups to handle each situation.

The Plum Blossom String Quartet

If your budget allows for it, a good rule of thumb is to hire the best and most experienced musicians you can afford. If two string quartets appear to be comparable but one is 30% cheaper than the other, there’s probably a reason for that. Experienced musicians tend to be better prepared and generally conduct themselves more professionally.

Of course, don’t judge musicians solely based on price. Get recommendations from booking agents, wedding planners, and other wedding professionals such as caterers and photographers. Friends and family are also a good source of information.

Most wedding ceremonies have music for the bridal processional and the recessional. Other ceremony events that are commonly accompanied by music include prelude music while guests are being seated; the seating of the mothers and grandmothers; the wedding party processional (sometimes there is a separate piece of music for the bridesmaids); and the candle lighting. There may also be one or more musical interludes.

Unless you have specific requests, the musicians will generally choose appropriate prelude music without input from the bride and groom. For the other events, the musicians may provide you with a repertoire list of musical selections for you to choose from. If you have trouble deciding, your ceremony musicians will generally be happy to offer their suggestions.

On a personal note, I’d like to say that weddings are a great opportunity for musicians like me to be part of something special while making money doing what we love to do. So thank you to all the brides and grooms out there, good luck, and congratulations!

Contact Information for Peter Markush and the Plum Blossom String Quartet:
~ website: www.plumblossomstringquartet.com
~ phone: 434-295-6367
~ e-mail: peter@stringblossomstringquartet.com

If you’re planning a wedding in the Charlottesville area, the Charlottesville Wedding Directory will make your life so much easier… check it out… and happy wedding planning!

Mary Ann & John’s sweet little springtime wedding at the Boar’s Head Inn was beautifully captured by the brilliant Billy Hunt and his talented assistant, Jeremy of Billy Hunt Photography.  I was so happy that John and Mary Ann had beautiful weather for their morning ceremony on the Volleyball Field (not really, that’s just what it’s called).  As always, Debbie Dabney, of the Boar’s Head had every detail handled and everyone was able to relax and really enjoy the celebration with great company and great food… Mary Ann & John: thanks for including me in your big day!

For beautiful music check out the Piedmont Chamber Players

Contact Information for Billy Hunt Photography:
~ website: www.billyhunt.com
~ phone: 434-872-0178
~ e-mail: billy@billyhunt.com

If you’re planning a wedding in the Charlottesville area, the Charlottesville Wedding Directory will make your life so much easier… check it out… and happy wedding planning!

There is nothing quite like having the unique presence of bagpipes at a wedding. Over the years I’ve had the privilege of experiencing this amazing addition to about a half-dozen ceremonies and it is without a doubt one of my very favorite things. If you want to honor your Irish or Scottish heritage it is especially wonderful and Tim Lewis Batten is one of a small number of bagpipers who makes himself available for such events. Here’s some information about Tim:

For over 25 years, Tim Lewis Batten has served the entire Commonwealth of Virginia as professional Piper (One who plays the great Highland Bagpipes). He frequently performs for weddings and other events in the Charlottesville area. Music is his primary passion, but there’s more! Tim is co-owner of Pipes of Argyll & Scottish Goods, which also rents full formal kilt packages for the men in a wedding party.

Tim also leads two Pipe Bands in Virginia, the Old Dominion Emerald Pipes & Drums, and the regimental styled St. Andrew’s Legion Pipes & Drums.

If you need a Piper, a full band, formal kilts and jackets, Tim can supply all your needs to make your wedding Scottish or Irish.

Give Tim a call at (804) 502-7046 or e-mail: pipesofargyll@aol.com

Some notes from Tim: One of the advantages of having a Piper, is that he or she can perform all the music required for a wedding ceremony. They can be played indoors if the building has high enough ceilings,but the bagpipes are the ideal outdoor instrument. No other non electronic instrument has the projection and ambience of the Pipes. A Piper can so much to the ceremony as an integral participant. Many Brides sometime elect to have their Piper lead them in for the processional and often, it is the Piper who sounds off the recessional and leads the newly weds out of the ceremony area to the reception, or acts as the beacon to draw all the guest to the reception while the official wedding parties peels off to have those cherished photographs taken.

Shelley & Mike’s Autumn wedding at Veritas Vineyard was beautifully photographed by the fabulously talented Meg Runion of Rob Garland Photographers and today I am so happy to be able to share a selection of Meg’s fantastic work with you… (contact info. for Meg is at the end) Enjoy!

Contact info. for Meg Runion:
~ phone: 434-293-3332
~ e-mail: contactus@robgarland.com
~ website: www.robgarland.com
~ be sure to look at Meg’s gallery and blog too!

It’s so important to find the right music for your ceremony, cocktail hour & reception. Music sets the tone for your event and is often one of the most memorable parts of you day! Vernon Fischer’s Bands, Guitarist & Musicians are experts at helping make sure the music for your wedding day is perfect. They can provide a wide variety of types of music from classical and vocal to jazz, popular, rock, swing and most anything else you can think of plus expertly MC your reception.

Vern is a life-long musician who plays many instruments himself and also works with a multitude of talented artists in bands of all sizes, from duos up to 9 pieces. His bands may include guitars, horns, strings, woodwinds, keyboards and drums in varying combinations.

If you know exactly what you want or don’t know where to begin… give Vern a call and he can help you find the very best music and musicians for your big day! Be sure to check out the videos of some of his groups online.

To book Vern and any of his groups or for more information contact him today:
~ phone: 434-295-6360
~ e-mail: vernonfischer24@hotmail.com
~ website: www.vernonfischer.com

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Yes, Tuesday! After all of the weddings I’ve done over the years at the Clifton Inn, I had no idea that there was a lake with a dock on the property… imagine my surprise . … and it made an absolutely idyllic backdrop for Jeffery and Lena’s beautiful little wedding this afternoon. All of their guests easily fit right on the dock with us and it made for such an intimate outdoor setting.

Two of the many special things about this wedding ceremony were the family sand ceremony that Jeffrey’s 3 beautiful children joined in to symbolize their participation in the forming of this beautiful new family… plus incorporating a Russian wedding tradition at the end of the ceremony where the newly married couple shares bread and salt with the guests signifying their good wishes for health and prosperity for their life together. Albemarle Baking Company, apparently followed Lena’s instructions to create an authentic loaf!

As with all weddings there are many wonderful and talented people that help make everything happen, including of course, Crystal at the Clifton Inn who helped Lena and Jeffrey plan their day. Additionally, Jennifer Myer played beautiful music for the ceremony, Jill Rose of Jillian’s Video Productions was there to videotape everything for all the friends and family that couldn’t be there today and Will Kerner was there to photograph every moment… there was a moment there when we were afraid he was going to fall in the water trying to get the best shot… hopefully he will share some of his photos of the day with me so that I can post them here in a day or two.

Thanks everyone… don’t we have the absolute best jobs in the world!?!?! And BIG Congratulations to Lena and Jeffrey… I wish you a lifetime of love!

Long life, health & prosperity!