Gorgeous pics today from Will of William Walker Photography.  Can I just say that I’m loving the black & white images so much plus the one of Laura having a big laugh… what was she laughing about?  Maybe just blowing of a bit of wedding day tension… or maybe Will said something really funny?  That must be it!

Here are a few words from Will:

I’ve been a photographer for about 10 years now, and have owned William Walker Photography since 2006.  I was first published as a teenager and I’ve made photography my life ever since.  One of my favorite things about photography is interacting with people, and it is such a “people” business.  I love to make people smile and laugh, but I also love what happens when I tell a couple “Just forget about me for a minute”.  It is my job as a photographer to capture the day, but I’m also there to make sure the bride and groom are relaxed and having a good time, all the while making great photographs.

Bianca & Dain married at the Belmont Baptist Church

Bianca & Dain

Emily & Ryan married at Veritas Vineyards & Winery in Afton, VA

Emily & Ryan

Emily & Ryan

Francesca & Sam were married at St. Paul's in Ivy and then photos at Toad Hollow Farm

Lauren & Ryan were married at Keswick Vineyards

Laura & Ryan

Ram & Marie at Keswick Hall

Marie's shoes!

Ram & Marie before the ceremony.

Contact Information for William Walker Photography:
~ website: www.williamwalkerphoto.com
~ blog: www.walkerphotoblog.com
~ e-mail: will@williamwalkerphoto.com
~ phone: 434-960-2297

Jennifer & Demetris’ lovely summertime wedding at the The Boar’s Head was an occasion to remember! Their ceremony was very unique, honoring both the bride’s Jewish background and the groom’s Greek Orthodox heritage surrounded by the beauty of The Boar’s Head.  Their choice of various shades of purple for their wedding details could not have been more striking against the lush green Virginia summertime backdrop.  So much laughter and so many tears… it’s what weddings are all about!  Many thanks to the talented David Abel of David Abel Photography for sharing his gorgeous images with us!

stefana and glass

Contact Information for David Abel Photography
~ website: www.DavidAbelPhotography.com
~ blog: www.DavidAbelPhotography.net
~ e-mail: david@davidabelphotography.com
~ phone: 804-639-0609

Additional Vendors
~ Venue, Catering & Coordination: The Boar’s Head
~ Flowers: Pat’s Floral Design
~ Officiant: Claire Goodman of Sacred Ground Ceremonies (that’s me
~ Music: Plum Blossom String Quartet

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

It has been about a year since I’ve had a Prince Michel Winery wedding to share with you and today I’m happy to share Bethany & Olen’s summertime wedding photographed by Melissa of Melissa Arlena Photography. I’m loving the bright coral-colored bridesmaids dresses against the summer green and Bethany’s hair design is truly a work of art… their day had so many lovely details all around.  Thanks, Melissa… welcome to the blog!

Bethany and Olen have been one of my favorite couples to photograph so far because they are so natural with each other and it makes my job easy!  Bethany planned a rustic vintage wedding at Prince Michel Winery complete with wildflower inspired bouquets and a reception set among the vines.  She and Olen exchanged vows in the barrel room to help the guests keep cool.  As the sun set and the temperature cooled off we were able to take a few minutes to create some amazing portraits of the bride and groom on the grounds of the winery.  One of my favorite images of the night was Bethany and Olen’s first dance, the dance floor was illuminated by lights hanging from wooden poles that the groom made just for their wedding!

Enjoy another Prince Michel Winery wedding HERE.

Contact Information for Melissa Arlena Photography
~ website: Melissa Arlena Photography
~ phone: 540-307-0233
~ e-mail: melissa@melissaarlenaphotography.com

Additional Vendors
~ Venue: Prince Michel Winery
~ Flowers: Randy’s Flowers
~ Catering: About You Catering
~ Makeup: GoGo Gorgeous
~ Hair: Illusions Hair Salon
~ Cake: Unbridled Bakery

Today I’m so happy to share Nate and Kimberly’s Blue Mountain Brewery wedding (Nelson County) photographed by Martyn Kyle of Pernmoot Photography with you.  Congratulations to Nate and Kim and also to Blue Mountain Brewery for it’s official entrance into the wonderful world of weddings.  Thanks so much, Martyn… welcome to the Charlottesville Wedding Blog!  A few words from Martyn…

This is the wedding of Nate Schneider and Kimberly Martin. They were married at Blue Mountain Brewery on September 8th. Nate and Kim are dear friends whom I have known for many years. It was an honor to be asked to record this special day….special for them and for the Brewery itself; this being the first official event the brewery has held in their newly designed event space. Wonderful food, drink and dancing and such a view!!!

Contact Information for Martyn Kyle of Pernmoot Photography
~ website: www.pernmoot.com
~ phone: 434-996-9999
~ e-mail: martynkyle@pernmoot.com
~ blog: http://pernmoot.wordpress.com

Additional Vendors
~ Venue, Catering & Coordination: Blue Mountain Brewery
~ Flowers: A New Leaf Florist
~ Rentals: Festive Fare
~ Hair & Makeup: Moxie Hair Lounge
~ Wines: Pollak, King Family & Veritas Vineyards

Tammy and Jason Keefer of Jason Keefer Photography have such a unique style and seem to be especially good at catching the emotion of the day. I love the misty backdrop that Ash Lawn-Highland presented on Nora & Noah’s wedding day and the unexpected pop of color of Nora’s wedding dress against that soft background is truly fabulous. Here are some words from Tammy… enjoy!

Noah and Nora, who are originally from around the Charlottesville area had moved to Massachusetts for work. Nora had this to say about having their wedding at Ash Lawn-Highland:  ”We’d ideally like a cozy, happy, simple wedding. What’s most important are the people there, and the atmosphere of rural Cville. Both of us grew up in the woods and farms around there, so having all our friends and family come see us get married within sight of the Blue Ridge is important.”

Noah and Nora had chosen me and Jason to document their wedding day while up in Massachusetts. Months later, when they were able to take a trip down to Charlottesville and get together with us, we all discovered that we shared a lot of mutual friends and even frequented some of the same hang outs. It’s a small-big wonderful world in Charlottesville.

Contact Information for Jason Keefer Photography
~ website: www.jasonkeefer.com
~ phone: 434-989-4971
~ e-mail: info@jasonkeefer.com
~ blog: http://jasonkeefer.net

Additional vendors
~ Venue: Ash Lawn-Highland
~ Officiant: Virginia Moore
~ Catering: Harvest Moon
~ Cake: Cakes Unlimited

On some of these chilly Autumn days the soft balmy days of summer seem like such a long time ago… but this shimmery summer wedding by Natalie Bell Photography really brings that feeling back to life for a few minutes… thank you, Natalie!  I especially love the bridesmaid’s aqua knee-length dresses with their pale yellow bouquets.  Here are a few words from Natalie about Allie & Adam’s wedding at beautiful Nutmeg Farm:

Allie and Adam’s wedding was one of our favorite weddings from this past summer. Not only are they an amazing couple, but their wedding was so beautiful and full of personal details.

John and I began the day with Allie and Adam at Nutmeg Farm, a gorgeous venue right in our own Albemarle County. After the ceremony, we headed back into town for the reception at the Omni Hotel right on the Downtown Mall.

Contact Information for Natalie Bell Photography
~ website: www.nataliebellphotography.com
~ phone: 760-473-2581
~ e-mail: natalie@nataliebellphotography.com
~ blog: www.nataliebellphotography.com/blog/
Other Vendors::
~ Ceremony Venue: Nutmeg Farm
~ Reception Venue: Omni Charlottesville
~ Flowers: Queen B’z
~ Cake: Favorite Cakes
~ DJ: Dennis Payne
~ Transportation: Wahooptie

Today’s the day!  One Sweet Wedding: Charlottesville has officially launched and we’d love for you to visit!

For Brides & Grooms:

It is our hope that One Sweet Wedding will offer you a truly comprehensive resource to assist you in finding everything you’ll need to plan your Central Virginia Wedding.  We’ve attempted to create a streamlined, uncluttered  site focused exclusively on the Charlottesville area so that you can simply find what you need and easily get in touch with the vendors you’re looking for to help you create the wedding of your dreams.  Give it a try and let us know how you like it!

For Vendors:

Charlottesville and Central Virginia have long been in need of a really good, high-quality and exclusively local on-line directory that will allow wedding & event professionals to feature their products and services and be easily found, all in once place, by brides and grooms who need these services.   It is my sincere hope that you will find that need fulfilled by One Sweet Wedding: Charlottesville.  There are multiple options for advertising so that you will be able to find the right match for your business.  We hope you’ll get in touch and tell us what you think.

Drop us a line anytime: info@onesweetwedding.com

Tom, of Tom Daly Photography tells me that this was the first wedding where he was “100% video guy” (whereas usually he’d be doing the photography too). I have to say I really love Tom’s style … he gives Catherine & Mike’s wedding such a nice feeling of celebration and joy. You’ll notice that all of the bridesmaids and groomsmen are dressed differently which I love and the musicians leading the bride and groom back up the aisle is one of my favorite scenes. This sweet country wedding took place and the lovely Inn at Westwood Farm just about a month ago… and the cool music in the video, which the couple chose, is “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Thanks, Tom!

Contact Information for Tom Daly Photography:
~ website: www.tomdalyphotography.com
~ blog: http://www.thedalydose.com
~ phone: 434-409-3287
~ e-mail: tom@tomdalyphotography.com

Additional Vendors
~ Venue: Inn at Westwood Farm
~ Photographer: Joyeuse Photography
~ Caterer: Harvest Moon
~ Flowers: Sugar Magnolias
~ Donuts: Carpe Donut

It’s always a great day when I have a wedding by the talented Sarah of Cramer Photo to share with you. I’m especially excited about seeing Kristen and Loren’s Panorama Farms wedding because I have my first wedding at this rustic venue coming up this weekend… so nice to have a little preview! I especially love the group shot at the very end of the post… I’m just imagining Sarah climbing up in the rafters to get that one… Here are a few words from Sarah:

What a perfect day!  These two were incredible creative.  They did all of the paper goods/decor themselves.  It was amazing!  They had been together for 11 years the day of the wedding.  A beautiful August day.  The also had the Cramer Photo Booth which was a huge hit.

Contact Information for Cramer Photo:
~ website: www.cramerphoto.com
~ e-mail: sarah@cramerphoto.com
~ phone: 434-242-6074

Additional Vendors
~ Second Shooter: Lucy O Photography
~ Venue: Panorama Farms
~ Catering: Harvest Moon Catering
~ Officiant: Rev. Bhagavan Metro
~ Flowers: Sugar Magnolias
~ Band: Walrus
~ Bakers: Cakes Unlimited
~ Tent Rental: Skyline Tents
~ Hair & Makeup: Hazel Beauty Bar