We are so excited to feature Erin & Garrett’s wedding on the blog. This was the second wedding we hosted at the Tasting Room & Taphouse, just a few weeks after our very first wedding there (shoutout to James & Joanna!) Erin & Garrett were sold on the view that the Tasting Room offers, they loved that their guests would get to soak in the mountain views all evening long. They held their ceremony offsite in a church, then had their guests join us for cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing. Virginia weather is never predictable, and leading up to the wedding day we were anticipating some rain. Our team was delighted when the wedding day arrived and we were greeted with sunny skies. Please enjoy these photos from their magical wedding day by Kathryn Ivy Photography.

We are struggling to find the right words to explain how excited we are to have weddings happening again. After over a year of rescheduling, it felt amazing to celebrate Meredith & Nathan this April.  While they still had to be creative to modify their wedding day to align with the state mandates at the time, they along with their vendor team did an amazing job putting together a beautiful celebration.

They decided to rent Mount Pleasant Manor, the beautiful brick manor home just across from the Lodge. This was a great place for Meredith and her bridesmaids to get ready.

They decided to have an outdoor wedding ceremony at the Mountain Grove. When Meredith starting walking down the aisle she took everyone’s breath away! 

They were able to eat, drink, and dance with a small group of their closest friends & family. Congratulations Meredith and Nathan!

Allison and Logan’s love story starts at the beginning of time, at least the beginning of their time. Enjoy photos from their stunning July wedding while reading about their sweet story as told by the couple themselves.

The first time we met, Logan was toothless with big chubby cheeks while Allison was crying and hairless. That was in May, 1995, at the Martha Jefferson Hospital nursery when Allison was born on May 5th and Logan followed soon after on May 6th. He just couldn’t wait to meet his future wife!

Flash forward to the high school years, when we both attended Albemarle high school. Logan was “star of the basketball team” while Allison was too preoccupied with cross country and track to even notice him.

Allison attended college at James Madison University (Go Dukes!) and Logan stayed local at the University of Virginia. About midway through our college years, we ended up on the same hike (Old Rag) one weekend in March, 2015. From then, Logan continued keep in touch but, of course, Allison was oblivious to the fact Logan liked her. It only took her 2 months to catch on and we went on our first date in May, 2015!

From then it was history! We eventually found ourselves in a 3-year long distance relationship when Logan moved out to Oregon to work for Nike and Allison stayed in Virginia for Physical Therapy school but we survived!! Logan proposed while we were in Hawaii on our way to New Zealand. The trip was an amazing way to celebrate!

Janie & Clay were married at our Lodge venue in September 2019. They chose to utilize Mount Pleasant Manor as a place for preparations for the bridal party. They said their I Do’s at the Mountain Grove ceremony site, complete with one of the most stunning arbors we have ever seen. After the ceremony, the newlyweds along with their family and friends ate, drank, and danced the night away in the Lodge.  We wanted to share a glimpse into how these two hoos met and fell in love, so please enjoy their love story as told by the couple themselves!

Our story begins with Janie and Clay both choosing to attend the University of Virginia. While Janie and Clay didn’t meet until 2nd year, they were both friends with all of the same people. Clay ended up joining the SAE fraternity, which included a number of guys from Richmond – Janie’s hometown. Janie likes to say that Clay was the last guy in his pledge class that she met.

In their 2nd year, they both lived in the Wertland Square apartment building right behind the Corner. Nobody remembers exactly who is responsible for organizing an intramural flag football team that fall, but some combination of Jono McCusty, Nicole Freeman, Lauren Cricchi, and/or Stuart Sumner set it up. It was on that team that Janie and Clay met, and that was where it all began.

While Janie claims it took a while for her to convince Clay to date her, he likes to say it was all part of his plan. Regardless, she ended up convincing him in February of 2012, and they’ve been together ever since. After a number of semesters and then years of dating long distance due to study abroad trips and taking jobs in different cities, Clay finally joined Janie in Charlottesville in the fall of 2017 (hopefully marking the end of being long distance for good!).

Then, on May 4th, 2018 (for all you Star Wars fans out there), with the help of his friend Matson Roberts, Clay got Janie to the Lawn under the pretense of having drinks at Matson’s “Range” room (a room that borders the outside of the Lawn in Charlottesville). From there, Clay and Janie walked across the Lawn to make it to their dinner reservation, and Clay popped the question! Luckily there were a bunch of undergrads taking graduation pictures nearby and one kind girl gave them her bottle of André (read: high-quality) champagne. After taking some pictures and drinking their newly acquired André, Clay and Janie went to get dinner at Michael’s Bistro, where they had their first date, on the Corner.

When Gavin’s mom first inquired with us in September of 2018 for Gavin & Ty’s New Year’s Eve wedding we were instantly intrigued.  They had a beautiful vision for their long awaited “I do” and we knew we wanted to play a role in it. One of the many things we adored about this sweet couple was not only how much they loved each other, but how much they cared for their friends and family.  They always kept their guests in mind during the planning process because they wanted to ensure everyone enjoyed the celebration as much as them. Gavin & Ty’s story is so sweet, and starts all the way back in middle school. Enjoy some of our favorite photos from their New Year’s Eve wedding and a little background about the couple as told by the bride and groom themselves.

“When looking back on our story, one could say “Love at First Sight”, although cliché, seemed to be a rather common theme. It all began with the most romantic of situations…at a middle school dance where an overly talkative boy found himself speechless when he met the most beautiful and possibly blondest girl he had ever seen. Despite some awkward flirtations through AIM, “WahooHockey65” found the nerve to ask “BlondieGoalie125” to be his “girlfriend” …and she said yes! However, only a mere 48 hours later, at her own surprise “Sweet Thirteen,” she admitted she wasn’t feeling it and ended the fleeting relationship, crushing the boy. Luckily, the story doesn’t end there…

Flash forward to our sophomore year of high school and we found love in a hopeless place… the Holton-Arms cafeteria. That same overly talkative boy was reintroduced to that blonde girl. After spending the evening dancing to such ballads like “Yeah” and “Get Low,” they knew they were meant to be together. For the next 3 years, they attended Homecomings, Holiday Balls, weird house parties, all while navigating high school life’s limitations such as learner’s permits, family data plans, and curfews. Although they were both attending the University of Virginia that fall, they decided to “take a break” saying, “if it was meant to be, they would find their way back to one another.”

After a few years in “The Real World” while back in Charlottesville for a football weekend, the overly talkative man spotted the blonde woman from across The Lawn. He was quickly reminded of all the amazing times they had had together and how much he truly missed her in his life. Fortunately, she felt the exact same way. Over the next 3 years, they have shared some incredible milestone moments together such as moving in together, new careers, the rollercoaster of a season for UVA’s 2018 Basketball team, the Caps winning their first Stanley Cup, the list is endless.

Despite being one of the easiest decisions he’s ever made, Ty found himself once again speechless, when he asked Gavin to marry him following a week long trip to London at Dulles Airport! Cheers to a #HappyBlueYear!

Hannah & Isaac tied the knot on a beautiful spring day in May and we are SO excited to share with you some of our favorite photos from the day. They put so much care & thought behind every little detail on their big day.

They decided to do a first look in front of the Lodge prior to their Mountain Grove ceremony.

They knew their dinner menu was going to be savory, so they opted for a sweet cocktail hour. The outdoor cocktail hour was catered by Rookies, an adorable dessert truck.  They offered handcrafted ice cream sandwiches, ice cream, cookies, and milk. It was the perfect treat for this hot day and enjoyed by all.

The two are very family oriented and wanted to make sure relatives of all ages had a great time, so they decided to do a fun kids table complete with coloring & crafts. They enjoyed a delicious dinner provided by Goodrich Gourmet, cut their (ice cream cookie) cake, then danced the night away with friends and family.

Today we are excited to share Meg & Eric’s wedding day on the blog! We had such an enjoyable time working with this fun-loving couple. The weather was remarkable for their late September wedding, which one might attribute to the two burying a bottle of bourbon at their 30 day final walkthrough. Enjoy browsing through some of our personal favorites from their wedding album captured by Aaron Watson Photography while they tell you a little more about their love story and how they met!

In October 2013, as Meg was living in New York City, she traveled to D.C. for a girl’s weekend away to visit friends. Their only plans were looking forward to a relaxing and fun weekend. That same weekend was also Eric’s birthday, and he was gathering his own friends for a night out.

One of the friends Meg was visiting, Melissa (one of our bridesmaids!), happened to be one of Eric’s roommates in a group house in Eastern Market. After spending the day exploring D.C., Melissa encouraged the girls to make just one more stop at Eric’s birthday party.

Eric saw Meg’s smile from across the bar, and knew he had to at least say hi. He finally gathered the courage to ask Meg about the Oregon Ducks football game that night, one of her favorite topics, just to get the conversation going.

Meg returned to New York City at the end of the weekend, and Eric had made the rookie mistake by not asking for her phone number. Luckily, Meg reached out first! They haven’t stopped talking since.

Meg and Eric continued to see each other long distance for two years before Meg decided to make the move to D.C. Over the last 5+ years, they have enjoyed traveling all over the country to visit friends, up and down the East Coast to visit family and sometimes spending quiet weekends in D.C. with their dog Bodie.

Today on the blog we are featuring Ellie & Neil’s wedding day. The two tied the knot on Saturday, June 15th at the Mountain Grove, but their story started way before that.  Ellie & Neil have known each other for their whole lives. Their story is too sweet not to share. Here is Ellie’s take on how the two reconnected, and how Neil decided to pop the big question!

How we reconnected

Neil and I have known each other since we were kids. His dad and my dad went to medical school together at UVA. Our parents were all friends at UVA and spent a lot of time together. His dad was my dad’s best man in my parents wedding! My dad had started his pediatric practice in Rochester, NY (where I grew up) so we would only see the Harrison’s when we went to Virginia to see my dad’s side of the family. 

As a senior at the University of Delaware I randomly decided to apply to UVA Medical Center for my first nursing job. I thought I was going to end up in NYC but wanted to interview there as a “back up” option. When I went to Charlottesville to interview in spring of my senior year, my mom told me that Neil was at UVA for school and she wanted me to catch a meal with him. I hadn’t seen him since I was around 10, and I remember being frustrated because I wanted to get back to Delaware for a party but decided I should see him anyway. We ended up going out to dinner and had a great time. Before I left to drive back to school he made me a coffee at his apartment and let me keep his mug, I remember thinking that was the nicest thing. My first experience with that southern hospitality

After interviewing at a couple hospitals in NYC I knew I wanted to go to Charlottesville for my new home after college. When I moved there the following summer, Neil and I were instantly inseparable. We started dating that fall– my dad tries to claim it was all arranged!

How He Asked 

Neil and I were going on a camping trip at McAfee Knob with two of our good friends, Paul and Katie Lynne. We had been meaning to do this hike for a very long time so we were all pretty excited. It’s around a 4 mile hike to the top…We got there at the perfect moment, right as the sunset was getting good. We wanted to get a picture at the “knob”, the cliff overlook on the summit. It looks coolest if you sit down, but Neil insisted we stand. Then he asked, “Did I show you that rock I found on the hike?” and got down on one knee. As you can see in the video, I was shocked! I thought we were waiting until we both finished school in a couple years. I instantly go down on my knees as well and hug him. All of our family members were not happy with how close we were to the edge at this moment. Fortunately our friends were able to capture the whole thing. We spent the night at the coolest hidden campsite, a little cave, near the summit. The next morning we caught sunrise, headed back down the mountain, and went into town for brunch. The whole weekend was magical.