The most important portion of wedding planning? The venue! Although I suppose finding the perfect man to spend the rest of your life with is probably the most important part but I have definitely done that - so I suppose the venue and the dress are the next two biggest things, right? It's Wedding Wednesday y'all!
Now I'm not sure if you're like me - but I have been pinning and imagining my wedding in my head for years now - and one thing I was pretty sure of was that I wasn't going to get married in a barn. Granted, in the last 5 years or so - getting married in a barn looks and feels completely different than it would have just a decade ago and some of the options are absolutely stunning. Northern Virginia has no shortage of wedding venues - it's a huge money maker around here - and yet, I ended up choosing the first venue we toured (although not the only one we went to).
We had scheduled appointments at Stoneyman Valley Ranch, Rosemont Springs and South Fork Ranch (Dallas anyone?!?) - and the first place we toured was Stoneyman Valley Ranch in Luray, Virginia! My wonderful Momma found this spot and scheduled the tour - so we set out on a lovely Saturday in June to take it all in - and let me tell you, I was pretty blown away.
Stoneyman Valley Ranch is a working cattle ranch in the Shenandoah Valley and let me tell you - my original notes ahead of visiting were that it was quite a ways out "of the way" and I wasn't sure about that. This was before Ryan and I wandered around the absolutely stunning Amish built post and beam barn with beautiful chandeliers and the most amazing picture window at one end - it was truly breathtaking. There are impeccable views of the mountains everywhere you look and the whole place has a warm, cozy and elegant atmosphere - I'd call it rustic and romantic and also not something I'd expected from a barn!
The options for where to have the ceremony were varied - you could have your ceremony out front, with the lake and original barn in the background (this was how it was staged the day we toured, for a wedding later in the afternoon). You could also get married in the barn itself with the picture window behind you, framing the mountains in the background... or you could get married out back, with the mountains in the distance and have a stunning bridal reveal: the music swells and the barn doors are opened to reveal the bride, ready to come down the aisle. Diane - the owner - painted that picture for us and the minute she finished saying it, Ryan said "That. I'd like that please."
I must say - Ryan hasn't asked for too much where wedding planning is concerned. He has told me over and over that he gets to have me as his wife for the rest of our lives when it's all said and done, and that's the only thing he wants from our wedding. However - he did express his desire to hold the ceremony from the back of the venue and he also noted that they could drape the barn in white chiffon and he also mentioned that was lovely - so we made note of those things. The owner's husband took us on a little ride up the side of the mountain where they had a lovely platform that they use for photographs and honestly - we were both pretty in love.
I think the real moment for us though - shortly before our tour was done, we were standing together separate from everyone else and I just became overwhelmed... imagining what our day could look like at this place... and I ended up with tears in my eyes. I noticed that Ryan was tearing up too and I whispered to him "I think this it it - I can see it all in my mind" and he confirmed that he loved it too! My Dad even teared up and my Mom likes to make the point that she was the only one of us that didn't cry - ha-ha! We took pictures and told Diane that we'd reach back out on Sunday - she only had one date still open for 2022 (and yes - we toured in June of 2021) - and that was November 12th.
Sunday afternoon we visited Rosemont and Rosemont Springs - a renowned wedding venue in nearby Berryville, Virginia. I'd honestly had my heart set on Rosemont Springs from the moment I knew a wedding was a reality in our future and I expected to just be blown away and only want to be married there. The tour was amazing and the venue was positively stunning - but I just couldn't shake the feelings I'd had the day before at Stoneyman... and when we started discussing pricing... it was pretty easy to make up my mind.
Ryan and I talked and we concluded that we could just see Stoneyman Valley Ranch as the perfect spot for us - for our wedding day. We felt like we didn't need to look anywhere else because we'd found the perfect spot on the first tour and so my Mom called Diane back and booked the venue! And thank goodness we called when we did because another bride called just a few hours after we did and Diane had to turn her down for 2022 - because we'd taken the last date: November 12, 2022!
A side note - our tour of Rosemont and Rosemont Springs included tea and I couldn't resist sharing pictures of Ryan during the tea. Let's just say - he's more of an iced tea and coffee man!
I am truly so thrilled with our choice of wedding venue - the closer the wedding gets, the more excited I am to see our day unfold in the most special place! Diane has been an absolute dream to work with and I am so thrilled to know that the start of our life together will happen in this beautiful little slice of Page County, Virginia in the midst of the Shenandoah Valley!
No comments:
Post a Comment