Wednesday, September 10, 2008

A Splendid Venue, Indeed

It was a ten hour journey, through Appalachia by car and foot and pure caffeinated determination. There were small venues and large ones--all historic and rustic and hidden, some more than others. But behold: the wedding venue has been selected, a beacon of Virginia beauty.

I give you Oatlands Plantation of Leeesburg, Virginia--250 years of manor splendor and Italian gardens that terrace and wind up rolling hills and down to a quaint Carriage House. Beyond there are the Blue Ridge mountains, the hills of grassy Virginia falling like blankets all around.

When I first laid eyes on Oatlands, I fell instantly in love--it was as though I had seen it all before, been here before: the feeling of an embrace when coming home, a familiar notion of knowing you're where you belong.

Chris and I wanted to have a historic Virginia wedding--where we met, fell in love, where our past and present and future intersect. We couldn't think of a more fitting venue than that of a historic manor, a shining example of Virginia historic preservation: holding onto the past, progressing forward with a lasting foundation.

Our plan, for now, is to hold the wedding in the lower Italian garden, the cocktail hour on the porch of the manor and up through the terraced gardens, and dinner in the quaint Carriage House--all amongst the changing autumn foliage in October sunset.

More to come, more to follow. Alice is navigating her way through wedding wonderland, afterall. Who knew.

2 comments:

Somer said...

Oatlands yay! I can't wait to see it!!!

Somer said...

did you take that picture in the upper left of your blog post? Beautiful - the way the brightness of the flowers contrasts with the dark ominous sky. LOVE IT!