Davina & Chetan's Indian Wedding

Davina & ChetanSeptember 6, 2014

Late summer in Charlottesville brings sunny days, long warm nights, and an epic wedding weekend for Davina and Chetan. This charming couple welcomed family and friends for an Indian celebration filled with beautiful, vibrant colors, singing and dancing, and even some surprises to create an unforgettable experience for all.

Festivities for almost 300 guests, traveling near and far, opened with a glorious Sangeet at Ash-Lawn Highlands. The pavilion was draped with ribbons of bright fabric and an ornate silver Ganesh greeted guests at the entrance while the talented Jason and Tammy Keefer of Jason Keefer Photography captured every group. The guests themselves were gorgeous and gilded additions to the Sangeet, arriving in rich and elaborate saris and kurtas, each one more beautiful than the last, with the couple arriving in breath taking robes.

The joyful welcome reception included authentic Indian cuisine created by Harvest Moon Catering and intricate mendhi designs painted by local expert henna artist, Palvi Sharma. Davina and Chetan’s talented friends and family performed exciting and energetic Bollywood dances and even Chetan was surprised by his bride, who had a special dedicated dance of her own.

Friday’s revelry was just the beginning, as Saturday unveiled an adventure of sights, sounds, and delight at Mount Ida Farm. The water-side gazebo was transformed into an elaborate mandap by Floral Images Design Studio and Blue Ridge A/V and Lighting, draped in saturated red fabric and lush purple blooms. It was a grand setting with chanting from family and friends as Chetan, mounted on horseback, completed his Barat.

Davina made her magnificent entrance in stunning red and purple bridal robes with opulent gold embroidery and beading, designed especially for her by Bombay Bridal. Exchanging colorful scarves and greetings, the gorgeous couple made their way to the mandap overlooking the pond and fountain. It was a magical scene for all to see and made for great video footage for the artists at Citrus Ceremonies.

The afternoon provided a carnival of fun with food trucks, lawn games, and mingling. Some rest and refreshing brought guests back dressed in new and ever impressive gowns and tuxes for the evening celebration. Under a brilliant stream of waterfall lights, installed by MS Events, guests were seated for dinner and treated to a delicious combination from Harvest Moon Catering and Milan Indian Cuisine. The long day never presented a hitch and DJ Derek Tobler kept the night going and energy high for the happy couple, their kind and warm family, and thoughtful and welcoming friends to dance the night away.

With Davina's amazing heart, kind nature, and infectious smile, it’s no wonder that she and Barb were instant friends. The entire Barb Wired team has been welcomed into the Vaswani family and they into ours. Davina and Chetan were a lovely couple to work with and it was our sincere pleasure to be part of this remarkable weekend. Many congratulations and we wish you a lifetime of love and bliss!

Vendors

Event Planning and Coordination: Barb Wired Event Management

Sangeet Venue: Ash-Lawn Highland

Wedding Venue: Mount Ida Farm

Photography: Jason Keefer Photography

Videography: Citrus Ceremonies

Catering: Harvest Moon Catering and Milan Indian Cuisine

Floral: Floral Images Design Studio

Lighting and Rentals: MS Events

Reception Music: DJ Derek Tobler

Bridal Gown: Bombay Bridal

Henna: Palvi Sharma

Horse and Buggy: Stage Junction Clydesdales

Officiant: Pundit Kannan

Cake: Albemarle Baking Company

Food Trucks: Pizza Tonight, Mouth Wide Open, Pantheon Ice Pops, Got Dumplings

Transportation: Abbott Trailways

Tent: Virginia Tent, FDS Tents

Vocalist: Sachal Vasandani

Hair & Make-up: Lindsay Mikowski

Sarah & Rebecca's Jewish Wedding

Sarah & RebeccaOctober 26, 2014

Sarah and Rebecca chose the Virginia Frontier Culture Museum as the ideal landscape for their wedding, on the perfect October day in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

Family and friends gathered in two discrete and peaceful meadow settings prior to the ceremony for the traditional Tisch. As ceremony time drew near, Sarah and Rebecca’s groups came together for their First Look, then the signing of the Ketubah with a blessing by Rabbi Vanessa.

Guests were seated in the peaceful amphitheater as the ceremony began with family and Brides processing from either side. The traditional Jewish ceremony followed with many amusing and meaningful stories shared, and the breaking of the glass….Mazel Tov!

Festivities commenced at the Octagonal Barn as guests enjoyed a variety of appetizers and local cider, followed by a wood-fired pizza dinner. The barn was cheerfully decorated in the Brides’ favorite colors of purple and green with personalized mason jars and other fine touches of prayer books and baskets of homemade Challah rolls. The lovebird cake topper, handmade by Rebecca, was a perfect touch.

Sarah’s father Jeremy started off the toasts for the evening and followed with the blessing of the Challah, the cake cutting, and a unique and interactive performance from the Bent Theatre comedy improv group.

The evening ended in dancing the Hora and then the Bentsch, blessing Sarah and Rebecca many longer and loving years together.

Vendors

Stephanie Gross Photography

Frontier Culture Museum

Rabbi Vanessa Ochs

Blue Ridge Pizza Co.

Mike Lund Food

Paul Rosen, violinist

Bent Theatre

Barb Wired LLC

Katelyn & Michael's Outdoor Wedding Celebration at Keswick Vineyards

Katelyn & MichaelMay 29, 2015

Katelyn and Mike chose Keswick Vineyards as the backdrop to their gorgeous May wedding. As guests were arriving, the sky clouded over, threatening the plans for an outdoor ceremony. Though the flower girls enjoyed dancing in the rain with their umbrellas, a rainy ceremony wasn’t ideal for all of the guests and the wedding party.

Katelyn and Mike decided to wait out the rain, and without missing a beat, the Barb Wired team made plans to flip the schedule and do everything possible to give Katelyn the outdoor ceremony of her dreams. The guests moved under the tent and enjoyed cocktails while we waited for the rain to pass. Within an hour the sky cleared, and the Barb Wired and C&O staffs got to work drying the ceremony chairs and placing aisle markers so Katelyn and Mike could have their perfect ceremony on the lawn.

This unique timeline of events set the stage for a fun, social, and relaxed wedding celebration—perfect for this fun-loving couple! The guests were already getting to know each other as they moved from the tent to the ceremony site, and there were smiles on every face. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue and the sun shone down as Katelyn walked down the aisle escorted by her brother, Jesse.

Katelyn and Michael enjoyed their outdoor ceremony overlooking the vineyard and later joined their friends and family under the tent for dinner. After dinner, DJ Derek Tobler got the party started, and the guests danced the night away.

The guests were delighted with the delectable assortment of cupcakes by Pearl’s Bake Shoppe, and if that wasn’t enough to satisfy their sweet tooth, they were treated to Girl Scout Cookies at the end of the night. What a unique, sweet treat!

Katelyn and Mike enjoyed every minute of their reception and left with their guests to celebrate into the night. The weather turned out to be perfect, but even if it had stormed all night, nothing could have dampened the joy that these two and their families and friends felt. It was simply a perfect night!

Photos by Mike Topham Photography

Maureen & Geoff: a Cavalier Wedding at King Family Vineyards

Maureen & GeoffApril 18, 2009

At the beginning of the planning process, Geoff was opposed to hiring a wedding coordinator.  He told his then-fiancée that they had plenty of time to plan, they could do it themselves, and – since he was a guy, he admits – he had a list of excuses.

Geoff wrote me to share his feelings after the wedding, and to make sure that others didn’t waste a lot of time contemplating this decision.  Not only did they entrust me with their wedding planning and direction, we became the best of friends.  This would be a first, and probably the only time, that I have had a groom recess the aisle saying to me, “I love you Barb, I really do,” before he embraced his bride in the vestibule.

Maureen and Geoff were extremely decisive and organized from the beginning.  However, this was a destination wedding with few familiar contacts in the area.  There were many details to oversee, but they had chosen some of the best vendors around, and I could see it was going to come together beautifully.  The weather was picture perfect that day as we set the ceremony at the UVA Chapel.

From the gorgeous vistas of King Family Vineyards, to the impeccable tastes and service of 20 South Catering, and the floral design of Amy Webb, the guests were more than impressed with the reception settings.  What a treat when Cav Man arrived for a visit during cocktails!

Part of their themed wedding was the rivalry of their schools – Cavaliers and Buckeyes.

The night got even better as one of our favorite wedding bands The Dickens played all of the favorites and everyone was on the dance floor.  We sent the happy couple off with a “sparkling” tribute at the end of the evening.

There are many special couples in my life.  Maureen and Geoff stay in touch whenever they come to Charlottesville and look forward to moving here some day.  I look forward to that as well.  And Geoff said: “It’s hard for me to say what I value more, the incredible job Barb did from start to finish – ensuring a flawlessly executed wedding from the rehearsal and dinner through the big day – or the fact that we found someone so incredibly special who we knew from the outset truly cared about not just what we wanted, but about us as people.”

The three of us have continued to be in touch, through Facebook mostly, but also through Geoff’s part-time realty business. He has been helping my friend find property in Northern Virginia.  Geoff & Maureen are still the same wonderful beautiful couple they were on their wedding day, but with three gorgeous children to light up their life even more.

I love my couples! – Barb