Want to know why Blue Ridge weddings are so gorgeous? These photos will tell it all! The scenery is so beautiful and makes the perfect backdrop for your big day. Blue Ridge Mountain wedding venues have so much to offer for couples who enjoy nature. Just take a peek!

Some couples are looking at Blue Ridge Mountain wedding venues, and others crave a Blue Ridge Parkway wedding. With the gorgeous trees and blue hue, it’s such a stunning area for a wedding. Whether you choose the mountains or a parkway overlook, you can’t go wrong.

However, despite their plans being set into place, Jasmine and Tony did have something go awry. During their wedding planning, Coronavirus hit. Unfortunately, the pandemic impacted all Blue Ridge weddings. This couple handled COVID-19 with grace and ease, and here’s what Jasmine had to say.

A Blue Ridge Mountain Wedding Amid COVID

What plans did you have to change to still hold your wedding during Coronavirus? 

• We had to change the way our food was catered. Switching from family-style at each table to cafeteria-style where guests are served by the catering staff per table.
• The seating chart for both the ceremony and reception was changed—keeping members of households, people from the same state, etc. together.
• The number of people at tables was limited to 4-5 people, which increased our rental costs.
• We also reduced our guest list and purchased a lot of sanitation materials and PPE for guests. 

An August wedding meant that this couple made adjustments during COVID.

Why did you decide to still go ahead with your wedding instead of postponing it? 

We were already too financially invested and would have lost almost $10k. There was too much uncertainty, and we did not know how many times we would have to postpone. We took a lot of extra precautions and had contingency plans in place if we had to reduce our numbers down to just 10 people. 

How did your vendors react to the changes?

Our vendors were fantastic! They were just as honest and open with us. There is a farmhouse kitchen on the property, so we closed off the kitchen and the caterer cooked and prepared everything onsite.

Our DJ assembled everything himself and changed the way the photo booth was configured. We wore masks and gloves, and the photographers came prepared with their own PPE.

We were not charged extra for any changes made, and our vendors followed all the rules that our venue required of them. 

Sanitization stations are essential at Blue Ridge Mountain wedding venues. 

What COVID-19 precautions did you take with your wedding?

The first thing we did was reduce our guest list from about 170 people to around 75. Then we sent out an email to those 75 guests detailing the rules that the venue required.

This included PPE, social distancing, and filling out a health verification form. If they wanted to attend they would have to comply.

We also provided everyone with masks (which turned out to be unnecessary because everyone brought their own). We kept the bartender’s station at a distance from where the guests were seated to avoid clogging up the area with people.

There were also sanitation stations at each guest table, the catering table, the bar, and the guestbook signing table. Truthfully another reason why our wedding went without any outbreaks was because of our guests. Our wedding guests were made up of close friends and immediate family.

Any guests from hot spot areas got tested and quarantined, only coming if they were negative. Family and friends from CA and MI drove to avoid planes, and anyone who even felt slightly sick or uncomfortable stayed home.

Everyone coming to our wedding had been quarantining beforehand and staying safe, and I know that helped. 

Even the bride and groom chose to have face masks available at their wedding.

What were the pros/cons of having a smaller wedding? 

We originally wanted a wedding of around 100 or less people, but the familial pressure pushed us to the 175 guest count. So having about 68 people in total (including vendors) at our wedding was what we always wanted!

Did you personally learn anything by having to change your plans? 

Having to cut people from our guest list was incredibly hard and was a very emotional process. But it showed us who is truly our friends and supportive vs. who just wanted to come to a party with free food and alcohol. 

What are you doing about a honeymoon? 

No honeymoon. We planned on going go to Japan, but that trip has (hopefully) turned into a 1-year anniversary trip. I talked about maybe doing a mini-moon. But my husband wants to go all out for a honeymoon and doesn’t like the idea of a “long weekend” honeymoon.

Blue Ridge Weddings At Their Best

Considering Blue Ridge wedding venues?

If you weren’t convinced that Blue Ridge weddings are gorgeous, hopefully, you know that fact now. Virginia brides are so fortunate to live in such a gorgeous area for a wedding. How lovely!

Blue Ridge Mountain Wedding Venue Vendors

• Virginia Wedding Photography –  Michelle Harris of Laila Chanel Studios
• Blue Ridge Wedding Venues – Cloverlea Farmhouse at the Claytor Nature Center
• DJ – Lance Gray of Epic Sounds Entertainment
• Caterer and Wedding Cake – Carrie Nash
• Day of Coordinator – Casey Scarce, friend of bride
• Hair – bride’s mother

Nature Inspired Wedding Color Palette

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