5 Wedding Gems Hidden in Virginia

Hello friends, thanks so much for checking out the website once again. As I enter my 21st year as a wedding filmmaker here in Virginia, I have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to weddings and the wedding industry.

Well, if you’re a regular follower on the blog here, you know that I provide lots of wedding secrets, tips and money saving tricks to help make the very best out of your special day. With that being said, I want to share with you 5 wedding secrets right here in Virginia that you may have not known about.

Virginia’s Smallest Church

Hidden away near Roanoke, Virginia is perhaps the best wedding venue I’ve ever filmed at, Silver Hearth Lodge. The venue is actually a huge campus filled with many different places to get married on top of Bent Mountain.  One of these mini venues is Scared Hearth Chapel, it’s the smallest church in Virginia and you can get married right inside of it.

It’s filled with all sorts of high-end crystal décor and it even has a replica of Michelangelo’s painting in the Sistine chapel. Best of all, if you have a large crowd, there is an outdoor area for couples to sit and watch the service as you get married.

While Silver Hearth has many other breathtaking points to get married at, the campus is a dedicated wedding venue with something for everyone. I recommend you visit the Silver Hearth Lodge website to learn more about the hidden church in the woods.

High End Wedding Dresses

Annalise Bridal is a luxury end bridal shop located in downtown Richmond. Ladies, it’s worth a trip to visit them here, trust me here. They offer a luxurious wedding gown shopping experience to each and every bride with a unique experience in which our focus is on helping her find the perfect wedding gown.

They offer couture designer gowns, individual appointments, and pre-appointment consultations with your stylist to ensure your appointment is tailored to your unique style and taste. Each wedding gown has been hand-selected for the bridal shop and lets me say that it’s all about the experience with the owner and staff at the shop.

Plan on spending anywhere from $2,000-$10,000 on a gown at the shop.  I recommend that you check out the new and upcoming wedding gown designers if you visit their website.

Virginia ABC License for Wedding

If you’ve never gotten married before and you’re planning to have beer, wine, or spirits, then you’ll need an ABC license. One of the best things that have happened in the last few years is that you can now apply for that license right on the website.  Simply head to the Virginia ABC page and fill out the application and pay your fee.

Most couples are going to spend about $40 to acquire the license and since everything’s online now, it’s streamlined and takes a fourth of the time it once did. It’s just one little secret that you can do yourself and save the time (and money to have the venue do it for you).

If you need to figure out how much alcohol to purchase for the wedding day, give our online wedding tool a try and figure it out.

Secret Garden to Get Married At

Located in Blacksburg, Virginia, there is an amazing little garden you can get married at. The Hahn Horticulture Gardens is roughly six acres of beautifully landscaped displays with rare and unique flowers, plants and various landscaping. They offer a building where couples can prep in and have reception dinners indoors and they even allow a tent on the property for your reception should you want to have it outdoors.

One of the things I love about this as a wedding venue is that it looks amazing anytime of the year, it’s affordable and it’s also hidden away in the middle of the Virginia Tech Campus.

The Hahn Horticulture Garden is primarily an outdoor wedding venue with broad lawns and beautiful flowers, right on campus! The garden can accommodate up to 150 people for your ceremony and reception. A rental of the Hahn Horticulture Garden includes access to the pavilion and allows you to rent a tent to place on the lawn for your guests.

For more intimate weddings (fewer than 50 people) the Peggy Lee Hahn Garden Pavilion is an ideal place to host your reception. Weddings with more than 50 guests can be hosted outside under tents up to 40' x 60' on the tent lawn, while still having the use of the Pavilion for staging. Your caterer of choice can work out of the Pavilion kitchen, and there are several lovely lawn locations for tents. Please remember that this is a public garden - however, in the past, garden visitors have been very respectful of special events.

Pricing ranges from $1,200 to $1,750 depending on the time of year. Check out this great informational PDF for this Virginia Tech Wedding Venue.

Sandbridge Beach House Rentals

Rounding out the 5th hidden gem in Virginia is getting married just south of Virginia Beach on Sandbridge beach. Sandbridge is where the locals come to venture when going to the beach and they have a lot of great areas to get married at, on the beach front itself or choose the inlet with a more intimate setting.

While people think beach houses when the they think of Sandbridge, it’s also a very popular wedding destination point in Virginia. Many couples will rent a house for the week with friends and family to stay and the last evening of the “vacation” they will have a small beach wedding.

The newly married couple will leave and head off onto a honeymoon while everyone else stays the last evening in the beach house. It’s a great and very affordable way to have a wedding and a family vacation in the process. If you’re looking for a two-in-one deal, having a beach wedding there is most likely your best bet here in the commonwealth. Visit them online to learn more details.

Do you know of a great little hidden gem here in the commonwealth or the mid-Atlantic region, if so, send us an email, we’d love to hear from you!