A Summer Charlottesville Vineyard Wedding

The Charlottesville area has tons of incredible vineyards to choose from for your wedding. But if you’re looking for sweeping mountain views, few can beat Moss.

Moss is located about 30 minutes from downtown Charlottesville. It features panoramic views of the mountains, great wine and an intimate reception space. If you’re having a huge wedding, this is not the venue for you, but for anything under 125 people, it’s an incredibly beautiful spot.

Sophie and Ciao recruited a dream team of vendors to put together their picture-perfect day. Every single detail was exquisitely thought out.

They rented the onsite airbnb cottage for Sophie to get ready in while Ciao hung out in the grooms suite.

After hair and makeup finished, Sophie donned one of my favorite wedding dresses of the year and paired it with an incredible blush bouquet from Hedge Fine Blooms.

She also had a ton of details ready for her detail shots including a hand painted ring bowl, custom stamps, her invitation suite, ribbons, extra flowers from the florist, and the hand calligraphied invitation suite.

Because it was a bright, beautiful day, we opted to do their first look in the woods rather than up in front of the vineyards.

During the ceremony, they included a nod to her Jewish heritage by getting married under a floral Chuppah and “breaking the glass.” But modernized it by having Sophie do the stomping rather than Ciao.

Ciao has a son from a pervious relationship and so they included him in a unity ceremony by filling a large glass carafe with each of their favorite kinds of candy.

Friends and family read poems of well-wishes. And then they were married!

After the ceremony we took group photos in front of the vineyard while guests enjoyed cocktail hour.

After dinner, they shared a first dance and dessert in the pavilion before opening up the dance floor for guests to enjoy.

It was an incredibly beautiful day!

Pro Tips

• If you want detail shots like Sophie had, you’ll need to bring some props for them! She provided: her invitation suite, custom wax seals, decorative bobby pins, extra flowers from the florist, a custom ring box, a ring dish, antique stamps, ribbons and her jewelry.
• Moss has “quiet hours” after 10. If you want to dance in the pavilion, I recommend picking an early spring or late fall date for your wedding so you don’t have to cut things short!
• Moss can be super bright at midday — the white pavers and white buildings throw back a lot of light on clear sunny days so consider utilizing the woods or shaded part of the vineyard for midday photographs.

Photography: Kara Leigh Creative

Venue: Moss Vineyards, Charlottesville, Virginia

Coordination: Hive Wedding Company

Florals: Hedge Fine Bloom

Rentals: MS Events

Cake/Dessert: Sweet Fix

HMUA: Elizabeth Wilson

DJ: Bunn DJ Company

Pianist: Kevin White

Guitarist: Theo Herrin

Officiant: Kathleen Ayers

Calligraphy: Jodi Macfarlan Calligraphy

Transportation: Albemarle Limousine