Awhile back I posted some thoughts about a few wedding venues around Loudoun County. If you have not read that post yet, you might pay it a visit after reading this one. Anyhow, I figured it was time for me to update that list. The first three listed here I like very much, not only for what they have to offer, but because they are all within a mile or so from my home. Let me say right up front that my reviews here are primarily from a photographic point of view. I might stray here or there beyond this photographic perspective, but my intent is not to talk about the overall wedding experience. I will say that in all cases the owners and staff of these venues treated me very well and seemed to have a good relationship with their clients. So here it goes.
* Murray Hill (Leesburg) Murray Hill is a private residence with a fantastic hillside view of the Potomac River. There is so much to like about this place. First of all, and this has become one of my chief judging points for any location I shoot: there are all kinds of spots on the property that can give you a wide variety of images and looks. Some venues have only one or two good spots for photos. It can be a challenge to make picture number 50 look different from picture number 25. Murray Hill has a lot of variety if you know how to scout out the good spots. You want rustic? No problem. You want gardens? No problem. You want a classy estate? Yeah, no problem. I get the impression that since it is a private residence, they purposely do not book a lot of events at Murray Hill. I really like this place though. Here is a link to some sample images from a wedding I shot at Murray Hill.
* Rust Manor House (Leesburg) The main house at the Rust Manor House is very nice, especially inside. And generally speaking the grounds are pretty nice too. Not much in the way of flowers and color, but the gardens have a nice feel to them. I have only shot one wedding at Rust, and it was really, really hot that day, so I suspect that with nicer temperatures Rust would be very nice. I actually liked the place though better than I thought I would. Personally I would like to see them dress up the grounds a bit more and improve on the walkway out from the house to the ceremony site. The walkway is really uneven . . ripe for someone to trip and fall . . not something you want as you are processing down the aisle. Photographically, as people are walking down the aisle, they are looking down, concerned about not tripping. Makes it hard to get good shots (unless they do trip and fall!). But beyond that, the location is nice and the tent worked out well despite the heat that one day. Here is a link to some sample images from a wedding I shot at the Rust Manor House.
* Morven Park (Leesburg) Morven Park is a beautiful property. Everything is very well kept. No problems here with trash or cars or building debris in the background of photos. The mansion has a "wow" factor to it, and the outbuildings have character to them that make them different than the mansion. And the gardens are very nice as well. For photos sake I wish they had more flowers, but I guess that is not the style of these kind of gardens. Although I have done other kinds of photo shoots at Morven Park, I have only done one wedding there (they just started hosting weddings there). That day was very bright out, which always makes it difficult to photograph in some areas at certain times of the day. In these kind of situations it is always nice to build in some extra time for photos when the lighting might be more forgiving. Morven Park is a large property with several great spots for photos. Here is a link to some sample images from a wedding I shot at Morven Park.
* Sunset Hills Vineyard (Purcellville) Sunset Hills is a very popular winery. It is packed on weekends. But Sunset Hills suffers from what many other Loudoun wineries suffer from: they are usually young and still a work in progress, so the grounds can be kind of rough. By rough I mean that they are still building out the property, and it is a working farm, so there is often debris around. The inside of the barn is nice (for a small wedding), but photographically there is nothing on the outside of the barn to work with, other than from a distance as a backdrop. There are cars and other eyesores right around the barn. Plus it is a too small a venue to overlap their winery visitors with the arrival and set up of their weddings. I believe Sunset Hills would be well served to build a completely separate building for weddings, away from the barn. The day I shot a wedding there, it was also very bright and very, very hot out. The options for group shots were almost nil. I can't imagine what it would be like if it rained. Having said all of this, the guests at the wedding seemed to be enjoying themselves quite a bit. Again, my review here is primarily from the photographic perspective. On that particular very bright and sunny day, this was one of the most difficult locations I have ever shot. Perhaps on a more favorable day my experience would have been different. Sunset Hills definitely has a lot of potential. Here is a link to some sample images from a wedding I shot at Sunset Hills Vineyard.
Update (5-24-16): Since my original post Sunset Hills has added two open air pavilions that serve as tasting rooms when the barn is in use for weddings. I just photographed a wedding there and it rained pretty much all day (after 3 weeks of rain), so the ground was pretty mucky and outside options were limited. I think generally speaking everything went okay despite the rain (fortunately we had some moments when the rain slowed to a drizzle, enough to get out for some photos). Sunset Hills has matured over the past few years, so a lot of the debris and riff raft I experienced a few years ago were largely addressed. I have done two weddings at Sunset Hills, one when it was 100 degrees out and not a cloud in the sky, and the other on a very rainy day. One day I would like to experience an ideal weather day there because there are some nice photo opportunities at Sunset Hills. One personal comment I will make is that I have never liked photography in a barn, especially at night. It is very difficult to do well. It is dark, the wood sides and ceilings deaden the light and can create color issues, and it is just hard to re-create the mood and feel. Something to consider when planning a barn wedding.
* Hillsborough Vineyard (Hillsboro) Since I am on the vineyard mindset, let me do a quick review of Hillsborough Vineyard. Hillsborough has some very nice spots for photos around the main building. They have done some pleasant landscaping, and the vineyards are right there by the terrace. Like many of these places, there are not many trees, so the best lighting for photos is much later in the day. But there are several spots that provide a good photographic backdrop for both individual and group photos. The terrace where they have the outdoor ceremony is also very nice, with a good backdrop. Apart from photography, having a wedding at Hillsborough is kind of like having a wedding at a someone's home. The outdoor, dancing area is in a different spot from the dinner area. It can work though, and if the weather is good, moving everyone outdoors is kind of nice. I would recommend not overpacking the dinner area. It was hard for me to move around to photograph people during the dinner, toasts, cake cutting. If you do a wedding at Hillsborough, I think you would be smart to not try and cram as many people in there as you can. This would become even more important if you had to move the ceremony inside there due to weather. Here is a link to some sample images from a wedding I shot at Hillsborough Vineyard.
* Briar Patch Bed & Breakfast (Aldie/Middleburg) I like Briar Patch. They did a great job with the inside of their new main building. The outside could still use a bit of work (photographically), but you do have the original house to work with for those kind of shots. There are two primary spots for the ceremony. Both work well for photos. And the way the house is situated with surrounding trees, you have some good shade to resort to for group photos. It is also nice to be able to separate yourselves at the house while your guests are over at the reception hall. I would love to see Briar Patch somehow "restore" the barn area behind the guest house, because that could be another spot for more rustic images. All in all though, Briar Patch is a good venue for photos. Here is a link to some sample images from a wedding reception (ceremony was in a church) I shot at Briar Patch.
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