Wedding Blog

Welcome To Our Wedding Blog!

Clifton Inn offers the best in the world in the heart of Virginia. Clifton connects you with history, with luxury, with the very best of Charlottesville…and with yourself. Take a "Lovely Leap into Elopement" Looking to celebrate your love in a small and intimate way? With Clifton's new "Lovely Leap into Elopement" package, couples can get married on our picturesque property for only $200 if they stay the night. Bring along up to 6 guests and have yourself a celebration of love to last a lifetime!

All in the Family…Style

I’ve been to a few weddings where the bride and groom choose to serve their rehearsal dinner family style. One thing we’ve seen lately is couples opting to take this style prime time by using it for their wedding meal. This was the case for the wedding of Susan and Thad. Clifton’s culinary team created large entrée platters and let each table handle their own serving needs. Think about it, this option actually demands that each person develops a literal “passing” interest in his or her neighbor. It also helps tables mixed with friends and strangers to build camaraderie. We loved how it got people connected with each other; something Susan and Thad really wanted. Kind of like a big Thanksgiving Dinner all over again…without having to hear the SAME family stories and without having to worry about exactly what was going on at the kid’s table! By the time our family style group had eaten and bonded, they were ready to party. And party they did, dancing late into the night under a tent provided by Skyline on our gorgeous front lawn.

They danced to the sounds of the Dickens Band, and then headed back into our Main House, congregating in our bar area, to continue the celebration late into the wee hours of the morning. DJ Stroud spun popular dance tracks and to keep the energy flowing , they needed some late night sugar. So they called in the Donuts. Carpe Donut to be exact! Carpe Donut is a cool business here in Charlottesville that, in addition to its regular vending spot downtown, serves made-from-scratch donuts with organic ingredients at various events around town. And when our revelers emerged from the tent ready to keep their night going, there was the brightly decorated Carpe Donut truck parked right in our driveway. It was a big and great surprise for this group and gave them just the fuel they needed to keep the party rockin! Read more about Carpe Donut here.  I love the way a surprise like this can add a really unique and personal touch to the proceedings. And since wedding professionals need a pick-me-up near the end of a late night, I can tell you from personal experience that they were absolutely delicious!

Sometimes Mother (and Father) DOES Know Best!

Last year I had a meeting with Tad and Grier and her parents. We were walking our 100-acre property and heading toward our picturesque gazebo when I asked if they would be hiring a planner. “No,” Mamel said, “my husband, Shellie and I will be doing all the planning ourselves.” I’ve got to tell you a small warning bell went off in my head. I mean, we all love our parents, but just imagine if you had to run every single detail by them about of the most important days of your life. Could be a recipe for disaster in some instances. Well in Tad and Grier’s case, it was anything but! Turns out these parents had an incredible ability to cross every i and dot every t. They knew exactly what the bride and groom wanted, and did an incredible job of working with us to make it all happen. Even though the parents of the bride lived out of state, they visited us often and took advantage of our amazing rates. They happened to be big fans of Clifton for years, and made it a point to spend every major holiday with us.

Now we like to consider ourselves a home away from home for our wedding clients, but in this case, it was literally true! So when it came time to sit down with our Executive Chef Dean Maupin and plan the food for the event, they arrived with pictures and plenty of notes. The pair had some favorite dishes they had enjoyed during their holiday season visits…dishes that had become part of their family ‘s traditions….so they made those a centerpiece of the wedding menu. During their visits, Mamel and Shellie had also come to enjoy some of our region’s best vintages from Barboursville Vineyards. Naturally, this wine was a lovely companion to the wedding menu. And finally, to cap off the regional flavor, they called upon none other than Charlottesville’s mayor, Dave Norris, to perform the ceremony. Home away from home indeed!

Turning Over a “New Leaf” in Wedding Flowers?

I have to say I recently saw something I don’t see that often at Clifton. I was talking with Meredith about her planning and when I reached the topic of flowers, she told me the family was going to put the centerpieces together themselves…the morning of the wedding! So sure enough, I arrive that day to find an assembly line right there on our front lawn! Turns out the whole operation was being led by “Aunt Kate,” who just happened to be a florist. All the flowers were purchased from A New Leaf Florist here in Charlottesville and Aunt Kate was lending her expertise to make her niece’s wedding unique and amazing. What a wonderful idea! In addition to saving some money, this family also enjoyed a great family bonding experience that morning, while allowing some family members to play an important role in the festivities. And it definitely made for a wedding story that the couple and family can tell for years to come. Now, would I recommend this for EVERY bride? Hmm…not sure I would. It definitely helps to have an Aunt Kate…or a non-pro in your family with some knowledge of flowers and a great eye for color!