PR – Wine & Country Weddings Announces Winners of the 2023 “Wedding of the Year” Audience Choice Voting Contest

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (February 2023) – Wine and Country Weddings, leading expert on Virginia Wine Country luxury, is excited to announce the winners of our 2023 “Wedding of the Year” Audience Choice Voting Contest. The winners are Grand Flora and Romantic Winery Wedding. This statewide competition features work from the industry’s leading wedding professionals from New York City to L.A., including such luminaries as award winning planner Jessica Ashley Events and renowned photographer Kir Tuben. These weddings perfectly execute some of the hottest trends of the year, and their beauty truly emphasizes just what puts Virginia among the Top 3 East Coast destinations for weddings.

For winning Styled Wedding, Grand Flora doesn’t just follow the current trend of bright florals and vibrant colors in the bridal palette—it enlarges it. With gradients of colorful dahlias from lavender to sunset orange bloom in an asymmetrical rainbow up the bridal arch, and equally colorful centerpieces burst against the rich verdant background of ivy climbing the venue’s walls, this wedding brings your effervescent dreams to life. Cottage-style wooden chairs and muted shades of green and coral in the place settings and tapered candles complement the stationery’s floral design. Finally, among the glory of color surrounding her, the bride is an unexpected contrast in a soft white Martina Liana gown with a flowing skirt, structured bodice and sheer voluminous sleeves. The effusion of bright colors at a wedding brings a tangible joy to anyone lucky enough to attend.

Vendors for the Event:

Wes and Tessa of the Romantic Winery Wedding, the winners of our annual Real Wedding Competition, celebrated their wedding day at Lovingston Winery, the winery they bought the day they got engaged, making for an intimate and sentimental ceremony among the vines. Tessa’s beautiful lace gown incorporates a trendy corset-style top and slim silhouette, wearing her hair in a graceful updo which draws attention to the strapless neckline of her wedding dress and her dainty pearl earrings. Tessa hoped to play off of the charm of the property’s rustic 1906 farmhouse, situated atop a knoll surrounded by ancient oak trees and beautiful vineyards. She further imbued the day with history by sourcing much of the wedding décor, including unique and tasteful floral-themed place settings, from a variety of local antique stores. Paired with the vineyard’s rustic touches and the decor’s neutral, peach shades, this ceremony captures the perfect picture of timeless beauty.

Vendors for the Event:

Check out more from each of our winners in the digital edition of Volume 7 of the Virginia Wine & Country Wedding Planner. Be sure to keep an eye out for our upcoming publication of Book 16 of Virginia Wine and Country Life where we will highlight John and Hagan’s heartfelt museum wedding.

About the Virginia Wine & Country Wedding Planner

Virginia Wine & Country Wedding Planner is an annual luxury planner filled with curated inspirations from all the gorgeous weddings that occur in the spectacular Virginia Wine Country each year. Throughout these pages they offer advice with a uniquely local perspective on how to create the wedding of your dreams here in Virginia’s Wine Country. As one of the nation’s top destinations for weddings, Virginia Wine Country also features amazingly talented vendors who are at the heart of the artisan wedding movement and who have made the region’s weddings what they are today.

To learn more about Virginia wine country, luxury travel experiences, artists and sporting life, as well as to go behind-the-scenes with the top winemakers who give voice to the terroir of our region, visit Virginia Wine & Country Life.

For interviews or additional images, please contact co-publisher Jennifer Bryerton at 434.984.4713 or [email protected].

From Ivy Life & Style Media, founded in 1998, publishers of Virginia Wine & Country Life, a semi-annual luxury magazine of Life & Style in Virginia Wine Country, Virginia Wine & Country Wedding Planner, an annual art book celebrating elegant country weddings in Virginia, Virginia Wine & Country Gold Book, an annual wine journal and travel guide to the best award-winning wineries in Virginia Wine Country, and CharlottesvilleFamily Life & Home Magazine, a parenting magazine published in luxury print quarterly. All publications include a dynamic digital presence with a frequently updated website and active social media platforms.