Today is Thanksgiving and I have been trying to decide how to express my gratefulness for so much love and abundance in my life and in the lives of those I am closest to. Feeling unable to come up with the right words I have decided to share with you a wonderful video narrated by one of my very favorite people on earth: Brother David Steindl-Rast. If you are not aware of Brother David I invite you to google him and learn about his life and work... you will be deeply moved by this man's journey.

For today, however, I invite you to watch this inspiring video and listen to Brother David's lovely words. Enjoy!

With Love and Gratitude,
Claire

We were so fortunate to have Eve Watters play the harp this afternoon at Mahnaz and Scott's sweet little weekday wedding at the Clifton Inn. Eve is an accomplished Harpist with a huge and varied repertoire and I am always thrilled when I have the opportunity to do a wedding with her. Eve is also excellent at improvising and can provide wonderful options, from Celtic to Classical and everything in between, for your wedding ceremony.

I encourage you to visit Eve's website to learn more about her wide array of talents and accomplishments as well as about her wedding services. You can also call Eve at 434-823-8600. I recommend her without reservation!

In the past couple of weeks I've had 2 beautiful weekday weddings: one on a Monday (Veteran's Day) and one today (the day before Thanksgiving). Regina & Corwin had a sweet elopement at the Boar's Head Inn and Mahnaz & Scott, a family-only wedding (just 3 of their 5 combined children in attendance) at the Clifton Inn... two of the most beautiful locations in the Charlottesville area.

A weekday wedding seems to engender a certain calmness that the big weekend event often doesn't due to its very nature. Generally couples who choose a weekday wedding option like the idea of having a simpler and more streamlined wedding experience without compromising on quality whatsoever. Both of these weddings were planned through my Weekday Wedding Company which provides wonderful, high quality packages for small weddings and elopements.

A small weekday wedding package doesn't mean you can't have music, flowers, professional photography, a beautiful ceremony and lots more, rather, it means you can have all this and more with much less stress and fuss.

Check out the Weekday Wedding Company website to see all of the lovely options and give me a call to have a chat about your wedding: 434-296-9885.

I know that the House Mountain Inn isn't exactly in the "Charlottesville Area" but it's not too far away and it's such a lovely location that I wanted to include it here. To be fair, it's about 80 miles from Charlottesville, just outside of Lexington, VA and takes an hour and 20 minutes to get there.

The House Mountain Inn, a newly constructed (2004) rustic bed & breakfast, has 9 beautiful rooms and is tucked away in the mountains with truly magnificent views. The huge front porch and incredible stone fireplace in the great room are a couple of my favorite features.

This weekend was the first time I'd been to the Inn in the fall and the color was magnificent. In the spring and summer I've done weddings outdoors with the mountains as a backdrop but this weekend the ceremony was held in front of the fireplace with dozens of candles burning all around. The Inn's amazing Jaime Irvine handled every imaginable detail for Nancy and Stephen's ceremony and reception and made my job completely stress-free.

If you'd like to visit the Inn or just get more information give Jaime a call at 540-464-4004.

I know this is a little different from my usual post... but hey, it's my blog so I can do it!! This may seem a little off topic, but after thinking about it I realized that it really isn't. I perform a lot of wedding ceremonies for couples who come from differing faith, racial and/or cultural backgrounds. These differences can present unique challenges on many levels when planning a wedding. Sometimes, in fact, when these differences are distressing enough to the couple's families there can be a huge amount of focus on how best to bridge these apparent disparities and make everyone happy... sometimes it can be done, and sometimes it can't.

So, today I found this amazing little video on a website called God Bless Humanity that, to me, expresses the oneness that lies at the very heart of these outer differences. If you are planning an Interfaith wedding and are encountering these challenges in your own lives I hope that you will take some inspiration from it. And, if you aren't planning a wedding at all and just happened by I hope that you will do the same. Here's the video.

The Dinsmore House, built by Thomas Jefferson’s master builder in 1817 is an historic Bed & Breakfast located just adjacent to the grounds of the University of Virginia in the heart of beautiful Charlottesville. This was my first wedding at the Dinsmore House and it was lovely. This Inn is a great location for a wedding with no more than 40 people in attendance. In order to have a wedding at the Dinsmore House it is required that the Inn be rented (all 8 rooms) for the entire weekend... which makes sense to me given the location and size of the place.

Amy Claire and Matt did just this last weekend and it was clear that their families were having a wonderful time sharing this special weekend at the Inn with the couple. Matt and Amy Claire had their ceremony out behind the Inn in a little courtyard area which had a few unique challenges in terms of seating but was truly beautiful all candlelit in the late fall afternoon.

This is the kind of place that I can imagine a couple coming back to again and again for anniversaries or other occasions that bring them back to Charlottesville. If you'd like to learn more about the Inn visit their website or give them a call at: 434-974-4663

Over the years I've had the opportunity to hear so much incredible music as part of the ceremonies I've performed. The inclusion of live music performed by accomplished musicians adds much warmth and distinction to a ceremony. Three of the groups that I've had the pleasure of working with often here in the Charlottesville area are The Encore Quartet, The Madison Trio and The Piedmont Chamber Players.

Any of these 3 talented groups can provide beautiful music for your ceremony, cocktail hour and even your reception. I invite you to visit their websites to find out more about their musical offerings and even listen to some clips of their music. You'll find a broad range of music is available including: classical, traditional wedding music, religious, contemporary and I've even heard members of the Encore Quartet perform lovely Irish music.

To contact the Encore Quartet call Jennifer Myer at 434-295-3664; the Madison Trio can be contacted by calling Christine Willard at 434-263-5779 or 434-826-9088 and the Piedmont Chamber Players can be reached by calling Bob Gross at 434-977-9828.

There's nothing like music to set the tone for your big day.... enjoy!

The Chapel at the University of Virginia, dedicated in 1889, no longer holds regular religious services, but is a popular site for weddings in Charlottesville... especially amongst students, alumni and anyone with a warm spot in their hearts for the University. This weekend I performed a beautiful ceremony in the Chapel for Mark and Annie, the couple you see pictured here. They had the chapel decorated with candles which gave it a warm and seasonal glow. Annie & Mark had spent time together at UVA, and having their family and friends experience a place that was so special in their history was very important to them.

The Chapel is just adjacent to the historic Rotunda, built as part of Thomas Jefferson's original academical village. The area right around the outside of the Chapel, the Rotunda and The Lawn, all provide beautiful and historic backdrops for photos and Mark and Annie enjoyed and took advantage of the beauty all around them before heading up to Veritas Vineyard for their reception.

If you are interested in talking with someone about the possibility of holding your wedding at the University of Virginia Chapel contact the Newcomb Hall Event Planning Office at 434-924-3203 or look here for information.