Three weeks before the big day, I piled in the car with my sister, Madison, and my friend, Jackie and headed towards Wintergreen Resort, tucked away in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains for my bachelorette party. I didn’t know the plans of the weekend until I arrived, but I was so excited to spend the weekend with some of my closest friends. I was the perfect escape in the midst of wedding craziness!

Since I knew all of my wedding party would have to take off work to come to town for the wedding, it was important to me to not have them have to do the same a few before. A lot of my friends were in other weddings this year, I knew how hard that can be, especially when working. With that being said, the Friday night of the weekend was rather low-key, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. My (at this point) soon to be father-in-law so graciously let us stay with him on Friday to break up the drive. We arrived in Richmond around 8pm, which allowed us some time to head downtown and take a trip to one of my favorite bars, 3 Monkeys. Unbeknownst to my friends, I had been seriously homesick from RIchmond the past few weeks, so being able to walk around and see so many familiar sites was more therapeutic than anything else. Needless to say, a few drinks in RVA made me even more excited for the festivities that were to come.

On Saturday, we had an early wake-up call in order to make the most out of the day. After breakfast at my favorite brunch location in Richmond, (friends, if you are ever in Richmond and you need a place to brunch this is it!) and some coffee for the road, we headed towards Charlottesville. As we drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway, I was so distracted by the breath-taking views, I didn’t even realized that we had arrived! I was then met by three of my other bridesmaids, Olivia, Amber and Logan, and the cutest decorations in the house we were staying at. I especially loved the napkins, but that’s just me loving any paper product. Shortly after a quick toast, we piled in the cars and headed down the mountain to the plethora of wineries that are in Nelson County.

Our first stop was at Flying Fox Vineyard. It was tucked off of the main road, and was a small little tasting room, but I highly suggest stopping at this winery, if you are ever in the area! They have eight staple wines, but they are all very different from one another, which makes a tasting even more interesting. While we might have blown through the tasting a little fast (oops), I thoroughly enjoyed using this time to catch up with some of my best friends!

Our second stop was at Veritas Vineyard & Winery, and y’all, this place is breathtakingly beautiful. Click on the link to see what I mean — I wish I had thought to bring my Nikon with me!
We decided to grab a bite to eat on The Terrace, since it was a little after lunch time, and to forgo the tasting. Instead, we each got a glass and found a table on the porch to allow us to eat, sip, and chat. I tried to freeze that moment in time — wine, some of my closest friends, and beautiful scenery– it was the perfect snapshot! I had a glass of the rose, which was delicious, but I will definitely have to make a trip back to try the others!

We tried to make it to Pippin Hill Vineyards, but they were closed for a private event. Since most wineries close at 5pm, we only had time for one more. Our final winery of the day was at Cardinal Point Winery. We participated in a tasting and Olivia and I enjoyed a glass of wine outside, while the band was finishing up for the afternoon. The highlight of this winery (in addition to the wine) was that there was a dog in the tasting room!
I had so much fun wine tasting, but I was super excited to go to Devil’s Backbone for dinner. Jody and I had visited this brewery a few years ago but I couldn’t wait to go back. The weather was on the warm side, so we were thankful when a table opened up inside. After a delicious dinner, we headed back outside to finish our drinks and play a few rounds of cornhole before we made our way back up the mountain. Saturday night included games back at the house where we were staying. After one too many cupcakes and laughing our way to a six-pack, we headed off to dreamland before we all headed home the next day.

Before heading out on Sunday, my gals prepared me the cutest breakfast, and then we sat out on the deck and sipped on our coffee. We talked about what I was looking forward to about our wedding, and I shared some details that I hadn’t told the girls yet. It was at this point that it started to sink it that we were getting so close to our wedding. The conclusion of this weekend was the last big celebration before wedding weekend, and I couldn’t have dreamt of a better way to kickoff the biggest month of my life.