Paradise Springs Winery: Bridal Shower
This past weekend I hosted a bridal shower for one of my best friends at Paradise Springs Winery in Clifton, VA. Paradise Springs Winery is a family owned winery that has had the historic piece of land for generations (they have a cool story, check it out here) which is nestled in a beautiful neighborhood and neighbors Hemlock Regional Park. It was a very busy weekend at the winery, but luckily we had booked their Picnic Grove area for the event.
We ordered 8 bottles of wine total for our group, and all of the wines were pretty good! Here are the ones we ordered:
Sommet Blanc (3 bottles)
Even though we ended up with a lot of Sommet Blanc bottles, which is a delicious Sauvignon Blanc that drank like a Riesling to me due to the honeysuckle sweetness, my top two wines of the day were the Norton and the Viognier. Granted I am pretty biased, those are two of my favorite wine varietals, but I really felt like they did them super well. I loved the “jammy-ness” of the Norton and the Apricot notes on the Viognier.
I am hoping to get in touch with the folks at Paradise Springs Winery to do a Q&A, which I will add here!
This the first bridal shower I ever planned, and I’m so happy it worked out! I highly recommend anyone who’s planning small wedding celebration gatherings during COVID to check out the outdoor options at local wineries. Here’s a few tips from what I learned through the process:
Pre-order your wine: It was a gorgeous day at the winery, which meant at lot of people showed up! Pre-order your wine so you don’t have to front the lines right before your event.
Overestimate your wine bottle to guest ratio: I was super stressed about not having enough wine during the event, so I probably overestimated some (8 bottles for 12 guests). But it worked out because the bride got to take a couple bottles home, and I even got to take one too! People aren’t drinking as heavily at an event like a bridal shower, and especially when the venue is 30+ minutes away for most guests and they have to drive back. We made sure to have non-alcoholic drinks too which was a hit.
Account for the wind: If you’re outside, remember that wind is a factor! Pack tape so decorations don’t fly away, and make sure to think through how you’re displaying and covering your food so those things don’t fly away during a sudden gust of wind!
After all the festivities I’m ready to kick back and start the countdown, because these two get married in exactly ONE MONTH! Cheers winos!