Beautiful BARN WEDDINGS
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ustic and romantic, barns offer a unique alternative for a wedding reception. Throughout the western countryside of Northern Virginia, land owners with special zoning can offer their properties for wedding receptions a limited number of times a year. Wineries that host weddings are borrowing barn architecture for their tasting room designs. Event centers are popping up with the look and feel of barns, coupled with modern amenities. There’s even a country club in Fairfax that boasts a barn exterior with newly remodeled banquet space. Barns offer a blank décor canvas. You can play up the countryside with hay bales, barrels for cocktail tables and carnival lights. Or take your design in a different direction with the unexpected elegance of fine linens and china, Chiavari chairs and beautiful floral centerpieces. If you have your heart set on a barn wedding, here are some guidelines to help you choose the right location — for both your style and budget. More moving parts can mean more money: If you are hosting your event on an individual’s property (be they family-friend or someone booking a limited number of weddings), the odds are quite good that you will need to truck in everything. Think about what that means. There’s the obvious, of course: tables, chairs, possibly ceremony seating. But what about lighting, heating/ air conditioning (or fans at the least)? And finally, where are all of your guests going to use the bathroom? Your guests’ comfort should be a high priority if you want a successful event.
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