As you’ve no doubt figured out by now, there are heaps of choices when it comes to planning a wedding (including a rehearsal dinner!), but choosing a venue is the most important one. It can dictate so many other things. If you have your sights set on a Virginia winery, be aware that most require […]
Thinking of hiring vendors from beyond Charlottesville to help put together your big day? Maybe you want to source some Victorian furniture from Richmond-based Paisley & Jade, for example. Or maybe, like one of Adam Donovan-Groves’ former clients, you just happen to know a great photographer from Ireland. This artist, remembers Donovan-Groves, “had worked at […]
Talk about happy accidents: Seven years ago, Jeannine Lalonde Smith got the notion to learn how to make curtains. She didn’t expect it would go beyond that. “I never thought of myself as especially crafty,” she says, “but this untapped creative side of me came roaring out when I looked at a combination sewing and […]
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but if all you’re doing is copying the last couple, how do you, well, do you? Here are some unique dessert-related details we’re digging this season. Steal at your own risk. Front and center If you’re like us and cake ranks as one of your top three […]
Peace Frogs Travel owner Julie Arbelaez says that, when it comes to honeymoon spots, California’s Napa and Sonoma valleys are popular right now. But where else might you travel once you’ve said your I Dos? Here are some other spots Arbelaez says the newly betrothed are flocking to lately. St. Lucia “It has some wonderful, […]
It’s not hard to see why a ceremony backdrop is a key visual element for your wedding. If you’re on the hunt for a truly unique photo op at the moment of that crucial kiss, perhaps a custom-made backdrop is in order. Local artists and makers will create one just for your day—whether it’s a […]
Eric Kelley graduated from UVA in 2006, founded his own photography business in 2008, and in 2018 was named one of the 40 best wedding photographers in the world by Harper’s Bazaar magazine. Kelley attributes his meteoric rise in part to the generous help of established photographers when he was just starting out. “The biggest […]
The rolling hills of Albemarle, the verdant pavilions of UVA, the lush vines of neighboring wineries—there’s no end to the picturesque backdrops for your engagement photos. But we love a couple who thinks outside the box. Take it from Danielle Peacock and Josh Laseter, who shot their engagement session at Three Notch’d Brewing Company—while creating […]
You know your maid of honor will slay them during her toast. If you hope to be laughing at her jokes decades from now, you’re going to want a wedding video. So what important questions should you ask potential videographers when you’re deciding who to hire? We talked with Ian Atkins of Ian’s Creations and […]
Some of us, when we were younger, marveled at Baskin-Robbins’ “original 31 flavors.” It seemed impossible (31 flavors!) but also confirmed that summer—ice-cream season—was the best season of all. In Charlottesville, that reassurance comes from the popsicles at La Flor Michoacana. Like Baskin-Robbins, Michoacana boggles the mind with its variety—47 flavors, by informal count. The […]
Summer is the time to eat your colors. Yellow corn is at its sweetest, red tomatoes their juiciest, and the greens are just as green as could be. We’ve rounded up salad recipes from five local chefs that showcase the season’s leading stars along with some unexpected guest appearances: a piquant pinch of mint or […]
On a rainy night in early April, I joined a handful of other food-and-drink journalists in the glass-walled pavilion at Afton Mountain Vineyards to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tony and Elizabeth Smith’s ownership of the winery. About a minute into my conversation with Elizabeth during pre-dinner winetasting, I had a smacks-forehead-with-palm moment when she […]
In a town obsessed with coffee and wine, it was only a matter of time before the two beloved beverages started shacking up. Cafes in Europe have long kept both on the menu, and now a host of local java joints and new establishments are following suit. “I think most people love cafes, even if […]
Being a great bartender is the sort of thing your parents can lose track of. They know you work in a nice restaurant—one like Tavola, for instance. They glean from your calls home that the hours are long and the work is hard. But greatness? At making a gin and tonic? That’s tough for Mom […]
One name has long been absent from discussions of Charlottesville’s great restaurants: The Old Mill Room at the Boar’s Head Resort. Once a local standard bearer for high-end cuisine, the hotel dining room was overtaken during the past decade by a growing collection of top-tier local eateries with a fresher, trendier feel. The Boar’s Head […]
One morning last April, Afton Mountain Vineyards winemaker Damien Blanchon stood under a canopy in the rain, his yellow rain slicker a bright spot on the gray day. Smoke streamed out from the firepit he tended. The night’s meal, a freshly butchered pig, dripped fat onto the coals. Blanchon’s on friendly terms with Polyface Farm’s […]
THEN: A&N, closed in 2006 / NOW: Commonwealth Restaurant & Skybar, opened in 2011 If you grew up in Charlottesville, you probably remember stopping by A&N in the summer to shop for back-to-school gear. For several decades, A&N, a popular, Richmond-based sportswear chain founded in 1868, operated on the Downtown Mall (among other locations in […]
As the U.S. population grows less homogeneous, organizations are increasingly seizing on opportunities to incorporate diversity and inclusion programs and policies—or in abbreviated corporate parlance, “D&I”—into their workplace cultures. Diversity covers the spectrum of human differences, including age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexuality, language, national origin, and socio-economic status. Inclusion refers to a culture […]
Producers of handmade or uniquely sourced goods often start with an idea, a shoestring budget, and word-of-mouth buzz to launch their dream. Whether scaling up or staying small, here are three who have made it work. Stephanie Williams started La Vache Microcreamery, her gourmet caramel enterprise, after the ‘08 downturn temporarily dried up her architecture […]
Most small farmers could use a little green. That’s the idea behind Slow Money Central Virginia, a micro-finance nonprofit that helps local small farmers grow. The venture is affiliated with the Slow Money Institute based in Boulder, Colorado. Named in tribute to the slow food movement, the Institute provides what it calls “nurture capital” to […]
If your business isn’t on social media, some say, it doesn’t exist. It’s only been a scant 13 years since social media hit the mainstream. Yet as “new” as social media still is, it has become so pervasive in our lives that most businesses today need it to compete and thrive. For companies that are […]
Are entrepreneurs born or made? Doesn’t matter to Chip Ransler, executive director of HackCville—he’ll take someone who has an idea, or wants to make a difference, and fan that spark to flame. Although HackCville may sound like a cyber threat, Ransler says “to us, ‘hacking’ is a positive—finding quick, efficient, low-cost ways to solve problems.” […]
Throughout modern history, certain movements have changed how we work—the Industrial Revolution, the birth of the personal computer, and more recently, the arrival of social media. These transformations have also changed where we work (and even when we want to work). Are you an anti-9-to-5-er who likes working for yourself? An entrepreneur who isn’t ready […]