Early Mountain Vineyards: An Exquisite Wedding Venue

Weddings, vineyards, natural beauty–all of these things are associated with the feelings of joy, renewal, and adventure. So what better place to celebrate your nuptials than at a gorgeous vineyard nestled in the mountains of Madison, Virginia? The Early Mountain Vineyards, with its expansive acres of lush vegetation, soaring views of the nearby Blue Ridge mountains, and beautifully remodeled buildings is sure to meet and exceed all of your and your guests’ expectations, helping you to create a wedding to remember.

About Early Mountain Vineyards

The perfect combination of rustic, elegant, and modern; I think that Early Mountain Vineyards is one of the most beautiful winery venues in Virginia so I recently interviewed with Aileen and Sara at Early Mountain to ask them a few questions for a spotlight post! Let’s jump right in.

What is a value you hold that you believe to be the most important part about choosing a venue?
Considering your budget is always something we recommend keeping in mind for your big day, but we also always want our couples to match their personal style with the perfect dream venue for them.

When you meet couples for the first time, what are some of their most asked questions?
Our couples ask plenty of questions but we always get asked if we have a dressing area for the bride to use on the big day. Not only do we have a lovely one-bedroom guest cottage for the bride BUT we also have a private lounge for our groom and his men to enjoy while they wait.

I know that wedding venues in the area tend to book up really fast. With this in mind, how far in advance would you recommend brides book Early Mountain Vineyards for their wedding day?
We recommend our couples book a year in advance of their dream date. Of course, there are always exceptions, with some dates booking faster than others and some couples pulling out all the stops with only a five-month long engagement!

What feature/element of your venue are couples most often excited about?
Narrowing down our popular features is a bit tough but most commonly it’s our aesthetic appeal and expansive event spaces. Guests love the flexibility to dress up our space or leave it as is, which comes close to perfection on its own.

Most brides worry about what happens if they have rain on their wedding day — what is your ceremony setup like on a rainy day?
In the event of rain, our back up plan is seamless. The ceremony moves from our Outdoor Wedding Lawn to our gorgeous Event Hall, guests are then transitioned to the Tasting Room for Cocktail Hour, while the catering team prepares the Event Hall for dinner and dancing.

What makes Early Mountain Vineyards unique?
Every venue is unique in its own way, but we stand out among the few when it comes to your catering abilities. We partner with a phenomenal list of local catering companies, whom we entrust to show our couples the level of service that we believe is deserved. The couple has the flexibility to choose a budget range on food & beverage, as well as the type of food they are interested in serving their guests. Our catering kitchen also comes fully equipped for any event, saving our couples from having an extra long rentals list!

P.S. – the mountain views can’t be beat either!!

What is your best piece of planning advice to a new bride?
Rely on the professional vendors that you hire for their expertise. We are all meant to be here for you as a resource to help ease the strain of planning all the moving parts of your big day.

The goal at Early Mountain Vineyards is to produce accessible and exceptional elegant wines through grit and ingenuity. With over 300 acres of breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Early Mountain Vineyard was originally owned by Revolutionary War veteran Lieutenant Joseph Early, who served with George Washington at Valley Forge. In 2010, Early Mountain was purchased by Steve and Jean Case, and after extensive renovations, was opened to the public two years later.

Venue settings

Early Mountain Vineyard offers couples five event spaces to host their wedding ceremony and reception, including the following:

Early Mountain Vineyard Barn: Early Mountain’s 200-year-old barn exudes rustic charm, and is set against breathtaking views of the nearby mountains. It is ideal for wedding photographs and outdoor wedding ceremonies.

Event Hall: With a working fireplace, and multiple hanging tiered light fixtures, the Event hall can accommodate groups large and small, up to 200 guests. It is perfect for an indoor wedding, in case of inclement weather.

Guest Cottage: Nestled among the grapevines, Early Mountain’s charming guest cottage offers breathtaking views of the vineyards and mountainside and gives couples and their wedding party ample time and space to prepare for the big day. After the wedding, the Guest Cottage transforms into an intimate honeymoon suite for the newlyweds.

Amenities and other information

Early Mountain Vineyard aims to help make couples’ big day as stress-free as possible, providing chairs and tables, a bridal suite, parking, and wheelchair accessibility. Couples who choose to host their wedding at Early Mountain Vineyard will have the entire venue to themselves, as the Vineyard hosts only one wedding per day. The Vineyards’ event coordinators are kind, professional, and helpful, and will go out of their way to ensure your wedding exceeds your expectations.

Photography opportunities

Located at the northernmost point on the Monticello Wine Trail, just 30 miles north of Charlottesville, and a couple hours away from Richmond and Washington DC, Early Mountain Vineyard offers a wide array of gorgeous outdoor and indoor backdrops. With its sprawling green lawns, elegant mountains, and stately trees, the Vineyards provides a beautiful backdrop for sunset photos. Indoors, the stone floors, wooden mantles, medieval-style light fixtures and various tasteful indoor decorations offer an equally elegant setting for creating the perfect photos and videos of your wedding day.

If it is your dream to host your wedding away from the hustle and bustle of urban settings in the heart of Virginia wine country, look no further than the idyllic Early Mountain Vineyards. The Early Mountain Vineyards is truly one of the most beautiful and flexible wedding venues in Virginia, and is sure to make your dream event a reality.

Our goal at Wolfcrest Photography is to capture all of your moments in videos and photos that your family can treasure for generations. We would absolutely love to work with you to provide the visual mementos of the most important day of your lives, so if you are planning to be married at Early Mountain, please reach out to us and we would be happy to discuss how we would love to help.