Wedding Weekend at The Homestead

On Saturday morning my mom & I hopped in the car and started heading on our "journey" to The Homestead to celebrate the marriage of our dear friend Courtney to his now wife Emily!
Courtney has been friends with my older brother basically since we moved here some 14 year ago.

James & Courtney are the two standing

Anyway, I call it a journey because we made a couple of stops before actually arriving at our destination. The first was our request from the groomsmen - a box of Carol Lee Donuts. If you've been to Blacksburg, you can understand their need.  If you haven't, make sure a trip to the shop is on your to-do list if you're ever in town. SO. GOOD. Our next stop was dropping off my first unit in Roanoke. I've been working on that baby for a while -- felt so good to turn it in! It was a 1st grade math unit. Our third stop was to find gas. In Sketchville, Virginia I might add.  PSA: Iron Gate, Virginia is scary larry central. Beware. After finally finding a station without a line of cars & one that you can actually swipe your card at the pump, we were on our way for real.
Approximately 2 hours from leaving our house we arrived at the beautiful Homestead in Hot Springs, VA.

Been around since 1766. Sooooo beautiful - especially in the fall!

Found James as we walked up and then headed to the Jefferson Bar to watch the Hokie game (sad day) after checking in.

Donuts in hand :)

After lunch & catching up with friends, we did some exploring. Found the Crystal Room where the dinner & reception would be held. There was a smaller foyer area above/next to it where the cocktail hour was held.

The ceremony started at 5:30 in the Grand Ballroom. It was absolutely beautiful! Then it was on to the cocktail hour, dinner & dancing!   Caught up with James during cocktail hour. I don't know if you can see his boutonniere, but it's baby's breath...which I love! I was so happy to see so much baby's breath everywhere. 

I though my Lilly dress was perfect for the occasion & it was super comfortable!
The next morning we had the most amazing brunch in the world. Chipped beef, biscuits, hash browns, bacon, grits, fruit, the whole nine yards.  Definitely capped off a great wedding celebration!
I definitely would like to find my way back to The Homestead at some point in my life. Beautiful history, architecture and there is tons to do! We didn't get to make it to the natural hot springs but it's definitely on my bucket list :)

Congratulations Courtney & Emily! We love you!