Briar Patch Bed & Breakfast Inn

ic, country-style home with immaculate views of the mountains and surrounding area. The breakfasts we had in the morning were incredibly nostalgic of the breakfasts I had growing up in the countryside of central Virginia. If you’re looking for a country-style venue in the heart of Virginia’s countryside, Briar Patch is the place for you!

eption space is fine but otherwise all photos you see online are dated & inaccurate. For starters, the place is wildly unclean and not kept up with whatsoever. The owners are rude & snarky when you ask for anything at all. We asked that handprints be cleaned off of dirty windows in the ceremony space & was then called OCD by the owner (see emails below for some horrifying responses from the owners). We quickly realized that the windows were the least of our problems when we went through or guestrooms the week of the wedding, and found that there was a stink bug infestation. There were so many stink bugs that when my little sister tried to use the iron in a closet, they crawled out of the iron. Then, another wedding party guest opened up a towel to shower, and five stink bugs, fell out and crawled on her legs. In the hill house, every single drawer and cabinet had mouse poop in it. There was a mouse nest in the kitchen cabinet. My mom and I cleaned mice poop out of that spot of the venue for 2 hours. Every room, bathroom, and reception space on the property is extremely filthy. When I confronted the owner about the stink bug, infestation and asked for help to clean them up, he bluntly said “it’s called a vacuum.” There was zero cleaning done prior to our arrival with our guests, so my mother & I spent 3 days leading up to the wedding scrubbing the walls of the reception hall, vacuuming up 400+ stink bugs, spraying a stink bug deterrent on the windows of the guest houses, and replacing shower curtains that were covered in pink mold. These are things the owners should have taken care of themselves. Particularly the stink bug infestation — to reiterate how bad this problem was, we had to clean behind every picture frame hung on the walls of the main house because there were 20+ bugs behind each one. Dan, married to owner Ellen, was on site all weekend and couldn’t be bothered to clean up the rotten food that he left in the kitchen sink. This is a communal space for wedding party to get ready and eat breakfasts together, but nobody wanted to be in the space because there were bugs flying around the dirty sink and the smell was horrendous. Dan’s desk is absolutely filthy and disheveled, conveniently it’s located right where guests walk in through to get to their rooms. This should’ve been our first red flag of just how messy and gross this place would be. Dan also showed up in our reception after being rude to my mother and other wedding party members all weekend, and makes himself a plate. It’s convenient that he can come eat free food off us after he did NOTHING to prepare his disgusting venue for the weekend and treated his customers horribly (again, see emails below). You will be treated poorly & ridiculed for asking for basic cleanliness if you book here. Run away like your hair’s on fire. I will not be recommending this spot to anyone and in fact plan on warning everyone we know with upcoming weddings to stay far away from Briar Patch. Aside from the scenic views, this place is a joke of a venue and is a biohazard that should be closed down asap. Lastly, I hope Dan & Ellen take care of the horses that are dilapidated and have burs stuck all over them.

o work with and were always quick to respond to emails. While Dan and Ellen were out of town the weekend of our wedding, Dan’s brother, Doron, stepped in and was absolutely wonderful. He made us a delicious breakfast both Saturday and Sunday, always offered to help with setup and takedown, and was all around a very genuine and sweet guy. His adorable dog, Brownie, followed him everywhere and even stopped by the reception and totally stole the show! We loved having them both around and we are so glad we chose Briar Patch for our wedding. The pictures we have are gorgeous, and those of us who stayed on the property slept well in very quaint bedrooms. We’re definitely planning on spending the weekend there sometime to celebrate a future anniversary!

ne in such a short amount of time! They have been in this business a long time and really know their stuff. We opted to rent out the entire property for the whole weekend, which was an excellent choice for us. This allowed us to have all of our friends onsite the whole weekend, which was so fun. Since it was summer, we took full advantage of the pool for the afterparty. Dan makes a homemade breakfast each morning for folks staying onsite, which is delicious! Our outdoor ceremony spot under the arch was beautiful and the reception area was perfect for our needs. Lots of beautiful sunset photos on the outdoor patio! Also, can't recommend their vendors on their recommendations list enough! We got our caterer and DJ from their list and both were outstanding.

ding party, their significant others, and our immediate families on site for the entire weekend - it really allowed us to maximize our time spent with them all. Even though the weather ended up being poor that weekend, the indoor ceremony space was still perfect. The bridal cottage easily fit 12 people for getting ready.

y and friends staying on-site. It's also incredibly convenient to Dulles, allowing friends and family to fly in from all over and stay close to the airport. Finally, Dan and Ellen are very generous and flexible. We ended up coming in early on Thursday so that we could have all of Friday to set up for the wedding and they didn't rush us out on Sunday. They also provided many recommendations for other vendors and they didn't steer us wrong.

There was only one staff member working at Briar Patch the entire weekend, so make sure you have your own people to help you set up and that you have a clear plan in place before you arrive. Their laid back venue really allowed us to make the weekend a lot of fun, and we were able to build our own vision.

because the owners (Dan & Ellen) along with the venue itself had such a relaxed and flexible vibe which was exactly what we wanted for our weekend. Dan and Ellen were so easy to work with throughout the whole process and it was so fun getting to know them. They even brought our family fresh grown tomatoes from their garden during our dinner! Briar Patch is a secluded venue, with lots of space but still has the perks of being close to the cute little town of Middleburg and Dulles airport for anyone traveling long distances. We were able to arrive mid day Thursday and just hangout, get everything ready until Sunday late afternoon. Santiago was amazing - he helped set everything up and always had a smile on his face, willing to lift, carry, adjust anything we wanted. It was truly a beautiful weekend and we used the entire site to our advantage - all the houses, upper hill for ceremony site, reception hall, the pool for our after party etc. If you want an authentic, relaxed and beautiful wedding - BP is your place!

ce was beautiful! There are many spots to have the wedding ceremony, but the oak tree in front of the bed and breakfast is a great outdoor option for those who may have guests with mobility issues. We would definitely recommend this venue to others!

r having your after party and enjoying the sweet hot tub, then clean up the next morning before leaving. Having done a lot of the setup ourselves I cant imagine how it would have worked out so smoothly any other way. A bunch of our friends and family also got to stay on site both nights and everyone loved it. The farm houses are rustic for sure, which I think most people found to be a positive feature (but tall people watch your heads in the main house). There are great spots for the ceremony, the main hall is fantastic, there is a pool (though it was a little too cold for us at the time), hot tub, and fire pits everywhere. Definitely highly recommend

many excuses and didn’t want a negative review.

te. We toured many venues prior to booking with Briar Patch, but decided to book with Briar Patch due to its convenient location (close to Dulles Airport, hotels that offered shuttles for guests to and from the Dulles Airport as well as one complimentary shuttle to the venue), on-site lodging, ability to book the venue for the entire weekend, and beautiful indoor and outdoor event space. Having the venue available the entire weekend was extremely convenient and a major selling point for us so that we could have our immediate family on-site together. We had a tree planting ceremony and Ellen and Dan kindly let us plant a tree on their site. We booked a day-of coordinator who previously worked at Briar Patch who was critical to pulling all of the details together and making our wedding weekends run smoothly. We stayed in the Chicken Coop, which was a great size for our wedding party to get ready in and take getting ready photos in. We appreciated being able to use the decor such as hurricane lamps, wood slabs, picture frames, easels, projector, etc that Briar Patch already had on site. It was fantastic to have the hot tub on site as well.

nd reception all in the same spot was so incredibly helpful. Having the opportunity too set up the day before and tear down the day after eliminated so much stress out of the process. When all was said and done it still cost me less then most 8 hour venues.

of course stress free which is very helpful on your special day!

we had the reception we wanted. They communicated with us throughout the whole process and the personal touches on the day-of (like a delicious homemade breakfast) made it so special. Briar Patch is an amazing place!

s beautiful and it was wonderful to be able to book the whole place from Friday to Sunday to have our friends and family there together for an entire weekend. Dan and Ellen were also extremely accommodating to our needs during the pandemic, allowing us to rearrange twice without any fuss at all. Overall, Briar Patch was a great place to have our wedding and we loved the weekend we got to spend there.

resolved to assist however and whenever they could. They took a lot of the stress off us leading up to the big day simply for their diligence! The venue itself has multiple options for locations, depending on your style. The entire site is beautiful with gorgeous backdrops of Virginia countryside. The fact it is a bed & breakfast is an added bonus. As a military family, with friends and relatives dispersed throughout the US, being able to coordinate close friends and family staying ON SITE was another tremendous relief for us and made choosing Briar Patch that much easier. There is plenty of parking for guests that would need to travel, so it was helpful knowing that we didn't need to focus on only a small group that could stay at the B&B. The one piece of advice I will pass on to any future prospective couples is to make sure you coordinate with the winery next door! We had Darius Rucker's "Wagon Wheel" start blaring in the middle of a prayer and everyone got a good laugh out of the situation. It didn't detract from our wedding at all, but as it happened it was a "duh - should have thought of that" moment for sure :) - Maggie & Andrew

o expect. HOWEVER, I could not imagine going with a different venue. Dan is the most wonderful host, and makes the process so easy for his wedding couples. While not necessarily cheap, you're able to book the entire venue for the entire weekend for what it costs at some venues for a 8 hour block of time. Honestly, being able to set things up the day before the wedding took so much stress off of the actual day. I can't imagine the stress levels we would have felt had we had to decorate everything day of. You as the guests are responsible for setting up/tearing down the ceremony site, which we were able to set up the day before. (I recommend Smokin Willys as a caterer as they were able to do the tear down for us included in their price). It is a more rustic feeling venue, and there are a bit more things to do on your own, but it is 100% worth it. We could not have imagined a more perfect day, and Dan and Ellen were a huge part of that! They aren't trying to nickel and dime you, they are open and honest with what they can do to help, and will work tirelessly to make sure your wedding goes off as planned. They are a small team, but they care so deeply about their couples. At the very least tour their facilities and see what they have to offer. You won't regret holding your wedding with them (even if your parents are a bit skeptical of the property).

ived just after 5 for a post-4pm check-in. After waiting for about 10 minutes, calling 4 numbers and finally finding someone we were told that the cottage wasn't ready & he needed to finish the wedding tour first. We didn't get into the cottage until after 6 where the bed was not finished being made, the floors were sticky, dirty dishes were in the sink, the bathroom faucet had hair on it, bobby pins were on the side tables,...and a few other less than great items. I think the owners need to have a talk about how much the husband can do and is willing to do for turnover after an event. We found out at breakfast the next morning that Ellen, the owner, had gone to Baltimore after a 90 person event leaving him alone to do clean up, turn over, & 3 wedding tours...clearly too much for him. When we left 2 days later the trash from the wedding was still on the lawn & the sewage alarm was still chirping. Ellen probably should have stayed until Monday to help with turn over OR they should have told us no to a Sunday check-in. Like I said to begin with the husband is a good cook and breakfasts were great, the bed in the cottage was comfortable, and it was a nice quiet reset just not recommended at this time as pandemic adjustments continue.

rmed us that we could return for a free stay on our one year anniversary. I loved the fact that we had the entire venue for the whole wedding weekend. It was a nonstop party with my friends and family for three days. Dan and Ellen helped to make this day the best day of my life and not only that but the grounds were gorgeous. My photos were breathtaking!

commend BP to anyone and everyone, not just for a wedding, but a get away!

remove all your trash OFF the property or hire someone else to do it), have your close friends and family stay on the property with you, pets welcome and your event can serve 20 to 200 people easily. The cons we encountered included one of our guests being over charged for the wrong room and being offered a room that was not available causing unnecessary confusion, my guests staying on the property were disappointed in the lack of care when concerns were lifted to management around a stink bug invasion in the main house and a broken TV in another, and the most concerning was the treatment we received after the wedding was finished when we learned our security deposit would not be refunded due to claims management could not corroborate with receipts. If you are a past or future bride that was not offered a complimentary one year anniversary stay, it's because management dubbed you a "PITA or pain in the a**" which was what we were told directly from the owner. You are welcome to enjoy our invitation to stay for your anniversary as we will not be returning to the Briar Patch for their hospitality.