Briar Patch Bed & Breakfast Inn

Perfection

The Briar Patch was such an amazing venue for our wedding at the end of July! It was wonderful to spend the weekend with both of our families and the bridal party at the beautiful Inn. We held the rehearsal dinner by the pool which was really fun! The ceremony was at the top of... Read More the driveway so our pictures have the gorgeous mountain backdrop. The reception at the Fox Den was elegant and perfect for our 130 guests. And, above all, the staff at the Briar Patch provided us with amazing service and were so kind leading up to our big day and for the whole weekend! I would highly recommend the Briar Patch to any engaged couple!

Beautiful Ceremony & Reception Site

I fell in love with the Briar Patch via the internet across the pond in England. I was planning a wedding for hopefully 4months time if my visa came through, so couldn't actually book anything. On a trip to visit my fiance in April 2013, we went to the site & were both certain... Read More it would be our site. Finally managed to book a midweek August wedding barely 2 months before the date having at last received approval to marry an American! Everyone at the Briar Patch was wonderful via email and Tricia was great help both on the day we visited initially and on the day itself. My only comment is - the bugs in the grass BITE A LOT as many of us found out at the rehearsal & were prepared for the day of. Take repellant for yourselves & the guests. The white chairs for outdoor use were not clean, my husband & his brothers & my brother were scrubbing them for the rehearsal & then more for the wedding day. Also, don't forget to arrange for the groomsmen or whoever to clear them away afterwards - my husband & I were up early to say goodbye to some of my family returning to UK & then proceeded to tidy the chairs away - they are heavy & the trolleys they have were pretty useless. Not really what you want to do on the morning after your wedding. The cottage was wonderful for me & the girls to get ready in on site and everyone loved the location and the buildings. Plus all my visiting family from UK fit in the main house so stayed there both before & after the wedding plus some extra nights! I've only knocked off the point for service, because seeming as the Briar Patch don't provide a whole lot other than venue & grounds, it would be nice if the chairs were clean & there was an easier way of getting them up the hill to the barn.

Our Wonderful Setting at Briar Patch

We were very happy from the very beginning in dealing with the Briar Patch. We always heard back from them promptly with answers. You couldn't ask for a better setting for a wedding. They have 3 locations for weddings; out front, in the back, or in the Foxden. We had ours out... Read More front and it was such a wonderful setting for the ceremony under the tree. Then it's just a short walk for guests to the Fox Den for the cocktail hour and reception. The Fox Den is so beautifully decorated that we didn't even add any additional decoration for the reception, just table cloths and center pieces. And the cottage is a wonderful place for the bridal party to get ready with plenty of space. It's great that they have rooms at the B&B for guests to stay at also. A couple of our guests took advantage of the pool after our wedding which was nice. Overall I would highly recommend the Briar Patch as a perfect place for a wedding.

The Briar Patch B&B made my fairy tale wedding come true! We reserved the entire estate for the whole weekend. We had the rehearsal ceremony and dinner on Friday, wedding on Saturday, and then brunch on Sunday. We had all the rooms at the B&B booked for bridal party and... Read More family. I personally found it less stressful to know that once we arrived Friday night I didn't have to travel anywhere else during the wedding. Our wedding was on Oct 29th, and we completely lucked out with the weather. There were tons of scenic shots for the photographers to work with; hill sides, old barns, fencing, and the main house itself. I worked mostly with Henriette and she was WONDERFUL! She will give you amazing tips & tricks on how to survive your wedding. It seems like every other weekend prior to the wedding we had friends & family that wanted to see the estate, and Henriette was always accommodating. There were definitely a few things I would do differently about my wedding, but picking The Briar Patch was one of the best decisions we did! We can't wait to go back to The Briar Patch for our anniversary and finally get to check out all the amazing wineries in the area.

I could not recommend this venue more! It is a beautiful spot, with helpful and professional staff, and it met all of our needs. Top reasons we chose Briar Patch: could accommodate up to 200 guests; exclusive use of the property from Friday afternoon to Sunday noon; excellent... Read More rain plan; flexibility in vendor choice. Briar Patch is very up front about all costs. An important budgeting note: they require you to book all 12 rooms of the B&B along with the site fee. We decided it was worth the extra expense to extend our (parents’) generosity to our wedding party. It worked out perfectly: groom and I shared the cottage, our parents and brothers took the 3 rooms in the “Chicken Coop”, and our remaining bridesmaids and groomsmen fit in the 8 rooms of the guesthouse. Ellen recommended we use Henriette Buell of Lemon Thyme Events for month-of and day-of coordination services. We took Ellen’s advice and are so glad we did! (See our review on her vendor page). I cannot stress how wonderful the exclusive use for the weekend is. It allowed us to be completely relaxed, comfortable, and prepared. We started our weekend with a rehearsal dinner on the lawn area by the pool. The day of our wedding, we made a bit of a risky call to have the ceremony outdoors after some thundershowers passed. We did not regret it – the hilltop made for a beautiful setting, with the Piedmont hills in the background. Given the heat, we held cocktail hour indoors, in the space adjacent to the reception hall, and then opened the doors to the reception hall for dinner. The incomparable Culinary Delights by Feist, who I also highly, highly recommend, catered both our rehearsal dinner and reception dinner, including the fabulous cake! We ended the night with an after party by the pool, and a number of our guests decided to take a dip! Extra touches: two friendly horses on site; relaxing pool; cozy breakfast; spacious & well-stocked bridal suite!)

We held our wedding at the Briar Patch B&B and it was perfect. My wife and I have older family members who can not get around very well and we were able to put them up right at the venue. That added a bit of thoughtfulness that was so easy but meant so much. My wife (then a... Read More fiancee) and I stayed there and it was a beautiful. Some family came a day before and the breakfast and the self-catered lunches were a mini-party in themselves. We held the wedding outside under the huge maple tree and it looked exquisite. It was a country wedding in nature and not so far from the city. The reception was held in their reception hall that was right there. There was no lag going from ceremony to party. Everything just flowed together. The staff helped us coordinate and plan at the last minute even while the caterers were there. We used the patio after the dinner to smoke cigars and had a small bonfire all the while dancing was going on inside -- there was something for everyone. Everyone asked how we found such a hidden jem and commented on the beautiful scenery.

We couldn't have chosen a more perfect venue to have our wedding at! Briar Patch is truly amazing and absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend booking this venue if you're looking for the BEST place to have an all in one wedding and reception. Briar Patch allows you the option... Read More of booking the entire property for the weekend (from 4pm on Friday until 12pm Sunday) and I can't stress enough how wonderful it is to have the entire place for your exclusive use. I loved the fact that our bridal party was able to stay the whole weekend with us. We had our rehearsal dinner by the pool Friday night. Saturday, we got married by the tree out in the front yard, and then had our reception in the Fox Den. We used Henriette Buell from Lemon Thyme Events to help with our day of coordination. Her assistant Ali was there to coordinate for us on our wedding day, with help from Jackie. They did a wonderful job making sure everything ran smoothly and made sure we were taken care of. All of the staff at Briar Patch were very friendly and made us feel like we were right at home. We loved having the homemade breakfast each morning while we were there! There truly aren’t enough words to describe how perfect Briar Patch, is and we can’t wait to return for our one-year anniversary.

The Briar Patch was an amazing venue! We had toured multiple venues before coming to the Briar Patch. We toured venues from Maryland to Washington DC to other Northern Virginia venues and as soon as we toured the Briar Patch we knew it was the venue for us. A few of the many... Read More amazing features of the Briar Patch--1) our family and bridal party could stay on sight 2) stunning views 3) the ENTIRE property is yours for the weekend and 4) you can bring your own liquor and wine. The Briar Patch was extremely responsive to emails and phone calls--often responding within hours if not minutes. They were very accommodating--allowing us to tour the property multiple times throughout the planning process. They provided helpful tips and have list of vendors we could use but were not obligated to do so. They worked to make sure our wedding weekend was truly memorable. We couldn't imagine having our wedding anywhere else--this was an entire weekend of memories and not simply a day. Thank you Briar Patch and staff for making our wedding weekend so memorable.

The Briar Patch was an amazing location for my wedding. we got tons of compliments on the scenery. Having the property for the whole weekend was the best part. we were able to take our time with everything and when the guests didn't want to leave we were able to keep the party... Read More going! A lot of my bridal party was from out of town so it was really nice having all of them in one location for the wedding weekend. we never had to worry about any one being late. The Briar Patch staff was also very helpful in setting up and knowledgeable about what the best floor plans would be. Plus breakfast in the morning was amazingly delicious!

Choosing this venue for our wedding on Oct. 22, 2016, was one of the best decisions we made for our big day! The venue and grounds were beautiful, versatile, clean, and so very charming. Every one of our guests absolutely loved it! Thank you for making our wedding perfect!

Briar Patch was a great venue and they were flexible and easy to work with. We had our wedding over Thanksgiving and couldn't have been happier. Highly recommend one of the holiday deals if you like your soon to be in-laws and want about 20 people to spend a fews days around... Read More your wedding together.

Highly recommended! We chose Briar Patch because of the beautiful scenery and the chance to have the wedding party stay there for a relaxing weekend. We ended up very pleased with the staff's helpfulness during the process and particularly throughout the wedding weekend. (They... Read More even baked us cookies as a welcome!) There are lots of options (both indoor and outdoor) for every part of the festivities, from the rehearsal dinner to the reception. The venue was much more relaxing than other weddings we've attended, which helped us enjoy our special weekend even more.

There truly aren't words to express how happy I am that we chose Briar Patch as our wedding venue. The entire staff bent over backwards to accommodate us every step of the way, and they have an uncanny ability to make a stressful occasion very relaxed. They are such lovely... Read More people that I started feeling like a friend rather than a client. Our guests raved over how beautiful the venue was, and those that stayed on site loved their rooms. Briar Patch embodies Virginia country charm - you can't take a bad picture! The venue, both inside and out, is absolutely stunning, unique, and extremely special. As a bride, The Cottage is the ideal on-site space to get ready before the event. With its own kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and large sitting space, it provides privacy if you want it, and also allows plenty of space to hang out with family & friends. There is also ample space for the groom to get ready in another with friends/groomsmen. I could not give Briar Patch a higher recommendation. I wish I could do it all over again. I wouldn't change a thing.

There is nothing but great, fond memories from our wedding weekend at the Briar Patch. From the very beginning the management and staff (Henriette, Ellen, Alexandra, etc) were nothing but helpful and accommodating. We had to move our wedding date and they didn't try and... Read More overcharge us even though we moved to a different season. This and many other reasons, were a great weight lifted off our shoulders, considering we were paying for our wedding by ourselves. We rented out the entire place for our wedding weekend. We had our rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and reception at the site. The staff was so helpful coordinating my wedding planner and caterer so that we had nothing to worry about for food or set up and tear down for either the ceremony or reception. This was so nice because I could then focus on other things I needed to get done for the wedding making sure my guests were comfortable. We had our rehearsal dinner at the pool which was awesome! Even though people were being rowdy and having fun at the pool this didn't bother people who were staying in the main house, chicken coop or cottage. I stayed in the chicken coop with my bridesmaids and it was so nice! Everything was brand new and it was roomy and perfect for us to get ready. My husband stayed in the cottage, where we ended up staying the night of our wedding. It was big and cozy and perfect for the guys to get ready. All of our guests loved their rooms and had nothing but good things to say about our entire wedding weekend. They all had so much fun and we really did create awesome memories. The food in the morning was great and really went with the home/laid back/cozy feel we were going for. I could go on and on about the staff, the site, the location but let me just leave you with this: if you want an awesome, fun, beautiful, memorable wedding, go with this place. You will not feel overwhelmed, frustrated, or hopeless because you will have a good group of people who are professional and have planned and thrown (including the owners daughter's wedding) many weddings. You will be left with many great memories and will be so happy with the result.

The Briar Patch is a beautiful and historic venue! The staff were all nice and helpful, making it that much easier to plan an event with so many out if towners (including the bride and groom). Plus, the cottage is exceptionally adorable, with little touches (and a ginormous... Read More bathtub) that made our stay magical!

It was the absolute perfect venue for a wedding. Beautiful, spacious and a convienient location. Henrietta was amazing! She handled everything perfectly and was super helpful and fun! If you're looking for the peeffect place for your wedding. Look no further!

I had my wedding here valentines weekend 2015 - and it was amazing. My wedding was everything I could've hoped for with the venue of Briar Patch and the help of Henrietta, Ali and Sam. My family and friends loved the rooms - the breakfast and homey feel of the accommodations was... Read More great. Enough safe for 150 guests. We did everything inside - they did a complete turnover from the ceremony to the reception. Plenty of space for the DJ, the buffet dinner setup, the dancing... Everything was perfect. I wish I could relive the day over again

The venue is beautiful and we wanted to be able to enjoy time with the wedding party and family for the entire weekend, which this venue allowed. They are extremely flexible and don't try to dictate every aspect of your stay there. They also go out of their way to make sure... Read More things are set up just how you would like, or even better. I wasn't even going to have formal tables set up for the rehearsal dinner (very informal, and I didn't want to add extra factors into an already busy weekend) but they asked and I said sure why not. They then proceeded to set up an entire area with tables and chairs to have a more structured rehearsal dinner, which was great. They even ran some errands for us when a family member or wedding party member would have had to do it otherwise. It really saved us time and hassle. That all being said, sometimes it is hard to locate employees on the premises during the weekend, but if you get one of their phone numbers, it isn't too hard to find whatever answer you are looking for. The venue is more expensive, but you get the whole place all weekend, includes breakfasts, and they don't nickel and dime you with random fees like some places do (cake cutting, corkage fee, bringing outside vendor, bringing your own liquor, etc. ) The money we saved by having everything at one venue and being able to bring in our own vendors and alcohol likely made up the difference between having the wedding at another venue. I would recommend this venue.

My *now* husband and I were looking for a perfect location for our wedding. We had a few things we wanted in mind. We wanted a "semi-destination" where we and our close family and friends could get away from the crazy Northern Virginia lifestyle, we wanted our wedding to feel... Read More like a family reunion, we wanted something cute and scenic, and something that reminded me of being at my grandfather's house as a child. We drove up the long gravel driveway, under the canopy of trees, and at the end of the drive we saw the beautiful historic main house. We knew we found something special. We walked the grounds, saw all the adorable rooms, the grand reception hall with huge crystal chandeliers, the more intimate wood beamed cocktail room, the open patio with the amazing view, the pool and hot tub, and finally the ceremony site. A large open site with a huge tree front and center. I turned to my then-fiance and told him, I think this is it. Once we sat down and started talking dates and costs, they informed us of "Dan's Deals". My fiance and I were going to be paying for our entire wedding ourselves, so budget was a huge factor. They offered us a great deal if we booked a date that was 3 months away. My fiance and I love a good challenge, so after getting the parents' approval we decided to go for it. The venue and everyone working at the venue was MORE than perfect. Everyone was super responsive, available to answer questions at nearly any time in the day, sweet, smiling and just seemed to love their job! The venue itself was beautiful, clean, amazing. I felt like I was living in a fairy tale the entire weekend. We would walk around at night surrounded by fireflies, little bunnies, frogs, and even a little groundhog poked his head out to see what was going on. It was better than anything I ever imagined. The sheets were so soft and comfortable, and they even found a pair of sunglasses someone had left behind and mailed them to me! Best weekend of my life.

This place was beautiful, accommodating and great to work with. We had a beautiful day and the wedding was incredible. However in the event that you have rain this could be a very difficult place for your wedding but that is just trust anyway!

One Stop Wedding!

We just had our wedding this past weekend, and I do not have enough wonderful things to say about the location. Henriette Buell was our gem, without a doubt. She not only works at the Bed and Breakfast, but also acted as my wedding planner, florist, and therapist. The... Read More location is very flexible with opportunities to save. We had our wedding Thanksgiving weekend, which allowed us to use all of the rooms from Wednesday to Sunday. Along with Henriette's help, it was a relaxed and well organized week! We also used Six Star Catering, Mike Bell from MrDeeJay, Amie Otto Photography, and Dolche Film Studios, and First Impressions Salon as our other vendors. They were all incredible and worked well as a team. It was an excellent combination! We had an indoor wedding with shuttles to the nearby Hampton Inn, which allowed for a safe and easy wedding. Aside from the onsite amenities, the owners are incredibly kind and flexible. The staff was always friendly, the breakfast was incredible, and I felt supported throughout the whole week!

Great setting for a wedding!

We were very excited to have our wedding at Briar Patch so that everyone in the wedding party would be together all weekend! It was nice to be able to set up the reception hall on Friday for our Saturday wedding. The rehearsal dinner by the pool was fun and relaxing! Our wedding... Read More ceremony on the hilltop was perfect! The cocktail hour was held outside as well, it was in front of the house with lawn games. The reception hall is set up really nicely for wedding receptions and I love the big chandeliers. On Sunday, we had everybody back by the pool for a brunch. It was a wonderful wedding weekend and we enjoyed having it at Briar Patch!

The Greatest Wedding

Wow. Briar Patch B&B was completely and utterly perfect, and surpassed every expectation that my husband and I had. It was not only the best day of our lives, but the best weekend too. We feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to celebrate our wedding at Briar Patch. Dan &... Read More Ellen were the first wedding vendors to make me feel like a normal person. When we toured BP, I felt like I had left the B.S. of the wedding industry and found a place that truly supported the real meaning of a wedding. The vibe was casual but professional, the setting was stunning and understated, and dogs and cats roamed the property. And the price was perfect. I could not believe that the cost included use of all of the space AND all of the rooms. During the year of our engagement, BP was so helpful and responsive. Stupid questions were immediately answered with patience and enthusiasm, and impromptu visits during the week were always welcomed. The staff consistently went out of the way to help me and Sean feel comfortable and excited. We also signed up for Henriette Buell's day-of wedding coordination, which is a separate business (Buelltiful Events), but she manages BP and lives on the premises. She was amazing and a real joy to work with. She is so calming and straight forward, and I absolutely recommend working with her. The weekend was everything we wanted. Friends & Family got into town on Friday and joined us for a fun day by the pool. Then our friends helped us set up for our Welcome Dinner, which ended up being 150 of our guests! It was a relaxed BBQ on the front lawn, catered by Smokin Willies. We ended the night with an open mic where people gave toasts. I can't recommend something like this enough! On Saturday morning we shared breakfast (because it's a B&B! And you get to start each morning with an AMAZING home-cooked meal!!), and the girls went over to the cottage for hair & make up. We had so much fun getting ready while the guys hung out and got dressed in the living room of the main house. Our ceremony was on a hill towards the back of the property, which was perfectly serene and beautiful. Our cocktail hour was in the Silver & Bronze Fox Rooms, and then the doors opened to the Gold Fox Room. Leading up to the wedding day we were nervous about space. The room fits 200 people, but we had 190 people and an 11 piece band. BP & our caterer worked with us to make a plan that worked very well. Our band set up in the back left corner and tables covered the entirety of the space. After dinner, 7 of the 20 tables were broken down for dancing. It was FABULOUS. The band was so great that everyone was ready to dance as soon as they walked in, and since the broken down tables were all of our young friends, they didn't mind at all. In terms of space, it was tight. The tables were close to each other, but that just enhanced the experience for us. It felt like one big dinner party of the people we loved the most. For a wedding of 190 people, the BP setting made everything feel so intimate and wonderful. We had so many people tell us how much FUN they had at our wedding, and I thank Briar Patch for so much of that. The setting was homey and comfortable that we felt so relaxed by Saturday, and the wedding was as if were just welcoming these 200 guests into our own home. Finally, our friend made a video that shows the fun weekend! Just watch and see what you could have! http://youtu.be/IBsNr9hf008

Amazing venue for your wedding!

We absolutely loved having our wedding at the Briar Patch this April - it made for a wonderful wedding weekend and we got many compliments from our guests. The owners and staff were easy to work with and very upfront with costs/what was included. They easily worked with all of... Read More our vendors, and were extremely flexible with additional requests like dropping items off early and having several walk-throughs of the space for engagement photos and vendors. We highly recommend them and only wish we could do it all again!

PERFECT for us!

When my husband and I set out to plan our wedding, we knew that we didn't want the conventional wedding weekend. Instead, we wanted to put our own spin on things by keeping everything simple and relaxed in a beautiful outdoorsy setting with lots of family time. Briar Patch was... Read More the PERFECT solution to accomplish this goal! Instead of one long marathon wedding day, we split things up by holding an intimate family ceremony on Friday night instead of a rehearsal and dinner, followed by a big party on Saturday where we invited additional friends to join us! This was made possible because we had exclusive use of the property from Friday afternoon to lunch on Sunday. We had the freedom, flexibility, and tools to take things slow, enjoy the location, be together with friends and family, and do things our way. The Briar Patch staff went out of their way to support this non-traditional format, and was a huge resource and supporter every step of the way. Leading up to our wedding, they answered each question in record time, provided vendor suggestions (we loved Helga's!!!), and chipped in tips and resources whenever possible. The weekend of the event they welcomed us with open arms, remained on site to provide support, and hosted my family for a delicious breakfast each morning. The Briar Patch B&B and Fox Den were the ideal setting to give us the fun, low-key, intimate, and BEAUTIFUL wedding we wanted, and Dan and Co. went above and beyond to make everything possible. We are so grateful that you were a part of our big day, and know that we will be celebrating anniversaries and milestones with you for years to come! Thanks for everything!