We could not imagine a more perfect place to serve as the backdrop for our wedding than the old-world beauty of Dover Hall. The property, people, and service they provide blew our ...expectations away and really made our weekend more perfect than we ever imagined it could be.
We wanted our wedding to feel like we were hosting our loved ones for the weekend at a manor home and Dover Hall was uniquely suited to our needs and the vibe we were looking for. It wound up being the only venue we toured, after the first visit - we knew we couldn’t get married anywhere else.
The staff at Dover Hall is, in short, incredible. At every stage they made us feel so special and appreciated, from the first time we toured all the way through to the end of the wedding weekend. Their relationships with local vendors are very strong, enabling the execution of everything throughout the weekend to be just so smooth. Chad was an excellent partner with us throughout the planning process, and also helped us select delicious old-world wines from his own collection.
Our main contact during planning and on-site support throughout the weekend, Rachel Kennedy, was as essential to the success of our wedding as our actual planner. She was everywhere, helping our family throughout the weekend, and was so kind and supportive. We couldn’t appreciate her more, her partnership was truly so crucial to how incredible our weekend was.
Chef Leah is incredibly talented, and was so helpful in working with us to design all of the menus for the weekend, including making accommodations for some of the family staying with us during the weekend, as well as personal touches that we requested for several of the meals. Everything her and her team made for us was delicious, well above the usual quality of food at weddings (seriously, well above), and was all so unique in preparation and execution. Our expectations were completely shattered, Chef Leah is a real difference-maker for Dover Hall as a venue.
Coming from California and having our families in separate parts of Virginia made a weekend-long option a main differentiator for us in choosing a venue. The fact that we could host all our events + stay on-site with our families for the weekend at this incredible manor home and that the food & beverage was all done in house eliminated so many stressors. Once we started talking with Rachel and Chad and understood more about how Dover Hall approached hosting for the entire weekend, we knew that it was a truly unique product that only they could offer.
Being able to treat such an incredible home as our own for the weekend was so uniquely special, and allowed us to utilize the space to the fullest. Hosting rehearsal dinner in the dining room, the welcome party spread throughout the space, and brunch in the ballroom we were just dancing in the night before was so amazing and now our memories of this time are all centered around the same place. The bedrooms and upstairs spaces are all just as nice as the rest of the property, were comfortable and luxurious, and made for ideal “getting ready” spaces.
Overall, we couldn’t be happier with our choice of venue for the weekend. Chad, Leah, the rest of the Dover Hall team and (especially) Rachel worked with us to make our weekend absolute perfection, and we couldn’t be happier. Theirs is truly a unique space, and they provide unique service to match, they will actually not allow you to lift a finger, especially over the full weekend.