For our very first wedding anniversary, we wanted to do something special! I didn’t really have a preference on what it was, I just requested we get a massage!We had a couples massage last year on our Mini-Moon in Woodstock, VT and it was much needed after seven months of wedding planning! This summer, I am apprenticing on an organic produce farm so I was in dire need of another massage! (and massages are amazing no matter what!)
Since moving to Virginia, we haven’t yet been to the coast. We looked into going to Virginia Beach area for our anniversary, but hesitated because I wasn’t sure if the weather would be nice in September. Greg suggested looking into options in West Virginia and that’s how we found The Greenbrier!
It was listed on several websites as the #1 resort in West Virginia and only about 2 hours from Harrisonburg, so we decided to book a night there! We scheduled a massage, a reservation for dinner in the main dining room, and had plans to go on a tour of the government bunker that lies below one of the wings.
A few days before our trip, Greg gifted me (us) a new camera! It’s a Sony digital camera that takes amazing photos and videos! He did tons of research on which camera would fit our needs best and I love his choice. I appreciate that it has a flip screen that makes for easy vlogging and selfie taking. You can watch the video I made from the footage we took that weekend!
Don’t fret – I also gave him a gift! A whiskey glass etched with a Game of Thrones quote and an art print with a Lord of the Rings quote on it. Nerd central!
The amazing over-the-top decor at The Greenbrier was designed by Dorothy Draper, who I had never heard of before. I learned that she was the first person to professionalize interior design. The wallpaper and colorful carpets were elaborate and changed often throughout the building. It made for countless photo opportunities!
We ate lunch at one of the restaurants: Draper’s.
We took a walk around the property and found a gazebo, a really big tree, and the Springhouse which contains the sulphur spring that attracted people to this area many years ago.
After our massages, we went for a swim in the indoor pool and then got ready for dinner.
The flatware featured the rhododendron, the state flower of West Virginia as well as part of Dorothy Draper’s inspiration for the decor. She was also inspired by roses and romance.
For dinner, I wore the same dress that I wore for our wedding rehearsal. My shoes, earrings, and nail polish color are the same that I wore for our wedding. Greg wore his wedding shoes too!
When we came home on Sunday, I didn’t feel well (I actually threw up during the bunker tour!) but Domino’s pizza hit the spot! We had also ordered halfmoon cookies to be shipped from Holland Farms Bakery in Utica, NY. Halfmoon cookies served as our wedding cake last year and they ship them to all 50 states! It was really special to be able to have them on our anniversary as we watched our wedding video and then our favorite movie: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens!
It was a great weekend and I’m glad to capture the memories through photos and videos. Check out the video for more fun!
Thanks for reading!
-Rebecca
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