In 2007, as the Director of Religious Education at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Shenandoah Valley, Brenda Berry was asked by friends if her duties would allow her to officiate their wedding. This being Virginia, and one of only a few states requiring wedding officiants to be licensed, she was not. But an ordination and a few bureaucratic steps later, and she was soon legally able to marry her friends. 16 years and 750 marriages later, her friends are celebrating their sixteenth anniversary, and their daughter has grown into a bright young teenager.
Her husband John likes to joke that Brenda became so popular, and was in such high demand that he had to get his own officiant’s license just to help fill the many requests she was getting. True as that was, John was also a poet who discovered how much he enjoyed public speaking. Not surprisingly he discovered he had a talent for officiating weddings too.
With Brenda at the helm of the enterprise she founded, Sacred Celebrations, the two traveled all over Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and even as far away as New Jersey writing and performing weddings.
At their home in Winchester Va., they even considered creating a small venue of their own to host weddings, and in fact did hold quite a few small ceremonies there by an old stone wall, and many inside an ancient copse of boxwood the two lovingly knew as Eudora. Unfortunately the ordinances where they lived in Winchester would prevent them from establishing more than this secret venue.
In the Spring of 2023, John and Brenda decided to sell the home where they’d lived for 27 years and move. Encroaching development made this otherwise difficult decision much easier.
It was no surprise that they would end up in Capon Bridge, West Virginia, a small town they’d loved for years, not far from their home in Winchester. They owned properties in Hampshire County, and were both avid supporters, volunteers and fans of The River House, a miraculous non-profit arts and music community in Capon Bridge. The two had even taken fiddle lessons for 5 years at The Cat and the Fiddle Music School from their dear friend, the school’s founder, and marvelously talented fiddle player, Dakota Karper. All roads, it seemed, had been leading them to Capon Bridge all along.
When a space formerly occupied by a local vintage shop became available at Basswood, the town’s premier Airbnb, the Berry’s unexpectedly found themselves revisiting their dream of hosting a wedding venue of their own. Basswood was a stately old home that had been beautifully renovated a few years before by friends of the Berrys into 5 charming, beautifully appointed suites that was enjoying growing popularity among locals and visitors to the town.
Basswood’s landscaped grounds look out over the Cacapon River, which flows through the town, and is spanned by an old iron bridge from which the town takes its name. Newly renovated itself and repainted, the Green Bridge is a cherished iconic representation of this gateway to the mountains.
With this revisited dream in mind, The Appalachian Wedding Chapel was born, and the Berrys quickly realized they were on to something special. The unique indoor space with its fireplace and colorful mantle gave them not only an elegant venue for indoor weddings, it also gave them room to display, and offer ceremonial items used in many of the Unity Ceremonies they offered.
West Virginia boasts many talented craftspeople and artisans and the Berrys began commissioning and curating a unique collection of ceremonial pottery, handfasting cords, glassware and personalized gifts for the Appalachian Wedding Chapel & Boutique. Bouquets, boutonnieres, candles, books, cards, personalized embroidery and more, the Boutique is open year round.
The river, the mountains and mature trees of Basswood made it clear their dream had found a home. The Berrys want to share this dream with you. Learn more about their Venue and Boutique here.