Silver Fox Lavender Farm

When Suzi and Steve Groves came across what is now Silver Fox Lavender Farm, it was an undeveloped overgrown plot of land on a gravel road just off Highway 151. The retirees loved taking relaxing drives around the Rockfish Valley, soaking in blissful bucolic scenes and discovering local nooks. After noticing For Sale signs on the property, the Fredericksburg couple decided to purchase it in 2012 as a bed and breakfast retirement project, building a post and beam barn and planting lavender in 2015. Friends and family would visit, commenting on how lovely the farm would be for weddings. So, Suzi connected with locals in the weddings industry, hired a site manager, marketing manager and bookkeeper and launched the coveted event venue.

In its inaugural year in 2021, Silver Fox Lavender Farm hosted eight weddings — a number that soared to 18 the following year and continues to climb.

“It has really bloomed beyond our imaginations,” says Suzi, a former stay-at-home mom and substitute teacher. “I wasn’t even thinking about weddings when we bought this property. But it’s just so serene and private, couples love it.”

The treasured 13-acre venue stretches out in a 2,700-square-foot French-style country event barn offering indoor-outdoor space, a full catering kitchen, bridal suite loft, bathroom and extended covered outdoor reception porch. Fragrant lavender fields wave in the breeze backdropped by the Blue Ridge Mountains, with a creek and reflective pond adding to the countryside energy.

The venue and farm is nestled in historic Nellysford just 30 miles southwest of Charlottesville in the lush, mountainous Rockfish Valley. Couples adore the rustic, open-ended canvas, ready to decorate to their tastes and style. Suzi has seen everything from mermaid décor to a cigar bar to a free-flowing dance floor in the grass.

Couples share their I-do’s among the venue’s two outdoor ceremony spaces, the Mountain View and the popular Pond with a Mountain View. Tunnels of blossoming white and pink crape myrtles and towering evergreens set an enchanting tone. Receptions buzz inside the poplar and eastern white pine barn for a knotty rustic aesthetic with iron chandeliers and a stone fireplace (hand-carved by Steve), alongside hand-built tables, bars and a selection of antiques.

Wedding weekend packages allow couples and vendors to arrive Friday afternoon, set up early, host a welcome dinner and return for a Saturday wedding celebration and Sunday teardown. The lavender farm’s bounty appears in fresh-cut centerpieces, specialty cocktail garnishes and dried lavender buds tossed in ceremony joy.

“We attend all of the weddings. We’re behind the scenes working,” Suzi says. “And it brings a tear to our eyes. Every time.”