The Berry Hill Resort and Conference Center

Berry Hill Resort combines the rustic elegance and charm of a family estate with the conveniences of a resort. The location really exhibits old Virginian charm. I would describe the estate as a whole as rustic with the breathtaking grounds, stone wall surrounding the part of the property, family cemetery, and ponds. Conversely, the mansion is quite grand and elegant. The combination was absolutely exactly what we wanted (and envisioned) for our wedding. Rhonda van der Schagt, the Sales and Event Manager, was so easy to work with. She has a very calming demeanor and provides an excellent level of service to her clients. She is your point person throughout the planning process and is there for your entire event to ensure flawless execution, which really gave me peace of mind and took a lot of the stress off of me the day of our wedding. I was able to just sit back and enjoy, rather than worrying about or getting caught up in the minutia. We had a small wedding, 72 people, mostly coming from out of state and many from England. All of our guests had such lovely things to say about the location (beauty, service, accommodations). We really had the feel that we got to take over the resort and spend time with our guests the entire weekend, rather than just at the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception. I strongly recommend you and your family occupy the mansion suites and mini-mansions. The mansion suites are a perfect place to get ready and are large enough with the sitting room to have your bridal party relax and hang out the day of the wedding. They provide you the room you need to stay organized and not get overwhelmed. We loved staying in the mansion and having our cocktail hour inside the mansion parlor. So many of the other venues we considered didn’t allow you to go inside the mansion…you basically had to have your party in the garden under a tent with the house as a backdrop. Whereas at Berry Hill, you not only have the option of renting space in the mansion but staying in the mansion…it’s so lovely! The venue is so elegant, inside and out, all you have to do is compliment the space with fresh flowers (no grand themes or decorations needed). Simple, elegant, beautiful.

PROs: The Berry Hill Resort is an excellent value for the money that you spend. They are very flexible in accommodating your requests up to the weekend of the wedding. The wedding food tasted great, although mine and my grooms steaks were very rough, the other guests said theirs were moist and delicious. I even got a review stating that the wedding food was the best they had ever enjoyed at a wedding.CONs: The staff were not as professional as we had hoped. The staff during the rehearsal dinner were very abrupt and too informal in both their subject matter and their delivery. However, the bar staff was more than professional throughout the weekend. The staff during the wedding was very good, too. There were a few glass candleholders which we had purchased for the wedding that the staff had dropped and which shattered. Many of our guests (approximately 6 or 7 out of the 20) at the rehearsal dinner got sick in a couple hours after the rehearsal dinner. Two of which were in the bridal party. The wedding manager led us to believe that she would be accommodating us on the day of the wedding. Instead, she had a tour with a prospective bride and groom, even allowing them upstairs where the bridal party was getting ready in plain view. She made no mention or request that the prospective couple would be coming into the mansion suites, and I would have been more than accommodating had she done so. I was told she would open the mansion suite for me first thing in the morning on the day of the wedding. Instead, she was no where to be found. I had to walk over to the hotel to request a key and let myself in. Also, I was told I would be provided with a steamer for my gown. Because the manager was no where to be found, I had to search the mansion for the steamer myself and wheel it into my suite. The wedding the day before had hors d'ouevres and alcohol sitting out for almost 24 hours in the mansion suite next to mine, with flies and bugs over the food and it smelled very bad. No one had cleaned it up since the day prior. I had to close that suite's doors and inform the mansion staff that the items were in there. Overall, we did not see the wedding manager until 30 minutes prior to the wedding ceremony.

This was an amazing venue! The grounds are perfect for pictures, the rooms are so spacious, the mansion is stunning, and the food is worth every penny! Rhonda is a wonderful at her job and makes the time stress free for the bride. She provides recommendations that are local and excellent! The staff at Berry Hill is unbeatable, everyone is smiling and happy to be helpful. This place is "southern hospitality" at it's best. You will want to return for every anniversary!

The venue is beautiful! We were married outside, on the steps of the mansion, and we had our reception inside the ballroom. Space is somewhat of an issue if you plan on having more than 200 guests (we had ~202, and we were fine, but did have to seat some guests in a separate room for dinner). The food was delicious (better than expected), but we did alter the menu a bit. One of the nicest features was being able to allow our guests to stay on-site.

Rhonda made the entire wedding run perfectly so that my husband and I could enjoy every moment. I provided her with vendor contact information, and she worked with them before the wedding to schedule everyone and ensure everything arrived at the right time. She provided so many helpful recommendations, options, and coordination help throughout the planning and the event, and did everything possible to make our wedding perfect. Results that meant a great deal to us include: 1) My husband and I love to cook and had several favorite foods that we wanted to include in our reception, and she offered to work with the cook to serve our recipes! The food was met with rave reviews, and our guests simply loved the fact that we served our own recipes. 2) There was a strong risk of showers on our wedding day, but it had always been my dream to marry outside. Once Rhonda knew how important the outdoor wedding was, she was fully supportive of going for it, even though there was a risk of having to postpone everything or make a last minute change. The outdoor ceremony was perfect in the end as the rain stopped before the guests sat down and the sun came out as I walked down the aisle.

Wonderful venue. Would definitely recommend!

I have NOTHING even slightly negative to say about Berry Hill! They were incredibly helpful with making all of my wedding dreams a reality. They helped me find vendors, suggested ways to improve the event and bent over backwards to accommodate me. I had the perfect wedding and it is much in part to this beautiful venue and it's professional and friendly staff!

Berry Hill was an amazing place to get married. Rhonda, John, Chef Kurt and the rest of the staff did a wonderful job to carry out exactly what our vision was for our rehearsal dinner, wedding and reception. There were endless choices - from the food to the ceremony and reception locations. Everything that Berry Hill did over the course of our wedding weekend was just exactly perfect, I cannot say enough good about them. From the first time we toured the property, I felt completely comfortable with Rhonda as our coordinator, and she was responsive (as was Chef Kurt!!) throughout the planning process. She was such a calming influence and really delivered in terms of making what we wanted to happen actually happen. We had to make some last minute changes based on weather, and Rhonda could not have been more supportive and easy to work with. It seemed like things just fell into place, and I felt like when my family and friends were at Berry Hill I could just relax and things were getting done without my having to pay attention to them. The food was really really good, and Chef Kurt worked with us to make our vision become a reality - I highly recommend a rehearsal dinner barbeque out on the verandah - our guests are still raving about this. We looked at a lot of venues in Richmond, and none of them were as charming or as reasonably priced as Berry Hill. It is a bit of a drive (2 hours from Richmond) but was the ideal location for our Southern plantation wedding weekend. The photos that Martha Stewart has on her website do not do the place justice. I will say, however, that if you are getting married here, definitely research your own wedding vendors. We ended up with a DJ (Michael Ardisson) and photographer (Rebekah Girvan) that were both completely awesome but not on Berry Hill's vendor list. Our officiant, unfortunately, was a recommended vendor and was extremely disappointing.

Rhonda was such a great help and responded to my daily emails within hours of me sending them. The food was amazing, the space was beautiful. I couldn't have been happier.

Berry Hill was an excellent reception venue! I love that it was all-inclusive, providing location, catering, lodging and more! If you think that this location will not work with your budget, you will be pleasantly surprised. The service and catering were excellent, the staff were all helpful and the food got great compliments from our guests!

Rhonda was fabulous. Any place similar to Berry Hill cost more than double. The food was great and everyone had a wonderful time. It was worth the drive to the VA to visit this lovely location!

Our wedding at Berry Hill was absolutely perfect! From the moment we starting our planning, Rhonda, the coordinator, was wonderful. She responded very quickly to my many, many questions and guided us through the entire process. She was brilliant the day of the wedding, taking care of every last detail. Even storing our presents for us to retrieve the next day! The entire staff at the resort were very friendly and professional. My guests raved about the hotel rooms and thought they were a bargain. We loved the fact that our guests did not have to drive anywhere the entire weekend. The food at the rehearsal dinner, wedding and brunch was all delicious. Berry Hill truly exceeded our expectations on every level.

Beautiful, all-inclusive wedding venue. Loved having the ceremony, reception, and hotel all in the same location -- I called it our "mini destination wedding." We basically had the property all to ourselves for the weekend. The chef and his food were excellent. The majority of the staff were friendly and accommodating. The on-site restaurant, tavern, spa, and activities were great for our guests. Rhonda (Berry Hill coordinator) was always professional, responded promptly to my many emails, and helped our big day run smoothly. The total cost was more than what we wanted to spend initially, but many family and friends commented it was the loveliest wedding they'd been to, so in the end it was worth the expense. We had a wonderful time and would definitely do it all over again.

We had an absolutely beautiful wedding at Berry Hill. The venue is gorgeous, the wedding was perfect, the DJ, (Ken from Joe Bunn) made the night. However, if you are going to have a wedding/ rehearsal dinner at Berry Hill there are a few things you should be aware of going in and perhaps you will know how to handle it beforehand. The groom's mother paid for the rehearsal dinner. Alcohol was based per consumption. At the end of the night the bartenders handed out the leftover bottles of wine to the guests and then charged her for it. We had fewer than our contracted number, and actually fewer still than our final count, yet ran out of food for both the rehearsal dinner and wedding. Berry Hill did our wedding cakes- individual chocolate rum cakes, a family recipe. I should have stressed that we wanted leftovers but did not receive any. I heard they were served again the next day at their Mother's Day brunch open to the community. My husband and I did not attend but when I brought this to the wedding coordinator's attention I was told that they used the bundt pans I provided for a different chocolate cake recipe, and my cakes must have been thrown out. Our contract was based on a minimum of 80 adults and 20 children (so only paying for the full bar on 80 people up front- I did not want to pay for more people than would show)- I believe 86 adults and 2 children attended. The wedding coordinator tried to charge me the difference after the fact for 100 adults. We ended up resolving it and I did not pay so that is positive. We had a room in that beautiful mansion in our contract for the girls to get ready in. The day before the wedding I was told the room was accidentally sold to someone else- however my husband stepped in and that was also resolved. We did not want to get ready in our wedding suite and come back to a disaster which happened to my sister. We had it for a few hours and the wedding coordinator moved all of our stuff in to her office for the guest. I heard a lot of people did not receive welcome bags from the front desk while the bridesmaids made way too many. The wedding coordinator said that simply wasn't true so who knows. The spa can be difficult to arrange an appointment with. Turned out to be a bit last minute rescheduling and one bridesmaid was not aware we were even doing a nail appointment. She went in to cancel and was told it would be no problem, no charge. The nail technicians and wedding coordinator pulled me out of the gym to say we might be charged but she would need to speak with her manager. In the end the groom's mother ended up paying upon check out. So much back and forth over the weekend about this for what ended up being a $30 charge.However, they handled setting up the decorations I brought down and it all looked lovely, the wedding coordinator kept everything in her office for us to pick up the next day- everything was taken care of. It really was beautiful and I still would have chosen them knowing what I know now. Berry Hill has the potential to become a huge landmark and booming business- just need to get some things in order.

Berry Hill provided us with a beautiful setting in which to get married. Rhonda did a fabulous job getting everything ready for us and making sure everything went seamlessly, which it did. The scenery is perfect for any wedding; the food was FABULOUS, and the chef will go out of his way to make sure you get exactly what you want. Accomodations were beautiful and the staff really did take great care of us. Our wedding could not have been more perfect thanks to Berry Hill.

An absolutely stunning place to be married. As a photographer, I LOVE being able to shoot at Berry Hill, there are so many places around the grounds for amazing photos, the coordination is wonderful, and they are extremely responsive to the bride and groom's dreams and desires. The food is good, the ballroom beautiful, and the whole resort a dream of a place for a wedding!

Simply breathtaking...it is the first thing that comes to mind as you drive up to Berry Hill. That sentiment continues throughout the grounds and indoor spaces of this gorgeous resort. It is the perfect wedding venue! The staff is professional and friendly. The food..oh the food. It is mouhtwateringly delicious! I HIGHLY recommend Berry Hill for your wedding day!

Berry Hill is one of the most beautiful venues I have photographed. I'm going to list a few things I love about this venue: 1) The bridal suite has the most beautiful light and is so roomy you can let your creativity run free. 2) I'm big on "vignettes" for couple portraiture and the building and grounds of Berry Hill almost too much to offer. I'm like a kid in a candy store 3) I love the staff there. They are top notch and make the wedding run flawlessly. 4) The ballroom photographs beautifully. The wall color and lighting lend a perfect color and glow to reception photographs. You cannot go wrong with this venue. One of those perfect places to have a wedding.

An amazing location which really knows how to take care of a wedding. Rhonda and staff are fantastic. You can't go wrong here!