Roanoke's venues range from a grand railroad hotel downtown to farms and lake houses with the mountains behind them. A few I'd point a couple toward:
The Hotel Roanoke
The grand Tudor railroad hotel downtown, with 63,000 square feet of banquet space, indoor and outdoor ceremony sites and a guest list's worth of rooms upstairs. It's Roanoke's landmark, and the lobby and porches photograph like the 1880s with the lights on. The market square is a short walk for portraits.
Sundara Boones Mill
Mountain views, layered gardens, and exclusive use of the property for the day, with a bridal suite, a groom's room, and receptions under a tent hung with crystal chandeliers and string lights. The view is the reason couples book it, and I plan the ceremony time around where the sun sits over the ridge.
Braeloch at Boxtree
A hilltop building with three walls of windows, so the mountain view is in the room whether the ceremony is inside or out. Part of the Boxtree property, which can host up to 300 across its venues, including the Glen. Windows on three sides are a photographer's dream and a rain plan you'd actually be happy with.
Smith Mountain Lake Moneta
About forty minutes from Roanoke and full of lake houses, docks and estate venues like the Milan Manor House and the 120-acre lakefront at the W.E. Skelton 4-H Center. Lake weddings mean water light, which is soft, wide and flattering right up until sunset. Tell me the dock faces west and I'll build the whole timeline around it.
Getting married somewhere else in the valley? Send it over. I'll tell you how it photographs and, more importantly, when the light will leave.
