Timber Frame Wedding Pavilion in Amissville, VA

I wanted to ride down the hill in a horse and carriage and get married in a chapel by the lake in my backyard. With your help, my dream came true. We didn’t want a simple stick Pavilion that you might see in a park somewhere. We wanted rustic extravagance. And boy did we get it. The beams are gorgeous and they’re sturdy and magnificent. We selected a chapel-like a finial and placement for the cupola and installed removable handmade stained glass windows facing the sunset over the lake. It was breathtaking and jaw-dropping for all of our 120 guests.

Since our weekend wedfest, we have enjoyed it for smaller picnic events, for organizing supplies and equipment for trips and moving projects, and the grandkids love to ride their vehicles under the Pavilion. We have plans to install a stone fireplace along the back wall, and the tree swing just outside the entrance is my favorite spot on the entire property. The blue roof and the open gables are the perfect enhancement to the natural beauty of the Shenandoah mountains.

We can’t say enough about how impressed we continue to be every time we look at it and remember how four young men put it together by hand in two and a half days. I was a bride under a deadline and the weather was not cooperating. They were knowledgeable and tenacious and their work ethic is unmatched. our contractors couldn’t do anything but stand there and stare in wonder and amazement as they hand walked each and every truss across our property to ensure they didn’t tear up the soft ground. They were playful and joyful as they worked together better than any team our general contractor had ever witnessed. It was truly a pleasure from beginning to finish and you are all welcome to come visit Bella Rose Haven anytime.

Thank you so very much from our family to yours, for generations to come.

The program we founded, MPower Me, provides coaching and personalized technology to improve community engagement and independent living for people like my son who has Autism. While we were documenting the raising of the pavilion, we realized that this is a story about work ethic, because of how they persevered the rainy weather conditions, and about accomplishment, not just standing up a structure, but also making our outdoor WedFest possible for so many people to enjoy, even with unseasonably cold winds. Now we use these pictures and videos as a resource for special needs adults to explore potential activity and career interests that they might not otherwise discover. They say, “Look! They’re building your wedding!” And that inspires us to do more.

Our first snowfall looks so peaceful and gorgeous that now we want a stone fireplace across the back open wall. Someday we hope to have some matching run-in sheds for a couple horses, and maybe a gazebo on the other side of the property where we plan to have camping facilities for disabled adults and their peer mentors.