Decembers at the Ridge

One of my favorite things about December isn’t just that Christmas comes along but that we have such a wide variety of events here at Stevenson Ridge. We’ve hosted holiday parties, a “Roaring Twenties”-themed office party, the Next Generation of Business Leader's “Top Ten of the Next Gen” ceremony, a wine tasting for our January brides, a six-year-old’s birthday party, a handful of rehearsals dinners, and of course several weddings.

From a coordination perspective, every event poses its own sorts of challenges, which is great for us because nothing ever feels routine or boring. That makes every event fun for us in its own way.

Sometimes we have to coordinate a full catering staff. What an amazing ballet it is behind-the-scenes as our servers attend to guests and get food back and forth from the kitchen and clear tables. Chef David, like a maestro, conducts activity in the kitchen to keep everything—and everyone—cooking.

Sometimes we have to arrange a room in a special configuration or set out lanterns along the path to one of the back cabins or set up special decorations. Sometimes we even have special cleaning challenges (for instance, Chris assures me that feather boas molt worse than a flock of chickens!).

Gail had to give detailed attention to the unique centerpieces she built for the season: tall vases filled with cedar boughs and cranberries and water, wrapped in burlap and ribbon and set on silver platters, with pine cones and snow-like crystals sprinkled around the base.

It’s a lot of fun to watch our guests have so much fun. I’ve watched people sit around the piano in the Riddick House and sing Christmas Carols and “Amazing Grace” and “Auld Lang Syde.” I’ve sat with brides as they’ve sampled an array of good wines, not only enjoying the different varieties but learning about how they were created. I’ve watched some of Fredericksburg’s best and brightest young business leaders earn recognition for the important contributions they’ve made to our community. I’ve basked in the white lights of our towering Christmas tree in the chapel in the lodge and watched bride and grooms begin their new lives together.

This is what makes Decembers such a treat at Stevenson Ridge, and it’s what makes my job here so rewarding. I could not have asked for a more wonderful way to wrap up 2013!