About Coronavirus 2020
Washingtonian is keeping you up to date on the coronavirus around DC.
Even in a pandemic, love is in the air.
As some couples begin planning their big day, others are rethinking the original plans for theirs. Elopements and virtual weddings are on the rise, we’re calling mini- and micro-weddings the (near) future of the industry, and small weddings of all kinds are likely to continue to trend for a while.
Which is all to say to that even when socially distant and staying at home, wedding planning continues. And while in-person meetings across the industry have been replaced with Zoom calls and virtual consultations, one element of wedding planning that proves a bit trickier to navigate from afar: venue selection.
“With all wedding venues closed,” says videographer Tom Bowen of Bowen Films, “it has been difficult for couples who are planning their weddings to decide on which venue to book.” To help couples in such a predicament, and to support the venues in DC’s wedding landscape, Bowen says his team decided to put their skills and resources to work by offering virtual venue tours.
“We not only film the empty venue, but include footage from real weddings we have shot at that venue so couples can see both a blank canvas and executed event,” says Bowen. “This enables [couples] to envision what their wedding could look like in that space.”
Bowen Films is offering the service at a deeply discounted rate—in some cases donated—and venues do not have to pay for the service until their first wedding back in action.
So far, they’ve filmed the following venues:
- The Fairmont
- The Willard Intercontinental
- The Anderson House
- Riverside on the Potomac
- Stone Tower Winery
- Tranquility Farm
- Bluemont Vineyard
With plans to add the following tours soon:
- Four Seasons, DC
- The Hay Adams
- Silverbrook Farm
Amy leads Washingtonian Weddings and writes Style Setters for Washingtonian. Prior to joining Washingtonian in March 2016, she was the editor of Capitol File magazine in DC and before that, editor of What’s Up? Weddings in Annapolis.
