Riverwood Events and Catering

01/07/2025

I know many of the roads are clear and people are getting stir crazy!

If you are coming by to drop off dresses, outfits, accessories or decor for Night to Shine RVA .... PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS!!

Our back patch has been shoveled and salted but it is in the shade and icy! Please use extreme caution walking back there!

01/01/2025

🥳10 AMAZING YEARS!!🥳

Thank you to all of our amazing clients and friends and vendors who have supported us along this ride so far!!

⭐️We are offering 10% off in celebration!⭐️

For the rest of January

10% off ALL rentals! Linens, napkins, plates, glasses, tables, heaters, and more!

10% off the first 10 catering clients booked!

10% off the first 10 coordination clients booked!

Thank you for 10 amazing years! We can't wait to see what the next bring!

These discounts are for new contracts only. Does not include delivery or labor fees. Cannot be combined with any other discount.

Shout out to Pearl's Bake Shoppe for the delicious gluten-free treats!

12/23/2024

24 hour donation site is officially up and running for Night to Shine RVA !! An event so close to our hearts and we are so excited to be a part of it this year again!!

Behind our offices/warehouse at
8420 Meadowbridge Rd
Suite G
Mechanicsville VA 23116

○Hangers are available if you need some!
○GREEN Basket for non clothes donations
○GREY basket for dresses/clothing items that need to be cleaned. (We will clean as many as we can!)

We are collecting dresses, fancy outfits, nice tops and bottoms, shoes, jewelry, accessories for a fabulous night out. Our guests age range from 14-80+! All styles from young to mature welcome!

These items will be used for Night To Shine in February 2025!

Guests will be allowed to go shopping for their dream outfit Jan 15th & 16th! (At a different location)

Most needed sizes are 14 and up!

We thank you for anything you can share! Even if its just this post!

If you are unfamiliar with Night To Shine, it is an amazing prom night for persons with special and extra needs where they are shown they are loved and appreciated and shown just how amazing they truly are! Just the way they are! Check their page for volunteer opportunities to get involved!



Additionally we have an Amazon wish list going for decor needs if you are so able to help! https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/TFGIE02RAY17?ref_=wl_share

We are also in need of backdrop stands, backdrops, draping, balloon pumps, anything decor wise in jewel tones you have and would love to see given new life! Anything our team can't use we will share with the other locations so nothing goes to waste! These items can be dropped in this donation spot as well!

12/08/2024

Update for all our clients who have been praying for our sweet boy. Rachael here.

Matt underwent surgery to have a feeding tube placed on Tuesday before Thanksgiving. He is now home and doing really well with it all! He has even started walking short distances again but will continue to use his wheelchair as needed. He is on the road to getting back to his mischievous, sweet, technology obsessed self!

No contracted clients were affected. The rest of the Riverwood team stepped up immensely so. Most notably Callie!

We absolutely appreciate the patience of our future clients and understanding in our extreme delays in communication during the last few weeks. It has been a trying time, and we have been stretched very thin as we wrap up our busiest time of the year.

11/13/2024

We could use some extra prayers over here at Riverwood. One of our is dealing with some scary medical stuff. It's been building over the last few weeks and came to a head yesterday where he was admitted to the hospital. We don't know exactly how long he will be here or what the cause of these issues is. They have been running a battery of tests and getting lots of imaging.

Matt has had lots of scary neuro related episodes over the years, and this is the worst he has been since his 2nd brain surgery.

All active clients for this weekend won't be impacted by anything other than some delayed responses. We have an amazing village of people helping us and Matt.

Please send some good vibes and prayers for answers for our sweet boy.

10/20/2024

We get asked about this often! Any of these locations are great to drop off dresses!

Riverwood will also accept dress donations on site Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am-2pm.

An after hours dress donation will be set up after Thanksgiving!

09/10/2024

This event was quite the undertaking! But with an army of volunteers and some amazing vendors, sponsors and support, it was a resounding success!

Oh how I enjoyed transforming this space and seeing the guests and Dowda crew reactions to seeing the entire space finished!

08/17/2024

A few weeks ago Kylie & John got the best luck when the pouring rain stopped almost instantly and the sun started shining bright! The staff at The Boathouse Weddings & Events told me they could get the chairs out if she really wanted. We ran back and asked her and she said yes! All the staff and vendors pivoted on a dime and made it happen! And one of our favorite officiants Rev. Rob Witham, Wedding Officiant who talked fast so we didn’t get rained on again!

I can’t wait to see the professional pics from Carbone Photo Co. LLC and see all the details That Girl Press (grooms mom Anita) put together for their magical day!!

08/06/2024

When your bride shares this on her personal social media, remembering her amazing and flawless wedding day to the man of her dreams!

The seeming small roles I get to play on clients' big days live in my head rent free on repeat! This is one of my favorite "you can make anything be a unity ceremony if its meaningful to you" stories!

These two used their custom branding iron to brand a decoy hunting duck on their wedding day. As avid duck hunters, this just fit their lives and personalities perfectly.

I did have to remember not to let my hair get too close to that thing waiting to see the metal heat up! 🤣👩‍🚒❤️‍🔥

07/30/2024

Just a small snippet of the amazing feeling of helping Night to Shine RVA! Looking forward to creating even more amazingness this year!

Location: Cool Spring Baptist ChurchSong: Golden Hour by JVKEFilmed and Edited by Alex Brito

07/18/2024

There have been more flags like this than I care to count over the years. It's a known offer in the area, but one we don't always share for family privacy.

It is always too soon for another one.

They will also never be turned away. I will lose sleep to care for these important pieces in saying goodbye.

Police. Fire. Rescue. Military. Veteran.

Recently we were asked to press the flags for a Fire Firefighter's funeral.

As many of you know we are a first responder family, Dan still being a FireFighter and Rachael previously one. Dan was assisting another county with plans for a young fireman's funeral and they needed some very special flags ready for the ceremony. Dan offered our services to process the flags through our linen press. When he brought them to me (Rachael), running them through a machine just didn't feel right. These are important flags for an important occasion and deserve special treatment.

I hand pressed the honor guard flags for the funeral and one of the final flags for this young man.

As I delicately ironed between the stars and stripes that would be presented to a family member, I ran my hands over the material and prayed for the loved one who would receive it.

I did my best to infuse it with good thoughts, prayers and vibes to help the healing of the person who would receive it for a loved one lost. I prayed that this young man would look out for his fellow brothers and sisters in the fire department from up above. Lend them a helping hand and help keep them safe.

Rachael Gordon

06/05/2024

When we get to see families again, it's always a pleasure and an honor to be called back, even if it's not for a happy reason.

Mrs Miller hired Riverwood in January for her brother's funeral catering needs.
This time, unfortunately, it was for her husband's sudden passing.

Miller Family,
Thank you for trusting us to care for your family in this trying time. We hope that we were able to give some comfort as you said goodbye. I hope that our next meeting will be for something joyous.
-Rachael

03/01/2024

We missed it.. just barely! Last day of February is rare disease day!

We have staff members who are card carrying members.

And even more (aka: staff kids) hence it runs in the family... even if its not documented yet.



We actively employ parents of medically fragile children. We have flexible schedules and understand medical needs above employer needs. These families can use the extra money and we love the employees we couldn't have found without this special exemption. Some of the best we have ever had ♡

02/14/2024

What do you get the girl who works non-stop??

A mandatory snuggle break!!!

Dan sent us a GoatGram from Goat Yoga RVA, and it was amazing!!

30 minutes of snuggles and giggles with 3 adorable baby goats that were only 5 days old wearing onsies!!! Highly recommended for you to send your family or friends some baby goat snuggles! Plus, the owners ars pretty cool, and we enjoyed chatting with them during our visit!

It was the perfect distraction and pick-me-up we didn't know we needed after finding a water leak at the office today!

02/11/2024

HUGE HUGE thank you to Stacy with Burleson's Big Day Events

It helps to have an extra professional event planner on site for such a massive undertaking. She, Callie, and I have been making plans and sorting details for months!

She and I were just chatting MONTHS ago about upcoming events during our off-season from weddings, and I mentioned Night To Shine.

She lit up! "Do you need help?! Can I help? What's the date? It's officially on my calendar!!"

She checked in regularly, asking what I needed. Brought a truck load of extra decor from her business warehouse and paid for her own hotel for 2 nights to come help the day before and with full breakdown the night of! (She lives over an hour away.) She didn't shy away from anything from making balloon arches, to clearing trash, to handling breakdown of the main room, to running the photobooth while our attendant took a break. She was a sounding board, a fellow special needs advocate, and an incredible friend throughout the entire prep and event.

I'm so thankful for her always. But especially those 48 hours she came in to support Riverwood and Night to Shine RVA

Just a fun shot of us setting up just before the event! Those beautiful trees on the stage were her last-minute idea and pretty touch I loved!

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