page_title: Bel Air (Woodbridge, Virginia)
section_title: Guests at Bel Air
hierarchical_section_title: Bel Air (Woodbridge, Virginia) / Colonial era / Guests at Bel Air
caption_attribution_description: English: "The Marriage of Washington to Martha Custis" (1849) by Junius Brutus Stears recreated the scene of the wedding on January 6, 1759. The painting shows the couple at center. Behind them stand Martha's two children from her first marriage to Daniel Parke Custis, and other guests. Washington adopted the children as his own.
context_page_description: Bel Air is a colonial-era plantation manor located in Woodbridge, Prince William County, Virginia. Built in 1740 as the Ewell family seat, the home was regularly visited by Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, who was a cousin. It later served as the home of Mason Locke Weems, the first biographer of George Washington and the creator of the cherry tree story. Extraordinarily well preserved for its age, Bel Air was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.Today, Bel Air remains a private residence and a working farm.
context_section_description: As a wealthy family of substance and culture, the Ewells hosted many extravagant balls, christenings and other grand events at Bel Air. Guests would arrive by carriage via the mile-long plantation road, catching glimpses of the mansion through the rows of flowering catalpa trees. Upon their arrival, guests, dressed in the latest fashion, were escorted to the reception room. For large events, the partition wall between the drawing room and central hall was removed, making a huge combined space for "merry-making and match-making in full swing." The wine flowed, and roasted meats and fowl were served to guests on fine porcelain, as evidenced by the plentiful shards of delftware and wine bottles later unearthed in archaeological digs. The dancing on these occasions was probably kept up a week, and there is record of one christening that lasted from Thursday through Sunday. It is said that the crowds were so great at Mariamne and James Craik's wedding reception that the drawing room floors had to be propped up by big cedar posts in the basement as the guests engaged in a rousing Virginia reel.
caption: George and Martha Washington on their wedding day. On their honeymoon voyage to Mount Vernon, the couple spent the night at Bel Air on April 5, 1759. As a cousin of the Ewells, Washington was regularly entertained at the mansion.
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