We’re blessed in Loudoun to be surrounded by superb wineries and breweries, a bounty of fresh farm produce and a subculture of creative artisans designing everything from ceramic wine cups to floral centerpieces. There’s no better time to take advantage of this epicurean abundance and crafting talent than when planning your upcoming holiday dinner feasts.
Table Décor
Pre-order a gorgeous holiday floral arrangement of roses, berries, mums, foraged materials and other blooms from Holly Chapple’s wonderful Hope Flower Farm in Waterford. She also offers garlands and wreaths for mantles and doors. Over in Purcellville, Designing Flowers will custom tailor a floral arrangement to your specifications using anything from dahlias and lilies to tulips and rare orchids and deliver same day in Purcellville and surrounding areas.
Dinnerware
Loudoun produce always tastes good, but it’s more complete when prepared with – or served on – locally made kitchen or dinnerware. Inspired by western European countries, Italy & France, Crème de la Crème, with outposts in Middleburg and Leesburg, has everything for table décor needs with an artisan-style collection that includes cutlery, glassware and table linens.
Talking Turkey
Don’t waste your moolah on a tasteless store-bought bird – order one straight from the farm. At Dawson Gap Farm in Hillsboro, the Morrison family raises grass fed, non-GMO, chemical free Thanksgiving turkeys for local purchase. The broad-breasted birds range from 16 to 24 pounds and are available for pick-up the week prior to Thanksgiving. Pro-tip: being so fresh and tasty they’re also popular, so get your name on the waiting list early.
Fresh Produce
No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without fresh local produce to accompany that turkey. Leesburg, Middleburg, Purcellville and Ashburn all host weekend farmers markets but Farmer John’s Market on Route 15 north of Leesburg is open all week and is a go-to destination for potatoes, greens, cranberries, purslane and Chris Petro’s Misty Meadow Mushrooms. Out in Western Loudoun, pick up fresh fruit, veg, eggs, dairy, baked goods, honey, frozen meats and much more at the popular Paige’s Pitstop, roadside store of Paige Critchley just off Route 9 in Hamilton.
Cheese
Whether as an appetizer or post dinner with wine, cheese is an essential accompaniment to Thanksgiving dinner. At Georges Mill Farm in Lovettsville pick up a range of goat cheeses – chevre, feta, blue and more – produced with milk from their own goats. At the tasting room of Chrysalis Vineyards at the Ag District in Middleburg you can find no less than eight cheeses produced by the farm’s Locksley Farmstead Cheese Co. We swear by the cheddar, gouda, fromage blanc, camembert and washed rind.
Wine
Loudoun is wine country of course and there’s no shortage of superb vintages with which to impress your guests. Why not pick up a gold medal winner from the Loudoun Wine Awards? Start light and crisp with a glass Cana Vineyards Grüner Veltliner 2025 or Domaine Fortier Chardonnay 2022 then graduate to a bottle of Three Creeks Winery Rosé 2025. Finish strong with some big Loudoun reds such as Endhardt Vineyards Cabernet Franc 2023 or Lost Creek Winery ‘Echelon’ 2019. Click here for a full list of 2026 medal winners.
Beer
Leesburg’s Black Hoof Brewing Company specializes in authentic European ales and lagers that pair perfectly with turkey. Try the Full Quiver Märzen. Lost Rhino Brewing Company’s Dark Czech-Style Tmavy Lager is the perfect pre-dinner winter warmer with its notes of rich toffee mixed with a pleasant roasty aroma - you can smell the warmth before diving in. Lost Barrel Brewing’s Pumpkin Ale with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg is a great accompaniment to apple or pumpkin pie.
Dessert
Mom’s Apple Pie with outposts in Leesburg and at Hill High Marketplace in Round Hill is the go-to stop for fresh apple, pecan, pumpkin pies and more. Order well in advance though because they get busy. Dana’s Cake Shoppe in the Village at Leesburg custom makes special occasion cakes and gourmet desserts. The tiramisu is out of this world. Over in Middleburg, Upper Crust bakery on Pendleton Street has been baking superb fresh bread, pastries, cookies and pies for a generation. Over in Ashburn, Fleen’s Dessert Studio of pastry chef and children’s book author Kathleen Faliskie makes an extraordinary range of sweet treats from blondies, brownies and cakesicles to French Macarons, cake pops, parfaits and a dozen flavor of custom-baked single, two, three and four-tiered cakes.
Hostess Gifts
If you’re being treated to Thanksgiving dinner this year, why not bring the host a gift? Take a trip to western Loudoun to find something great for the hostess with the mostess at Twigs in Purcellville. Every room of this repurposed 20th century home is filled with an eclectic style range of goods for any occasion displaying gifts from room décor, women's clothing and accessories, jewelry, children’s items and much more. You can also save your time and wrapping paper with the complimentary gift wrapping all year round. For locally made arts and crafts at source, the weekend November of 15-16 is the annual Catoctin Holiday Art Tour: more than 20 Loudoun artists displaying work in glass, wood, jewelry, fiber, painting, photography, sculpture and more in ten studios in and around Lovettsville.
Music
And finally, the cherry on top: music. For the perfect Thanksgiving ambience before and after dinner, tune in to the Songs of Loudoun Playlist on Spotify: songs by 25 Loudoun artists curated by local music impresario Todd Wright.
