Weddings in North Carolina » Chapel Hill wedding vendors

Recommended: upscale rehearsal dinner at Bonne Soiree in Chapel Hill

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:13:47 +0000

Below, see another review from my daughter the bride. Her in-laws paid for the rehearsal dinner at this small, exclusive restaurant, which closed down for our private party – we had the whole place to ourselves! Amazing food and atmosphere and such friendly folks!

Gourmet French restaurant Bonne Soiree in Chapel Hill

Rehearsal Dinner #2: Two nights before our Sunday afternoon wedding, we had a formal dinner for immediate family only at Bonne Soiree in downtown Chapel Hill. They did a fantastic job – we took over the whole restaurant and had a 5-course tasting menu with wine pairings. There are some serious foodies in our family and even they were impressed. The food was incredibly delicious and the wine was great as well. My family was talking about the food all weekend. Tina (hostess) and Chip (chef) were super friendly and they accommodated all dietary requirements. The only downside is that they don’t do email, so you will have to do all business with them by phone, fax, or in person.

Address of Bonne Soiree: 431 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2319
phone number: (919) 928-8388

Economical wedding venue in Carrboro NC – the Century Center

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:42:35 +0000

Carrboro Century Center facing Weaver Street Market

In these days of frugal (recessionista) brides, I’ve found a very affordable wedding venue. It isn’t elegant, but it’s clean, central, and right across the street from Weaver Street Market and Maple View Farms home-made ice-cream for your last-minute cheese, wine, food and chocolate sundae needs! As you’ll see below, it’s a great value, a very economical alternative for low-budget weddings.

Panorama view of the Century Center ballroom, facing the stage

I talked to the folks at the Carrboro Century Center, which is run by the town of Carrboro. They have a 4,236 square foot room which has a stage and lots of windows and is often used for contra dances and meetings – and it’s also available for weddings, receptions, after parties, etc.

Town of Carrboro Century Hall in Century Center

The rate for weekend use, minimum of 3 hours, is a mere $276 dollars, additional time at $93. The kitchen is available for $32 per hour and there are four other rooms available for whatever you like, each $47 for two hours. There is a “food fee” of 5% of the total room rental cost. You can serve liquor, but if you’re not using a licensed caterer you’ll have to talk with them about insurance.

A big bonus – they have plenty of 60″ round tables and chairs free for your use, which saves a big rental fee.

The center is wheelchair-accessible. There is no dedicated parking.

Call Pam Kirk at 918-7365 – she coordinates the weddings.

Here’s something fun – you can check the Century Center’s availability online at http://online.activecommunities.com/carrboro/ (You would need a log-on account to actually reserve the room online but you don’t need one just to check to see if your wedding date is available.)

Great wedding photographer in Triangle Area: Elizabeth Larson

admin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:45:05 +0000

My daughter’s photographer got pregnant and realized her due date was around the time of my daughter’s wedding, so she got her fellow professional photographer Elizabeth Larson to take the job. (I took the picture above.)

Elizabeth met us at Duke Gardens in Durham NC recently to do some engagement photos. She said it might take as much as two hours but we were done in 45 minutes and her images are wonderful. You can visit them at her blog: Elizabeth Larson, wedding photographer in NC. I love the choices she made when posting to her blog, here are a couple of samples:

My daughter and her fiance, Elizabeth Larson photographer

My daughter and fiance, photo by Elizabeth Larson

Sheraton Chapel Hill (Hotel Europa) review

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:58:25 +0000

Review taken down by phone from a prospective bride:

Sheraton Chapel Hill (Hotel Europa) foyer & front desk

“When the Hotel Europa opened in 1981 it was considered a very luxurious hotel for the area. Many other hotels have popped up in the area since then. The Sheraton corporation has spent millions of dollars renovating this property recently. It is a bland, beige modern hotel.

Hotel Europa ballroom (Chapel Hill Sheraton)

“The Europa ballroom (pictures) is quite large; the literature states it will fit as many as 690 at a reception and 460 for a banquet. There are lots of smaller rooms too.

“The hotel is located off 15-501 business quite near Chapel Hill; the traffic in that area is horrible now. There is a new super-roundabout thing that was supposed to improve the situation but actually I think it’s made it worse; I often go out of my way to avoid this area.

“I had a meal there recently; it was only so-so in my opinion. It’s not very nice outside, but you don’t hear the traffic noise when you get inside…

“Wedding packages, including chairs, tables, linens, food, punch, etc. are are $50-$89 per person – that includes a night for the bride and groom with champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, and breakfast. There are a lot of upgrade options including more expensive liquor.”

Wedding reception cost and wedding ceremony cost at the Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill NC

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 03:00:13 +0000

Carolina Inn Old Well Room for wedding reception

A lot of people have asked if I know how much it costs to have a wedding ceremony or wedding reception at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill. I investigated this when my daughter was looking for venues and below you see what I found out. I got the information from Ashleigh Collins; she is Social Catering Manager at the Carolina Inn; for more information, contact her at phone number 919-918-2766 or email her at acollins@carolinainn.com. The address: The Carolina Inn, 211 Pittsboro Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516.

The Carolina Inn has got a wide range of room sizes. They can accommodate as many as 500 if the guests don’t have to sit down! The Hill Grand Ballroom (below) can seat 220 for dinner.

Hill Grand Ballroom at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill NC

Here’s the floorplan of the Inn:

Floorplan of the Carolina Inn

The Carolina Inn doesn’t charge for the rooms – there is no room rental fee per se. What they do instead is charge by the person/guest, and there are minimums. They book wedding receptions in two timeframes: afternoon (12-5pm) and evening (7pm-12am). The prices you see below include food, open bar for 3-4 hours, tax, service charge and labor. Obviously, you can’t bring your own caterer or do your own rentals. Their food is good.

Range of prices for wedding receptions at the Carolina Inn

You notice how there are three prices for each package? You can save money by booking in less popular months, less popular days. Here’s the breakdown:

Package 1 is the most expensive and includes the most popular times: April, May, June, September, October, December, and the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.
Package II: March, July, August, November, and the Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend.
Package III, the most economical: January, February, Fridays and Sundays, some holidays, graduation weekend, and football weekends.

Ashleigh wrote:

Our Food & Beverage Minimums vary throughout the year (based on demand), and vary based on the venue. The venue will need to accommodate your guests based on how many there are, and if you would like a plated/seated dinner, or a heavy reception style (these both require different amounts of space for setup).

If all the math is overwhelming, you can get an idea of what this will cost you by looking at these examples of rates at different times. The cost differential is based on the Package I, II, III as above.

Plated Luncheon Packages: Cardinal, Emerald ($77 – $92 per person)
Heavy Hors d’Oeuvres Luncheons: Tar Heel ($76 -$86 per person)
Mid-Afternoon Heavy Hors d’Oeuvres Packages: Carolina ($73 – $77 per person)
Plated Dinner Packages: Azalea, Pine, Magnolia ($99 – $142)
Dinner Heavy Hors d’Oeuvres Receptions: Piedmont and Dogwood ($94 – $139)

You can also have your wedding ceremony at the Carolina Inn, inside in one of the ballrooms or outside in the small or large courtyard. (If you book the outdoor space, you must have made your own alternate arrangements in case of rain. And yes, it does rain sometimes.) The cost ranges from a minimum of $1,000 to a maximum of $2,000.

Courtyard fees are reduced by 25% if a tent is rented. All rental items must be arranged exclusively through your Carolina Inn wedding specialist.

I took the following pictures at the recent Bridal Fair held in this Chapel Hill venue.

Carolina Inn Ballroom during the Bridal Fair

Carolina Inn main entrance

Carolina Inn, hallway outside of ballrooms

Size of rooms and ballrooms at the Carolina Inn

Wedding cake trends – seen at the Carolina Inn Bridal Fair

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:46:55 +0000

I went to the Bridal Fair in Chapel Hill today – it was postponed from last weekend because of snow. Here are some of the cakes I saw there…

Tall fondant cake from Swank Cake Design, Chapel Hill NC

Swank fondant cakes: black and green, black and white, ribbon design

Wedding Cakes from Sugarland, Chapel Hill NC

I’ll be featuring these “cake shooters” (above) in the next post. And here’s detail on Sugarland’s adorable Indian bride and groom:

Cake topper, not sculpey but fondant, for an Indian wedding

Best catering in Raleigh Durham: Jazmin Mediterranean Bistro (Lebanese and Near Eastern food)

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:35:15 +0000

Now that my daughter has signed a contract with Nawwaf Said of Jazmin middle eastern restaurant and our day is secure, I’m willing to tell you: after all the weddings I’ve played at, I think the catering from Jazmin restaurant is the best in the Triangle. We met with Nawwaf today and now I’m impressed, not just with his great food, but with his professionalism, courtesy, and intelligence. He really has a handle on how the flow of guests and servers and rental agencies and food must work together for maximum efficiency – and fun.

My daugher’s getting married at Duke Gardens and they make new vendors jump through a lot of hoops to sign up, so we’re glad Nawwaf was willing to go through the process. Duke also has lists of approved rental people – there are no chairs or tables on site, we must rent them all – and Nawwaf is going to help us coordinate that.

We’re getting a very nice spread of Near Eastern food – pita and hummus and grape leaves and salads and lots of stuff including chicken and steak kebobs and felafel – and a range of soft drinks and teas etc. – with an appetizer course outside (to keep guests happy while pictures are being taken) and a buffet luncheon inside – for $28 per person. He will take care of hiring servers for us who will do set-up and break-down; we are going to provide the wine and beer but Nawwaf’s people will serve it. His people are going to cost $25/hour and it takes quite a few of them.

Anyway, I wanted to give this experience, so far, my heartiest recommendation. I first met Nawwaf when Mappamundi was playing at the wedding of a very picky bride. I told him at the time it was the best food I’d had at a wedding and asked, “Has the bride called you as often as she’s called me?” He smiled. He made her happy, so I’m sure he can make you happy too.

Jazmin now has two locations: 2430 Hillsborough Road in Raleigh, the food court in the Cary Towne Mall, and the one where we met him today, the newest, at 1624 Walnut Street in Cary, right at the highway exit. Go have a meal, you’ll like it!

Send your wedding vendor contract back late? Problems to resolve…

admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:07:08 +0000

Just a warning from personal experience – my daughter had selected the Mediterranean Deli in Chapel Hill as her wedding caterer. They had negotiated and all, and they sent her a contract, but she wasn’t completely satisfied because the contract was very vague, so she waited before sending it back to them, trying to decide how to feel more comfortable about it. (They had given her a “per person” price, but did not specify what items, exactly, would be provided at that price.)

By the time she sent it back, it turned out they had booked another wedding on her day (without telling her) so she is back to square one in the caterers’ department.

Don’t let it happen to you!

Video of Camp New Hope for weddings

admin — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:08:10 +0000

Sorry about the unprofessional videography. Do not hire me to shoot your wedding…

Video of Snipes Farm for weddings

admin — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:05:29 +0000

I made this for my daughter, but I may as well share it!