Torero's Mexican Restaurant in the Oak Creek Village Mall, Durham, NC

Rehearsal Dinner #1: Torero’s Mexican Restaurant, Durham, NC. Okay, this calls for a little explanation – since our wedding was on a Sunday, we wanted to have a little bit of informal evening fun with all our friends, family, and especially so we could spend more time with the out-of-towners. So the night before the wedding we had a “rehearsal dinner” to which ALL our guests were invited.

We decided to have it at an informal Mexican restaurant where we could have a buffet and where guests could come and go as they pleased. This turned out to work great. We didn’t have any complex planning in mind for the evening, but the restaurant’s owner, Ruben, was happy to work with us on whatever we came up with. (I don’t think he does a ton of work by email, the best thing to do is just to call the # on the website and set up a time to meet with him).

We blocked off one of his back rooms with “private function” signs and gave all our guests wristbands to keep track of how many showed up. Ruben gave us an extremely reasonable rate for food and drinks. Everyone ate and drank, the kids ran around, and everyone had a great time. If you’re local to the Durham area, you should know that the Durham Torero’s has just this year moved into a new facility and it’s really fun, clean, spacious, colorful and festive. Anyone planning an informal event should consider doing it at Torero’s!!!!

Click here for Torero’s catering menu and prices.
Reuben Garcia is the manager – call him at 919.641.3872

Welcome to The Farm at UNC-Chapel Hill

The Farm picnic shelter

This Chapel Hill farm might be a sweet and very inexpensive venue for an outdoor wedding – or a the clubhouse would work for a small informal indoor wedding.

The grounds at the UNC-Chapel Hill Farm

It might be even better for an after party or a rehearsal dinner. Tonight, the party had a pig-picking caterer.

Interior of the Farm clubhouse

There’s a clubhouse which fits 100 people and has a fireplace, a kitchen, bathrooms and a nice loft, and there are outdoor shelters. The grounds are nice and the location is quiet and rural. There is even a piano!

The Farm Clubhouse piano and loft

Outside at the Farm at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

You need to be connected with UNC-Chapel Hill (check the Farm website, above, for details) but the low cost is great for the budget conscious: $120 for two hours with each additional hour being $60 more. They’ll clean up for you for $50 more.

Patio outside the Farm clubhouse

Address: 1 Alice Ingram Circle, Chapel Hill, NC 27517-6084
Phone: (919) 962-3276

Carrboro Century Center facing Weaver Street Market

Panorama view of the Century Center ballroom, facing the stage

Town of Carrboro Century Hall in Century Center

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.)

I absolutely loved Snipes Farm. I can see that you’ve already been there but I’ll share my thoughts anyway.

Robert Snipes doesn’t have a great memory and seems a little flaky but he was incredibly kind and patient, which goes a long way with me. He answered all of my questions and has put a lot of effort into making his farm handicap accessible. Also very very important to me.

He called us about 20 minutes after we left and was very concerned that he had forgotten to show us the upstairs. I’ve called him twice since then with specific questions and he’s been patient and informative.

It’s 2000 dollars for the weekend and that includes Friday morning until 9pm, Saturday until 12am and Sunday until 12pm for cleanup. That price also includes 12 60″ tables and 100 chairs. He requires 50% down, which seems standard. I also thought the little bridal suite was really cozy.

Unfortunately many lovely spots are unsuitable for weddings, in my opinion, because they are so near highways or other noisy roads that the ceremony CAN’T BE HEARD.

Think about it: the officiant faces the assembled guests and officiants are usually pretty good at projecting their voices. But the bride and groom are facing away from their friends and family. Trust me, you will not be heard.

Also, at many weddings guests and family members are asked to do readings. Very few of them have had training in projecting their voices, and so these carefully-selected poems and passages from the bible are heard by nobody whatsoever if there’s traffic noise. This has wrecked several ceremonies I’ve played at.

For instance, Fearrington House is a very popular venue for outdoor weddings. They have many indoor areas for rent (at very high prices) for weddings, but they also offer outdoor ceremonies. If you choose to get married at Fearrington and want to hold your ceremony outdoors, be sure to go there and pick your spot based not only on SHADE available at your time of day (if you’re marrying during the hot months) but also on NOISE LEVEL. We played at an outdoor wedding there one late spring and the wedding planner and bride and groom were roaming around frantically just before the wedding trying to find a spot that wasn’t under direct sunlight – then, the spot they picked was so noisy they might as well have gotten married on the verge of the highway and saved their money!

A wedding florist I know wrote this to me: “Have you done one at the Greystone Inn in Durham? The traffic from the freeway drowns out everything from the wedding. If they don’t have microphones, no one can hear the vows.”

1. No cover in case of rain.
2. Everybody has to walk a long long way from the parking lot, down a narrow muddy unattractive path, to get to this spot. No alternative for people who have trouble walking.
3. Biggest problem: the site is near a big road and roaring traffic drowns out the softspoken young people.

So she’s throwing a party for a hundred people at the new Torero’s location on Chapel Hill Boulevard, in Oak Creek Village shopping center on 15-501 business, across from Toyota. This is a big building that’s been empty for a long time and they’ve painted it – it looks grand now – and it’s all beautifully painted with rich, lively colors inside. There’s a back room with seating for about 80 or 100 people.

Here’s their catering menu. Ruben, the owner, is going to cordon off the back for us and serve a buffet of various Mexican foods: rice and beans, enchiladas, tacos, burritos, chips and salsa, etc. with soft drinks, tea, sangria, and beer. The buffet (not including alcohol) will be around $11 per person, and considering that we don’t have to pay extra for the room, this seems like a spectacular deal. He’s a great local vendor, well worth supporting. I eat at Toreros often and it feels like home.

Chantel Smith, “event coordinator,” is offering a flat-rate $5,000 package which includes:

Events in a Box, NC.

Camp New Hope dining hall

The Dining Hall is a large open room with a central fireplace and a front wall of windows letting in natural light. The room is uniquely sectioned into three parts; partitions can be used to close off part of the room or left open to utilize the entire space. The tile flooring is newly re-finished! The building has central heat, air conditioning and bathroom facilities. The kitchen is closed for renovation, but a large refrigerator is accessible for rental use. The Dining Hall has a covered front porch that is the width of the building with rocking chairs and has picnic tables on its front lawn.

Fleming Lodge at New Hope Camp and Conference Center

This building is 1800 square feet and is one large, open space with central heat and air conditioning, two bathrooms, and a galley kitchen. Fleming Hall boasts hardwood floors, a large fireplace, large windows and a covered front porch and open back deck.

Oak Lodge at Camp New Hope

Oak Lodge has a large open room and full kitchen. Oak Lodge has meeting space for 50, bathrooms, wood stove, piano, heat and air conditioning. Oak Lodge also has a large private back deck overlooking woods.

Dogwood Center at Camp New Hope

Dogwood Center is a multi-use building that can be rented for day-use or overnight. The building is T-shaped with a meeting room in front, a kitchen at the end, and two bathrooms and bedrooms on either side. The building has heat and air conditioning, fireplace, piano, kitchen, and meeting room.

For information on other buildings and outdoor spaces at the center: New Hope Camp and Conference Center. The center is located on 86 between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough. For more pictures, see my previous post.

As I pointed out in the other post, the camp has its own tables and chairs, so that saves you a considerable expense and bother. I believe there is also a discount for church-related groups.