Weddings in North Carolina

An economical wedding venue – the Durham Arts Council

admin — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:55:18 +0000

I used to do concerts in this space. The Durham Arts Council doesn’t present local music any more, but it does host weddings.

One of the rooms available for wedding receptions in the Durham Arts Council

It’s a relatively inexpensive venue: from $410 to $684 for four hours, additional time pro-rated, but they do throw in two prep hours ahead of time and one hour of break-down time for free.

On their website you’ll find a detailed breakdown of the prices for various rooms.

wedding ceremony on the stairs in the Durham Arts Council pavilion

The chairs are free, there are tables available to rent. You bring your own caterer. If you want hard liquor, you’ll have to pay $30 per hour for a deputy (one deputy for every 100 guests).

They claim parking is not a problem although they are in downtown Durham – on the weekends, the South Bank parking lot is available. There is a large parking garage adjacent with a reasonable hourly rate.

Durham Arts Council, exterior showing pavilioni

A wedding reception at the Durham Arts Council

Wedding Venue: King’s Daughters Inn, Durham NC (pictures)

admin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:20:46 +0000

King's Daughter's Inn, welcome sign

I recently attended a luncheon at The King’s Daughters Inn, a newly renovated facility adjacent to Duke University’s East Campus and Trinity Park. The Inn can sleep 46 and accommodate events of up to 70 people – maybe 100 for cocktails. You can book the whole inn if you like.

Kings Daughters Inn, side view from Gloria Street

There’s parking on the Gloria Street side (pictured) and in front on North Buchanan.

Front exterior of Kings Daughters Inn, Durham NC

Michelle Alarcon is the event coordinator. Phone: 919.354.7000 x203 Email: events@thekingsdaughtersinn.com

Kings Daughters Inn Lobby

King's Daughters Inn, parlor

The parlor is one location used for wedding parties, rehearsals, and small ceremonies.

Sunroom at the Kings Daughters Inn

This sunroom is next to the parlor and the guests can spill from one to the other and through the hallway (next picture).

Hallway next to sunroom and parlor, King's Daughters Inn

Rooms are $160-230.

King's Daughters Inn, dining room

We had our lunch in this room, the Brodie Duke Hall, which rents for $500 in the evening and $300 in the daytime. (I came back later to take these pictures and the room was set up for a business meeting.)

Kings daughters inn dining room

This dining room also rents for $500 in the evening and $300 in the daytime, as does the parlor/sun porch combination.

You can rent the spaces individually or reserve the entire Inn, which includes 17 suites, free tables, chairs, etc.

There is a commercial kitchen available – you bring your own caterer.

The King’s Daughters Inn 204 N Buchanan Blvd Durham, North Carolina

Recommended: Jazmin Mediterranean Restaurant for catering in the Triangle, NC

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:32:11 +0000

Jazmin Mediterranean Bistro serves greek food and Lebanese food

Another of my daughter’s reviews, Nawwaf Said of Jazmin mediterranean bistro (Greek and Lebanese food) catered her reception. I actually suggested Nawwaf because I’m a wedding musician who has played at a lot of weddings, and I thought his food was the most delicious I’d had at a wedding!

Catering: Jasmin Mediterranean Deli. Jasmin was fantastic. Let’s face it, as much as our family loves us and just wants to see us happy, they are also spending a lot of time thinking about what they are going to have to eat.

The owner of Jasmin, Nawwaf Said, handled our wedding catering perfectly. His prices were extremely reasonable and he gave clear and comprehensive pricing breakdowns for everything he was providing for us.

Although it’s clear he doesn’t have a lot of time to hang around waiting for business on the internet (he’s busy!) he answered all of our emails. He was flexible (we worked together on writing up a contract), accommodating, and responsive.

The food (the most important thing!) was incredibly delicious – the Mediterranean buffet Nawwaf put together was perfect for a hot afternoon. My husband and I didn’t get the chance to eat much during the wedding, so he wrapped us up several beautiful silver platters full of delicious food – grilled meat, hummus, baba ghanoush, tabouleh, etc – my husband and I spent the entire evening after our wedding stuffing our faces and groaning with happiness.

Ask Nawwaf to get his wife to make the dolma (stuffed grape leaves) for your wedding! They are to die for! I think he is trying to expand his catering business, so please, consider Jasmin for your wedding or any other special event

http://www.themediterraneanbistro.com/

Phone number: call (919) 469-1112 to talk to the catering manager.

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

Recommendations: Toreros Mexican Restaurant for wedding parties

admin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:20:27 +0000

Here’s the third of my daughter’s recommended vendors; Saturday night before the Sunday afternoon wedding, she threw a party for everybody – in the back room of Torero’s Restaurant in Oak Creek Village. See below for contact information and a link to the catering menu (we had the event catered right at the restaurant, so there was no location fee!!)

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

Recommended: Sweet Memories wedding cake bakers

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:06:32 +0000

Second of the reviews submitted by my daughter, who got married in June 2010 and was very pleased with her vendors…

Sweet Memories Wedding Cake

Cake: Sweet Memories Bakery, Apex, NC. The cake was extremely tasty and Sweet Memories did a good job of working with the flowers that we brought them to decorate it.

(We had two bakers go out of business on us before, and we probably tasted 10 bakers in the Triangle area, so we were extremely happy that things worked out with Sweet Memories).

Many people mentioned to us that the taste of the wedding cake seems to be last priority at many weddings these days, but that the cake from Sweet Memories was as delicious as it was beautiful! They use real butter in their buttercream, not shortening (yuck) like a lot of bakers do around here. All real, fresh, ingredients and the cake was genuinely moist and not dry. We had a different flavor for each layer and they were all wonderful.

Recommendations: Catherine Katz, NC wedding coordinator

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:26:15 +0000

First of my daughter Hannah’s reviews of the wedding vendors she chose for her NC wedding…

Catherine Katz, wedding coordinator

Day-of Coordinator: Catherine Katz, Cherished Celebrations. I cannot say enough great things about Catherine Katz. She calls her job “Day Of” coordinating but she actually worked on our wedding for weeks – and when it actually happened, she remembered every tiny detail and took care of EVERYTHING.

She helped us figure out who needed to get paid when. She carried wedding props around (including fragile props and food items that could easily have melted in the 95 degree heat). She moved wedding guests to and fro. She produced a cake knife when we hadn’t even remembered we needed one. She put bride and groom in the right places at the right times.

She quickly won over my mother (this blog’s hostess), who was initially quite suspicious about whether a DOC was worth the money.

Most importantly, Catherine gave us the ability to actually ENJOY our own wedding – she managed everything perfectly. She was friendly and relaxed, which helped us enormously – when you and your family are all in heightened states of emotion, you need someone to keep cool. And most importantly, she gave us peace of mind so that we could just relax, FORGET about the logistics and have a good time!

High-end spot for elegant wedding or rehearsal dinner: Washington Duke Inn

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 03:22:04 +0000

Sign welcoming us to Washingon Duke Inn in Durham NC

My daughter got married in June and I’ll be posting her reviews of the vendors she used. But first, I thought I’d pass along some pictures and booking information and prices for the Washington Duke Inn. Hannah (my daughter) booked a block of rooms here for out of town guests, and they were very happy.

Recently, I attended a luncheon at this hotel and took my camera. I also got some pricing information for you!

This is what you see when you drive up. The approach is a long driveway off the pretty treelined road from Duke University.

Driving up to the Washington Duke Inn

The hotel facade is not very pretty, but who cares, you won’t be outside for long.

Exterior of Durham's Washington Duke Inn

A bellman stands at the door at reception; he can help you.

Bellman greets us at drive-up area of Washington Duke Inn

Below, some interior shots. There are many small and large rooms for lunches, dinners, and wedding ceremonies.

A conference room at the Washington Duke Inn in Durham NC

On our way to a banquet room at the Washington Duke Inn

Below, the luncheon I attended. The food was delicious! Beth Pendergrass is the Catering Sales Manager at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club – she is nice, smart, ingenious, and helpful.

Prices seem to run around $100-$162 per person as a package (see detailed information below). Very large groups can be accommodated. $1,500-$25,000 is the “a la carte” price of reserving various rooms. An outdoor ceremony itself is $2,000. For more information contactl Ms. Pendergrass; she has a very detailed and helpful booklet available for prospective brides and their families.

A banquet room at the Washington Duke Inn

Address: 3001 Cameron Boulevard, Durham, North Carolina 27705
Phone: (919) 313-2185

Economical Chapel Hill venue for weddings: UNC’s “The Farm”

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 02:44:59 +0000

Welcome to The Farm at UNC-Chapel Hill

I played fiddle at a family reunion this evening at The Farm near UNC campus (on Google maps it’s “UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor: Family-Staff Recreation Association the Farm.”

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

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.)