I visited my hometown, Tallahassee, last year for the first time in many years. I was visiting for an old friend from high school’s baby shower. While I was there I took photos of another friend and her new baby...
May 24, 2018
Asheville’s Homewood is a beautiful place to have a wedding. Take a look!
“This is the Great Room. This is the main dining room. Homewood provides all the rentals including tables, chairs, china, silverware, glassware, cake table, buffet table, bar set up.. Its all included in the pricing, and we get it all set up ahead of time. So the clients get 8 total hours of time for their ceremony, reception, set up and break down time for their vendors. So its a pretty concise set up because all the stuff is pretty much in place when the vendors arrive.
You are seeing it with our Winter Decor in place. Normally its scaled back. We always include the accent pieces. A lot of elements that hold candle light. We offer a candlelight package that fills all the elements that hold candle light with candles. Candle light looks so pretty in here with all this wood and stone. Typically the set up is dance floor space in the center of the room. Table seating on either side. The clients get to choose their linen color. Music sets up behind the dance floor under the windows.
The outdoor ceremony site is a bit dormant for the winter right now (interview in December). The ceremonies are usually outside in the garden with a back up rain plan inside in front of the fireplace. In the warm weather months, this feels very garden-y with the canopies and the leaves. We also offer inside as the primary site mostly for winter weddings. The cake table is here. That table is on wheels, so they have the option of cutting it here or rolling it into the middle of the dance floor.
The fireplaces are all original as are the alibaster sconces, and the chandiliers, all the wood, the building was built in 1927. It was a home. This room was built as a piano room for the wife of the family, who was a concert pianist. For dinner seating the capacity is 110. For cocktails and h’orderves its 150. This is the foyer. The old piano we use as the gift table. If theres a card box or theirs photos, seating chart, favors, departure items, that all gets displayed here. And again 3 gas log fireplaces, one in the great room, one behind the gift table, and then theres another fireplace at the bar.
This is all original cherry wood, floor to ceiling, fireplace. we do a little bit of Cocktail seating in here, an h’orderves displace space. If people are doing a buffet for their dinner, we often set it up in here, so we can have a nice controlled flow. People have a choice of six caterers. We have a beverage company that does our bar services. We have an in-house coordinator who does the day of services. Those are the three required vendors. They choose everything else. We provide a lot of decor. Often times, they work with a florist to provide centerpieces, mantles, etc. The groom and the groomsmen usually congregate in the bar area before the wedding.
The Bridal Suite is next door. We offer mimosas for the girls and beer buckets for the guys. They’ll get dressed and have some bubbly. Theres a dressing space, hair and make up area, with a bathroom.
There’s great areas all around the building for photos. Its a very photogenic, unique building. Its nice because its located a mile from downtown. Theres plenty of hotels close by. If they want to bop downtown afterwards, its a $5 uber ride.
We do about a hundred weddings a year. In October we’re often doing 4-5 in a week and in February just a few the whole month, so it averages about 2 per weekend. We offer a ceremony or an elopement in the morning. We only offer one reception a day. But in October we’ll often have Thursday, Friday, double Saturday, Sunday, Monday. October is insanity here. People really flock here. We get a lot of destination weddings. A lot from Raleigh Triad area, Charlotte brides, a lot of people from Florida and DC. People are looking for something unique that folks will travel to. Its a good kind of central area. The national average for destination weddings is about 65%. But people come to Asheville. People can usually expect 75/80% of their guests to come because people just make a vacation of it.”
This is part of a blog series on Asheville Wedding Venues. Please check out the other venues I’ve featured:
Highland Brewery
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