Just a little background about how we got started, and how it's going so far!

I never, in a million years, thought I would own a wedding venue. When we are younger, before we know anything about real life, we make so many goals for ourselves. We are "going to make a difference one day, and not work a desk job." In reality, we know that most of us don't really get that opportunity. Bills have to be paid, families have to be provided for...so we get jobs that do just that. Obviously, there is not a thing wrong with this - I worked in the corporate world starting when I was about 20 up until recently, and I'd tell you my age if I told you the number of years but you'll just have to trust me that it was a long time!
So, fast forward until May of 2022 - my sister and I wanted to throw a retirement/birthday party for our mom. My sister lives out of town, so I went to take a tour of The Burch. I immediately fell in love and thought it was the perfect venue for what we were planning. During my conversation with the previous owner, she mentioned wanting to sell it so that she and her husband could accomplish some business goals they had. I had so many thoughts and visions running through my head in that moment. I came home to Bryant, got out of my car, and had tears coming out of my eyes. He couldn't figure out why I would come home from a tour crying! I explained to him that the owner wanted to sell the venue and that I loved it, and he knew I always had a passion for events and hospitality. His words were "if this is something you want to do, then we will try. We will walk through the doors until God closes them." God never closed a door and we signed the papers in July. He kept answering our prayers, kept opening doors, and put us right where I feel like He wanted us. He keeps blessing our business, and I am thankful every day. Can I also add what an amazing husband I have? To support some crazy, off-the-wall dream that I just came home and threw at him - he was supportive from the very beginning. Now? HAHA, I'm sure he has days when he's asking himself what he's committed himself to!

For almost a year and a half now, I can't even begin to tell you how much I've learned. Not only about the wedding industry, but about myself, my marriage....people in general. When we first bought the venue, I had no idea what I was doing. The previous owner let me shadow, and she walked me through her processes, but honestly, this is more of a hands-on learning type of job. She told me "as soon as you do a few weddings yourself, you'll feel good and you will have learned so much already." She was NOT lying. After those first weddings, I couldn't believe how much I learned about weddings. The process, the progression, vendors, and even though it was early in the game, I was beginning to form my own opinions about what works well and what doesn't. I couldn't believe how much I knew already, and how at every single wedding, I am still learning something new.
I do have a "standard way" of doing things like "the way" I give tours, or what I ask potential clients on the phone, but I am constantly applying the lessons I've learned and thinking of ways to improve my processes.

I think the biggest "thing" I've learned is that one person is so different than the next. The way a person communicates, what's important to them, their family dynamic, what they worry about or don't worry about, their style, and their general respect for you and your property...it can range so drastically from couple to couple. The way I apply that lesson, even though it's not a specific lesson per say, is just to try to get "in-front" of as much as I can before wedding day. Unfortunately, this pertains mostly around rules at the property. I've learned that I must be very clear about what is expected and repeat those expectations several times - at the beginning of our journey together and right before wedding day as fresh reminders, and in-between. Of course, you can't expect things from people if they haven't been communicated, just like anything else in life! Something else I've learned is about vendors - not all are created equal. I have definitely met some that I'd like to see at my venue for every wedding, even though that isn't possible. Some vendors go above and beyond for their clients and how they treat the space, and some just don't. I have a recommended vendor list that I share to my new bookings, but offer it as a guide only. I wouldn't want to box anyone in on which vendors they can use - so many things are at play, but especially budget. I leave it to them, and they can use my list as a guide. Luckily, many of them use vendors from my list, which makes me happy. With some vendors, I can just breathe a little easier, you know?

So, my thoughts about this business venture at almost a year and a half into ownership...... I don't think I can summarize it into one sentence, but if I were to try, I'd say - This is the best and hardest job I've ever had, and I am truly blessed. There isn't a day that goes by that Bryant and I don't talk about the venue in some way. There are never any breaks - there is always something to remember, always a reminder to send out, always an update to the contract to make, always a project. It can be exhausting. Also, we have a lot of kids and this is primarily a weekend business. It's hard to balance family time and work, just like with any job, but being weekend focused makes it even harder. Luckily, Bryant works from home for his "regular" job, and my days are flexible so we get to spend a lot of time with the kids during the week, which we normally wouldn't have with other jobs. We don't have to spend time driving to and from work, we get to spend the afternoons and evenings with them since we get to pick them up right when school lets out. We are blessed in that way, and not many parents get that opportunity. I guess it's like if we were doctors or nurses .... we'd have to work on the weekends. No thanks to that though, I'd rather be running weddings! On the weekends, we involve them as much as we can, although not all of them are interested in working at the venue, and that's ok! When we both have to be gone to a wedding, grandparents get to have a special visit, or they get to hang out with neighbor kids, which they love! It all works out, and we cherish all the time we get with our babies. In the meantime, we get to show them what hard work is, and what all goes into running a business, which we think is important.

So....how are we surviving? Some days, I'm not really sure. October and May are really hard. We sometimes have 3 weddings a week in those months. But, we dig deep and figure out a way to get it done. I don't take the winter months for granted and use it to rest and to catch up on other things like updating documents, etc. The bottom line is, this is still a dream come true and I am so happy that we are still in business and bringing in new clients all the time. I was skeptical at first and honestly worried that we'd mess it up from the very beginning, but we are making it through and I hope to be able to pass along this business to our kids one day!
Thanks for reading! Until next time...
See our venue in action on social media:
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See our gallery here:
See some work done by the amazing Amanda Richardson Photography:
Did you know…when you choose a locally-owned wedding venue you are helping to develop and improve the local economy? Your locally-owned wedding venues are small business owners who create hundreds of jobs for the local wedding industry every year.
Here are some of my fellow locally-owned wedding venues:
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