Asheville fall wedding

Eileen and Stephan chose a glorious fall day to enjoy such an important event in their lives. In keeping with The Farm theme their gifts to their supporters were lucky horseshoes ( new ones I might add!) tucked smartly in voile bags with a sweet thank you to each of their guests.

I loved the boxes of edible plants as the guests walked down the aisle to their seats at the gazebo for the ceremony. A wonderful day was enjoyed by all.

Moving the haywagon into place

We just moved our haywagon into place for a party tomorrow night!!! I can hardly wait to show you how cute it is going to be with lights in the mountain laurel on the wagon and vintage table cloths all around to showcase each delicious dish. Even the drink station at the end will be sweet!!! See you on Friday.

Eclectic dishes make their debut at The Farm

Saturday dawned a fabulous day for a wedding! Stacey and Adam couldn't have asked for a better day! So much preparation had been done ahead that it didn't take much time to pull everything together . Stacey's Mom made adorable tablecloths with vintage materials trimmed in burlap, a clothes line on the porch sported table place cards sown together with a pocket for a seed packet and another clothes line over the fireplace had adorable pictures of a younger version of the happy couple!

With a sprig of dogwood in the center of the table to set off The Farms new eclectic dishes all things were beautiful! Making their wedding so personal gave their guests a taste of who the two of them are and made their wedding stand out for years to come.

Eclectic Dishes available at The Farm

Have you been wishing for something to set your wedding apart from all the others you have been to recently? Not that you want people to forget your friends wedding but just to have them talk about yours for a few years......Well here it is......We are reported to be the only venue with eclectic dishware available. One bride told me that she had been looking all over for a place that had eclectic dishware and could only find a place in England !!!! She was over- the- moon excited to find that we have a great set . SO, Look NO further....The Farm has them and the patterns and numbers are changing weekly !!! I am posting just a few of the paterns we currently have...with more to follow. The adorable part is that we not only have the dishes, but we have gravy boats, sugar bowls,platters and casserole dishes to add to your table centerpieces or to use in food service and other innovative ways. I'm so excited about this I can hardly wait to show them off !!!!

Is the thought of your First dance for your wedding scary?

So, are you scared that your first dance will fall flat and you will just stand there and sway back and forth? While that is sweet to say the least, Whow your guests with a really fabulous choreographed dance that they will leave talking about for a very long time. I read this email and said to myself...my brides need to have this information available. I am still talking about a couple who did the most amazing choreographed dance that left us all stunned and 2 years later still talking about how fabulous it was.

I Do Dances choreographs personalized First Dances, Father-Daughter dances, and Mother-Son dances for weddings. You choose a song you love, connect with, would have fun dancing to and Kathleen Hahn and her dance partner create a dance that fits your personalities and the style and feeling you're looking for. Don't know how to dance? Kathleen thinks you do, "it's just a matter of digging out, uncovering, dusting off the hidden dancer inside!"

Your wedding day . . . such a big day . . . one of the most important days of your life, the biggest party you will ever throw, probably the only occasion when you can get that many of your friends and family in one room. You've meticulously planned every aspect of your wedding except that one moment for 3 to 4 minutes when everyone is silent and staring at you! This could sound scary if you're not prepared or have a dance you're excited about! It's really the perfect opportunity to do something that's unique and personal that your guests will love!

How I Do Dances works:
Unlike other dance studios I Do Dances is very accessible to couples who don't live in town as well as local couples. Kathleen meets with you to get to know you and what you're looking for, she choreographs a dance to your song with your specifications, you meet again with her dance partner for a two hour lesson to learn your dance, you are sent home with an instructional DVD of your dance that makes practicing on your own and keeping the dance fresh in your memory super easy, you meet once more right before the wedding to sharpen things up and Ta Da! the crowd goes wild! Personalized dances for everyone! Customized packages are also available to locals who are interested in more private instruction.

Check out Kathleen's website idodances.com and see videos of the dances she's made and more fun info on dance, dance and more dance. Remember, 3 months before your wedding is a great time to start preparing. Let's dance!

--
Kathleen Hahn
idodances.com
828-275-8628

There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them. ~Vicki Baum

Dance Class at The Farm

Dance Classes start on February 7, 2011 at The Farm!!!!

Here is the release by Joe and Patsy Gibson who have taught several dance classes here at The Farm. We would love to have you come join Myron and I ( who has several left feet I might add) learn East Coast Swing for your wedding dance !!! How fun would that be to whow everyone with an amazingly fun first dance !!!!! We will keep you posted on other fun things going on here this year. We will look forward to dancing with you and your honey on Monday the 7th of Feb. Here are the particulars:

Game wedding theme is a BIG hit

Weddings by Tara posted a beautiful piece about a "really truely" FUN wedding on Style Me Pretty. The Farm was the perfect setting for such a great day. No stuffy sit around the table to chit-chat...Even the table centerpieces were games!!!! Under the tent you could see guests playing the outside games of cornhole, boccie, and many other great games. While Under the stars a fast paced game of horseshoes was in full swing. Check it out here!!!

The Farm at The Asheville, Wedding Festival

COME VISIT US AT THE ASHEVILLE, WEDDING FESTIVAL !!! Saturday, Jan 15, 2011 from 10am - 3 pm. Stop by to chat or just to say "Hi There".... We will be happy to see you again and if it is your first time we will be pleased to meet you. If you would like to come to The Farm for a visit after you are done with the Festival we will be happy to arrange a tour for you. We hope your plans are all coming together as planned and look forward to a great show.

The Farm was under quite a bit of snow during Christmas and those of you who braved it...Thanks so much. It will definitely look different in the spring, summer or fall when you have your wedding here!!! We had a really good crop of icicles as you can see!!!

Rock in action

Rock is our 10 yr old Belgian . Here he is today in the pasture along with his pasture buddy, Lightening. Since he is such a big guy (19 hands 2 inches ) and the largest horse in Western North Carolina according to our Vet. I decided he deserves his very own blog. He arrived at The Farm after Myron saw him at a sale in Abingdon, VA and since he had the name of Myron's first horse Rocky who lived to be 41 yrs old ( Myron owned him for 40 0f those years), Rock had to come home with him. Rock was used to working very hard as a logging horse in Ohio and come to The Farm Haven for horses since they only have to look great for weddings, be photogenic and love people and wedding bouquets!!!! He has eaten his fair share of flowers, kissed numerous brides and babies ...so you might say he is also a politician of sorts. Right now he is posing for pictures with a bride and groom and at some point we will post those pictures on our website. 2 months ago, Zaire used him in a photo shoot for Sophia magazine based in Asheville. He was wonderful and appeared in almost every photo used in the magazine article. You will just have to come see him for yourself to appreciate how very large he is in person.

Fall at The Farm

I can't imagine anything more peaceful than sitting on the porch at The Farm, it's fall and I am amazed by the vibrant color backdrop of the mountains, with Rock in a full gallop across the pasture right in front of me!!! Beauty, power and wonderment are staring me in the face. This is truely the most colorful view of the season. I wish all our friends could come visit us in October to feel the crisp air, red,gold, yellow and touches of left over green blasting out from the trees and mountains to grab our attention. A carpet of leaves on the ground to hike across and feel like your treading on gold, views that don't stop, unhindered by the summer leaves .....This is fall in the North Carolina mountains....not to be missed even once.

Great idea - Truce Bell

I just had the best idea given to me by one of our 2011 Brides, Laura Faulconer. She told me about the Irish & Celtic wedding Tradition of the Marriage Bell or Make up Bell !! I thought I would pass it on to you. A Celtic Tradition has it that every couple should receive ' a make-up' bell as a wedding gift. The bell is placed in the newlywed's home. The rules are, that when a disagreement takes place, one of the couple rings the bell, this calls for a truce and make up. Its over, don't bring it up again , so ends the discord and a truce is delcared without an admission of fault. It is to conjure up memories of the wedding day and make both remember and get the gleam in their eyes again !!! For you guys, This doesn't mean either one is wrong, just willing to be man enough to make up!!!!

This custom can be traced to peasant traditions west of Ireland and may be attributed to St. Patrick's Bell of Will. It was made of iron, but a make up bell could be glass, crystal, wood, iron, or silver.

Ringing of the Truce Bell can be done as part of the ceremony starting with the blessing of the bell then presented to the bride and groom by the officiant. The couple is then asked to give each of their respective bells a ring after saying their vows. Giving the third bell a hardy ring, while thinking lovely thoughts of each other and most importantly of their new life together. The bell is kept as a reminder of their wedding day reminding them of their wedding vows and conjuring up memories of that special day.

Fire at Claxton Farm moves wedding to The Farm

We were so sad to hear the news last week that our friends at Claxton Farm had lost their event facility due to a devastating fire. We have had such fun working with them over the years and couldn't believe our ears when the news was announced. Asheville is blessed to have many wonderful venues but more than that, each venue owner has a beautiful heart with a willingness to help others when the chips are down for another owner.

This last Saturday we helped M7 at Claxton Farm provide their final bride of the season with the beautiful wedding she had hoped for, here on The Farm. The bride was a dream !!! she was calm and unflustered and went about doing what she needed to do to make her wedding come off as if she had planned it this way all along. It takes some doing to change your venue, for one thing you need to provide not only new directions for all your guests but for your vendors as well. Everyone worked as a team and in their words here is what they had to say:

"The wedding on Saturday was absolutely perfect. The ceremony site was gorgeous as Ashley walked down the aisle - the sun just peaking through the leaves-very magical. The clients were amazed at how smoothly the day ran . Their guests said over and over that no one would ever know that any plan had changed! You have such a wonderful team and I know you're proud of each other!
I cannot thank each of you enough for working with us so quickly and efficiently to make the event happen as planned - we simply could not have kept the client as satisfied without your kindness and hard work!!" Maria Atkins M7 Event Solutions and Catering.

It takes a team to make things work . WE ALL did what we do best .... making sure our brides are happy ...and if the shoe had been on the other foot I know for sure that M7 at Claxton Farm would have done the same for us here at The Farm in Candler. Thank you to everyone who played a part in this adventure and for working so hard to make it happen.

Bride's Book Award given to The Farm

The Farm was awarded the Reader's choice Award for 2009!!! This award is a credential given once a year and we are proud to accept it. We are service orientated and strive to make our brides special day just that, a seamless, stressfree day so they can enjoy their family and friends without worrying about forgotten rings, garters, cakecutting utensils, the bride and groom's tablecloth that was damaged by a guest spilling wine all over it.....yes all that in one wedding and our staff was there to handle it all without the bride and groom having a inkling ( except for the grooms ring. The bride used our staffmembers ring !!) Now that is SERVICE!!!! That is only one day here at The Farm but we have variations on the theme all year long.

The Farm's Moose is Loose

After 5 years of gracing the fireplace of The Farm, Bullwinkle is gone. Some of us miss him, others are glad he isn't showing up in their pictures. We have listened to our brides and some grooms for that matter and have made the change in an effort to have a more photo friendly venue. We are also making an effort to upscale our look inside by thinning out the antiques around the room so they don't take over the pictures. Bullwinkle will have a new home in Virginia at our Eagle Crest Lodge and home in Abingdon.

Asheville Cabins at The Farm

Three months ago we started building our cabins....they get their last inspection next week... so we should be ready to rent by July 10. We have 2 fireplaces one inside and one outside ( both are wood burning), a morning kitchen, and jacuzzi tub. check out our blog for more pictures at ashevillecabins-bev.blogspot.com

Spring AT The Farm '09

We have been blessed with lush lawns and budding blossoms this spring !!!

Addressing invitations

Addressing invitations is not one of those short quickly done jobs when you are preparing for a wedding. Not only do you have the outside envelope to address, but you also have an inner envelope to consider. Handwritten addresses are a must, printed labels are not appropriate. Depending on the formality of your wedding and your handwriting skills you may choose to have a professional calligrapher or it is becoming acceptable to address directly on your envelopes by computer in calligraphy style .

Here is the fast track invitation etiquette:
l. Don't wait until the last minute to get started on your list of addresses. It can take time to compile addresses, spellings and titles; to say nothing of getting your families lists!!!

2. The professional title is written out as in "Doctor" not "Dr". If the husband is a doctor your invitation will read "Doctor and Mrs John Jones", if the wife is a doctor but her husband is not the invitation will read "Doctor Heather Lloyd and Mr. Jeremy Lloyd" . If both are doctors you would write " The Doctors Gottfried". If they have different professional titles the wife should be listed first. If the wife of a couple has kept her maiden name her name should appear first and be joined with her husband's using "and".

3. All words in an address on the envelope should be spelled out. House numbers smaller than twenty should be spelled out. Two exceptions to the formal writing out of titles are ... "Mr., Mrs., or Miss." and... because the Post Office prefers the use of two-letter state abbreviations and no comma between the city and state, it is fine to use that form of abbreviation if you wish.

4. The return address should be on the back flap of the envelope and should have all words spelled out.

5.The whole idea of the outer and inner envelope is to make sure that if the outer envelope gets torn the invitation will still be pristine inside the inner envelope. Having said that, it is not necessary to have an inner envelope.

6. Use of the inner envelope beyond the preservation of the invitation is to write the names of intimate relatives and lifelong friends in informal and familial terms such as "Grandmother" or "Auntie Violet and Uncle Elmer." Over thirteen years of age children should receive separate invitations. young sisters and brothers may be sent a joint invitation addressed to "The Misses Jones" or "The Messrs. Jones" on the outer envelope , with" Johnny, Joey and Jimmy" written on the inner envelope. If the children are not on the outer nor on the ( if used) inner envelope they are not invited....If they are invited their names should appear on one or the other envelopes. A quick rule of thumb...when writing on the inner envelope dispense with the first name and write"Doctor Jordan" or for a lawyer"Ms. Mann " instead of the formal "Ms. Joan Mann, Esquire", one more "The Honorable Sam Lantz"on the outer envelope would be "Judge Lantz" on the inner envelope.

No matter what, get organized a month before the send- out date . The invitations should be sent out at least six to eight weeks before the wedding in order to get your guests response 2 - 3 weeks before the wedding. Your event space, ceremony space and caterer will love you for being organized and giving them time to prepare for your fabulous day.
I referenced:
EmilyPost's Wedding Etiquette
Lesley Porcelli, Addressing and Mailing Invitations

wedding cake cutting

I promised I would write an article on how to cut a wedding cake. It really is quite an art but one you can have one of your friends read up on so they can do it for your wedding. It really is fun and in some instances cheaper to have a friend do this for you than to pay someone on the catering staff to do it.

When to cut the cake:
at a sitdown dinner ---cutting is done before dessert is served.
at a luncheon, tea or cocktail --- close to the end of the reception

It is a good idea to notify the caterer and photographer in advance as to the approximate time you plan to cut your cake so they will be ready to do their jobs ie. removing the cake after the official cutting by the Bride and Groom if the cake is to be served from the kitchen and for pictures by the photographer.

cutting the cake :
The Bride puts her hand on the cake knife handle first, the groom puts his hand over top of hers. It is easiest if they cut the bottom layer making two cuts and removing a small slice and moving it to a small plate with two forks.

First bites:
The Groom feeds the bride first and she feeds him second. The tradition is to symbolize their commitment to share with and support each other , and it is NOT appropriate to smash cake in each others faces.

Slices for parents:
It is a nice gesture if the bride and groom cut cake slices for their parents. The bride serving his parents and the groom serving hers. After which the cake may be whisked away to be cut and served to the guests or the official cutter may start serving guests.

Top Layer:
If you want to save the top layer of the cake let the server know so it will be removed and not served to guests.

Cake cutting 101 :

About 2 inches in from the outside, cut all the way around the bottom layer ( the cut runs parallel to the outside of the layer, circle like) Individual slices are cut from this section, and each is lifted onto a cake plate to be served. Sometimes if the bottom layer is very wide you will do this process two times around so the bottom layer is the same size as the second layer. Before moving up to the second layer you may need to remove the cake topper for the bride and groom to save for a latter time. Move to the second layer and continue by again cutting two inches in ( parallel to the outside of this layer ) cutting the individual slices as before until that layer has all been served and cardboard/plastic removed . Move to the next layer down ( which is the center of the bottom layer that you started with) and continue as above until all the cake has been served. Just a note on hygiene, it is a good idea for the cutters to use plastic gloves as sometimes it is necessary to touch the cake slices as they are being moved to the plate. Another good idea is to have a wet, clean towel to periodically clean the cake knife to assure smooth cake pieces .

Of course you have other options to this whole cake cutting process:
You can display a frosted cardboard or foam-core "faux" cake and have sheet cake served from the kitchen ( a much cheaper option ), choose cupcakes, ice cream, dessert table including a spread of pastries, cookies, fruits, cheeses, mini desserts, family ethnic specialty or your favorite dessert.

Drink Amounts and how much to Buy

So many times people ask me about how much punch or alcohol they need to buy for a wedding or party here at The Farm. Here is a good rule of thumb:

Punch
24 people per gallon of punch
Champagne
1 case ( 12 fifths) serves 50 people ( 82 drinks). A champagne fountain will operate with as little as 3 bottles of champagne and as much as 5 gallons.
Coffee
2 to 3 per person for a 3 hour party
Cocktail napkins
2 to 3 per person for a 3 hour party

If you are entertaining 20 guests ....
for pre-dinner cocktails:
40 - 60 drinks, about (four fifths required)
for a party:
60 - 80 drinks, about(seven fifths required)

If you are entertaining 25 guests....
for pre-dinner cocktails:
50 - 70 drinks, aboutfive fifths required)
for a party:
75 - 100 drinks, about ( seven fifths required)

If you are entertaining 40 guests.....
for pre-dinner cocktails:
80 to 120 drinks, about (eight fifths required)
for a party:
120 - 150 drinks, about (ten fifths required)

*** best to use quarts for fifths!!!!

Jenna and Adam

A wedding photographer,Dan Watson, sent us these beautiful pictures that he took for Jenna and Adam's wedding at The Farm in June of 2008. You can find more about his work at www.watson-studios.com .