1101 Carver Road | Prospect Hill NC 27314 | 336.260.0629 | carverlakevenue@gmail.com
We have had another great year at Carver Lake Venue!
We wanted to say thank you to all the couples, families,
vendors, and guests that spent time with us over the last year.
We hope you had as much fun as we did!
We are thrilled to learn that we were awarded the
Wedding Wire 2019 Couples Choice Award for the second year in a row!
We are humbled and grateful to everyone who was a part of making this happen!
What a great way to start off our 2019, we cant wait to see what this year brings for
our family and venue!
As 2017 came to a close, we were reflecting on our first year open
with amazement! We had weddings, baby showers, cookies with santa,
new grandbabies, and lots of love surrounding Carver Lake Venue this past year!
We wanted to say thank you to all the couples, families,
vendors, and guests that spent time with us over the last year.
We hope you had as much fun as we did!
On top of this, we were thrilled to learn that we were awarded the
Wedding Wire 2018 Couples Choice Award! We are humbled and grateful
to everyone who was a part of making this happen! What a great way to
start off our 2018, we cant wait to see what this year brings for
our family and venue!
We are finally open! It has been way too long since we last
posted but we have been busy getting the barn ready for the
first weddings of the season. We are proud to say that our
first wedding went great! The bride and groom looked
beautiful and we were so pleased to see them use our venue
to make a lifetime memory (See pictures from the event on
our photos page).
We have many more weddings coming up and we hope to post
more often with different pictures of each wedding so you
can get more ideas of decorations and set up.
As I stated before we have been really busy not only
getting the barn ready for upcoming weddings, but we also
have been planning a grand opening for the public! We
wanted to have a day where our friends, family, local
community and future brides could see the venue for
themselves. We thought a grand opening would be the best
way to do this. We are still working out specific details
but we have made an event on our Facebook page,
here.
We have already booked multiple vendors, including wedding
coordinators, rentals, catering, DJ, and photographers to
come out. Our hope was to give brides the ease of visiting
with multiple vendors at the same time. Of course these
vendors are recommended by Carver Lake Venue and some have
already worked at the barn for previous weddings, but they
are not the only vendors that can be used. We do recommend
using vendors that have used our venue before because they
have experience with our venue as well as what we have to
offer and how their equipment works with ours.
Our family is so happy and relieved to finally be able to
enjoy the venue and we hope you will too. We are not only
used for weddings but also for birthday parties, family
reunions or corporate events. We are continuing to learn
and grow as every event happens, and we will be updating
changes both here and on our Facebook pages. We look
forward to sharing these new experiences with you and
can't wait to see you at the grand opening on June 3rd!
Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
This weekend we are keeping all of our fallen soldiers and
their families in our hearts and prayers. It is not always
about the BBQ cook outs and pool parties, but really about
those who have given their lives for this country and our
freedom. That being said, Saturday was a beautiful day here.
The sun was shining and we really started to dry up from
last weeks wash out. However, yesterday was a different story.
Looks like tropical storm Bonnie made an appearance and
doesn't seem to be going anywhere for the next few days...
but the rain isn't a complete bummer for us just yet.
It has really helped our grass and other landscaping to grow.
Since we don't have too many physical updates to talk
about, we thought it would be nice to go over some general
questions that a lot of brides have asked us. I think it
is helpful to hear from past experiences and to hear other
peoples questions that maybe you haven't thought of.
So here we go:
1. When do I send out save the dates?
This really depends on your target invites.
If you have many people coming from out of town then
the sooner the better. However, you don't want to
get too far in advance. A good rule of thumb is to
keep it in the same calendar year if possible.
That way your family/friends can put it on their
calendar they already have running. For example, if
you plan to get married in September or October then
waiting until January or February of that same year
is plenty of time for people to make travel plans.
That being said, if you want to get married in
January or February then there is no way around this
rule. Sending your save the dates out towards the
end of the previous Summer should suffice.
2. When do I send out invitations?
This is also variable. The major factor here is
catering. Your caterer will give you a date that they
need a final head count to prepare food. I would give
yourself at least a week or two before that final head
count date as your RSVP date. Everyone has those family m
embers who RSVP late. The general consensus seems to
be that family/friends should receive your invitation
about 3-4 weeks prior to the RSVP date. For example,
if you are getting married 10/18 and your caterer needs
a final head count by 10/10 then you should request
your family/friends to RSVP by 10/1. The goal would be
for your invites to be delivered around 9/1, so having
your invitations ready to be sent out by 8/25 would be
ideal.
3. What should I look for in a venue?
There are so many different things to look for in a venue.
Some of the most important things to keep in mind is
that it is your day. If you and your fiancé love the venue
then you love the venue. It is all up to you. However,
there are some more physical things to keep in mind.
The number one thing to keep in mind is number of guests.
If you have an idea of about 200 guests then you need
a venue that can hold that amount. Many venues will not
allow you to go over their count because of safety
issues. Along with the idea of guests, you need to keep
in mind who you are inviting. For example, if you have
family members who need handicap accessible amenities
then that is something to keep in mind not only for
bathrooms but for parking as well as accessibility to
all the aspects on venues. Many venues have reception
halls on different floors from their ceremony areas.
Another detail to keep in mind is a rain plan. It is
very easy to find a beautiful tree to get married under,
however if the weather does not cooperate you need to know
if tents are allowed, will a tent fit, etc. There are
also many ways to investigate the reliability of the venue.
You can ask for reviews of the venue from other brides
if there are none posted. Make sure to fully review your
contract, every detail. Many places may require a ABC
license for alcohol, or an event coordinator, etc. Know
what you are committing to before signing that contract.
These are just some of the questions we have come across
lately with our brides. It can be a very overwhelming experience
to plan a wedding. There are so many details to plan that
it can easily turn into a stressful situation instead of
an experience that you should be able to cherish. Along with
our suggestions above, we have also pinned some good articles
on wedding planning
on our pinterest board
here.
Hopefully the next time you hear from us, we will be
showing you poles in the ground and some what of a
shell of a barn :)
Welcome to Carver Lake Venue. We are a family run business and hope that you
are here to learn more about us and use our venue for your wedding day dreams!
Right now, this blog will be used to keep you updated on the progress of our
construction. We are so excited to share the progress we make over the next few
months with you! Our goal is to be up and running by this Fall!!! It seems like
so far away, but it is really only a few short months.
A little history... Carver Lake Venue is placed on a 30 acre property,
privately owned by the Carver family. The land has been in the family since 1932.
The venue is owned by Patty and Tommy Carver, and their two sons are helping with
construction and maintenance of the property and barn. Most of the family lives on
the Carver family land so we are a close knit group and are close enough to work
on the venue pretty much every day.
The barn will be facing a 7 acre lake that is completely secluded from the road or
any houses. We feel as though the barn is a perfect place if you want a quiet,
secluded, rustic wedding, and not to mention affordable :)
Enough about history... and on to the present!! Up until last week or so, we have
really been focused on idea planning and clearing the land.
The entire family, especially Patty and Tommy, have put a lot of heart and soul
into this venue. They want to make sure the barn is a good representation of our
family as well as a beautiful place for couples to make new memories.
That being said, it is finally time for construction to start! The pictures below
are of Tommy, his son Jonathon and grandson James completing the first steps of
construction. They were working on pinning the corners to start the footing for
the barn. It may seem like a small step, but it is a huge step in our minds as it
is the true beginning of a whirl wind of construction to come. Not only do we
take value in the fact that this barn will be on our family land and entirely
built by family members, but we are proud to say that the lumber for the barn
was cut by Tommy himself. It is a memory we plan to keep for many years and
pass down to further generations. We have already and will continue to put a
lot of blood, sweat, and probably tears into this barn. We are so excited to share
this experience with you and will continue to share our progress,
both good and bad.
