From classy to casual, your wedding’s menu needs to be something you and all your guests enjoy! Here’s some of our favorite dinner ideas along with some fun snack bar ideas for cocktail hour.
Dinner Ideas
Our first bit of advice is to choose a meal that the bride and groom love, it is their celebration after all! Buffets are a fantastic way to get all of your guests fed quickly and can be more exciting than you make think at first. A meat like Prime rib has the option of so many sides, like mashed potatoes or cheesy scalloped potatoes, green beans, broccoli, corn on the cob rolls, or side salads. Being a North Carolinian, we love pulled pork with coleslaw, mac and cheese, rolls and green beans as a more casual buffet option.
Setting up a bar type dinner can be fun and add variety for your guests. For a winter wedding you could set up a soup or chili bar with several options to choose from, a side salad and bread/grilled cheese/cornbread. This is a tasty and often very cost effective dinner option!
Sandwich bars are a great light option for a lunch reception, there are so many varieties that is can be really fun to plan and enjoyable for your guests. Combining the soup and sandwich bar ideas could also be an excellent winter or fall dinner.
Create-your-own-pasta dish is another fun way to ensure each guest enjoys their dinner. We’ve seen this best set up with a buffet of different kinds of noodles, a red sauce, Alfredo sauce, vodka sauce and grilled chicken, meatballs or ground beef for the protein. Having a side salad and rolls or Italian bread is a nice addition!
Our all time favorite dinner bars are tacos, breakfast for dinner and Hibachi. All three have so many topping options, sauces and taste delicious. Again, choose a theme that the bride and groom love and then make it customizable and delicious for the guests.
Grazing Bar & Cocktail Hour Ideas
Charcuterie Boards are all the rage for good reason! They are delish! For a large event, there are several ways to incorporate a snack bar with charcuterie ingredients. The first is to make a beautiful board, the presentation is beautiful, but some people are uncomfortable with hands touching all the pieces. Even if you have tongs on the board, some guest will invariable use their hands. One way around that is to have skewers with a pieces of cheese, cheery tomato, pepper, olive, meat… etc. then you can have sweet skewers with various fruits, allowing guests to put a skewer on their plate and get all the goodies without touching everyone else’s snacks.
Another way to go around the board set up, is to make small cups with a rolled deli meat slice, some cheese and fruit so each guest can grab a cup and munch while they visit with friends and family.
Other appetizer ideas include kebabs, meatballs, fruit and veggie, spring rolls, dumplings, cranberry and brie bites and shrimp cocktail. You can also set up sweets for cocktail hour, a cupcake or cookie bar is a fun way to let your guests get something sweet before the big cake cutting event on the evening.
Never be afraid to mention ideas to your caterer, or ask them if they can make a favorite family recipe! It’s your big day and the food is a huge part of the reception celebration, so make sure you choose something you’ll look back on and fondly remember!
Love,
The Timber Rivers Team
Whether you have lost a close friend, grandparent or parent that you know would have been thrilled by your wedding day or have a family member in the military stationed far from home, there are so many ways to involve them on your big day. The best part is the visual for you to know that they are part of the wedding, but it also lets your guests have a chance to know the people who shaped you into the person you are today, making these vows to your spouse. Here’s five of our favorite ideas:
#1 A Photo Table
This idea works best when you have several people to honor, or lots of photos of one very special person in your life! We’ve seen whole photo walls of a parent who passed away young that was incredible and again, gave the guests who hadn’t gotten the chance to know them well during their life to get a glimpse of how much they meant to the bride and groom. It’s an extremely special way to honor them and is a good reminder of why they were so crucial to know!
The style you display the photos can be modern, colorful, polaroid style or in antique frames depending on the themes of your wedding decor. I’ve also seen wall hangings with photos attached to keep the furniture at the venue clear for foods, drinks, gifts and favors. Could be a great option if you’re tight on space!
#2 Burning a Candle
A fantastic way to honor your lost and not present loved one is burning a candle for them. I love these from Etsy because you can customize the text to make it personal for your family!
#3 Decorating a Chair
I think this is the most commonly seen tradition, but there are so many creative ways to go about it that you can truly personalize this and make it your own. I love these acrylic frames on Etsy because it allows guests to see a face with the name of your loved one and you can look out and see them smiling at you during the ceremony! Win, win. Florals, fabric and other decor can be added to their chair to make it more of a memorial along with a photo or a sign to make it more noticeable and special.
#4 Their Memorabilia as Decor
Something really special in certain situations, is using your loved ones’ items as decor. Some things to consider are embroidered tablecloths, china, crystal candlesticks, lace, or picture frames. But you could also use some outside of the box items like old wooden tools from grandpa’s barn made into mantle decor with florals arranged in them. Grandma’s scraps of fabric from sewing could become part of your head table arrangement or cut up and made into the flowers in your bouquet! Your Father’s cowboy hat collection could be hunt on a wall as a photo backdrop with some greenery incorporated. There are so many ways to repurpose items, especially if they mean a lot to you and your future spouse.
#5 A Small, Personal Photo
If you’re not looking to create a memorial or something large, this might be the idea for you. Etsy makes small locket-like photo charms that you can clip onto your bouquet or boutonniere. This is a great way for you to have your loved one close in a personal way that’s not for everyone else to see. And for the men, they make photos into patches of fabric that can be attached on the inside of his tie.
The small photos in a locket, a photo charm or a tie patch are such sweet items that you can have as a keepsake after the wedding day! It’s both a way to honor them, while also having something you can remember them by for many years to come.
I love this idea if the bride and groom have siblings in their wedding party, they can get the tie patches or bouquet charms for themselves and their siblings if they lost a parent or grandparent. It’s a sweet wedding party gift.
As always, we hope that these ideas inspire you planning for your wedding day. And if you’re planning a wedding at our venue, know that our decor team will work with you in any way to honor those people most important to you on your wedding day! Those who are able to attend and those who aren’t.
Happy planning,
The Timber Rivers Team
We may be partial being full time residents in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, but there is no better place to host an outdoor event. Not only because our venue is beautiful, but for these three practical reasons as well!
#1 Outside is Better in the Mountains.
I know you may say, “But there’s bugs and humidity and the sun!” But that is exactly the reason to head to the mountains for an outdoor event. In NC, we have very few bugs, low humidity even in the middle of summer and reasonable temperatures! The fall is even better for all three things, less bugs, no humidity and cool temps. It’s all around a haven for hosting outdoor events with nothing in your way but stunning scenery and vibrant colors.
No bride wants her hair or makeup ruined by high humidity, so consider a mountain venue in your planning so you aren’t limited by city venues with air conditioning to keep your look glamorous.
#2 Stunning Photos
There’s just nothing like the photos you get from natural light and landscaping! What I love the most is the contrast of a regal bridal gown against the bright greens of summer grass and tress or the fall vibrant leaves. Both seasons are wonderful settings for photographs and I can never encourage couples enough that your wedding photos are something you will look back on for the rest of your life! Choose the setting and the photographer that will capture your special moment well.
#3 A Fun Travel Spot
If you and your guests don’t live in the mountains, then your wedding can be a mini vacay for everyone! Surrounding our property, we have connections with rental cabins that all have beautiful views and big porches to sit outside and soak in the mountain mornings with a cup of coffee. You and your guests can fully enjoy the mountain before and after the ceremony. If you have an adventurous crew, the bridal party can go down the New River in kayaks or tubes, go hiking to the top of Mount Jefferson or visit a local brewery with a rooftop bar. You can plan a weekend of fun activities and get the most of the Blue Ridge Mountains along with your wedding celebration!
For lists of our rental cabins, fun local activities, our favorite hiking trails and details about the wedding venue, shoot us an email or fill out the contact us form on our website. Wishing you the best in your wedding planning!
-The Timber River Team
For the brides-to-be looking at all the venue options for their wedding and trying to make good decisions… here’s our best tips and wisdom! The experience with your wedding venue can make or break the enjoyment of your wedding day because of how involved the location is compared to other aspects. If you even attended a wedding where guests didn’t know where to park, where to enter, and the director was unorganized or MIA, then you know what we’re talking about! A good venue with attentive staff can make your wedding day ten times less stressful. So let’s dive into the details.
- Lower Stress Levels
The #1 reason to carefully choose your venue is to protect your stress levels as the bride and groom. Family and friends will already make things a little more tense or complicated the week before the wedding and you don’t want wedding details to make that any worse. So, the first thing to look for in a venue is that their staff is ready and willing to have everything done and ready for you when you arrive the day of the wedding! You need to relax and enjoy getting ready, not feeling like you have to check behind the staff to make sure everything you asked for is being done.
At Timber Rivers, our leader seeks to serve each wedding couple and ensure that details are nailed down and prepared ahead of time. She trains all her staff to serve first and make sure to listen and prep all the wedding details so things are done ahead of time and no couple is stressed about decor, food or wedding props.
2. Customized Decor and Florals
Inclusive venues meet with you and get your vision for florals, bouquets and decor to ensure that they have your vision figured out and their team instructed. Our team plans with each bride and groom leading up to the wedding, decorates the week before while sending the bride photos to make sure they love what is being set up! This way the bride can relax knowing that her vision is coming to life and the venue team can decorate on schedule and have everything ready for the big day!
3. Small Business Team At Your Service
There are so many amazing aspects of getting married in a small town and supporting a small business… but our favorite part is the service you receive! At our venue, there is only one wedding per weekend, so each bride is the whole staff’s priority. Everyone is there to serve and make sure the couple’s day is everything that they had imagined. You won’t be forgotten, looked over or ignored when they entire staff is there for your big day only. It’s a wedding perk that shouldn’t be overlooked.
It’s not easy to entrust the details of your wedding day to just anyone, and that’s where a great, inclusive venue comes in clutch. You need directors, owners, and staff who care about the details that matter to you and want your day to be extremely special! If you’re hunting for a venue in the mountains of North Carolina, check out Timber Rivers Venue, we are here to serve you!
Much love on your special day,
– The Timber Rivers Team
We recently hosted a gorgeous western themed wedding at Timber Rivers Venue and the couple had the most unique personalization we’ve ever seen! They hired a metal working company to create a cattle brand with their initials. After the ceremony, all the guests gathered around the fire pit while they branded a framed piece of fabric to become a keepsake in their new home!
Linked HERE is a company that create these custom cattle brands if you feel like this is the perfect touch for your wedding! There are some small companies on Etsy as well that create cattle brands, so you have that as another option.
I’ve also seen couples use the brand on a large wood slice as a unique piece of home decor. Or purchase a small brand and use it on little circle wood slices with precut holes so you and all your guests can take home an ornament! It’s a fun smaller keepsake for the couple but also makes a unique guest gift as well.
If a western wedding isn’t your thing, stay tuned as we share other fun ideas and wedding details throughout the year! Follow us on Instagram to stay updated on our newest blog posts.
Until next time! – The Timber Rivers Family
Choosing a color scheme can be one of the most overwhelming parts of a wedding, but it is also a detail frequently overlooked for smaller events. From baby shower to wedding day, having a tight-knit color scheme will help your event look put together, elevated and unique.
For a wedding, we always suggest choosing colors that feel comfortable to both parties, coordinate with seasonal flowers and are colors that YOU like! Any event’s host is the most important opinion on the colors chosen for the event. But, colors also go in and out of style, so here are 5 of our favorite trending colors schemes for the spring and summer of 2024.
#1 “Summer Sherbet”
Blends of pink and orange are coming back into the wedding scene but this addition of green and silver grounds the bright colors a bit while still keeping bold florals in the mix!
#2 “No Blues Around Here”
Monochromatic color schemes are a trending bold choice. Blues and purple tones against a white wedding dress and black suits create a dramatic contrast that is truly breathtaking!
#3 “Unabashedly Bold”
Another growing trend is bold and rich color tones! These colors again contrast against white and pop with a loud statement. They are perfect for any event that wants to stand out.
#4 Vintage Elegance
The vintage wedding style is still a strong trend. These colors have a timeless beauty that can be made new by the way the flowers are arranged and the decor with them.
#5 “Spring is Here”
The natural floral tones of pink, purple and orange give any event a natural, fresh-cut garden look. This color scheme is perfect for the bride or soon-to-be mother that loves being outside or working in her flowerbeds!
Your color choices say so much about your personality and the things you love in life. No choice is wrong, so explore your options and choose something that feels personal for your next event and watch everything come together beautifully!
-The Timber Rivers Family
One of the most fun elements of design for any bridal look is her bouquet. Faux or fresh, any bridal bouquet adds color, style and says a lot about the bride. If you’re finding yourself knee-deep in wedding planning and know nothing of bouquet styles, we’re here to help! At the venue, our team does all kinds of floral creations for weddings and bouquets are one of our personal favorites to create.
The first thing you need to know is the different shapes of bouquets: Round, Nosegay (round with more greenery), Pageant, Freeform, Cascading, and Posey. We’ll talk about some of the building elements and the style each shape adds to the bride’s wedding look.
Let’s dive in to some of our favorites!!
- Nosegay or Round Shape
These more traditional shaped bouquets are perfect for the bride who likes symmetry. While they can be a rounded, 360 bouquet of roses – more classic style – they can also be funky and eye-catching. The florals can be spaced further apart to create a breezy, spring arrangement or with a variety of unique florals and add-ins, each bouquet can become a work of art. The key to any arrangement shape is the flower ingredients that make up the bouquet!
2. Freeform
Freeform is the A-symmetrical bride’s dream! Typically these bouquets are a unique shape with a sloping movement to them. However, like their name they can be made into any form. Some flow out and down on either side of the stems and have an overall more symmetrical appearance. So, if you love the oversized look but aren’t a fan of the A-symmetrical shape, you can tell your florist to shape the bouquet to flow evenly on both sides of the stems. On the flip side, if you are a more artsy/funky bride, we would highly suggest the typical Freeform bouquet! It makes such an impact and wows the guests every time. Of course the boldness of the flowers you choose makes the finished look as bold as you want it to be.
3. Cascading
From traditional bride to young and trendy, the cascading bouquet also makes quite the statement. Lighter florals make a dreamy drape in front of the bride as you walk down the aisle and bold colors pop against your white gown and will leave viewers breathless. It’s the most dramatic bouquet shape, depending on the length, but a statement that is well worth it! Our only hesitancy with this bouquet is if your dress has a detail that is only seen on the front, then you probably don’t want to cover that up with the florals. This arrangement is probably best against a satin, silk, or lace dress.
Trending Bouquet Ideas:
For the color-loving bride, the monochromatic bouquet trend is phenomenal! There’s no better way to make a floral statement on your wedding that than choosing all one color tone. This trend makes the tabletop decor, bouquets, boutonnieres really pop against the venue background and your wedding attire.
Florals are a stunning part of any decor, so make sure not to leave them to the end of all your wedding planning! They deserve thoughtful choices and talented florists. For every bride who books at Timber Rivers Venue, our team creates all the florals to each bride’s specification. It becomes one of the most fun things we talk about and design together.
We wish you the best in all your wedding plans and floral designs! – The Timber Rivers Team
A new year comes with so many wonderful and fresh things! Our favorite, is the new style trends emerging that bleed into our world of wedding and event decor. I have to say, I’m super excited about the trends that 2024 are bringing into the event space, because they are some that I’ve always liked and appreciate that they are now “On trend”. You know what goes around, comes around and then comes around again, lol, so I’m sure some of these will phase out and then reappear in another few years. But I’m hoping for some brides that are ready to embrace these trends while they’re hot this year!
Definitely my favorite of the year, are the feminine details like pearls, bows and satin. Can I say YES, PLEASE, any louder!? The combo of all three give such an Audrey Hepburn class to an event. And for bridal outfits: pearls, bows and satin are so incredibly stunning, I just can’t get enough. The pearls on tulle for either a veil or table runner is a nice little touch of the trend without going all out with bows. I know with the new hair-bow trend that some girls are all on board (Me) and others feel like they’re 5 years old again with a bow in their hair. Whichever way that trend makes you feel, pearls are a classy go-to in bridal decor that have that elevated maturity you may not feel about the bows.
With that being said about bows… those gloves covered in pearls with the satin bows are to die for! Haha, personal opinion.
If though, you’re a plain Jane girl that doesn’t want to bedeck yourself in pearls, bows or tulle, there are so many ways to incorporate these trends into your wedding decor. A cake with icing that looks like pearls is both classy and breathtaking. Draping strings of pearls on your centerpieces, in the floral arrangements, hanging from the chandeliers, pearlized ballon arches, bows on the chairs… there’s just so many ways to bring in the feminine trend without having to wear them.
I’ve collected so many more ideas on our Pinterest page, Click HERE, if these photos are sending you into your happy place and you’ve just discovered the theme of your wedding! Happy Planning!
- Timber Rivers Team
Pantone has released next year’s color of the year and we’re so excited because it’s a beautiful color for wedding color schemes! Tilted, “Peach Fuzz” it’s a gorgeous tone that embodies warmth, happiness and light. The best part on the wedding venue front is that there are many flowers that bloom in this color! Here’s some of our favorite ways to incorporate peach in weddings and some common flowers that work perfectly with this year’s color!
Peach Linens
This wedding used a combination of china plates and glass colors to go with her vintage look, but all the napkins were a gorgeous peach. They added a sense of unity to all the place settings and a touch of femininity. We think the gold silverware is also a stunning combo with the peach trend!
Peach Fresh Flowers
There are a variety of flowers that naturally bloom in a peach tone, but three of the most common and therefore the most cost efficient are ranunculus, carnations and roses. The first has lush, layered blooms that make for incredibly luxurious bouquets and arrangements! Carnations make a great accent flower, since their blooms are smaller than your focal point blooms, but bunched together they can also make a lush bouquet.
Even if you’re not a classic red rose person, roses aren’t to be discounted! The other colors can be striking in their beauty, and the abnormal roses are truly something to behold! The peach Campanella Rose is one of my personal favorites and you won’t even know its a rose at first glance.
Peach Floral Ideas
From the accent color to the main event, peach brings a delicate femininity and fresh atmosphere to any event! If you like the white and green simple florals for a wedding, the addition of some peach flowers really warms up the overall style.
Peach is also a great accent color with blue, neutrals/pampas grass, red or yellow (for a spring wedding).
No matter what color scheme fits your event or wedding day, we’re here to help you order just the right flowers, make the arrangements and centerpieces you’ve been dreaming of. Our team loves dreaming with each client to make their special day come to life!
You can read more about the Pantone color of the year HERE!
What could be more magical that planning your big day during the most beautiful and sparkling season of the year!? I can’t think of anything better than Christmas (maybe Disney world…). We’ve had a few December weddings at the venue and they’re some of the team’s favorite to put together. We’ve curated a list of the most beautiful trends and ideas for a magical Christmas wedding!
Trend #1 Decorate with Christmas Trees
Now, its easy for us to say, since we live in the Christmas tree capital of the country, but I think everything is more magical with a tree (or two or seven!). This wedding had three behind the ceremony, two more coupled in the back and a few down each side of the barn. Altogether, we had nine trees in the barn, all only decorated with white lights and it was simply stunning!
Ornaments can add a more elegant effect, but after all the other decor was put into place, I think the simple lights made for the perfect touch. And the smell of the fresh frasier fir trees… there’s nothing else like it!
Trend #2 – Have the bridesmaids wear emerald green
The photos of this wedding with the trees and the bridesmaids all dark green made the bride pop! And truly what else could you want in your wedding photos than being the center of attention?! Also, there’s the fact that emerald looks good on so many skin tones, that it’s a choice you won’t have to hear complaints from anyone feeling washed out.
Trend #3 – Include evergreen in your floral arrangements
Having access to fresh frasier fir, it was a no brainer for our venue. But even if you have to order some, there is no better choice of greenery for a Christmas wedding. I love the way it tied in the Christmas trees and brought a cohesive and festive style throughout the venue.
Trend #4 Have sparklers at your exit
There are so many creative ways to get fun photos of your exit from the reception, but at Christmas time, sparklers are the win! They add to the Christmas lights effect and create such phenomenal photo opts, you just can’t turn them down! Such a magical way to end a magical day. The guests froze at this exit, but it was worth it for these shots!
No matter how you choose to style your Christmas wedding, I encourage you not to deny the cozy warmth of the Christmas season. There is something to the gold, red and green combination that should be embraced to make your wedding day just that much more special! And if you decide Christmas is your vibe and the heart of Christmas tree farms is where you need to tie the knot, Timber Rivers may be just the venue for you. Message us for open dates and let’s get this party started!
