Why Brides love The Corner District’s Charming Parlor

August 30, 2017 · Leave a Comment

At our North Georgia wedding venue, we love all things unique + beautiful! We cannot get enough of creative + elegant wedding details that capture the unique personalities of the bride and groom. That’s why The Corner District has two event spaces, our parlor + warehouse, that serve as blank canvases so that couples can bring their wedding vision to life with the help of their Georgia wedding vendors.

Photography: Sara Bush

Our Charming Vintage Parlor

One of the bonuses of booking your wedding at The Corner District is the obvious charm + character of our vintage parlor! Our parlor is 100+ years old with a charming speakeasy feel! Between the two-story ceilings and original wood floors, the parlor is transformed into a magical space with any decor. Our crystal chandeliers and floor-to-ceiling draping set the mood for a romantic, upscale reception at our Atlanta venue.

Brides love The Corner District’s parlor because of how easy it is to make it your own! A tip we share for making your event unique would be to add your small touches to our wide assortment of vintage lounge furniture, antique mantle, buffets + original wood bar area. These pieces offer exceptional spaces for you to fulfill your vision. Some of our favorite examples include hydration stations + food stations or gift tables.

Photography: Kelly Anne Photography

Since we have so many unique pieces included in our venue rental, there’s no need to rent props or furniture! Furthermore, we provide floor length ivory linens that match the pads on our mahogany Chevalier chairs. This is just another special touch that brides love + sets The Corner District apart from other venues.

Photography: Blume PhotographyPhotography: Ruzin Cunningham

Brides especially love the parlor because it’s a space brimming with personality. Elegant crystal chandeliers and draping make this a more formal area for your cocktail hour, reception dining and dancing. From the beautiful interior to the small town charm of Main Street just outside the doors, every occasion is unique!

Photography: Katey Penton PhotographyPhotography: Carrie Reagan Photography

Four Unexpected Vendor Costs + How To Avoid Them

February 22, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Small, unexpected vendor costs from the cake-cutting fee to extra edits can add up quickly and set you over your budget. At our North Georgia vintage venue, we love when our brides get creative with our industrial space. Each vendor helps bring your wedding vision to life so it’s so important to make sure you get the details from them so you can stay within your budget. We’re sharing 4 unexpected vendor costs below!

Photo Credit: Kelly Anne Photography

Unexpected Vendor Costs + How To Avoid Them

The caterer. As an incentive for brides to order their cake in-house, some venues will charge unexpected vendor costs, such as a cake cutting fee. These charges can range anywhere from $1.25 to $1.75 per slice. This fee essentially covers the cost for the venue to cut and serve your guests. Check to see if the venue has a preferred vendor list to help reduce this cost. Brides can also get creative with their dessert choices, such as pie bars + cupcakes, to avoid the cake cutting fee. At our blank canvas venue, we include the cake in the package– that way our couples get special pricing right off the bat!

Often, venues will require a minimum of foods + beverages to host your event in their space. If these costs are not accounted for, you won’t be able to accurately create a budget and it could set you over your catering budget. To avoid this, make sure you talk with your venue to see if there is any food + beverage minimums or any other catering fees they might charge.

The bridal store. After falling in love with the dress of your dreams that falls right in your budget, you may be surprised when you end up spending more than the price tag lists. Often times, with the dress price comes alteration fees + the cost of undergarments. These fees can add up and put you over your budget if you don’t account for them when making your budget. You can avoid these fees by buying a dress with built-in garments or off-the-rack.

The photographer. Another place couples can find unexpected wedding costs are from their photographer. Make sure to ask those you’re considering as photographer if they charge any extra fees for editing additional images, receiving all photos, or getting them in multiple formats. It’s important to account for these costs when looking at your budget for photography.

Don’t forget about the venue!

The venue. Always ask to see the venue’s preferred vendor list, even if you already have an idea of which vendors you would like to use. Not only is it great to consider preferred vendors because they already have relationships with the venue, but unexpected cost can arise if the venue charges a fee for not using a preferred vendor from their list. At The Corner District, we love to help the budget-savvy bride, that’s why we don’t have any fees for not using our preferred vendors.

At The Corner District, one of our favorite parts of the wedding planning process at our North Georgia wedding venue is getting to help our couples pick the perfect vendors to bring their vision to life! Because of the relationship with our preferred vendors, we have negotiated lower costs for some packages. We have negotiated packages with vendors including DJ, some florals, and catering.

Brides, did you face any other unexpected costs, and how did you avoid or deal with them? We’d love to hear from you!

Spencer + Cara | A Dreamy, Rustic Fairytale Georgia Wedding

January 11, 2017 · 1 Comment

Cara + Spencer’s dreamy, rustic Georgia wedding had us swooning over such a beautiful celebration for this adorable couple. As a dog-friendly wedding venue, our favorite part had to be that the couple’s dogs were not only involved in the proposal, but the wedding as well. Of course, we also loved that Nerd Dawgs, a delicious + fun food truck, catered a late night bite at the reception! From dogs to dawgs, the wedding was full of personal details that made this wedding so much fun to host!

Heather Lynthlin Photography did an incredible of capturing the sweetest moments from Cara + Spencer’s rustic Georgia wedding at our vintage venue! We’re thankful to have our bride share with us about the magic behind their fairytale wedding + love story.

How did you meet your fiancé?

My fiancé and I met in 6th grade although we were very different in middle school. He won biggest flirt and I won most likely to succeed in the superlative awards. We went to different high schools and then officially connected over social media when we were in our 3rd year of college. Spencer attended the University of Hawaii on a football scholarship and I went to Kennesaw State University and participated on the competitive cheerleading squad. We shared similar interests but the time difference between Hawaii and Georgia was just too much. We ended up going our separate ways. We rekindled our love on January 9, 2014. Ever since that day, we cannot imagine life without each other.

Tell us the story of how he popped the question:

On July 24, 2015 Spencer was persistent about going to downtown Woodstock to get coffee at the Copper Coin Café. I had just woken up from a nap and I really was not in the mood to get ready, load up the dogs in the car, and go to Woodstock. I took my time getting ready. We arrived in downtown Woodstock and Spencer said he would hold the dogs while I went in and ordered. I thought nothing about it. I ordered two coffees and came back outside. As I walked outside I was very confused. Spencer’s mother took the coffees from me. The entire moment felt like a blur. I was trying to piece together what was happening. I looked around and saw my mom, dad, step-mother, sister, brother-in-law, niece, Spencer’s mom and dad, and some friends. I did not know what to think or what was going on.

I looked down and noticed that Simba and Brutus (our German Sheppard and English Bulldog) were wearing signs around their neck. The signs read “If you asked me how many times you crossed my mind I would say once, because you never really left” and “Spencer wants to know will you marry him?” The next thing I know, Spencer is down on one knee and asking me to marry him. I burst out in tears from all the emotions running through me, there is no way I could resist this man. Of course I said yes! I had no idea he was even planning on getting engaged. He had kept it a secret for weeks. I cannot believe he pulled off such an unbelievable and memorable moment.

What was your wedding date and why did you choose it? Does this date have any significance?

Our wedding date was October 1, 2016. I chose to get married in October because I love the fall time. I knew The Corner District would look beautiful surrounded by the fall foliage on the trees. I also knew we would be able to utilize the outside area of the venue (the courtyard) during our reception because of the cooler weather.

What was your overall vision for your wedding?

My overall vision for the wedding was finding a venue that was unique to me. I wanted a venue where I was able to make it my own. I also wanted something with a rustic look and a laid back atmosphere. I did not want a place that told you exactly how the wedding would look and how the set up would be. I wanted something that resembled a big party that I could have with all our friends and family.

What do you feel was the most important component of your wedding?

The most important component of our wedding was being able to have our dogs as part of the ceremony. They are an important part of our lives and we were fortunate enough that The Corner District is dog friendly.

How involved was your groom in the wedding planning process?

For the most part, I planned the wedding since I am the planner in the couple. I love that Spencer is laid back and was supportive during the planning process. I would ask him for his opinion on some of the things and he would say, “As long as you’re happy and having a great time, that is all that matters to me.” I would ask his opinion on a couple of things such as: our first dance song, the suits, and he was allowed to pick the music for cocktail hour. Spencer was supportive and loved all the ideas I had, so that helped a lot.

Did you write your own vows?

In the beginning we were not planning on writing our own vows. As the wedding day approached, I decided that I wanted our wedding ceremony to be more personable and add some of our own ideas to the ceremony, so we added them in last minute. I am glad we decided to do that because his words were so sincere and loving and I will remember them forever.

What was your wedding theme or color pallet?

We did not have a theme for our wedding, but we chose the sky blue color because I thought it would go great with our rustic + vintage look we were going for. The sky blue also reminded me of Cinderella and a fairy tale, which is how I picture our relationship, being a love story. When people would ask what colors I was using for the wedding I would reply, “White, grey, and Cinderella blue.”

How important were the typical wedding traditions?

We wanted to keep the wedding as traditional as we could, yet still make it our own. We refrained from doing a first look because we wanted to save the moment for the aisle. An Italian tradition in our family is to make lots of cookies to serve at the wedding. We had multiple people working on hundreds of cookies for the wedding. I loved having that as a family tradition. I loved that we were able to put up old wedding pictures from our families in the frames provided in the venue. That meant so much to me to be able to add our own touch and decorations to the venue. It really felt like we were able to make it our own. I think we had a traditional wedding for the most part, but we definitely made it our own at the same time. The Corner District was the perfect venue to be able to display our own personality and I am so glad we chose it for our special day.

Leading up to the big day I was beyond stressed out about the whole process. Debbie (The Corner District Owner) was able to meet up with me multiple times to reassure me that everything would be okay. I must admit that I had my doubts. In the end EVERYTHING went according to plan. There is nothing I would have changed about our wedding day and I cannot think of many people that could say that.

Debbie, Elizabeth, Ivy, and all the other wedding coordinators did a phenomenal job making our wedding the exact vision I was going for. All of our guests had an amazing time and loved the venue. I hope to be able to utilize this venue again in the future for another event I may have. Our wedding day was truly the best day of my life and I thank The Corner District for making our dreams come true.

Why did you choose this wedding venue?

When I was looking for a wedding venue, I was looking for something that I can make my own. As I searched around for the perfect venue, a lot of the places I looked at told you exactly how your wedding will look with a couple of choices on colors. I am a unique person so I really wanted something that was perfect for me. I love that the venue is an old historical building with a lot of character. My mom and I drove up that day to check it out. I loved everything about it as soon as I arrived. I love the feeling I got when I peeked in the windows, I knew this place was the one.

I envisioned myself walking down the aisle and Spencer being at the end with a huge smile on his face. I called Debbie when we were looking in the windows and she was so friendly and accommodating. She was able to meet up right then so I could get a better look at the inside of the venue. Spencer and I also love that our dogs will be able to celebrate with us at the ceremony since they are a huge part of our family. The three buildings are amazing. I have nothing but great things to say about The Corner District and our wedding.

4 Creative Catering Ideas for your North Georgia Wedding

July 1, 2016 · 3 Comments

We love when brides come to our blank canvas North Georgia wedding venue with a wedding vision in mind that captures their unique style! So much goes into bringing a wedding vision to life, so it’s beautiful when each element of the wedding truly celebrates the bride + groom’s personalities! That even includes the food and how it’s displayed at the wedding reception. Today we’re sharing some of our favorite ways that brides have used unique dishes + displays to complement their wedding vision and make their wedding stand out!

Photo: Kelly Anne Photography | Styling: Twigs and Lace Event Design | As seen on The Celebration Society

Dessert stations: Dessert stations allow for a variety of choices and flavors that your guests are sure to love! Although we absolutely love wedding cakes, not limiting yourself to just one dessert allows you to choose several individual desserts that combine the personalities and style of the bride and groom. Every dessert chosen – from macaroons to cake pops to donuts, helps celebrate the couple! Not only does everyone love a variety of desserts to indulge in, but dessert stations can be decorated to fully encompass your wedding vision. The table itself acts as another décor piece of your wedding!

Photo: Sarah Bush Designs | Styling: Twigs and Lace Event Design

Popcorn bar: Popcorn bars are the perfect way to add salty snacks into the wedding mix at our charming vintage Georgia wedding venue! Your guests will love getting to personalize their food as they add toppings + seasonings to make it just right for them. You can even add chocolate and candy toppings to please your sweet-tooth guests. Popcorn bars are a cute way to get your guests involved with this simple, fun activity!

Photo: Kelly Anne Photography | Food Truck: Scott Boys BBQ

Food trucks: Food trucks are a fun, unique and currently super trendy way to have your wedding food fit your theme! From Mexican to Italian to American, there’s a food truck for every type of cuisine that your guests are sure to devour. They are especially great for brides going for a more casual, laid back party feel! Plus, the variety of food trucks offer meal options that might not be offered by the traditional wedding caterer. Another benefit of food trucks is that they can also be budget friendly for the savings conscious bride.

Photo: Kelly Anne Photography | Styling: Twigs and Lace Event Design | As seen on The Celebration Society

Pie bar: At our rustic + eclectic Atlanta area wedding venue, we love to see pie bars that mix a variety of flavors in such an elegant way! The different types of pies chosen can be used to complement a variety of wedding visions, from a warm traditional feel to an elegant, chic vision. Pie bars are especially good for helping capture wedding visions at holiday weddings! From pumpkin pie to eggnog pie, your guests will love your desserts that will complete your holiday wedding style.

Our favorite part about each of these food displays is that no two will be the same! At our eclectic venue, we value creativity + uniqueness. We think it’s so important that each couple feels that every aspect of their wedding, including the food, helped celebrate them as a one-of-a-kind couple! Weddings are personal and will differ from couple to couple, and that’s what we love about them. We hope these food displays will give you some creative inspiration as you consider how you want to capture your own style for the big day!