Desire for rural venues, settings spark wedding industry growth in Oglethorpe County
Wedding bells are ringing in Oglethorpe County.
Venue options have increased in the county as more couples seek rural and barn weddings, according to a 2023 global wedding report. Historic Smithonia Farm, the Grove at Bailey’s Farm, Platt Brooks Estate, The Gillen House, Cloverleaf Farm and Countryside Manor are among the number of options in Oglethorpe County.
“They keep opening up,” said Linda Parish, the tourism and hospitality director for the Oglethorpe Chamber of Commerce. “Somebody’s trying to get a license to open another one in the city of Lexington. There’s going to be one out in Maxeys. They’re still coming, and we already have seven, eight.”
Pam NeSmith, owner of Historic Smithonia Farm, said there were only about two or three wedding venues in Oglethorpe County and the surrounding counties when she purchased her farm in 2013.
She now estimates that there are around 33.
“A person on economic development said that’s the most asked question when people want to purchase a farm or property,” NeSmith said. “They say, ‘What does it cost to put up a pole barn and do a venue?’ ”
Although Athens has a wider selection of tourist accommodations, there was a 13.3% increase in total visitor spending in Oglethorpe County, including lodging, transportation, retail, food and recreation in the most recent tourism and economic data for Georgia in 2022. Parish said it’s tough to directly track the economic impact of the wedding industry in the county.
“But it at least gets people out here, and they see what we have, and they see how beautiful it is out here,” she said. “I just feel like anytime we can bring anybody into the county that they can see what we have to offer, that’s a plus for growth and economic development.”
Growing trend
NeSmith said the barn wedding trend has been a significant part of the industry’s growth in Oglethorpe and the neighboring counties.
“We’ve moved away from the traditional,” she said. “Like the church wedding and then going and having a reception. You don’t see that very much anymore. People are going to venues to have weddings.”
Shannon Bailey opened the Grove at Bailey’s Farm about a year ago with her husband, Blake, because she knew, “the barn trend was a thing.”
“And so when we were looking for properties, that’s what I was looking for,” she said. “A barn that already existed that we could rehab, simply because I knew that that was something that we could quickly turn around and get open faster than building from the ground up.”
While Bailey said the barn wedding trend has likely played a role in her success, she also attributes it to her quality of service.
Bailey includes a wedding coordinator for her couples, offers dinnerware customizations, has an in-house florist and will soon offer G Brand BBQ as in-house catering.
The Baileys opened The Cottage on April 21. It provides a secondary, more classic venue in case “demands may change” for a barn wedding.
“With a business like a pizza business or a shop or something like that, you have repeat customers,” Bailey said. “And so they come in, they try you out, they like you, they come back. With a wedding, they don’t come back — hopefully.”
Bailey has high expectations for the continued success of her business.
“It’s amazing to see the growth that we are experiencing,” she said. “Last year, we had three weddings. This year, without even the second building being built, we’ve already booked 13 weddings (through early spring). We are hoping that after a grand opening, we’ll end up with plenty more weddings this year. But we’re looking at tripling the numbers in just a few short months.”
NeSmith said Oglethorpe County’s “tranquil” and “peaceful” atmosphere has helped make it an appealing wedding destination.
“I think we live in such a fast lane,” she said. “I think the calmness and the history, and let’s face it, the county has a lot of history, and I think it draws them.”
Branching out
Chuck Brooks is the owner of Platt Brooks Estate, a 50-acre property in Lexington with a house that is more than 200 years old. He inherited the house from his grandmother in 1965 and began renovating it in 2002, when people began asking him if they could get married in his backyard.
“I probably don’t fit in with the rest, and there’s one on every corner,” Brooks said. “I got into this because people 20 years ago wanted to use my place. Then, when I ran out of something to do, I thought, ‘I’ve got a little extra cash, so I’ll just make it nice.’ ”
After adding amenities, renovating the property and officially turning it into a wedding venue in 2016, Brooks has seen an increase of people from outside of Oglethorpe County wanting to use his space, including one couple from Australia.
Brooks mentioned the biggest drawback to the growing wedding industry in rural areas like Oglethorpe County is the lack of tourist accommodations.
“People are hesitant about coming out this far because of the driving issue,” he said. “They have to stay in Athens for the most part, and that is a problem. When people are looking at this kind of thing, they’re trying to make these decisions that play in. Hotels, Ubers, restaurants, bars, all these kinds of things play an effect, and we don’t have any of those.”
In 2022, Claudia Reit, the owner of Countryside Manor, saw the rising popularity of rustic wedding venues, but was also aware of the lack of tourist accommodations in the county. Before purchasing the venue, she received consulting from UGA’s Small Business Development Center, which helps small businesses analyze statistics to develop marketing strategies.
“One thing I learned from the SBDC consulting was that when somebody loves a place, they don’t care about the distance or driving,” said Reit, who described her place as “rustic chic.”
While several venues in the area were made from historic homes, Countryside Manor was built specifically to be a wedding venue. The building has a barn-style look, but modern amenities, such as ADA compliant ramps, air conditioning and heating.
“I don’t look at other venues in the county as competition,” Reit said. “I look at other venues sticking together as businesses because it’s business for everybody.”
With tourism on the rise and rustic spaces on trend, the wedding industry continues to flourish in Oglethorpe County.
“Build ’em, and they will come,” Parish said.