Cena de Vino …or in other words, Spanish Wine Dinner!

I am thrilled to host our upcoming Cena de Vino at Rural Hill on Saturday, August 16, 2014! This will be the first wine pairing dinner of it’s kind here. I love food, and may possibly love wine even more, so I’m super excited to experience what Chef Tara and Sommelier Jordan have in store for us.

The Cena de Vino Menu:
The CENA DE VINO experience will feature five courses. The first course will be Croquetas de Jamon Serrano – Ham Croquettes. This will be followed by Gazpacho – chilled tomato soup with heirloom tomatoes, baby onions, grilled peppers, and smoked vinegar. The third course will feature Mediterranean Salad – a medley of artichokes, thin green beans, roasted red peppers, olives, and chickpeas with lemon herb vinaigrette. The main course will be Paella – a traditional rice dish with chicken, mussels, clams, chorizo, and herbs. The meal will conclude with a dessert of Flan served with berries. All courses will be paired with wine.

About Chef Tara:
Chef Tara Quinones love and passion for cooking came about as a child as she was fascinated watching her Grandfather “Papi” cook for hundreds of guests in his 75 acre summer resort in beautiful upstate NY. She is an alumnus of The Culinary Institute of America and has worked as a chef in West Palm Beach at the Four Seasons 5 Star Hotel, country clubs, as a private Chef in Boca Raton. Now in the Charlotte area, Chef Tara owns and runs her catering business and has worked as dining room manager, chef and general manager to several fine dining restaurants downtown Charlotte. It is her specialty to create custom menus designed especially for each client.

About Sommelier Jordan Wiley
North Carolina native, Jordan Wiley, has spent the past three years with European Cellars working closely with owner Eric Solomon at their Charlotte, North Carolina headquarters. Jordan studied wine with the Court of Master Sommeliers in addition to hospitality while attending the University of South Carolina. He has traveled to various winemaking regions including Napa, Italy, France, and Spain, visiting many of the properties imported by European Cellars.

About Eric Solomon, Owner – European Cellars:
As an importer, Eric Solomon is a champion of indigenous varieties and lesser known appellations with a knack for uncovering seriously delicious wines. Heralded by critics, including recognition as one of Robert Parker’s Wine Personalities of the Year, Food & Wine Magazine Best Importer, and Person of the Year at the 2008 Hospices du Rhone, Eric continues to seek out “the next big thing” and uncover the many treasures that lay hidden in the European landscape.

To make your reservations for the Cena de Vino at Historic Rural Hill, visit http://www.ruralhill.net.s

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Wedding Season has Sprung!

Wedding season has officially kicked off at Rural Hill this year! March 30th, yes it was on a Sunday, marked our first wedding of 2014. With a couple of wet days leading up to the wedding date, Sunday brought in lots of sunshine. It was a beautiful day for a wedding and our newly hitched couple, Renee and Andy, made for a very lovely Bride and Groom.

Getting to meet new people is the best part of my job. In the months leading to their BIG day, working with Renee was a pleasure. Her smile was contagious and her spirit was warm. I knew this Andy fellow that I had yet to meet, had won his life prize.

In order to get a feel for the clients I work with, I usually ask that they answer a small questionnaire for me. It tells me a little more about the couple and sometimes I get some pretty amazing responses that shows how in love they are. I get an understanding for what’s most important to them – which is pretty awesome for me. :o)

Q: List 3 words to describe your bride: Beautiful, Funny, Wide Open

Q: List 3 words to describe you groom: Intelligent, Loyal, Tall Dark Handsome

Q: What are you most looking forward to on your wedding day?
Andy: Family & close friends together…and cupcakes
Renee: Family & close friends sharing our beautiful day at Rural Hill …I am secretly wishing for sunshine and rainbows

Q: If you could be any animal what would you be and why?
Renee: sea turtle because I do feel at times that I have salt water in my veins – I am a beach bum.
Andy: Woodpecker because he feels like he could beat his head against a tree most days at work.

Q: Groom – 5 reasons you love your bride: She is smart, beautiful, funny, sweet. She knows exactly how much of my bull to put up with

Q: What are you most looking forward to in your future together? Buying a new home together, travel, learning to cook and hosting family & friends for cook outs and dinners.

Thanks to Renee and Andy for helping Rural Hill kick-start 2014 with a wonderful Sunday wedding!

Party On… and On!

Wedding venues are usually booked by brides and grooms at least 1 year prior to the actual wedding date.  It is the first vendor that is sought after since having the perfect place to say “I Do” is sometimes the most important.  Not to say other vendors aren’t important, there is just usually some wiggle room with timing to book those folks.  When a couple gets engaged the wedding becomes the focus for all those that are close to the soon-to-be bride and groom.  But the wedding is not the only celebration to plan!  Brides (and sometimes couples) have showers, brunches and let’s not forget the most important of the celebrations – Rehearsal Dinner Parties!!

Finding a great spot to congregate with your closest guests should be almost as important as the venue where you say “I Do”.  Not only do you want a space to enjoy some great food, but a place to enjoy merriment and fellowship with your guests as well.  And it MUST be a place that reflects to your guests the type of couple that you are.  Kicking off a wedding weekend the right way ensures that you and all of your guests will have a blast celebrating your nuptials all weekend long.

The venue we provide at Rural Hill has a caterer’s kitchen that your caterer will love – so bring in your favorite one!  We’ve also got a great sound system in our main hall that is perfect for guests giving toasts and music throughout the evening.  A large drop-down projection screen is ideal for playing those wonderfully embarrassing slide shows of the bride and groom from birth to wedding date.  And if you want the party to continue after the meal in done, stay awhile with your open bar to mix and mingle… maybe even have us create a bonfire outdoors for marshmallow roasting!

Renting a venue for a rehearsal dinner is becoming more and more popular.  This way you are not forced into choosing a space you love and having to commit to a menu that you don’t love.  You choose the venue and bring in the food you love and can afford.  Best of both worlds.  Period.

And of course let’s not forget that if you do need a place to host a bridal or couple’s shower, or that perfect brunch to celebrate the happy couple – we’ve got the space for you and your crew!

http://www.myRHevent.com

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Lauren@ruralhill.net

 – Party On!

 

 

 

a Bridal Show at Rural Hill??

Yep!  And here’s why.

How many of you have been to one of those big …and I mean BIG bridal shows that are held in convention centers or other large capacity venues?  I have!  For me it felt very impersonal and more like cattle herding.  I was hoping to have the chance to really get to know some vendors and start building relationships with the people who were going to make my wedding day magical.  In my case, this was not the case at all.  I was pushed through crowds and could hardly get a full sentence in with a vendor, much less a conversation.

When I started working at Rural Hill and managing our events venue, my first thought was “we need to host a bridal show!”.  So here we are in the planning process of hosting our 1st annual bridal show!  Get excited …because I am.  :o)  This will not be your ordinary bridal show.  Food and wine will be served, along with a great DJ spinning some tunes.  The goal is for you, the client, to come in our venue and feel like you’re at a wedding reception.  You’ll have the chance to mix and mingle with some of the area’s best vendors and truly start to build real relationships with them.  After all, you’ll be communicating more with them over the next year than you will many of your friends.  Great relationships with your vendors = perfect wedding day.

Our participating vendors will be available to demonstrate what they can offer to you, answer all of your questions and best of all – offer you DISCOUNTS!  Why not join us in this fun, party atmosphere where you’ll meet your new BFFs and get great deals for booking them?  And best of all …in my opinion… you’ll get to see our rustic chic venue in action!  If you love it, book it – because I’ll be offering deals just like everyone else.   :o)

The event is FREE, you’ll have the chance to win some amazing door prizes and it’ll be lots of FUN.  So mark your calendars for Sunday, February 23, 2014 from 1pm-5pm.

Your chance to win door prizes increases with an RSVP to me…so feel free to contact me if you plan to attend!  Lauren@RuralHill.net

We’re located in Huntersville, NC.  Look us up if you’ve never been out for a visit!

“Farm-to-Table” Rehearsal Dinner

The ever so popular, healthy and delicious way of eating fresh local foods is making a break-through in wedding foods and rehearsal dinners.  The support-the-local-farmer movement is ever rising in restaurants and with caterers nation wide giving brides many farm-to-fork options when choosing the meals they’ll offer their guests on that Big Day.  Not only do you want your wedding and rehearsal dinner guests to remember all the details that you poured your blood, sweat and tears into, you want your special weekend to show your guests who you are as a newly united couple.

Imagine the “wow” you can expect from your rehearsal dinner guests as they pull up to Rural Hill’s 265-acre farm and seat themselves in our beautiful Cultural Center venue for a farm-to-table meal from your favorite caterer that, like you,  supports the local food movement.  Trendy restaurants can certainly provide a great place for gathering all of your closest friends and family members the night before you say “I Do”, however, why not give them the opportunity to step back in time and enjoy the history, beauty and serenity that Rural Hill can offer?  Show them the Piedmont North Carolina that existed 250 years ago – because it still exists here.  And what better way to say “I support local…”?

Weddings 12 days a Month!

So many brides believe that Saturday is THE DAY to have a wedding …and I’ll admit it, I was married on a Saturday.  But Saturdays book fast throughout the year in the Cultural Center at Rural Hill just like they do at any reputable venue.  Solution?  How about considering a wedding on a Friday or a Sunday?  Many venues, including our own, has lower rental rates on Fridays and Sundays while expanding your wedding date options from 4 days a month to 12 days a month!  Want a specific weekend because of perfect weather or peak fall leaves?  I’ve now provided you with a solution when that perfect weekend already has a Saturday booked.  Feel free to thank me later.  :o)

Take a look at one of our recent Sunday weddings!

Then and Now …The Story Behind the Cultural Center at Rural Hill

Along with the many people who know and love Rural Hill and its rich culture, there are many folks that don’t know a thing about it.  So here’s a brief summary of who, what, and when of Rural Hill and our beautiful Cultural Center.

 

In 1761 John Davidson, a blacksmith and American born son to Scottish immigrants married Violet Wilson, daughter of the wealthy Samuel Wilson.  In 1765 John purchased 250 acres from his father-in-law near McDowell Creek.  This is what formed the nucleus of Rural Hill.  Over the following 200 years Rural Hill transitioned from one of the largest and most prosperous plantations in Mecklenburg County to a small family farm.  In 1989, after 5 generations of continuous Davidson ownership, the land was sold to Mecklenburg County by Elizabeth, John Springs, and May Davidson, the last surviving direct descendents of John Davidson.  In 2011 May Davidson, the last surviving descendent of John Davidson passed on.  She left funds to be used for “building and/or maintenance of a cultural center dedicated to preserving and celebrating Scottish Heritage”.  Her generous gift enabled Historic Rural Hill to construct the Cultural Center at Rural Hill.

Ground was broken for the new Cultural Center at the Rural Hill annual “First Footin” on January 1, 2012.  The Center was dedicated during the next “First Footin” on January 1, 2013.

The Cultural Center contains the 2,000+ square-foot May Davidson Hall, a large multi-purpose space, and the Rural Hill Scottish Heritage Library.

 

Great story, right??  Not only can you experience the beauty that is Rural Hill, but the culture and history that we have to offer will truly set your event apart from all the rest!

I Heart Weddings

October 2013 at Rural Hill has been very different from years past.  Let me back up…

In January of this year we opened our beautiful new 4,000 square-foot Cultural Center.   This is no ordinary cultural center…it is a building that’s form was inspired by the lofty barns that once dotted Piedmont North Carolina’s backcountry landscape.  It has become the focal point of Rural Hill’s 265 acre farm.  This stunning barn with its modern amenities (caterer’s kitchen, granite countertop restroom facilities, etc) was erected at the end of 2012 with weddings and private events in mind.  Even though weddings were booked as early as May of this year, October has shinned a bright light on what’s to come.

October started off with me…the newest employee of Rural Hill, and three fabulous weddings booked!  Since I am directly responsible for managing the Cultural Center I happily attended all weddings, soaking in every experience.  There is so much to do and learn!  And every bride and groom is different.

Now, not only did we have wedding merriment ensuing on the weekends here this month, but we were also managing our 7 acre corn maze (or as I like to call it – our bread and butter).  Maze attendance is quite high here on the weekends and is very popular amongst folks of all ages throughout the region.  My challenge?  How to keep a bride’s dream day exactly that; all without ever noticing the hundreds of people coming and going for our full day maze.

Wedding number one this month went off without a hitch!  It was certainly an eye opener for what needed to be done however to prevent the “maze public” away from the private wedding celebration.  Changes were made, we staffed more heavily, and wedding number two went along perfectly smooth.  By the end of the month…and my personal favorite weekend… wedding number three proved to be a huge success.  Perfect weather, an outdoor bonfire (and of course s’mores), a great DJ, and lots of dancing led this bride and groom into the night of their lives.

Point of the story – fall is a great time to get married…especially here at Rural Hill!  We’re almost completely booked for Fall 2014 with only a few peak weekends remaining.  Don’t let the corn maze or any other big Rural Hill event scare you away from a wedding here.  We are the event experts and will ensure a perfect day that you’ll never forget…no matter what time of year.

Did I mention that I love weddings?  🙂  As of now we are finished with our 2013 weddings, but I’m already looking forward to March 2014 when they kick back into gear!

Please share your wedding experiences with us!  We’d love to hear from you!

Amazing Maize Maze

As many of you know, Rural Hill is home of the Amazing Maize Maze here in Huntersville, North Carolina.  We dedicate an entire 7 acres of our 265 acre property strictly to an incredibly intricate corn maze.  With over 2 miles of connected paths throughout the  corn maze, one is bound to spend quite some time finding their way out.  Every year our maze is open starting the second weekend of September through the first weekend of November.  On Friday and Saturday nights we offer both day and night mazes.  The most common misconception…mazes are just for kids!  Groups of all ages frequent the day and night mazes and have a blast.  Our final weekend is approaching so you still have a chance to join us in getting lost in the corn.  And don’t forget your flashlight if you plan to come at night!