The unique element that makes Ashford Acres Inn stand out as a wedding venue is that your experience begins the day before your wedding and lasts through the day after . Your long-awaited-for, momentous celebration doesn’t have to fit into a five hour block of time.

When you arrive at the Inn the day before your wedding, you’re guided to your luxurious room decorated with comfort in mind, where you can get acquainted with the space and enjoy a complimentary, homemade, sweet snack and beverage. It’s the perfect start to your weekend. Your closest friends and family who are staying at the Inn are also arriving and getting checked-in. You marvel at the fact you don’t feel stressed the day before your wedding and feel proud of yourself for finding a place and the people to help you enjoy such an extraordinary time in your life. You don’t have to think about placing the centerpieces for the next day, what time your cake will be delivered or where to store the bouquets when they arrive in the morning. All details were planned months and weeks before and are being taken care of by the Ashford Acres Inn Wedding Coordinators and staff.

Evening rolls in and it’s just about time for the rehearsal and dinner. The Ashford Acres Inn Wedding Coordinator is available to walk you through your ceremony rehearsal, guiding your wedding party and family members, making sure everyone knows exactly what’s expected of them the next day. Then it’s time for the meal, preferably in one of our more intimate settings, such as inside the historic main house dining rooms or on the veranda, nestled next to our splendid, old magnolia tree and overlooking the soft, rolling grasses on the farm behind the house. This is such a special meal. The energy and excitement are vibrant as your most cherished guests gather to celebrate you and your soon-to-be significant other. Delicious food is served, toasts are made, and lingering is allowed! Guests can stroll on the farm wandering past the old tobacco barn to the pond, watch the sun set on the classic front porch rocking chairs, or gather for extra conversation in the comfort of the sitting room. The night moves at the pace you choose and the mood settles your spirit in preparation for the excitement of the next day.

After a restful night’s sleep in your cozy suite, you make your way to the dining room to join the other overnight guests, all of whom are your family and friends, for a complimentary, homemade, southern breakfast. Over plates of cheese grits, scrambled eggs, maple bacon and sweet crepes, your excitement for the hours ahead grows. You don’t have to worry about where or when you’re getting ready because your rooms have already been prepared for you and your wedding party. Later, a light lunch will be served buffet style either in the dining room or just outside your suite, and all vendors arriving to help you prepare will be directed by staff to where they need to be.

Now it’s time for your ceremony and the Ashford Acres Inn Wedding Coordinators gather your bridesmaids and family, make sure all bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres are in their proper places, and line everyone up in preparation for the processional to begin. You spend those last few special moments before your big entrance, with your family and friends who are excitedly standing with you. Your guests are awaiting your grand walk down the aisle, seated in perfectly aligned and flower-adorned chairs in the ceremony location you chose months before. 

After perfectly sweet vows are exchanged and guests have dried their happy tears your photographer guides you, your family and your wedding party to capture-the-moment in the many amazing locations on the property for wedding photographs. While you smile and pose for the camera, our staff will serve your guests during cocktail hour, making sure everyone is happy and entertained until the reception area is opened and your guests can find their seats and await your introduction as a new married couple!

It’s time for the reception! This is the part of the day everyone has been waiting for – a time to celebrate and visit with friends, eat scrumptious food, sample specialty drinks at the bar and dance, dance, dance! The hours of love and work provided by the Ashford Acres Inn staff to make the reception beautiful and impressive, pays off when everyone sees your guests’ expressions as they enter. They rave to each other about how they can’t believe it looks so gorgeous and how they haven’t been to another wedding so splendid.

Now that the ceremony is over and your vows have been masterfully expressed in front of your chosen audience, you can breathe a sigh of relief because everything you wanted for your wedding day happened exactly as you dreamed it would. You laugh, listen to toasts from the most special people in your lives, during all the mingling with your guests you try to find moments to grab a bite of the food you carefully selected many months before, you catch a private few minutes on the dance floor with your new partner swaying in front of a magnificent background of Kentucky bluegrass and you allow yourself to bask in the moment of YOUR day. 

When the wedding traditions are over, you give the signal to the DJ that it’s time to turn the party up! You spend hours on the dance floor with your besties dancing away and creating memories you’ll cherish forever. The flower girl is learning new moves, grandma is showing off her skills and you’re having the time of your life.

And then finally…it’s time for your big finish, your grand exit. Your guests line up and one last time they celebrate your brand new marriage. Beneath a tunnel of flashing sparks and screams of happy congratulations, you make your way to the Garden Suite, where you’ll spend your first night together as a married couple.

Arriving in the suite you find to-go boxes, put together and placed in your room by the staff, of the delicious food from your reception, which you were only able to pick at because you were having so much fun with your guests. You sit for a moment, slip off your shoes, take time to fill your belly, and you appreciate being alone with your new partner. At the end of the night when you close your eyes you struggle to fully relax because you keep replaying all of the exciting and happy emotions of the day. You finally do doze off though, sunken into the soft pillow-top mattress that envelopes every inch of your body. 

But your memory-making isn’t over yet…

You wake the next morning, surprisingly well rested and walk to the dining room to meet your close friends and family who also stayed overnight. Everyone is excited to welcome you and you sit down to share your first breakfast together as a married couple and the last meal of your wedding-weekend celebration. You look around Ashford Acres Inn and you recognize it will always have a special place in your heart. The place where you began your marriage. The place where you formed so many life-long memories with your closest companions. And you know you’ll be back. For anniversaries, birthdays, summer get-aways…The memories of your time at this special place will continue.