Trimming Your Guest List

Weddings are expensive! From food to flowers and drinks to decorations, costs add up very quickly. You want the day to reflect everything that’s important to you but also not break the bank. So how to keep costs lower and stress less about your bid day?

Consider trimming down your guest lists!

Everyone from your parents to your future in-laws to your siblings have opinions on who to invite, but ultimately, it’s up to you to decide who you want to celebrate with and whose presence means the most to you and your partner.

We have some tips for trimming down your guest list below!

 

  1. Make sure that you and your partner are on the same page and stick to the rules you make! This is the only rule there is!

 

  1. Have an “A” list and “B” list. Go ahead and send out your invites to those you must have at your wedding. If you receive around 10-20% regrets, start to send out more invitations to those who you’d still love to have (colleagues, more distant friends), but didn’t make the first round for whatever reason.

 

  1. If you or your significant other has never met them before [hello your parents’ friends!], consider not sending an invitation. Especially if you are the one footing the bill for the wedding.

 

  1. Don’t feel like you own anyone an invitation. Haven’t spoken to them in three years? Don’t worry about it! They invited you to their wedding but you’re no longer close? It’s okay!

 

  1. Keep the guest list of adults only! And don’t feel bad about it—it’s your wedding, and while your cousin on your mom’s side might be upset, feel free to call and explain your decision.

 

  1. Only send out plus ones to those who are married, engaged, or are in a committed relationship. You might even take the stress off of singles who would feel the need to bring a date.

 

Whatever you do decide to do, your wedding is about celebrating the love between you and your significant other! We’d love to hear how you strategized your guest list!

xx The Rutherford Team

How To: Adjust to a New Wedding Season

We know it’s hard to have any definite plans about your wedding with constant changes in social distancing guidelines.

But we’re over here daydreaming about how your postponed wedding could become a fall wedding and all the fun that goes along with September, October, and November weddings!

The number one reason? Makeup doesn’t sweat off your face!

All the (more serious) reasons we love fall weddings!

 

  1. The weather’s still warm, but not sticky and sweaty! Hello, outdoor ceremonies! And no more frizzy hair! Cross that worry off your list.

The Rutherford | Outdoor Wedding

  1. The trees are still full of leaves, and if you’re lucky, it’ll be colorful for photos.

The Rutherford | Industrial Wedding Space

  1. Unique flowers and color palettes are all the rage. This is your explicit permission to try something out-of-the-box (if you weren’t already doing it:))

The Rutherford | Industrial Wedding Space

  1. Fall foods are the best! Think: root vegetables, apples, and other warm, hearty foods! Consider serving apple cider or apple pie!

The Rutherford | Alternative Wedding Cakes

 

  1. Take advantage of our farmhouse tables for a rustic feel.

The Rutherford | Industrial Wedding Venue

Looking for more inspiration? Check out some of our previous fall and winter weddings we’ve hosted at the Rutherford!

Randi + Brad’s Wedding

Noelle + JJ’s Wedding

xx The Rutherford Team

Check Out Our After Hours!

Every month, we bring in some of our favorite vendors and dress up for an evening in our favorite place! Our After Hours are one of our most popular ways to show off the Rutherford to potential clients, our booked bride, and their friends and families (and to try all of the yummy samples our featured caterer brings in)!

The Rutherford | Event Space

Our After Hours events offer YOU the opportunity to meet with vendors at one time and hopefully help you in booking and planning different aspects of your wedding. We know that there’s so much that goes into each and every wedding, and we want you to have as much time and as many options as you need to plan the perfect day! You’ll also get to see the space partially set up for an event, (and filled with people) helping you to visualize your evening!

The Rutherford | Event Space

One of our favorite parts of After Hours? Getting to see the courtyard under the lights. Most of our events continue well into the evening, so visiting the Rutherford at night will allow you to see what your event will look like under the stars.

The Rutherford | Event Space The Rutherford | Event Space

Already well into wedding planning? Come bring your friends and family so they can see where you’re celebrating your big day! This way everyone feels a part of the planning process and you get to feel at ease knowing that your closest confidants approve.

The Rutherford | Event Space

Our next After Hours is March 16th from 5-7pm, so be sure to stop by and say hi!

2019 Reflections

Looking back on 2019, it’s hard to comprehend how much growth The Rutherford has seen in the past 12 months.

This past year, we’ve hosted countless weddings, corporate events, and functions. And it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers. But what we remember most is the details from every event. From the luggage tag name tags at a travel-themed wedding to the wedding party that came straight from their ceremony at Pretty Place, each event is unique.

At The Rutherford, we get to see all the moving parts that go into each event and we get to see how they make people feel. Each event is unique—they all have their challenges and their own flair. But at the end of each event, our favorite thing to see is the happy couple or hostess walk away with a smile on their face.

Community has always been a core aspect of our business and reflecting on the past year, we’ve seen that continue to grow. Vendors, new and old, come into The Rutherford and continue to amaze us with their talents. Our open house and showcases give us the ability to connect with them and help our clients plan the event of their dreams. It truly is a team effort and we’re so thankful to be a part of it all.

Along with expanding our outside community, we’ve also grown internally this past year, adding Wallace on as our Director of Sales. She’s a dream to work with and truly understands how to make each of our couples’ dreams come true. Every time she gives a tour, we can’t help but fall in love with our space again! Our intern program has also grown this year, with four new faces from Furman and Clemson. It truly takes a village to create a space like the Rutherford, and we love our team and all the fabulous work (and fun!) they do.

The Rutherford | Industrial Event Space

We’re so excited for another year at The Rutherford filled with weddings, parties, and other events. Here’s to ringing in a new decade and a year of possibilities!

xoxo

The Rutherford Team

3 Ways to Keep Guests Entertained During Your Reception

One wedding trend that we’re excited to see continue into 2020 is reception entertainment. While dancing is still the highlight of the evening, it’s fun to change it up and add in a few extras to spice up the night!

A Few of Our Favorites

Photo Booth

Help your guests remember the night with a photo booth! Selfie booths have become popular in the past few years and you can either have printed or digital options for your guest to keep. Customize it even more with a frame or filter just for your night!

DiPietro Photography

Interactive Food Station

Guests take their food seriously, especially if a long night of dancing and celebrating are ahead. Interactive and customizable food always excite and amuse people.

Some of our favorite caterers have A-MAZ-ING food options

  • Good Life Catering offers a made-to-order grilled cheese station and a liquid nitrogen ice cream sundae bar!
  • Chef 360 has a Mashed and Smashed Potato Bar.
  • And if you’re in the mood for pizza, Coastal Crust uses their food truck at weddings—which we love to see in our courtyard!
The Rutherford | Interactive Food
DiPietro Photography

Late Night Food

Keep people happy with late-night food. Pizza, French fries, and doughnuts are all popular options. Bringing your favorite food is also another way to add a unique touch to your wedding (Bite Squad delivery?) Maybe even throw in a coffee bar so people have the energy to keep dancing all night long!

For some incredible local options, check out Chef 306’s After Burner menu. Yes, you read that right—breakfast for dinner!

The Rutherford | Late Night Bites

What are you thinking about serving for your wedding?

– Audrey

Selfies with Brides

One of the fun traditions the owner of the Rutherford, Yasha has, is taking selfies with every bride!

In general, Yasha is pretty much the selfie queen. So it’s no surprise that when the Rutherford opened two years ago, Yasha started a tradition of taking selfies with all of the brides.

During the Rutherford’s first wedding season, Kaycee Hines’ wedding kicked off the month of May. It was only natural that she and Kaycee took a photo together.

From there, it just took off as a must-do on our event checklist. If Yasha knows she can’t be at the actual wedding, she’ll take on with couples during a planning meeting the week before. 

We love to become a part of a couple’s story and see all the planning and fun they have on their wedding day, and think of these selfies as a way to reminisce on all the excitement from their event.

Venue Showcase Sneak Peek

It’s that time of year!

Our Venue Showcase is happening again. This time, we’re featuring new looks and setups, as well as curated vendors, tons of entertainment, and tasty food and desserts!

We hope the evening helps you visualize your wedding and inspires new ideas that you can incorporate in your special day!

A Sneak Peek of the Night

You’ll enter through our upstairs Brick Room to start the evening. Enjoy sipping on bubbly from the bar as you preview one of the two ceremony setups. 

The Rutherford | Venue Showcase

Making your way downstairs to the Warehouse, you’ll experience dinner and cocktail hour, as well as entertainment from various vendors. We’ll have a never-before-seen custom draping look, as well as different lighting and hanging decorations.

The Rutherford | Venue Showcase

Don’t forget to try all the bites—our favorite part of the evening!

Stepping out into the Courtyard, you’ll see an outdoor ceremony set up under the lights, capping off a wonderful evening with entertainment and fun!

The Rutherford | Venue Showcase

Want to see all of this in person?

Come to The Rutherford’s Venue Showcase on August 20th from 5 – 8 PM.

Please register via Eventbrite and drop by at your convenience to see our space, as well as talk with vendors about their services!

We can’t wait to see you there!

– The Rutherford Team

Two Years at the Rutherford

Two. Years.

We’ve loved being a part of the Greenville community for these past two years. Building memories, creating events, and establishing relationships and partnerships across different fields. It’s hard to believe that it’s only been two years because it feels like we’ve been doing this forever.

A lot has changed since we first opened our doors in 2017. Over these past two years, we’ve grown to have a full-time sales director who is just as excited about the Rutherford and everything that we do. We’ve also developed an internship program to help college students in figuring out their career paths. Our team is one that is passionate about helping clients host the best event, and we couldn’t be more thankful for that. We thrive off of client feedback and are always working as a team to make our venue a better space.

One of our favorite parts of the whole experience is seeing all of the different brides and what they do with the space. We’re always inspired by each event and every way they change and transform our space for the evening. No two events are ever the same, and that’s what we love so much about this job—the ever-changing, fast-paced, and inspiring environment.

The Rutherford | Industrial Event Space

Thank you for being a part of The Rutherford’s story. And for helping us to build this community right here in Greenville.

We wouldn’t want it any other way.

The Rutherford Logo—Explained

The Rutherford Logo—Explained

Have you ever wondering what our logo means—and why it means so much to us?

When designing our logo, we wanted to highlight the three spaces that define the Rutherford and all the events we can host because of them.

Not only does the R stand for Rutherford, but the three different parts of our R logo represent the three different spaces that we have at our venue—the Brick Room, the Warehouse, and the Courtyard.

The Brick Room is our upstairs spaces and features the original hardwood floors and plenty of windows for natural light.

Downstairs is our Warehouse, which we’ve seen transformed into dance floors, reception dinners, and cocktails hours.

Stepping outside of the Warehouse will lead you to the Courtyard, which might be one of our favorites for dancing under the lights or daytime parties.

The Rutherford | Brick Wedding Venue

We’re always so excited to offer our clients three unique spaces when it comes to planning their events. The brick room, warehouse, and courtyard are all customizable to each event and offer a plethora of opportunities to design with and around.

Let us know how our spaces could help you plan your next event!

– AR

Courtyard – Spotlight

Our best kept secret.  The Rutherford Courtyard.

We’re a little biased, but our outdoor space is our favorite—especially this time of the year! From wedding ceremonies to the reception, there are so many ways we’ve seen the space utilized and wanted to share a few of our favorites.

Continue reading “Courtyard – Spotlight”