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

Meet Wallace, Our Sales Director

Get to know Wallace, our Sales Director!

She’s in charge of all of our bookings, coordinating with clients, and keeping us all caught up on the Bachelorette!

A recent Clemson grad, Wallace has experience in special events and event sales coordination from across the Upstate area and knows her way around an event!

If you’ve toured the Rutherford recently, you probably met Wallace and explored the space with her. Learn a little bit more about her and why we’re so excited to have her working at the Rutherford!

Dream job as a child? 

Ballerina

Favorite space in the Rutherford + why? 

Our Brick Room (the upstairs space)! There is SO much you can do with our upstairs space, and I am a sucker for wood floors!

What’s something you always have on your desk?

A Dr. Pepper – always necessary!

Early bird or night owl? 

Night owl – I get my best work done at night!

Digital or paper? 

Paper, I’m old school.

Go-to lunch order?

A Mr. T bagel from Sully’s Steamers 🙂

Favorite TV show right now + why? 

Handmaid’s Tale for sure! It’s not like any other show and so interesting!!

Best part of working at the Rutherford? 

This is a very hard question, but I would have to say the best part of working at the Rutherford would be having the privilege of working alongside of the owner, Yasha Patel. She is such an incredible mentor!

A fun fact you’d tell at dinner parties!

I have been to 2/3 National Championships that Clemson has won! Go Tigers!

The Rutherford | Industrial Event Space

We love working with you, Wallace!

Meet Camille, Our Fall Intern!

Hi I’m Camille, and I’m the fall intern here at the Rutherford. I’m entering my senior year at Furman University as a Business Administration major. Throughout my time in college, I’ve dabbled in public relations and sales, but I am so excited to gain more experience on the business side of event execution.

Originally hailing from Hanover, New Hampshire, I am a little bit Yankee and little bit Y’all. I grew up in New England as the Yankee grandchild to all of my southern relatives. But to my New England friends, I will always be the southern belle rocking cow boots and a flannel.

Sleep is a foreign concept to me—most days I’m taking a 5am Orangetheory class and staying up way too late wrapping up homework for my HR or marketing class. During the in-between hours, I’m in charge of Furman’s Relay for Life as well as active as the Vice President of Member Education in my sorority. You can also find me baking up plenty of sweet treats—gluten-free of course, as I “Glucant.”

During my time at the Rutherford, I’m hoping to gain skills in event coordination and work more in-depth on the business side of a small company. After a summer in PR, I can’t wait to use my verbal and written communication skills to work with both clients, as well as vendors, on executing flawless events.

The Rutherford | Greenville Event Space

We’re so excited to have you on 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

Creating Your Own Signature Cocktail

Your wedding day is all about you and what YOU want the day to look like! Most couples usually put a lot of thought into flowers, food, and friends. But an out-of-the-box way to personalize another part of the celebration with your own cocktail!

Where to Start

What’s your typical going-out drink? Do you prefer a simple gin and tonic? Or something stronger like an old-fashioned? Perhaps you and your significant other bonded over a certain IPA. Why not serve that at the reception? It’s all about creating a day that you love!

The Rutherford | Signature Wedding Cocktail
Madison Grae Photography

Tie It to the Theme

The devil is in the details, and we love a subtle element that incorporates the overall theme of the evening.

Sometimes the glass in which the drink is served can spice up the drink and fit the mood of the evening. Tags and stirrers can also add to the visual appeal of a drink. It’s also an easy way to tie in your color scheme without having to dye the drink.

The Rutherford | Signature Wedding Cocktail
DiPietro Photography

 

Consider the food you’re serving and maybe incorporate a drink to compliment it! If you’re having a shrimp and grits bar, consider a southern-inspired cocktail.

Advice From the Pro

We chatted with one of our favorite bartenders, Jared, from Southern Libations, about how to get the most out of your bar!

First, a bit about what he does:

Southern Libations was founded on the idea that temporary bar set ups could be more than your typical line up of beer, wine, and spirits. They found a void and decided to be the company that offered specialty drinks for reasonable prices from a bar that would be an experience for the guests who saw and interacted with it. The drinks are an important part of any wedding reception but often couples and party hosts have no idea what to serve.

The Rutherford | Signature Wedding Cocktails
DiPietro Photography

At Southern Libations, we provide a unique mobile bar service and enable guests to enjoy delicious custom cocktails made from fresh ingredients. We do a lot of weddings and have been able to add a unique touch to the couple’s day with our stylish mobile bars and custom drink selection. 

Signature Cocktails

He suggested that when it comes to crowd pleasing drinks, everyone has a different palate so to create at least two signature cocktails. 

Signature cocktails are a great way to add a personal touch to the bar at an event. For weddings, couples can customize the names to reflect their personalities. Where you really have the chance to go deeper and allow your guests to engage with your menu, is when you make a drink personal to you, your company, or the people you are gathering within celebration.

The Rutherford | Signature Wedding Cocktail
DiPietro Photography

This can also be turned into a “his and her” feature on the cocktail menu. A popular example would be a Moscow Mule (Vodka, lime, ginger beer) for the bride and an Old Fashioned (Bourbon, sugar, bitters) for the groom. From this selection, guests can still do standard two ingredient drinks with the spirits listed like bourbon/cola, vodka/tonic, etc. 

 The Rutherford | Signature Wedding Cocktail

Full open bars can provide guests with too many options. Focusing on 2-4 interesting cocktails makes the selection easier for the guests and makes the drink menu more personalized to the event. People will be more satisfied if they can start with a fairly limited number of high quality options, and go from there.  

Get Outside the Box

One unique concept that Southern Libations offers is putting cocktails on tap. Serving cocktails on draft speeds up bar service and ensures consistency with each drink. Many cocktails can easily be put on draft.

They love using Cannonborough All-Natural Craft Sodas out of Charleston—their line up includes Ginger beer, Raspberry Mint, Honey Basil, and Grapefruit Elderflower. From there, they combine your spirit of choice to the soda keg to create a unique cocktail on tap that can be served in under 6 seconds. Couples usually combine the cocktails on draft with a bubbly or beer on tap, or both. 

The Rutherford | Signature Wedding Cocktail
DiPietro Photography
The Rutherford | Signature Wedding Cocktail
DiPietro Photography

Having these drinks ready to serve straight from the tap cuts down on drink preparation time and keeps the line moving throughout the night. This also creates much less waste at the end of the night.

Let us know what you’re thinking about for your signature wedding cocktail!

– 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