When envisioning Carl House in the early stages….traveling to many venues all over Georgia, I knew for SURE that I needed to build a GORGEOUS garden and ceremony location. The first occupants on this property were the Durham family who owned and operated an ornamental plant nursery on the 4 acres where Carl House now sits. Theirs was a quiet time in the small town of Carl, Georgia.
Over the years I have LOVED meeting the great and great, great grandchildren of Mama Cora Durham and her daughters Elizabeth and Istalina who first moved onto the property in 1903, long, long before fax machines, space travel and the internet.
When I came into ownership of Carl House, the grounds were overgrown and looked like a jungle needing a vision and tender, sweet, loving attention.
With the savvy of my landscaping team, we created a design to highlight the gorgeous magnolias and my favorite, the Bald Atlas Cedar and coveted Japanese Maple which I literally circled while the bulldozers moved ground for creating our vision.
The Beautiful Bald Atlas Cedar Tree
Photo: Shari Zellers Photography
We created a ceremony location with a backdrop of Cherry Trees, surrounding weeping willows which wave in the breeze, making hot summer months seem cool, azaleas to highlight spring and rose bushes surrounding our gazebo with color and fragrance, colorful annuals and perhaps my favorite, the richly fragrant gardenias just outside the ballroom, wafting magically as our brides make their entrance to their eager grooms waiting at the far end of the bridal path.
On the grounds since, dozens of brides have left the property with enormous smiles, sparkling rings on their fingers, while holding tightly the arms of their honored husbands.
Photo: Eric Delaforce
Photo: Melissa Williamson
I’m excited to see these gorgeous gardens coming once again, as if with magic, in bloom. And how delighted I am that each bride who descends down the path to meet her beloved, will do so with the artistry of these gardens and a fragrance of what I consider must be the scent of heaven.
Oh, the love of a garden and honored am I to be its steward.
We hope you’ll come visit soon and often! And PLEASE, if you are planning on booking your wedding at Carl House, we encourage you to do so by the end of this month to be entered into our honeymoon giveaway listed in our earlier blog.
Best wishes,
BB Webb
