Fall in Love with Carl House

You’ve fallen in love with the man of your dreams, NOW it’s time to Fall in Love with Carl House– the wedding venue of your dreams.

Every quarter Carl House hosts a bridal event where we gather together some of our prefered vendor partners to meet with you lovely brides. This bridal event, aptly named “Fall in Love with Carl House” will have an autumn-themed menu in mind. For the first time as an evening event, you’ll be able to taste the culinary treats of our Executive Chef Derek Smith, meet the entire Carl House team, tour the estate, and meet vendors face to face.

Brides to be, and one guest are free! Each additional guest is a nominal $15. Reserve your spot today, by calling 770-586-0095 or by emailing diane@carlhouse.com RSVPs and prepayment requested by Thursday, October 14th.

To learn more about our participating vendors click the links below.

Carl House Florals

Atlanta Magazine

Savii Formalwear

Cakes by Mark Fitzpatrick

Forever Endeavors Photography

Courtyard by Marriot

Diversity Limo

Global Escapes

Hampton Inn Lawrenceville

Hilton Garden Inn

Marlon Galviz Photography

Tod Peavy Entertainment

Mary Kay by Crystal Rice

Matt Bowman Photography

Music Masters by Andrew Byrd

Perfect Wedding Guide

Rev. George Callahan

Sarah Eubanks Photography

A Sound Occasion

Your Story Starts Now

La Ti Da

We hope to see you there!

- Lauren, Director of First Impressions

(top photo by Krisi Odum, middle photo by Sarah Eubanks, bottom photo by John Campbell)

The Dazzling ‘Society Express Band’

The Society Express Band, from Atlanta, GA., is an amazing, hip “little big band” that plays a huge repertoire of songs. From Big Band swing, Motown, classic rock & funk to salsa, pop, beach, Dixieland and blues. This band, together for over 18 years, sets the party on FIRE with the Top 40 dance hits that are guaranteed to dazzle the masses, and get your guests out of their seats and onto the dance floor. (And if we may brag for them, Society Express recently received the honor of being voted one of the Hottest 150 bands in the USA by Modern Bride Magazine 2006, 2007 and 2008 and Brides Choice 2010 Wedding Wire.—CONGRATS!)

Flexible in size, The Society Express Band consists of a core group of five band members who all sing and play more than one instrument. You’ll enjoy sax, stand up acoustic double bass & electric bass, guitar, keys, trumpet, trombone, drums and you’ll be thrilled with all the variety and lush harmonies of their male and female vocals! And with over 15 staff musicians, they can easily add additional players to create the exact sound you are looking for, or scale down and play as a smaller quartet, trio or duo.

Band Leader, and lead vocalist, Jeni Michelson has captivated audiences with her exquisite vocals and powerhouse beltings. She is an internationally published songwriter who has also written numerous award winning advertising jingles for radio and television as well as played for President Jimmy Carter, and Governors’ Zell Miller, Roy Barnes, and Sonny Perdue.  For samples of Society Express Band’s work visit YouTube here or here.

Carl House owner BB Webb met Jeni Michelson several years ago….’Jeni is an AMAZING woman and a leader.  As a business person I admire her tenacity, her drive and her incredible leadership.  As an artist, I am enthralled with how she can transform a room with her presence, her style and oooh, that voice.  She appeared on my former television show, ‘Living Life with Style,’ which people are still talking about.  She’s a soul sister for sure and I’m fortunate our paths crossed when they did!’

If your preference is live music, at your wedding or holiday party, be sure to consider Society Express Band- you WON’T be disappointed! For booking information, feel free to contact Jeni at 770-579-6967 or by email, jeni.michelson@mindspring.com.

Lauren, Director of First Impressions

Introducing Dania McDonald Lane, Harpist Extraordinaire

Excitement filled the air when Harpist Dania McDonald Lane  contacted Carl House with the idea of performing at our upcoming Wine Tasting event. We are overjoyed at the idea of Dania playing here at Carl House – and that the sound of the strings and her talented fingers will once again fill the halls of our Grand Estate!

But who IS, Dania McDonald Lane? Let me tell you more about her!

Dania began playing the harp in fourth grade in an afterschool program. In middle school Dania’s family purchased her own harp for her, where she began to participate in a strings program and honor orchestra.  She continued by attending UGA and the Cincinnati College-Conservatory for my music degrees. Today Dania is a well-known accomplished orchestral player as well as a freelance artist affiliated with many professional orchestras.

Dania has been featured on NBC in Cincinnati, Q-100 radio and the WBTV12 Community Focus program, and has a range of musical talents, having performed with artists such as Josh Groban, Bernadette Peters, Suzy Boggus, John Berry, Joseph Alessi, John Bruce Yeh , Riders in the Sky, Chris Martin and Mark Hughes. She also performs both as a soloist and as part of a duo or trio with flute or violin and cello; and performs for weddings, receptions, corporate parties and many other events.

Carl House owner BB Webb is THRILLED to have such an accomplished musician working en tandem with us! 

For further information on Dania’s services, please feel free to visit her website, or call Carl House for when her next scheduled public event will be.

Lauren, Director of First Impressions

Here’s to the Wedding Cake!

We’d like to share…..when the wedding is all said and done, guests tend to remember, and talk about, two things- the bride’s GORGEOUS wedding dress and the SCRUMPTIOUS wedding cake. Wedding cakes are the “piece de resistance”, and  WE think….should be a feast for the eyes AS WELL as the palette!

With that in mind, Carl House is proud to introduce Frosted Pumpkin- a PREMIER bakery operated by Jeff and Karyn Schwerzle. Owner BB Webb met the Frosted Pumpkin duo several years back during the first years of Carl House’s opening and ran into Jeff at the last ’Say Yes to the Dress’ event in Atlanta the other week.

(P.S. Stay tuned, the ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ crew was at our place last month highlighting one of our brides!!!  Exciting!!!!)

But I digress…The Schwerzle’s have been in the business of making exquisite cakes for a combined 35 years!  Karyn Schwerzle herself has won more than 20 awards from the American Culinary Federation, and has been presented the prestigious NY Guild of Chef’s Award for professionalism and creativity!! Frosted Pumpkin was also nominated Best Cakes by The Knot for 2007-2008, and received Allie Awards for Best Cake Presentation from 2003-2007. IMPRESSIVE….we think so and LOVE to have Frosted Pumpkin Cakes prominently displayed in our ballroom!

Frosted Pumpkin cakes range from the classic white bride’s cakes and luscious chocolate and strawberry groom’s cakes, to the novelty cakes and cupcake displays.  And, if you’ve not seen a cupcake display….they are outrageous fun!

One of the GREAT things about Frosted Pumpkin is that they create unique designs to suit YOUR specifications—whether contemporary and modern or classical and elegant- EVERY beautiful cake is made using the finest ingredients with the ULTIMATE attention to detail!

Anywhoooo….just bragging about one of our friends!

Top photo by Jeffrey himself and below, Sarah Eubanks Photography….pretty cake sitting atop our lovely square grand piano in our ballroom!

Diane Burdick, Events & Marketing– and cake-lover!

Bridal Brunch Buzz Goes as Far As Britain!!

….Well, if it didn’t, it SHOULD have!!!

FIRST of all…. thank you to Ms. Cyndi from Coverups– we work closely with this fabulous company– table linens made Carl House pop!  Just look at the pinks and lavenders.  It’s official, I want to get married all over again!!

YES, Carl House’s Summertime Bridal Brunch was a HUGE SUCCESS, thanks to our lovely bride participants and their guests as well as our preferred vendor partners!  We were thrilled that our new Candy Station offering was a hit– I mean who doesn’t love Whoopers and Peanut M&Ms??  And although it was a hot summer day in Georgia, the Carl House Gourmet Coffee Station was a loved as well, with all those sweet mixings, (coconut and carmel being my favorite)…..and of course whipped cream.

Guests enjoyed visiting the wine tasting at the beautiful granite Carl House bar, (I love the look of that bar) and sampled of the second and third-tier wine selections at Carl House.  Several commented that they loved the Rodney Strong Merlot, although Carl House Owner BB Webb prefers  the Oxford Landing Savignon Blanc, which came in as a strong second.

The DJs Andrew Byrd, Ted Crowder, Louie Londono kept the house abuzz with fantastic music throughout the day! And one of my favorite features was the live BAGPIPE music provided by Winter Taylor!  Who knew that bagpipes could rock a room? And the young Darrien Davis on fiddle was a delight as well– passion and talent for SURE!!

Perhaps the biggest hit (TO ME) at THIS Carl House bridal brunch was the FOOD!  The menu was prepared by the incomparable Chef Derek Smith, (Carl House Executive Chef) and executed by Carl House Sous Chef David Hull.  I spoke with several brides who were ‘ga ga’ about the coconut shrmip appetizers, (butler passed mind you) though my favorite (and I did go back for seconds) was the beef brisket which just melted in my mouth–honestly, it was BEYOND yummy.  And I adoree how the shrimp and grits were displayed in pretty martini glasses where you could add fresh scallions or bacon as you pleased!  Sweet potoatos and orzo pasta made it on my ‘yum’ list as well.   And of course, I had to go back to the chocolate fountain with fresh strawberries two or three times.  

Owner BB Webb officiated the event and Cornelia Powell shared her wisdom and thoughts with the crowd, giving away many of her books and CDs. Most guests walked away with one (or more) door prizes, ranging from the beautiful floral arrangements displayed on the tables (compliments of Debbie Garmon Florals, European Floral Design, Perfect Stem, and Truso Weddings), a free hour of limo service (compliments of Diversity Limo), discounts on photo packages from Sarah Eubanks, John Campbell, and Matt Bowman, as well as discounts on DJ services from DJ Louie and Ted Crowder with Atlanta Bands and DJs. Hotel accommodations were also offered by our friends at Courtyard by Marriot and Hampton Inn!

Carl House had goodies to give away as well along with GREAT incentives for booking a wedding by the end of the month– contact our Bridal Sales Consultant Monika Williams (pictured below) for more info.  By the way– the next three brides who come in to tour Carl House will receive a complimentary copy of Cornelia Powell’s CD “Open Your Heart- Meditations for Brides!”

All told, it was a great day at Carl House and fun, fun, fun to visit with great bridal talent, terrific people and brides, brides, brides!

Stay tuned for the next Carl House Bridal Brunch, planned for November 14th!  And no, maybe the people in Great Britain didn’t catch wind of the big day, but with the buzz of those bagpipes, they just MIGHT have!

Diane Burdick, Carl House Event Manager and Bride Wanna-Be!

(see our last blog for a complete list with vendor contact info)!

Carl House Summertime Bridal Brunch is this Sunday!

What’s better than a party with great food, homemade lemonade in a summertime gazebo, a wine tasting, great music (yes, fiddle and bagpipes) and PRIZES, PRIZES, PRIZES!? – Inviting your friends of course!

This Sunday Carl House is proud to invite the public to our Summertime Bridal Brunch, a time where brides gather to meet some of Carl House’s most-preferred vendor partners, to meet the team that produces our lavish events AND, (of course) to experience Carl House! (We do love putting on a party)!

Photo: jaxonphoto.com

At the Bridal Brunch you’ll be able to stroll through the gardens  and ceremony site (with your icy cold lemonade) while listening to live music, imagining what it might be like to have YOUR wedding on our pretty grounds.

You might visit our bar to partake of our wine tasting, highlighting some of Carl House’s select 2nd and 3rd tier wines. Most importantly, you’ll have the opportunity to meet our vendor partners in person to get to know them and what they do, an opportunity to see if together you might be a fit!

Our event begins at 2pm so don’t be late!!   Owner BB Webb will host the event and will be raffling off door prizes which will include floral arrangements, gift certificates to hotels, books, CDs DVDs, gift baskets, special savings with various vendor partners and so, so, so, soooo much more! Around 3PM we’ll also have a brief presentation from Cornelia Powell, author of the book “Bride’s Ritual Guide” where she’ll talk about how to savor every moment of this unique time in your life.  (She’s terrific)!

Carl House will of course be presenting fabulous culinary delights, with the menu created by our in-house Executive Chef, Derek Smith.  (You might check out his personal catering site where he is known for his green and organic selections.  Visit www.organiceatz.com for more info on Derek)!

And it wouldn’t be a real party without the famous Carl House chocolate fountain!   So, come one, come all and indulge, indulge, indulge!!

Admission is free for the first bride and one guest, with a nominal fee of $15 per person for each additional guest thereafter.  The deadline for registration has been extended to Friday by noon.  Please call our offices at 770-586-0095 to speak with Monika, our Bridal Consultant, or Diane in Marketing, for more information!

This summer’s participating vendor partners include….drum roll please!!

Author Cornelia Powell

Atlanta Bands and DJ

Bagpipes by Winter

Bowman Photography

Cakes by Originals

Courtyard by Marriott

Creative Video Moments

Debbie Garmon Florals

DJ Louie Productions

Darian Davis on the Fiddle!

Diversity Limo

European Floral Design

Hampton Inn at Sugar Hill

John Campbell Photography

Music Master

Officiant Reverend George Callahan

Perfect Stem

Sarah Eubanks Photography

Sherri Zellers

Sugar Kneads Bakery

TruSo Weddings

We look forward to seeing you at Carl House this Sunday July 25th at 2pm!

Horray for the DJ!

At Carl House we now that a beautiful wedding would be incomplete without MUSIC! The talent of a GREAT DJ goes unmeasured! Music CLEARLY sets the mood and tone and helps keep things lively during slower times in an event…..when there is no dancing or scheduled ‘happenings’.

Carl House Owner BB Webb knows the importance of setting the mood well; her background is in theatre and she likens all weddings to a performance, with the importance of timing, synergy with the players, (vendors). The culmination of the night is the “splash ending” of the show- the grand departure of the bride and groom which is often accompanied by sparkers or bubbles, making for fantastic photos, and of course, incredible memories!

Professional DJs offer an initial consultation to become familiar with your vision of the wedding as well as a final consultation. Most DJs, (we have found), have a suggested song list and encourage you to provide a ‘wish list’ of your favorite songs to play throughout the evening.

The benefit of professional DJs is that he or she can offer a wide variety of genres, and should be available to take special requests from guests (if that is deemed acceptable to you). A good DJ will take note of the level of dancing on the floor, and adjust the song list order to draw out more dancers when necessary. When choosing a DJ, make sure that you are in sync with their ‘style’.

Your DJ should of course be savvy speaking in front of a crowd and be an adept announcer when introducing your wedding party, (and meticulous about getting the pronunciation of all names correct). Assure that his attention to detail is in concert with the service you insist upon from your facility and other vendors.

Getting references from former clients is a GREAT idea as well as references from other facilities where your proposed DJ has worked. At Carl House, we refer only professionals who work well together with our team of OTHER service providers and who deliver the same level of customer service and detail as we do!

Of course!

Remember….the major intent of all vendors is to make YOUR event seamless and memorable! It’s all about YOU!

We work with a great variety of talented DJs at Carl House. DJ Louie Productions has been working with Carl House since the day we began July 5th, 2003….seven years ago. He has been in the industry for more than twenty-two years and has worked with hundreds of satisfied brides! Louie’s preference is to have two DJs at each event, enabling one to be with the guests, getting things moving, walking throughout the crowd while the other DJ focuses on the music. He’s a bilingual company, offering Spanish to his Hispanic clientele. And, we love the way he and his team can ‘rock the house’ at Carl House!

But yes, music…..the very thing that can transform a room, move a crowd and certainly bring a tear when desired!

For a list of suggested questions to ask a prospective DJ, or more information on DJ Louie productions, please visit www.djlouie.com

Photo at bottom taken by Gallis & William V. Larsen, Jr.

Sorority Formals, Award Banquets, Holiday Parties, Father/Daughter Dances….

Carl House Owner, BB Webb, photo by Laura Stone, Artstar Photography

Carl House Owner, BB Webb, photo by Laura Stone, Artstar Photography

Carl House Owner, BB Webb, photo by Laura Stone, Artstar

When I first had the idea to turn Carl House into a spectacular event venue, I visited all manner of lovely venues. I was inspired by the variety I saw, the different approaches the various owners had toward running their businesses. I was impressed with the openness I found amongst the facility owners I visited. With open arms they would share their journey with me, what worked for them, the road traveled to get where they were. I was both moved and grateful for the input I received.

Now into my 6th year of business, I find we are embarking on new directions, partnering with great vendors and planning some terrific events for the public, including themed events and fundraisers for a variety of causes certainly dear to my heart, (our first in January to support the small entrepreneur and artist…stay tuned). In addition, I am talking with developers with the intent of having a hotel built on the back 28 acres I own.

With that, we are beginning to attract sorority formals, award banquets, holiday parties and all manner of events besides weddings which we are known for. It’s an exciting time and business is growing and growing.

Stay tuned to learn about a new team member. As always, we welcome comments, questions and certainly ideas.

If you’ve not yet visited my personal blog, BB Webb as BB Webb, I’d love to have you visit! Thank you for your support of Carl House. Stay tuned as we have lots of new and exciting things coming front and center!

We have some updates on our website. And click on the following Photo Montage, (created by Laura Stone at Artstar), to meet our Carl House team.

As always, please come visit….we have so much we can’t wait to share with YOU!

BB Webb

URGENT UPDATE: VAMPIRE BALL AT CARL HOUSE!!!!

Bite me!!

Bite me!!

WE’VE HAD A HUGE ‘AHA’ AND HAVE MOVED OUR GRAND VAMPIRE BALL TO FEBRUARY…..CREATIVE MINDS ARE BOILING AND TOILING AND DRUMMING UP ALL MEASURE OF EXCITEMENT FOR THIS TO BE ANTICIPATED AFFAIR! WE WILL KEEP YOU POSTED!

Trick or Treat… Boy do we have a treat for you! Looking for something fun and exciting to do on Halloween? (DATE TO BE DETERMINED)! Always wanted to experience Carl House but never had the opportunity?

BIG news…..we’re holding our first VAMPIRE BALL at Carl House on Halloween eve!! (DATE TO BE DETERMINED)!!!! Ooooooh, more fun than we might share at this juncture, but trust that we have a team of creative minds planning all manner of naughty, playful, exciting, daring, exhilarating, creative fun with shuttle service to and from Atlanta and Athens for anyone wanting to hoist down a cocktail or two.
(Provided by our partner Cooper Altanta Transportation…travel to and from in absolute style)!

More news upcoming….but gather your dancing shoes and best Vampire garb as there WILL be prizes and OH so much more.

You’re been forewarned!! Spread the good and scary word!

Come celebrate October 31st(DATE TO BE DETERMINED)!! with The Carl House Team! Go to our website link to the right of this post to sign up for our newsletter giving you all the gory and exciting details!!

We’re having some fun…

Hello, Carl House owner BB Webb here!  I wanted to pop in to give you an update on some new things we are planning for this year and next! 

BB Headshot Color sm

We’ve been having a ball planning some fun, up and coming events at Carl House.  Aside from our specialty, (weddings), we’re designing some terrific sorority formal packages, planning a Daddy/Daughter dance, an arts fundraiser in January and of course an event (we HOPE with Santa) in December!  If you don’t yet get our newsletter, please sign up by going to www.carlhouse.com  We’ll keep you posted on great new offerings for the public.  

We’re hoping you’ll attend an event and get a flavor of what we do here, taste Chef Melanie’s luscious cuisine, experience the ambiance, our gardens and meet my terrific team.

We are always open to suggestions, thoughts and ideas, so please, feel free to comment here or email us at ch_info@carlhouse.com  

And do view more photos of Carl House and our Facebook account or we’d love to Twitter and Tweet together. Visit our social networking sites on our website.

Please come stop in anytime!! We’ve always got some strong coffee brewing.

Warmly,

BB Webb

P.S. Please pass the word about our Winter Wedding Special. We’re offering a 12K wedding for 8K from October through March. Yep, almost too good to be true. (But it’s true)!!

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