Bella Patton, Campus Carrier features editor

Ava Jarrell, Campus Carrier asst. features editor

Berry’s famous scenery and landscapes make the campus a popular destination for weddings. According to Berry’s website, the college offers a total of six wedding venues, including popular spots such as Ford Dining Hall, Barnwell Chapel and Frost Chapel. Hospitality and Event Services is responsible for weddings and other events on campus. 

Hospitality and Event Services Coordinator Becky Alford helps with coordinating the use of many of Berry’s spaces for weddings. Alford discussed the process by which couples can choose a venue for what many consider to be one of the most important days of their lives.

“We offer tours,” Alford said. “They’re free. You have to go online and book them. They’re an hour long, and we can tour up to two different venues. We’ve got three chapels and two reception spaces that we manage. There’s College Chapel, Barnwell and Frost Chapel. Then for reception spaces, we have Ford Dining Hall and Oak Hill Pavilion. Then, if they decide they want to book, there’s a form we ask them to fill out, and that starts a communication with our student team to look and see what dates are available.”

Once the couple books an event space, Alford writes a contract and outlines a budget. Charging for these venues allows for the department and the college to continue to provide positive experiences to the guests. It also helps to preserve the churches and reception areas, many of which are almost a century old.

“I handle payments that do come in because, yes, we do charge for our spaces,” Alford said. “One, because we want to be good stewards of the space, and being a good steward of space, it costs money. Two, they’re historical spaces, so they can be finicky and sometimes cost a little bit more money to fix. We’re looking at upkeep, we’re looking at if there is a plumbing issue, if there’s heating and air issue, and then also doing some modernization to the spaces.”

The department also tries to be aware of the students on campus, treating the spaces as a part of the greater college.

“We always do rehearsals on Fridays between 5 and 7 p.m.,” Alford said. “First and foremost, we are a very active college campus. So, no, we do not do midweek, small weddings, or micro weddings. We are too alive and active to be able to. So Fridays, rehearsal, and then Saturdays is when they can do the ceremony. When they land on a date that is available, that gets turned over to me, and then I start writing up the contracts.”

Some couples have expressed frustration at the restrictions and rules of the event spaces, but these regulations exist to create a better overall experience.

“If you have an event here, you have to pick from this list of exclusive food and beverage vendors,” Alford said. “Both Ford Dining Hall and Oak Hill Pavilion don’t have all the things that a cooking kitchen would have, so food is not prepared on site there. The folks we have on our list, they’re local, and they know what our spaces can and cannot provide.”

Alford also explained the importance of food in the wedding celebration and why the restrictions of the event spaces require vendors to be close to the campus.

“The likelihood of food being preserved and prepared three hours away and coming here, the quality’s not going to be that great, and that’s not a good look on the caterer; that’s not a good look on us,” Alford said. “Therefore, we’ve just said, ‘Here are our wide variety, both in price and in taste of vendors that know 
our space.”’

Many of the events, though coordinated by professional directors, are mediated and largely run by student workers. Alford expressed her appreciation for her students, as well as her wish to support them in a job that can attract some stressful encounters. 

 “My team knows that I have their back, and they know that I’m always on call for them,” Alford said. “I have had times mainly dealing with alcohol that I’ve had to come up and sadly be the adult, even though my students are adults. Really? I had to leave my house and come tell you, ‘This what my student just told you.’ I get very passionate about that because they are a reflection of me, and I feel like if you’re being disrespectful to them, you’re being disrespectful to me, and that’s not okay.”

Alford said she loves supporting her student workers and guests alike.

“Working with the students, that’s my favorite part,” Alford said. “If we do setups, I get to jump in and help with setups. If there are times where we’re just stretched thin and I don’t have students, I work the weddings, and it can be fun. It’s interesting to see what the fashion is or what elements of the ceremony they bring in. Some people want organs. Some people want piano. Frost has excellent acoustics, and I love when a wedding brings in violins and cellists. We don’t even have to plug them into our sound system. I sign up for those weddings, because it’s a free concert. It’s beautiful.”

Many students at Berry also find themselves preparing for their own weddings this season. In a little over a month, senior Abigail Simpson will be getting married to her high school sweetheart on family property after being engaged for two years. Simpson said that the key to balancing wedding planning and student responsibilities is to be intentional. 

“It takes just being intentional, I think, because school tends to take up a lot of our time,” Simpson said. “It’s very easy to get locked in on things that are happening here, and it becomes hard to think about things at home or wedding planning. Because we’ve actually been engaged for two years, I’ve had a long time to be able to plan. And, because of that, it wasn’t so immediate that we needed to get things kind of arranged for our wedding.”

Simpson said that she looked forward to taking part in traditions such as picking out a wedding dress, trying different caterers and planning the overall event. She said it reminds her of all of the fun things that are to come, even after graduation. Most of all, Simpson is looking forward to the commitment of marriage, starting a household and eventually having a family. 

“I think it’s just such a wonderful commitment,” Simpson said. “I know nowadays a lot of people tend to wait a little bit longer, and it’s obviously anybody’s choice on that. Sometimes you find the right person later on down the road, and sometimes you find them sooner, but it’s such a beautiful commitment that you can make to another person. He’s been kind of like my rock through college, and it’s wonderful, and because I’m a religious person, I understand that it’s a biblical covenant to never be broken, and just kind of understanding the weight of that has been really profound for me. I love just kind of knowing what we’ll be building in the future.”

Being able to celebrate with family and friends has also been a highlight of wedding planning for Simpson. She said that many of her friends at Berry are going to be bridesmaids at her wedding and that her family has been supportive in giving her the resources and tools she needed to plan. However, Simpson also shared advice about the importance of setting boundaries as a future bride. 

“The one thing I will say that I’ve noticed throughout this process is that, you know, it’s great to have a big community around you to support and uplift you and also celebrate with you,” Simpson said. “But I would also encourage other ladies that are looking to get married to kind of protect their peace as well. Sometimes, managing the family dynamics for such a big event can be hard, because from my experience, there have been some people that can get too involved or overly involved. It’s not a bad thing, but there are some boundaries that I think you have the right to set as far as planning goes, and even the event itself, to make sure that you’re able to enjoy it.”