Oldest Home In Burke County NC Transformed Into Wedding Venue

There are many (sometimes quite varying) concepts of what the ideal dream wedding consists of. Some brides want a luxurious beach destination wedding, complete with a seashell theme and sunlit vows; others are more traditional and prefer to host the ceremony in a chapel and the reception in a sprawling banquet hall or ballroom. Though personal preference changes from couple to couple, one thing stays the same: they all want their experience to be utterly unforgettable.

Michael Gavin, a designer who spent 25 years of his life living in Charlotte, North Carolina, has recently devoted his time to creating a space that will do just that. He moved to Burke County with his three children, Mac, Jeff, and Monica, to restore the Historic Bridgewater Hall in the hopes of turning it into a beautiful wedding venue.

The expansive 4,700 square foot house was built in 1781 and sits on nearly five acres of land. In addition to providing adequate space for small wedding parties, it offers a few unique features onsite: a newly renovated chapel, a gazebo overlooking the old Catawba River, a bridal suite, and a honeymoon cottage. In short, it’s everything ideal wedding locations could hope to be.

Though Gavin plans on using the home to live in with his kids, he has also put together a wedding package to give as a free gift to one lucky couple from Burke County. With a total value of over $9,000, Gavin has no restrictions on who can enter.

“It can be any age range, even people that have met in their later 70s, (who) want to tie the knot and do something that is intimate and under 40 people.”

Beautiful and unique wedding locations are commonplace across America, but finding one that is just five years younger than the nation itself is pretty rare. Since approximately half (48%) of all couples do their venue research online, Gavin’s competition might cause quite the stir among the community. As for what he gets out of the generosity?

“It is just the right thing to do…I would rather share something that is really nice,” he said. “I do want to reach out in the community and make a difference.”