5 Creative Save-the-Date Ideas for Your Wedding

The time between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day (aka "Engagement Season") greatly increased the number of couples that are now ready to start planning a wedding. If you want to give guests early notice about your ceremony and reception, you will need to send out Save-the-Dates. Country Jewell has a few creative ideas to impress your guests.   

Postcard
A wedding invitation is the formal invite to your special day, so you don't want to spend too much of your budget on the save-the-dates. Postcards are less expensive to mail than a card with an envelope (35 cents vs. 50 cents each.) You can get creative with the front of the postcard by using a photo of the two of you, or possibly a calendar with the date cleverly shown on the front. If you are planning a destination wedding, you might want to use postcards from the city where you will be getting married. Adding a short, handwritten message on the back is a nice, personalized touch.    

Magnet
Putting your save-the-date information on a magnet allows your guests to immediately stick it on the refrigerator, keeping it in plain sight so that your wedding excitement stays fresh in their minds. The front of the magnet can be done similar to the postcard ideas above, but this one will have to be put into an envelope to mail out.  

Mini-Calendar
There are lots of cute min-calendars available online that can be personalized, but a plain calendar will do the trick too. When you place it into the envelope, have it open to your wedding month and either circle the date with a heart or place a heart sticker on the date. You should also include a short note or letter cluing them in to what the calendar is all about, in case they don't get the idea right away.  

Photo Stickers
Most places that print photos can also put your pictures on small stickers, and there are many places online that you can order them from too. Send the stickers, with the backs still on them, attached to a paper save-the-date that instructs your guests to place the stickers on your future wedding date on their own calendar at home. 

Email
Another option is to send an email save-the-date. These don't have to cost you anything but a little time to create them, or you can spend a little bit and use a website that will allow you to personalize an animated email card. It can include a link to save your wedding date directly to their online calendar plus a link to your wedding website if you will be creating one.

Information to Include
Wedding save-the-dates only need to have very basic information for your guests. They are exactly what the name implies, a notice to save the date so that they have a chance to make plans to attend. You should include:

• Your names (obviously!) 
• Wedding date (or dates if it's an entire weekend)
• Location (the city for sure, the venue if you already have it booked)
• Notice that a formal invitation will follow

If you have a wedding website, this information can also be included on your save-the-dates. These should be mailed out about 6 months before the wedding to allow your guests plenty of time to make travel arrangements. 

Our scenic wedding venue near Knoxville is an excellent location for a destination wedding. Country Jewell itself seems to be set apart from the rest of the world, allowing you and your guests to enjoy a completely private experience on your wedding day, yet still located in a spot that is central to many options for your guests' entertainment and lodging needs. We are less than 10 minutes off of I-75, putting us near Knoxville, Norris Lake, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg. We know both you and your guests will absolutely love it here. Let us know if you'd like for us to "save the date" for your wedding! 

A delightfully quaint Knoxville wedding

& event venue.

6550 Hickory Valley Road

Heiskell, TN 37754

865-494-0552

Visit our website:  www.CountryJewell.com

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7 Ideas For Hosting A Fun Family Reunion

August is Family Fun Month, so our next few blogs will focus on celebrations including family. If you'll be hosting a family reunion near Knoxville in the near future, Country Jewell has the perfect place to host it, and today's blog has a few great ideas on how to keep everyone entertained while they are there. 

Map It Out
If your family has spread out over the years and all live in different areas of the state, the country, or even the world, it can be fun to see exactly where everyone is coming from. Have a large map at the reunion entrance so that everyone can mark where they now live on it for all to see. This can be set up along with a name tag table, because if your family members don't get to see each other often, wearing name tags is an easy way to avoid the embarrassing question of "Who are you?" 

Play Games
Ice-breaker games are great for getting the party going, especially if your group doesn't get together often. These will help everyone get comfortable and be more relaxed with each other. For competitive groups, plan a few relay races and host a family olympics. The games don't have to be overly organized. Your family may prefer to have a few board games and lawn games set out to play at their leisure throughout the day. 

Family Favorites
If there is an activity that always happens when your family gets together or a similar interest that you each seem to share, a family reunion is the perfect time to showcase that. Musical families can bring instruments along and "jam" together, and possibly even teach the younger kids some old classics. If you prefer something crafty, maybe everyone could work on their own quilt square and then spend some time sewing it together. 

Many families have recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. These definitely should be on the menu for the reunion dinner. You can also gather them into cookbooks to share with everyone, and increase the contents be asking each person to bring a new favorite recipe to add to the list. 

Tell Stories
When different generations come together, there is always something new to learn from each of them. Let the elders tell a few stories from their day, then have the younger family members chime in with a similar story from their modern-day lives. You could even turn the storytelling into a game and let everyone try to guess which family member the story being told is about.

Start a Time Capsule
Family reunions should be a regular occurrence. If not yearly, then maybe every 3-5 years. You can encourage this by having everyone bring something special with them to add to a time capsule. Then, make plans to open it back up at the next reunion and see how much everyone's tastes have changed. Don't forget to throw a group photo in their before sealing it up.   

Divide & Conquer
A multi-generational celebration means there are a lot of different age levels to keep entertained. Set up different areas of our rustic event venue near Knoxville to host age-appropriate activities. Young children need an area to run around and let off that youthful energy. Craft tables are nice too, and you can plan crafts for different ages. Teenagers may enjoy an area with a gaming system set up to challenge each other. Grown-ups may prefer a quieter area where they can talk and catch up with one another. Just plan to end the celebration by bringing all ages together for one last activity.  

Take LOTS of Photos
This is a lot easier to do nowadays since nearly everyone has a camera on their cell phone, and most people are never far from that phone. Technology makes it very easy to share these photos with each other too. Set up a photobooth-type area with props where everyone can get a little goofy for pics. Take lots of candid shots too, because it may be a while before you get all these people together again, but great photos will remind you how much fun you had and that you should do it again soon! And of course, don't forget to make the time for one big group picture while everyone is there.  

While you're at it, pull out photos from past reunions and display them at this celebration. After all, a big part of reunions is the chance to take a walk down memory lane together. Here's another thing that you can turn into a game. See if everyone can guess who is who in the old photos. 

Host a Country Jewell Family Reunion
Our scenic event venue near Knoxville is an excellent place to host your next family reunion. There is plenty of room, both indoors and out, for up to 100 guests to spread out and have some fun. You can make use of the beautifully landscaped outdoor areas, and the event barn has two levels, plus the following items for your group to use: 

• 20 folding tables
• 100 folding chairs
• A warming/serving kitchen with:
• a refrigerator
• oven
• microwave 

Country Jewell in Heiskell is available for all of your special celebrations. Our event venue can be rented for parties in 4-hour increments Monday-Thursday, and in 4 or 6-hour blocks Friday-Sunday and on holidays. Give us a call at 865-494-0552 to see if your desired date is available, then set up a time to stop by and see the place for yourself. It's the perfect spot for a happy and memorable family reunion!  

A delightfully quaint Knoxville wedding

& event venue.

6550 Hickory Valley Road

Heiskell, TN 37754

865-494-0552

Visit our website:  www.CountryJewell.com

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A Perfect Event Venue For All Of Your Celebrations

Our charming event venue near Knoxville has hosted many weddings over the years, but we also host all types of other events on a regular basis. The picturesque natural beauty and convenient facilities make Country Jewell the perfect place to hold all of your celebrations. 

A Great Place For A Party
We are located in Anderson County, Tennessee, less than ten minutes off of I-75, putting us very close to Knoxville, Norris Lake, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg. Your guests will be able to easily get here from any of those towns. Our chapel can accommodate up to 45 people, and the event barn can comfortably hold 100 guests.

This is a wonderful size for most types of parties. There is also a warming/serving kitchen at your disposal for all of your catering needs, plus a refrigerator, oven, and microwave. You can even use our 20 folding tables and 100 folding chairs for your guests. If you won't be doing the cooking, we can arrange to take care of the catering and other details for you.  


Engagement Parties
If you are having a large wedding, host a small engagement party for close family and friends to announce the upcoming special day right here with us. The quaint atmosphere is excellent for an intimate gathering.  

"My mother booked Country Jewell as a surprise for our engagement party and we had a wonderful time! The property is beautiful and Claudia is awesome to work with." 
~Katherine Fuller, Facebook review

Birthday Parties
We've got plenty of room for outdoor games and lots of space in the barn for more activities, refreshments, and birthday cake. Hosting a birthday party at our place means that you don't have to clean up your own place before our after the celebration.   

Family Reunions 
The scenic, open setting and kitchen facilities at Country Jewell make it an ideal place to bring your extended family together. Your group can enjoy the outdoors while having access to an indoor area to cool off and get out of the weather. You will also be able to use our kitchen area for all of your catering needs to keep the crowd fed and happy.     

Anniversaries
Our rustic wedding venue is the perfect place to commemorate the day you got married, especially if Country Jewell was the site where you originally said your vows. You can even take advantage of our outdoor gazebo or charming wedding chapel to say "I do" all over again with a vow renewal.  

"I had my parents' surprise anniversary party here...it was wonderful! Claudia is so sweet and great to work with. Her venue is beautiful and clean. She directed my caterer and DJ with set-up which helped me while I set out my decorations. My family had a great experience and made a lot of memories that night!" 
~Lindsey DeVente Stanley, Facebook review

What will you be celebrating?  
Those are just a few ideas, but there are so many more reasons that you could invite a group of family and friends to an event at Country Jewell: class reunions, retirement ceremonies, holiday parties, and so much more! If our event venue near Knoxville sounds perfect for your next party, give us a call to set up a tour. We would love to help you host your next special celebration.

A delightfully quaint Knoxville wedding

& event venue.

6550 Hickory Valley Road

Heiskell, TN 37754

865-494-0552

Visit our website:  www.CountryJewell.com

Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow us on Google+