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Garner wedding venues prepare for bookings

By Lisa Mumma
Citizen Journalist

Two Garner event venues are approaching one-year milestones, and clients and patrons alike are celebrating their offerings and settings.

A recent Rand-Bryan House wedding ceremony. MARTHA LILES, CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Both operated as family businesses, Anfesa’s Grand Marquise Ballroom and the Rand-Bryan House are preparing for additional bookings and heavier traffic as their facilities grow in presence within the Garner community and surrounding areas. Based on their heavy calendars, both anticipate better times are ahead, especially as the fall wedding season approaches.

A regal backdrop

An 18-year retail veteran who grew up working in her parents’ shoe shop and owned a clothing store before launching her jewelry business, Anfesa Matthews wants to serve her clients for life, and she saw the opportunity to accomplish this goal through a wedding and event venue, her Grand Marquise Ballroom. Located off Hwy 70 in the Fidelity Shopping Center, Anfesa’s place boasts a regal flair with its marble columns, grand staircase and expanse of space.

“I have always loved the Louis XIV era,” Anfesa said. “I want the bride and her guests to feel and be treated like royalty, and the décor sets the theme.”

The business is a family affair. Husband Al, a contractor by trade, assists whenever and wherever there’s a need, “from setting up tables, to being a painter to jumping in to help sell jewelry.” There’s also her daughter, Meredith, the event coordinator for the facility, and son McKenzie, the “lighting and audio guy,” a UNC-Chapel Hill student who helps during the summer and on weekends. Meredith’s fiancé, Bobby Eisman, also plays an active role in serving the clients.

“This building has been a dream of my mom’s for a long time, and when she does something, she always does it over the top,” Meredith said of the venue that took three years of planning and more than nine months of construction. “We have been approached about the possibility of franchising our concept. … I think that would be a great idea, so who knows where that might go?”

Barbara Cawley (née Cooper), 29, Anfesa’s first bride who celebrated her big day Sept. 5, 2009, describes the setting of her wedding reception as classy and elegant. A regular jewelry customer, Cawley saw sketches of the ballroom posted in the window of Anfesa’s former store.

“I immediately fell in love with the place without even laying eyes on the building,” said Cawley, a Clinton native who attends Garner’s Springfield Baptist Church with her husband Tony, 39, and works as a Medicare auditor at one of the local hospitals. “I knew that was where my wedding reception would take place.”

While the venue was too new for Cawley to take advantage of services at the adjacent spa, and she declined the option to rent jewelry for the occasion, Cawley is still a satisfied customer. She has also booked the ballroom for her upcoming baby shower in early December.

Garner’s pastoral setting

The Rand-Bryan House’s Martha Bryan Liles, who grew up on the Benson Road property when it was a dairy farm, remembers the homestead as a gathering place, a key motivator in her decision to renovate the historic house into a place for weddings and special events.

“My former home is a happy alternative because my family and parents always enjoyed having people here, so this step seemed appropriate,” said Liles, who manages the business with insurance broker husband Robert and help from daughter Audrey when she’s not away at college. “I don’t think so much about the way the house was; its new life is an extension of its former self.”

Liles translated her planning and organization skills from her days as a human resources professional into spearheading the five-year renovation process. After securing a zoning change, deconstructing down to the studs, bringing rooms up to code, adding multiple bathrooms, building a parking lot and integrating modern amenities such as wireless access and digital sound systems, she feels the space offers options and flexibility while maintaining the home’s integrity, including landscaping and the grounds.

“The setting is the draw,” Liles said. “The real appeal is outside.”

The farm feel is exactly what Sarah Walker (née Umstead), 26, wanted for the backdrop of her Oct. 3, 2009 nuptials to then-fiancé Christopher Walker, 26, the first couple to hold their wedding at the Rand-Bryan House. Wanting an outdoor ceremony and reception, Walker deemed her original garden location unsafe for her grandparents and searched for alternative sites as her big day loomed. Thanks to a tip from Garner natives and parents-of-the-bride Garry and Susan Umstead, who had heard about the then-under-construction venue, Liles invited the family to tour the facility.

“My husband got there first and sent me the text ‘jackpot,’” Sarah said. “It was a unique location and a perfect setting for what we wanted. I loved having the Christmas trees behind me and the wraparound porch with the rocking chairs.”

Even a traffic snarl on Benson Road in front of the house on the special day didn’t dampen the occasion. After consulting the bride, the mother of the bride, Susan, said that Liles accommodated the wedding party and guests by postponing the start of the ceremony and jumpstarting hospitality offerings, a move that relieved everyone’s stress.

“It was a magical day,” Susan said of her daughter’s wedding. “The home set a warm and welcoming mood. The Rand-Bryan House was the best choice we made. Everything after that was easy.”

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