Evans Orchard and Cider Mill is a 5th generation family farm. Today we focus on providing great family entertainment, as well as healthy, farm-fresh fruits and vegetables. The farm is family-owned and operated by Kevan and Sue Evans and their daughter, Jenny. Kevan’s great, great grandfather started the farm, raising tobacco and cattle. These were our primary products until the early 1990s, when Kevan began growing vegetables and apple trees as alternative crops. Imagine the discussions he had with his father, when he wanted to start planting trees and his father had spent much of a lifetime clearing trees off the land! Today, the farm covers 175 acres, with 15 acres of apple and peach orchards and more than 20 acres of vegetables that are fresh-picked and sold in their Farm Market and at area farmers’ markets. Jenn Abner was kind enough to share the venue story for this weeks blog.
Why did you decide to start a wedding venue? “Everything about Evans Orchard has grown up organically. We started as a roadside market for vegetables & fresh produce. When folks came out to shop they often had kiddos in tow, who ran and played outside while mom shopped. We started with a few hay bales to climb on… and now have a huge outdoor attraction. Same with the café & U-pick. And same with our event barn. In truth, a friend saw the potential and created a business plan in exchange for getting married on the property.”
How long have you been operating? “We renovated an existing tobacco barn in 2014 and hosted the first wedding inside the barn that fall.”
Please share your experience about how much effort & cost goes into running a venue. Things that couples and start up venues may not be aware of. (heating, cooling, adv, landscaping, staff, insurance, etc…) “We are lucky to have a seasonal labor force to help with the day-to-day maintenance. In the beginning, one thing we did not plan for was state regulations on restrooms! That ended up being a real pain in the beginning. We were well researched on local ordinances but when regulators at the state level got involved, things got expensive! Suffice to say we started out a bit more simple in 2014 and 15 and try to add a little value each year. One year we added more sidewalks and improved landscaping … one year we paved the main driveway, which had been gravel… one year we added 20ft ceiling fans… And prices change to reflect that added value as we go along.
What do you like best about being a venue owner? (Nothing – lol!)”
How many acres do you have and what is it like to maintain that much property? “In the fall of 2019 we purchased the adjacent farm making the whole property now 300 acres! (That was a really big deal for us!) The majority of the property is dedicated to an apple orchard along with many summer veggies (corn, beans, tomatoes, etc) and sunflower fields. We hire seasonal help for planting & harvesting and that goes a long way to helping with mowing & landscaping the venue.”
How many weddings do you host each year? “The main area of the barn is not temperature-controlled, therefore we only recommend events mid-April through the end of October in KY. We host about 25-30 events each year.”
Do you host wedding shows, open houses? “We try to offer one or two open houses each year – one in January to catch the engagement & bridal show season. And one in September, which is a popular time for the farm so we get mostly foot traffic from people who have seen the space, but didn’t know what was going on there. Maybe they aren’t looking to get married, but maybe they have a cousin who is or could make a recommendation to their co-worker who’s daughter just got engaged. It’s a small community with a home-town feel so word of mouth is important to us.”
Do you have any important tips on how to provide a great venue tour? “Shut your mouth and listen! When potential clients come for tours, it seems like the venue is the one with the info so they should be the one talking, right? Not necessarily. I ask lots of questions and LISTEN. Couples want to feel special. Listen to the clues they are giving you and speak to that.”
What do you think your couples love most about your venue? Any venue assets/features that help you book clients? “Reviews name our event manager again and again. Yes, the space is beautiful. But people remember the personal touches.”
Do you do your own advertising & marketing? If so please share any tips on best practices that help you get your business in front of more potential clients, get more leads, etc… “Primarily we do our own marketing & social. (Honestly, this is an area we could improve upon – like I said I’m barely keeping up with social. ) In the beginning so much of our advertising was word out mouth. Again, small town. I wish I had a percentage of leads who told me they saw the venue on a HAYRIDE at the farm! We have spent money on print & TV (local channels being the most successful) but I see the most leads from social media so put most of my money there. We have never paid for Wedding Wire or the Knot and have no plans to any time soon.”
Please share any costly errors or regrets you may have learned from. “If he had it to do all over again, Kevan would start with a new barn. We spent as much shoring up an existing tobacco barn, and in the end we have spent $100K and still have an old barn. Yes, it’s charming and has that historic feel that so many are after, but it still has it’s old barn problems.
Do you have a great website? Tips on website design or features that help you attract, book clients? Check it out and let me know what you think! www.EvansOrchardEventBarn.com Powered by Wix, which is simple to use and so affordable. The current model is to keep websites clean, easy to load & mobile friendly. We do maintain a separate website for the wedding venue from the farm because the target market is so different. On the wedding side, lots of great photos & reviews help sell the idea potential clients are seeking.”
Can you share any hard challenges you would like to share with venue owners and how you overcame that challenge? “Our first review was negative – and it took a while to get past it. During a staff transition, X staff person sold the space and left, Y staff person was left to deal with a bit of a bridezilla. She blasted us on every review platform possible in 2015. We got lots of questions about her pain points on tours. I just said, I know what you’re talking about, admitted that a mistake was made, and shared what we learned from it to prevent that from happening again. Honesty is the best policy.”
Do you have any tips you would like to share with other venue owners? “Figure out what you do best and do that. You can’t be everything to every client.”
Do you have any thoughts or solutions to share regarding Covid19? Or maybe just share how Covid is impacting your business. “Wow. So many things here! At the start of 2020 we had 20 events on the books. To date nine of those have canceled and four rescheduled, some into next year. Yes, we want to be fair to everyone because we understand that they have lost something too. But also, we are not trying to “loose the farm” over covid 19! And we are lucky to be diversified in the ag sector so events are not the only income we rely on. We have had so many hard conversations but try to keep in mind the human connection through all of it. Be Kind is my motto. If I need to apologize for something that wasn’t my fault, I’m OK with that. If someone needs to tell yell at me because their mom is making them crazy, I can take it. Through 2020 we have added smaller packages and slashed prices to keep something coming in, lower prices than I would have imagined possible one year ago. I fully expect that when the economy is back to full steam, weddings will be smaller than they were in 2018 or 19. We will try to stay on top of new trends and adjust to accommodate changes.”
We want to thank Jenn Abney for taking the time to share the wedding venue story of The Evans Orchard Event Barn! Please take some time to visit their website https://evansorchard.com/ and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/evansorchardeventbarn/
If you would like to feature your wedding venue on our Wedding Venue Stories Blog please contact didi@weddingvenueowners.com and I will contact you right away. If you are an engaged couple looking for a wedding venue like The Evans Orchard Event Barn you can head over to our Wedding Venue Map to view close to 500 wedding venues in our system or contact didi@weddingvenueowners.com, I will help you find venues in your area. FINALLY Please leave comments in the comment section below, we would love to hear from you. Comment below!! Join us next Wednesday to learn about another incredible Wedding Venue Story!
Find this venue on Facebook click HERE