Cecil Farms' New Facility Will Join the List of Wedding Venues on Working Kentucky Farms

 

 

MAPLE MOUNT, Ky. (May 16, 2018) — Suzanne Cecil White has a vivid imagination and is successfully transmitting her vision to excited brides- and grooms-to-be.

That’s why Cecil Farms’ new wedding venue, White Chateau, has already booked weddings for 2019 even though it doesn’t even exist yet. Construction is expected to start in late May.

 

“It’s amazing when I can transfer the vision from here,” she said, pointing to her head, “to an engaged couple. And they’re just as excited as I am because they can look out at that green hillside, that green space right now, and they can see it … envision this beautiful white building, classic French country style.”

 

White Chateau will hold up to 250 people inside a temperature-controlled environment. Large glass garage-size doors can be opened to increase the size of the crowd and offer an outdoor feel.

Construction should be completed by the end of the year.

 

One wedding is planned to take place in an open area on a wooded hill overlooking White Chateau.

 

“This opening, this pass through the woods, is a perfect ceremony spot with a beautiful view of thousands of acres,” White said as she stood in the spot. “This is where she’s gonna walk down the aisle and say ‘I do.’ The best day of her life is about to happen right here in 2019.”

 

Cecil Farms, a Kentucky Proud member, has been hosting weddings for several years inside a rustic barn on the 140-acre home farm that had been around for decades. But the barn was returned to its original purpose in 2016, and a picturesque 38-acre tract was purchased nearby for a new wedding venue.

 

“We had some really fun and great events in that barn,” White said. “A couple of years ago, we decided it needed updates and explored every avenue of that and the setting it was in, the whole operation.”

The barn sat in the busy heart of the working farm, between the building that Cecil Farms uses to pack its CSA (community-supported agriculture) baskets and a field of tomatoes. Trucks, tractors, and other farm equipment frequently coming and going did not mix well with wedding parties.

 

“The conclusion we came to was, we had a new farm [and] we would start from the beginning with people and visitors in mind,” White said. “This is going to be a beautiful white building with character and charm and timeless. It’s in a farm setting, but it’s not a barn.”

 

White was a high school math teacher in Bowling Green for 10 years before returning in 2011 to the family farm in southwest Daviess County where she grew up. She started Cecil Farms’ CSA, which features home delivery in nearby Owensboro and southern Indiana, including Evansville.

 

“We offer just a wide variety, probably 35 or 40 different fruits and vegetables, and tons of greens growing right now to start our CSA this month,” White said during a visit in early May. “We reach over 100 families every year, some years even peaking over 200 in membership for our home delivery service…. We also set up and visit farmers’ markets with our fresh produce.”

 

White said the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Kentucky Proud marketing program has helped Cecil Farms’ CSA grow.

 

“We’ve been ‘Kentucky proud’ our whole life and whole farming career since the ’70s, but truly a Kentucky Proud member since 2011 when we began our local and retail reach here in this region,” she said. “It’s been such a supportive program, really helping me to step out in ways that maybe I was afraid to, to spend some dollars to market ourselves that maybe I was hesitant because I hadn’t learned how to truly market yet.

 

“It [Kentucky Proud] gave me that little extra boost and push, and then we discover, ‘Wow! This works. OK, let’s keep doing this,’” she added. “Kentucky Proud has been a phenomenal program to promote and to help us learn what works.”

 

Cecil Farms will launch a new educational program in August called The Academy.

 

“This is something we’ve been working toward, unknowingly, over the last four or five years,” White said. “Everything we do around here involves a little bit of education and working with the kids.

“It all started with working with the [local Cliff Hagan] Boys & Girls Club. They’re on our farm all summer long. They’re actually growing and picking and taking care of their stuff on our farm, and we work with them through the entire year, year round. We decided we need to offer this to the public, the general public.”

 

White Chateau will host The Academy’s “students” once a month to learn about food and production.

 

“My vision is to create true educational transfer, not just coming out and having a good time – although they will have a great time,” White said. “They will experience and do what we do and have that light bulb go off, not just go through the motions.”

 

White was hoping 10 kids would sign up but “was thrilled” when more than five times that number registered – 53.

 

“This Academy, I think, is going to make huge strides to help create a better understanding of what we’re doing, but also to excite these kids,” she said.

 

White said The Academy, CSA, and White Chateau all fit within Cecil Farms’ mission.

 

“Two things are part of our mission and vision: growing the food that sustains us and growing relationships, because that truly sustains us as people, too,” she said. “We truly want to connect with people, and we believe that’s what people want as well – human connection.

 

“So we’re so excited with White Chateau at Cecil Farms and everything we have to offer here that we’re going to be creating connections.”

 

Visit CecilFarmsPd.com regarding produce and WhiteChateau.com for more information about the wedding venue.

 

To find Kentucky Proud vendors who can help with your wedding, go to kyproud.com/weddings.

 

Above: Suzanne Cecil White shows where the White Chateau will be built. (Kentucky Department of Agriculture photo) Below: An artist's rendering of the chateau.