Location: 465 Yarbrough Rd, Roxboro, NC 27574 Capacity: Up to 225 guests (tented, row seating); 180 at tables Type: Working Farm / Lakeside Venue Website: sunsetridgebuffalo.com
Sunset Ridge Buffalo Farm occupies 260 acres of rolling hills in Person County, about 35 miles north of Durham and Chapel Hill. The Pleasant family has farmed the land for generations, and since 2001 it has also run a working buffalo herd across the pastures that surround a private lake at the center of the property. The farm hosts weddings on a gazebo set out in that lake, with two hexagonal tents on the grounds behind it for the reception.
The farm runs covered wagon tours through the pastures, with buffalo visible grazing at a distance along the way. The route sets expectations early, before anyone has seen the lake or heard the music start. The farm runs its own outdoor kitchen on-site and keeps a fountain lit on the lake after dark, so the grounds keep working once the light changes from afternoon into evening.
The Gazebo
The gazebo is ten-sided, 33 feet across, and just over 900 square feet, set in the lake. Configured for a ceremony, it seats 95; set for dining, it holds 80 at tables. The adjacent deck adds seating for 70 more guests at a wedding, or 40 at tables, so a couple can move a ceremony crowd and a seated dinner between the two without leaving the gazebo. Curtains are available for weather, and the gazebo has electrical outlets, so a couple can bring in their own music and lighting.
The Tents and Grounds
Behind the gazebo, two hexagonal tents on concrete pads sit with chandeliers, mini lights, and electrical outlets built in, and sidewalls available if the weather calls for them. Between the gazebo and the tents the farm hosts up to 200 guests, or up to 225 arranged in rows across the tents for a ceremony. The farm supplies 13 five-foot round tables seating 6 each, 2 six-foot round tables seating 10 each, and more than 200 folding chairs, along with an outdoor kitchen fitted with 2 gas grills, a refrigerator, a double sink, and a granite countertop for catering to work from. A three-room bathroom facility with hot and cold water sits on-site as well. Wagon tours through the pastures run on their own schedule and give guests somewhere to go between the ceremony and the reception.
What We Design Here
Sunset Ridge calls for work with an easy farm feel: loose, textural arrangements in warm neutrals, ivory, blush, soft gold and deep green, scaled to open sky and water. Because the gazebo has no walls, the florals do the work a room's architecture would otherwise do, a run of low work along the rails, a ceremony arrangement that frames the water behind the couple, and tablescapes kept low enough that guests can still see the lake past them. Inside the tents, taller work rises toward the peaked canvas overhead, and once the sun goes down, the lit fountain on the lake joins the tent chandeliers and mini lights, so we plan color to glow in that evening light.
Practical
Sunset Ridge Buffalo Farm is in Roxboro, about 35 miles north of Durham and Chapel Hill. The farm supplies its own tables, chairs, and bathroom facility, and keeps a preferred vendor list for outside services. The events team handles inquiries, packages, and rates directly, by phone or through the inquiry form on the farm's own site.
Hidden Door Floral Studio is a Raleigh wedding florist designing for weddings across Raleigh, the Triangle and North Carolina, and happy to travel beyond. To talk about your wedding at The Gazebo at Sunset Ridge Buffalo Farm, schedule a consultation.
Planning a wedding or event here? See our wedding and event flowers.