Location: 609 Foster Street, Durham, NC 27701 Capacity: Up to 200 guests Type: Historic Event Warehouse Website: rickhousedurham.com
A rickhouse is a building made for storing and aging barrels, and this one still gestures toward that use: a working local distillery (gin, whiskey, rum, and vodka) operates behind a glass wall on site, in plain view of guests. The building itself dates to 1938, built as R.J. Reynolds' Prizery, and it sits in downtown Durham's Central Park district overlooking the Durham Athletic Park, the original home of the Durham Bulls.
The main room runs long and open, with a dance floor at its center measuring 42 by 34 feet. The plainness is the point: massive wooden doors at the entrance, and a room that reads as a warehouse because it was one.
A private balcony looks out over the ballpark, and a dressing suite gives the wedding party a quiet room of its own before the day starts.
The Main Room
The room turns from ceremony to reception in one easy flow. The venue's own layouts put a ceremony here at up to 200 guests, with a matching reception layout at the same count, and the room comes with seating and round and rectangular tables built to that number, along with cocktail tables and 2 bar stations. A dance floor measuring 42 feet by 34 feet sits at the center of the room, wide enough for a full room of guests to dance with the tables close around it. Sound and video are handled with a house projector and screen, direct connects for a laptop, and wireless microphones, so a slideshow or a toast is ready to go.
The Balcony
The balcony sits above the main room and looks straight out at the Durham Athletic Park, the historic home field of the Durham Bulls. It is a natural stop for a cocktail hour or for portraits before the reception starts, a change of air and light between the ceremony and the party that follows.
The Dressing Suite
The dressing suite is a private room with its own seating, full length mirrors, and counter space, set apart from the main room so the wedding party has a calm, private place to get ready.
What We Design Here
The open floor gives arrangements room to read from across the room, so pieces here can take on real height and volume. The palette we reach for leans warm and a little worn, ivory and rust and deep green, at home against the wood and the window light.
Because the room is large and largely open, the far tables see the head table at an angle, so we keep the tables low between them and put the height at the ceremony backdrop and the room's edges, and we build the ceremony backdrop and the reception centerpieces as one continuous idea so the ceremony and the reception look like they belong to each other. Texture does more work here than color: rough wood, woven and knotted forms, and matte surfaces sit naturally against the dance floor and the open room, where anything glossy or fussy looks out of place.
Practical
The Rickhouse sits in downtown Durham's Central Park district, within walking distance of the city's restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. The venue publishes several free parking options nearby, including a lot at the Durham Athletic Park and a Farmer's Market lot across from Durham Central Park, plus street parking along Foster Street and the surrounding blocks. Paid parking decks are also available a short walk away on Roney Street and West Morgan Street. The venue's events team handles tours, proposals, and booking through its own site, and inquiries go to info@rickhousedurham.com.
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 Rickhouse, schedule a consultation.
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