We absolutely loved having our wedding ceremony and reception at The Governors Club and would highly recommend this venue to other couples looking to have a wedding in the greater Chapel Hill area. Initially, we were very skeptical because we ...are not “country club” people, but the overall feel of the place, the beauty of the venue & banquet room, the high quality of the food, and the competence of the staff were all strong selling points. When visiting venues in the area, we felt a special connection with their events coordinator Lisa Johnson from the get-go.
Lisa and her staff also personalized our wedding day in ways that made it feel very special and unique to us. We had specialty cocktails made by her bar staff in our names, we were given the option to use our own sparkling wine for toasts with a corkage fee (we did not opt to do this, but it was offered), and Governors was able to order a bottled beer from Michigan (home of the Groom) to serve along-side a Carolina beer throughout the evening. They also offered us the option to serve an appetizer and shooter for our guests at 10pm to keep energy levels high at our reception (it was a great idea and executed perfectly). We customized a fried green tomato appetizer and Sazerac shooter that was a huge hit at our reception. Oh yeah, we also had a piñata for the kids…
The Governors club was also very accommodating to our food/dietary restrictions and needs. We cannot say enough about Executive Chef Benjamin Guaman, who customized and tailored our menu down to the cucumber. We as a couple were pescetarians, while some of our guests were vegans, and the rest were primarily Jewish or Muslim, so there was absolutely no pork at our wedding - and this was not an issue to Benjamin – he welcomed the challenge. Like the rest of the staff at Governors, he is personable and easy to work with, and his sushi is top-notch. The tasting conducted a few months prior to the wedding went very well, and we were able to personalize the menu by asking Chef for dishes to be spicier, or to add/subtract items from certain dishes based on our desires. Unlike a lot of venue tastings prior to weddings, Chef had direct communication with us and confidently expressed to us that he would be overseeing the entire operation for our 150 guests from start to finish. As “foodies” we had high expectations, and the most important aspect of the reception was great food; and the Governors Club delivered!
Overall, I’d emphasize that Lisa Johnson is amazing, and her staff lead by Jay, Kristy and Chris are very competent and enthusiastic. They were very responsive to our emails throughout the process, and every single detail was addressed on the day of the event just as we wanted it. Having an open line of communication with the Chef is also a plus. They have a way of easing any day-off-wedding panic/stress you have about your event with their attention to detail and control of all situations. They also coordinated very well with our vendors, of which our DJ, photographer, our shuttle buses, and photo booth operator had never been to the venue. The overall biggest asset is that you get a team of pseudo-coordinators to help and assist you with recommendations, guidance and advice throughout the process. Again, we were very happy about the organization of the venue, and our guests raved about the quality of the appetizers, salads, food and especially the drinks/cocktails. Rave reviews!