$2,500 starting price
300+ guest capacity
This venue can host 300+ guests
About this vendor
The Rustic Barn at Half Moon is a scenic wedding venue located in Jacksonville, NC. Offering views of the countryside and an abundance of rustic charm, this location offers a picturesque backdrop for your country-inspired wedding. Its seasoned staff is delighted to help bring your vision for your special day to life.
This family-owned business is committed to hosting you and your loved ones for a stylish and personalized event. Eddie Lee Jones, Sr. and Patricia B. Jones have worked hard to design a unique venue where people can celebrate their love. Their team of dedicated event professionals is honored to oversee your joyous occasion. The property offers a combination of indoor and outdoor event spaces for up to 300 guests. You and your loved ones can enjoy outdoor ceremony sites with views of a serene pond, towering trees, and an expansive lawn. Upon entering the sleek and neutral wood barn, you will feel a touch of luxury and elegance while gazing up at the crystal chandelier and warm interiors. The barn’s large double doors with windows allow for plenty of natural light to illuminate your reception while you celebrate.
The welcoming atmosphere at The Rustic Barn at Half Moon is reflected in the hospitality provided by their caring team members. Their event managers are happy to give you a tour of the property and meet with you to discuss your inspiration for your celebration. This location can supply tables, chairs, china, linens, napkins, and centerpieces for your gathering. Their wedding packages include the use of their get-ready facilities, mimosas and snacks for the wedding party, and a shuttle service from the parking area to the venue. You can choose vendors from their list of preferred businesses and this location can provide a cash bar attended by friendly bartenders.
Amenities + details
Ceremony Area
Covered Outdoors Space
Dressing Room
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Liability Insurance
On-Site Accommodations
Business Attributes
- Veteran-owned Business
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Guest Capacity
- 300+
Settings
- Backyard
- Ballroom
- Barn
- Farm & Ranch
- Garden
- Park
Venue Service Offerings
- Bar & Drinks
- Service Staff
Reviews
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3
out of 5.014 reviews
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The Rustic Barn is undeniably beautiful, but everything else about this venue was a total nightmare. If I could go back, I would avoid this place like the plague.
I booked the venue in September 2023 with the previous coordinator, Rosemarie, and paid for a decor package that promised a fully stocked decor closet. Fast forward to June 2024, I find out via Facebook that Rosemarie was let go, and the new coordinator, Melissa, was taking over. Not only was she rude, unprofessional, and overwhelmed, but she also informed me that the décor closet was practically empty and that no plans were being made to replace the missing items. Despite already paying over $800 for the package, I was forced to spend an additional $500 on flowers and decorations days before my wedding.
When I finally met Melissa a month before the wedding, she seemed completely uninterested in helping. She even joked about how she wasn’t “decor-savvy” and casually mentioned that another bride had left in tears the weekend before because she had to set up her own centerpieces. I was mortified.
The problems didn’t end there. Despite paying $3,900 for a bar package, Melissa demanded an additional $1,900 for liquor once the "package limit" was supposedly reached. I asked for an itemized receipt but was met with confusion, and, incredibly, the staff called the sheriff on us. Yes, on my wedding night. The sheriff showed up, gave us an ultimatum to pay or face criminal charges, and we were treated like criminals on what should’ve been the happiest day of our lives.
Even after all this chaos, the nightmare continued. A few days after the wedding, the day-of coordinator contacted me, asking if I had forgotten to pay her. I reminded her that the $1,000 gift card I won at the expo was supposed to cover her services, but the venue refused to pay. My husband went to the venue at 8 a.m. to resolve the issue, only to be ambushed by multiple staff members, including the owner, Don JR Jones, who verbally attacked him, accused us of lying, and even made threats. The disrespect was unbelievable.
To make matters worse, several guests complained about the bar staff wearing sloppy T-shirts, pouring shots when they weren't supposed to, and not knowing how to make drinks. The lights were turned on 45 minutes early, signaling the end of the event, and the overall attitude of the staff was appalling.
In conclusion, despite the beautiful barn, the lack of professionalism, poor communication, and blatant disrespect made our wedding day a total disaster. Save yourself the stress and avoid this venue at all costs.
Reached out to the vendor to schedule a tour of the property. I was instructed to call when I was in the way… should have been my first red flag see being we had a scheduled date and time that we were supposed to arrive. I called once on the way to the venue, the call rang to voicemail. I called again once we arrived at the venue, call rang to voicemail. The entryway has a gate so we could not just drive up to the venue. We sat at the venue and waited for around 5-10… I called again and the phone rang to voicemail. We decided to leave and I sent a message to them directly explaining what happened. It has now been almost 4 days without any reply from the company. You would think for a company charging over $7000 for one event they would know how to answer a call
The event manager here is the absolute worst. Multiple people have complained about her. Rosemarie is by far the worst event manager I have ever come into contact with. Facility is great but she is unbearable.
The Rustic Barn has so much potential for greatness, but there is 1 factor that continues to be a negative trend and that’s the manager Rose.
For the wedding expo, we were set to be vendors & have plenty of email traffic with specifics on what was required for our setup & the fact that we were providing our services and time for free for the 3rd year in a row. We do various events for them and there is always a derogatory input by Rose.
For the wedding expo, we arrived as vendors and
1)Did not have a vendor space for us
2)Didn’t have a table or chair set up
3)Rose would not allow us to set up inside, when we had agreements to do so
4)Didn’t even make a genuine attempt to fix it
5)Demeanor & attitude subpar for management
What happened: Rose immediately addressed me by saying, “You can’t pick where you’re placed, I say where you’re placed”, and kept walking away from me and I proceeded to inform her that there is already correspondence from your staff saying otherwise. My wife and I setup up outside only to have our table items blown around by the wind, so I finally made the professional decision that Rose did not meet her conditions and we could not continue to support an event that would not support us.
Poor staff members running around doing everything in their power to make sure everything is perfect, while the manager Rose is stress & care free. Not a positive example of management.
The Rustic Barn has so much potential for greatness, but there is 1 factor that continues to be a negative trend and that’s the manager Rose.
For the wedding expo, we were set to be vendors & have plenty of email traffic with specifics on what was required for our setup & the fact that we were providing our services and time for free for the 3rd year in a row. We do various events for them and there is always a derogatory input by Rose.
For the wedding expo, we arrived as vendors and
1)Did not have a vendor space for us
2)Didn’t have a table or chair set up
3)Rose would not allow us to set up inside, when we had agreements to do so
4)Didn’t even make a genuine attempt to fix it
5)Demeanor & attitude subpar for management
What happened: Rose immediately addressed me by saying, “You can’t pick where you’re placed, I say where you’re placed”, and kept walking away from me and I proceeded to inform her that there is already correspondence from your staff saying otherwise. My wife and I setup up outside only to have our table items blown around by the wind, so I finally made the professional decision that Rose did not meet her conditions and we could not continue to support an event that would not support us.
Poor staff members running around doing everything in their power to make sure everything is perfect, while the manager Rose is stress & care free. Not a positive example of management.
I used the Rustic Barn for my wedding. Everything went perfect. The venue was set up beautifully inside and out. Rose Marie and her team did great. They helped make my center pieces which also came out beautiful! I loved being able to let them set up things and not have to stress about it!
Part 2
6) We got the bar package at $24.95 per person plus gratuity. They said we would be charged for every guest. We should only be charged for guest over 21. The manager then said that guest over 21 would have to wear a wrist band. This is a formal event with a plated dinner, NOT A CLUB. We understand need to ID guest , but it was a HARD no to ID and wrist bands at the door. The invoice for the bar package was incorrect. The charge per person was increased $1 from what the package states. I requested a corrected invoice and continued to receive incorrect prices / balance. I was told that it is unusual that I had an issue because they always rounded up. I want the invoice to reflect the cost I agreed to, $24.95 per person, not almost $26 per person (more than rounding up). I noticed the ABC tax. I am not sure if that tax is legally allowed to be passed on to customers, but there was no indicator of what the % was, just an overall charge. I asked about extending our 4 hour package by an hour. The manager said she could do that for $750. That would not be the breakdown of the package pricing, just a made up number, so we declined and stated if we needed more time we would provide a card and pay per drink. Cocktail hour on the patio was to begin when the ceremony ended. The manager told the staff to serve NO ONE until 4:30 because that is what the wedding timeline indicated as end of ceremony. The ceremony ended at 4:15 and the staff stood there and refused to serve our guest until 4:30. Our caterer was serving passed apps, everyone was excited exiting the ceremony and then this. It was as if they had never had a formal wedding before. 4 hours is 4 hours no matter when it begins. The staff completely shut down the outdoor bar and transitioned to the interior bar during cocktail hour before the doors were opened for guest to go inside. That 30 minute switch was not credited to our prepaid 4 hours. Typically there would be continued service outside until guest go to the reception. They continually carded people. Professional bar staff would not continue to card the same people at a 4 hour event over and over again. They had a tip jar out which is tacky for an open bar at a private event like this considering the large mandatory gratuity had been prepaid. 7) The TV and speakers in the bridal suite were not working and needed a password. We asked the staff and they said there was password, but the manager had it and would not be back for a few hours. 8). We were told that the golf cart would be available to take my daughter around the property for photos. The staff told us the manager said that they are not using it today. We had to take my vehicle, with my daughter fully dressed, to drive around the property. 9) The venue is paid through 10:00 PM. My daughter and her husband were having their last dance while everyone lined up outside for the grand exit at 9:15. The staff and venue manager began turning on all the lights, stripping the tables and sweeping DURING this time. So tacky and completely inconsiderate. The venue made everything so difficult, but we had amazing vendors who helped us navigate this. The wedding was beautiful thanks to all of them and all of our friends and family who came to celebrate their love. This venue is fine for prom, community and organization events, but I discourage anyone from having their wedding here if you expect clear and fair pricing, professionalism, customer service, and good etiquette.
Part 1
It is very difficult to write a negative review and not something anyone should ever want to do. I have thought about this for almost 2 months and I still feel our experience needs to be shared. There is a lot to unpack, so this is a two part review. The only regret about our daughter's wedding is choosing The Rustic Barn as the venue. It is beautiful, but the management and staff were unprofessional, very difficult to work with and refuse to engage in clear communication. 1) Management changed after we signed our contract and the new manager spoke very poorly of the previous manager and shared things that we as customers should have no awareness of. This is highly unprofessional and red flag #1. 2) We received calls in the months prior to the wedding citing a different date then ours. Each time we had to correct them and they always said they needed to look up the contract. That should have happened before a call. 3) New management discontinued communication via Honeybook and would only respond with vague emails and request to speak over the phone to answer questions versus having the responses in writing. Our contract was sent to us via Honeybook by the previous management and we had that documentation to dispute any contract changes they attempted to make 4) The venue manager called the bride, 48 days before event and said our caterer was not approved. She gave no explanation and said that if we chose to keep our caterer we may not be able to use the venue. 48 days away AND paid in full. I requested a meeting with the owner. We called the caterer. He spoke with the owner who was unaware there was an issue and confirmed that our caterer is approved. This caused unnecessary panic. She also should have communicated directly with our coordinator if there was an issue. There was absolutely no issue with our caterer and we had chosen him 8 months earlier at The Rustic Barn Wedding Expo. 5) We got calls asking about vendors. We had submitted all required paperwork for each vendor to them. Thank goodness for email, Honeybook and the reply all function as documentation. Look for Part 2 for bar package issues and wedding day concerns.
DO NOT BOOK YOUR EVENT HERE. I went to a wedding for my sweet friends here and the staff were absolutely awful.
Me and another friend arrived early to drop off some of the last minute forgotten items and as soon as we walked into the reception space we realized that they were giving TOURS of the venue during her first look photos. On top of that, the brides two year old child was giggling and laughing with family, to which a very rude women came out of the office and told us to “be quiet” as they were having meetings.
As if that weren’t bad enough, DURING the vows, the same women kept opening and closing (very loudly) doors within the space and interrupting the ceremony.
But wait, it gets worse. The bride and groom brought a bottle of their favorite liquor to use as a photo prop and left it outside during the ceremony. Within seconds of saying “I do” yet again, the same woman stormed out asking to speak to the groom immediately and get payment for having liquor on the property. Now, I understand there are rules, and breaking them have consequences; however, there is a time and place to deal with things like that, and just a moment after the ceremony is CERTAINLY, not that time or place. I’ve attached a picture showing the groom and mother in law dealing with this situation in the office just moments after exchanging vows.
As the cherry on top of it all, we were supposed to have the space until 5pm, yet at 4:30, they already had the deserts the bride and groom planned to share packed up and were sweeping the space.
The Rustic Barn at Half Moon is without a doubt the most unprofessional and greedy wedding venue I have EVER been too. They will not treat you well and certainly will not make your big day special.
Rustic Barn for the WIN!!! Our wedding was absolutely enchanting in every way. A place that is beautiful and elegant all in one. Staff was absolutely amazing and very helpful during the entire process. They are very quick with communication and like any bride with nerves everywhere as the day grows closer, they all helped put those feelings at ease and remained so professional. Thank you Rustic Barn!!!
Beautiful venue inside and out. I was so excited to have my wedding here. Its nice and spacious. The venue coordinator and venue attendance were so nice and helpful. Definitely recommend this place.
There are literally no words we can express to the staff at The Rustic Barn at Half Moon on how perfect they made our 15 year wedding renewal. The venue is beautiful and clean, the grounds are well keep, but the staff are really what made the experience perfect. Every little detail and then some we hadn’t even thought about was taken care of. I would recommend them to anyone needing a beautiful venue with superb staff and services. We intend on using them soon, my daughter loved the venue and is planning my granddaughter’s Quinceañera there later this year. Special shout-out to Katelyn, you rock and we feel like part of the Rustic Barn family!
The Rustic Barn was in one word: perfect. Every single one of our guests were blown away with how beautiful it was. We even had people facetiming others to show them around! Pictures dont even do it justice.
Katelyn, our event coordinator, was incredible as well. She made everything run smooth and accommodated every request we had.
This venue is GORGEOUS! Your venue is the stage and backdrop to your special day, and The Rustic Barn at Half Moon delivers nothing short of making your dreams come true. Management is helpful, supportive, and most importantly, they have the best communication! Given these uncertain times, communication is so important to brides right now... and It is also important to venues. The Rustic Barn is the place to book if you’re looking for more than just a place to hold your wedding! BOOK HERE!!
Contact
133 Batting Cage Trail, Jacksonville, NC | Eastern North Carolina
The Rustic Barn at Half Moon
The Rustic Barn at Half Moon's photos