Durham is where we live, and we love spending time together downtown, eating, drinking, and being merry! We love walking on the American Tobacco Trail, going to Durham Bulls games, playing ping pong at Hi Wire, grabbing a drink at the Durham Hotel rooftop or Velvet Hippo, eating at Luna or Bull City Burger or Press, or duking it out in Track & Field at Boxcar Arcade. It felt like the perfect place for us to tie the knot.

Durham sort of wouldn’t be a city without tobacco. In the 1850s people realized the soil there was super good for growing "brightleaf" tobacco; in 1869 Durham officially became a town (with a population of 256); in 1874 Washington Duke moved his family there to start a tobacco business; in 1884 Washington's son James started using an automatic cigarette roller in production and quickly became kind of the Henry Ford of cigarettes; and by the 1890s the Duke family had acquired most of the big names in tobacco (including Liggett and Myers, RJ Reynolds, Lucky Strike, and Blackwell’s “Bull Durham” Tobacco) under the name “American Tobacco.” At one point American Tobacco produced 90% of U.S. cigarettes in an era when people really liked to smoke, leading to their being one of the 12 original members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and generally making boatloads of money later used to endow Duke University in 1924. For decades, tobacco manufacturing boomed in Durham, particularly on the American Tobacco Campus (ATC), a factory complex downtown next to what is now the Durham Bulls stadium and the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC). Unfortunately/fortunately, by the mid/late 20th century people realized cigarettes are terrible for you, so demand waned and the ATC finally shut down all manufacturing operations in 1987. For a while the campus basically sat in disrepair, but in the early 2000s, a local broadcasting company bought the ATC and did a huge restoration project, and the campus is now home to restaurants, a movie theater, WUNC public radio, a YMCA, the global headquarters of Burt's Bees (as well as Burt Shavitz's cabin, which the company hauled down from Maine after his death in 2015), and, notably, our venue, Bay 7. All the buildings are still the same high-ceilinged tobacco warehouses, and the Lucky Strike water tower and smokestack are still standing right outside, but everything is spruced up to give a kind of “industrial chic” vibe that leans into Durham’s history while still feeling kind of fancy.

The ceremony will start at 5pm, and doors open for guests at 4:30pm. We recommend planning to arrive around 4:30pm, just to give yourselves plenty of time to get an Uber or park in a nearby garage and make your way through to the middle of the American Tobacco Campus.

If you choose to drive yourself to the venue, there is a parking garage right behind the American Tobacco Campus (“American Tobacco North Deck”). Another great option just down the street from the venue is the “Corcoran Street Parking Garage”. Finally, just a tad farther away, but still super walkable, is the “Chapel Hill Street Parking Garage”. There are also plenty of other parking garages and street parking options in the downtown area if for some reason the ones we've mentioned don't pan out. If you drive yourself there but don’t feel comfortable driving yourself home at the end of the night, please take a Lyft or Uber! Weekend parking is free in downtown garages, so you can come get your car on Sunday free of charge. More info (or probably just this same info) can be found in the “Travel” tab (along with some helpful maps!)

For welcome dinner, casual is great. Allie will probably wear a cute summer dress or pants and a cute top. Glenn will probably wear a polo or button-down with khaki pants or shorts. But especially if you are going straight there from the airport or from a day of driving, please no pressure to change or anything—just come hang. For wedding day, we recommend cocktail attire—really whatever is going to make you feel nice and excited for a fun night out in Durham! If we were attending this wedding, Allie would probably wear a midi dress with some low heels (enough of a heel to make her feel dressed up, but never so much as to impede her mobility on the dance floor). But if Allie’s friend asked her what she thought about wearing a shorter dress or an ankle/floor length dress or a fun pantsuit that the friend has been meaning to find a nice occasion for, Allie would highly encourage them to go for it! Glenn would probably wear either his blue suit or a nice blazer/pants/tie combo. For farewell brunch, casual is perfect!

Bay 7 is owned by Angus Barn, a fantastic local restaurant. Though it is a steakhouse, they do have delicious vegetarian options (and, of course, there will be super yummy gluten-free options). Please indicate your dietary restrictions on your RSVP form, and feel free to reach out to either Allie or Glenn with any other questions or concerns!

Typically highs in the 70s/80s and lows in the 50s/60s. You should check the weather leading up to traveling, as sometimes it goes above or below those ranges, but in general we're hoping for a comfortable weekend!

All wedding day events will be indoors, including the ceremony and reception. However, Bay 7’s doors open up to the heart of the American Tobacco Campus, so folks should feel free to step outside onto the front porch area, chill at the outdoor tables, or walk around under the water tower!

Please see the "Travel" tab—we have hotel blocks downtown at the Durham Hotel and Marriott Durham City Center, but there are lots of other good options too.

You won't need a car, but it would certainly be easy for you to have one, should you choose to drive down here (the joys of medium-sized city living)! All of our wedding weekend events are within walking distance of downtown hotels, including the Durham Hotel, Marriott, 21c, etc. See the "Travel" tab for parking info for these hotels. For those staying a little farther away from downtown who won’t have a car or who choose not to drive, Uber and Lyft are readily available. For those staying a little farther away from downtown who will have a car and choose to drive, there are a lot of parking garages downtown (including one right behind our venue).

We are asking everyone to please leave the little ones at home for the wedding ceremony and reception on Saturday. However, they are welcome to join for the Friday Welcome Party and Sunday Brunch!

Unfortunately, no, Frankie will not be there. We hope that you will still consider joining us, but we understand if this is a non-negotiable for you.

They’ve watched it together once and only roughly remember the plot, so you shouldn’t overthink any references they make to it. (But in general they do love a good 90s/00s rom com.)

In his iconic 1993 ESPY Awards speech, given near the end of his battle with cancer, Coach Jim Valvano said we should all do three things every day: “Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day.” If you want to accomplish all three in only slightly over two hours, please watch this movie.

Please reach out to Allie or Glenn! We will get back to you ASAP (and add the question to this Q+A page in case others have the same one!)