Listen to the Podcast About All 4 One Farms
Podcast Summary
In the latest installment of Eventful Endeavors, our esteemed host Meny Leizerovich welcomed delightful guests, Diane and Glenn Lassiter, the proprietors of All 4 One Farms in vibrant Jacksonville, Florida. The farm, a remarkable venue for weddings, is steeped in rich heritage and close-knit family connections, making the interview a captivating journey into the heart of All 4 One Farms.
Diane Lassiter provided an emotional narrative about her roots at All 4 One Farms. She emotionally recounted growing up on the farm and her cherished childhood memories of her father’s hard work. The attachment Diane carries for the farm was palpable as she shared her fond sentiment about the farm being, “the most beautiful place on earth.” The tapestry of her life further unfolded with the inclusion of Glenn, her beloved husband, with whom Diane bought the farm and raised six children.
Glenn, the person primarily responsible for running tours, expressed pride in the fact that the business truly is a family affair, with their children leaping readily to their parents’ aid whenever they are out of town. Emphasizing the family-centric approach of All 4 One Farms, Glenn noted how their close-knit setup makes their work remarkably convenient and efficient.
As the conversation progressed, Diane expanded on the evolution of the farm, painting a vivid picture of the transformation from her beloved childhood home to a premier wedding venue. Her passion was evident as she shared her enduring love for the farm and the joy she feels in sharing its charm and beauty with others.
The jewel in the crown of the family business, Diane highlighted, is the wedding days. The couple share the delight and honor they feel in being part of a couple’s special “once in a lifetime” moment, which encapsulates the essence of why they love what they do at All 4 One Farms. This powerful testimony offers a compelling glimpse into this unique family venture that captures the spirit of love, celebration, and familial bond.
Learn more about
All 4 One Farms
This interview was provided by
Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos
Podcast Transcript
Felix And Fingers (00:25)
So hello, hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Eventful Endeavors. Happy Friday. Today I am really excited to have Diane and Glenn Lassiter, the owners of All 4 One Farms in beautiful Jacksonville, Florida. Diane and Glenn, thank you so much for being here today.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (00:46)
You’re very
welcome. We’re excited about it.
Felix And Fingers (00:49)
Yes, yes, and you know, I was just actually reading like a little bit about yourself like before we actually got on this call and I think this is like probably the most beautiful story I’ve heard so far because what happened is I believe you mentioned that you actually grew up at the venue, which is the farm. You grew up over there and you have some memories of your father and I’m gonna quote you when you were 10. This is the most beautiful place on earth. So you have a lot of memories of
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (01:07)
I
Felix And Fingers (01:16)
your father working around the land. then later on, you actually made it as a wedding venue. So tell me all about this. What happened? What are your memories? What’s going on?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (01:28)
Well,
I can remember the day we first came here when we bought the farm and how much I just fell in love with it and just the memories I have with me and my dad and.
And then even in the intervening years, I met Glenn, we dated. When we married, we bought the farm and then we’ve raised six kids here. So I’ve got a lot of memories here on the farm, but, and I still love it as much today as I did then. And so I just love sharing it with other people. And I can’t believe we’ve actually wound up in the wedding venue business, but I really love it.
Felix And Fingers (02:00)
This is beautiful and I know just like you mentioned later on you met Glenn which is also very much involved in Glenn. I know that you are the guy for all the tours and venues, is that right?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (02:11)
Yes, I pretty well do all the tours. Over time we’ve kind of figured out that for whatever reason I seem to book more weddings off the tours than anybody else does. But the whole family is trained on how to do tours. Right. If something happens and we’re out of town and somebody wants to come, then we have sons and daughters who can take care of the tours also.
Felix And Fingers (02:35)
That’s great. You know, it actually takes me to the next question. So I know you guys have six children and the kids are very much involved in the family business as well as them, right? That’s amazing.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (02:44)
Yes, yes. I say they don’t have a choice, but they do. They do, but they live on the property. We have a hundred
acres. So they’re on the other end of the property. So it’s just kind of natural that they’re, you know, they’re the kind of our additional staff and backup people and whatever we.
Felix And Fingers (02:57)
⁓
It is
so much convenient. It just looks so convenient. Everybody’s around and like, hey, I need you guys here today. No problem. be there in five. So, know that everybody’s very much involved in the business and I’m still pretty much astounded by the fact that this started. You grew up there and it became like where the family is living right now.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (03:09)
Well, hopefully it works like that.
Felix And Fingers (03:27)
This is the business and this is beautiful. So, you know, what’s your favorite part about running like your business? What is like the biggest challenge?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (03:35)
Well, of course, the favorite part is the wedding days. mean, we are usually the people who open the door to let the bridal party out. And then we close that door and then we open that door again for the bride. And of course, that’s our favorite part.
we feel so privileged to be a part of that moment. Because it’s a very, I mean, it’s a once in a lifetime thing. You’re waiting for that door to open and see your groom and step out there in front of all those people. And so that is easily the best part. The most challenging part, what would you say? Probably when…
there’s a different guest count than what was anticipated. You mean like last minute changes? Last minute changes, a lot of times that means removing some tables and chairs and sometimes that means adding some. But we have, you know, it’s kind of like, you know, they walk up to you and say, can we get two more tables and, you know, 12 more chairs and that’s…
You know, I’ve got everything within 200 feet of where it is, and so it’s very easy for me to grab what we need and get everything.
Felix And Fingers (04:39)
And that sounds really challenging, especially like with Florida and the weather and I guess sometimes, you know, the weather could be like surprising us and then you have to go to like Plan B and start moving around things. So yeah, I could see that being very challenging. This is the part, but it sounds like you have a lot of flexibility. So that’s great. And you know, it’s already a very stressful day, you know, for the right end group. So when they have like an amazing team that is supporting them and like trying to actually accommodate.
Any requests I might have this is really helpful. So I’m sure everybody’s really appreciated You know, it actually takes me like to another question I really wanted to ask you guys. Do you have any fun memory from a wedding? I know you host a lot of them any really fun memory that comes to your mind
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (05:25)
I don’t know if any one particular thing stands out. excuse me, probably the biggest thing that in the eight years that we’ve done this is that we’ve just met a lot of really neat, nice people.
Very seldom ever have any issues or problems with guests or anything. And so it’s just, it’s a pleasant experience. I get to meet new people and everybody’s excited and I just enjoy that.
One thing that I thought of when you said that though, just like two or three weddings back, we had a groom that had this, he just had this idea. He called and got permission to come early to the venue. He came in and set up in the bridal suite, all these pretty cool things, flowers, champagne on ice, a little t-shirt for the bride. And I’d never seen that before. I just thought that was the sweetest thing. But I mean, we get to see.
So many things like that, but that just was something that jumped out at me. Something I remember, yeah.
Felix And Fingers (06:26)
yeah, that’s definitely very very nice. I like that. And you know it’s like actually taking me to another question like what are like current trends like you are seeing right now in the wedding industry like in general? People are like doing a lot of that recently. Anything like that.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (06:39)
Well, we have,
I work with other wedding venue owners in a group and we kind of work together with our businesses, but we started about six months ago or eight months ago gathering candid content. And at that time they said, this is something that’s coming down the road. This is coming down the road. So we gather, we have somebody, it’s usually me, at the venue during events gathering candid content. And by that, I mean simply using your iPhone to catch little behind
the scenes moments that are just real sweet. The professionals are definitely in the lead and they’ve got their cameras in there and I stay out of their way. But I started doing that and we share it with our bride afterwards and usually before she’s getting to see the professional shot so that’s you know that’s fun. And then we use them for our social media and because there’s nothing like seeing weddings for you know people that are looking
Felix And Fingers (07:25)
Thank
Thanks.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (07:32)
at a wedding venue. So we started doing that. Well now just a couple weeks ago.
I have not heard my brides talking about hiring people for candid content, but one of the real top photographers in our area posted that she had hired a candid content person now. So when you get her candid content, so I see that as something that’s going to be pretty standard going forward. Either somebody like we offer free for our brides, our couples, or either hiring it through a photographer. Have you seen that?
Felix And Fingers (08:03)
I have personally I have not seen that but that’s so really interesting. That’s a really interesting
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (08:05)
And then doing all those cute
little effects and stuff, which, I’m still learning all that with your wedding. And I actually have a picture that I took of her standing and hiding in these OU bushes. that’s what it comes down to. You got to get the shot.
Felix And Fingers (08:25)
wow, that sounds actually like a lot of fun to be honest. But you know what, now I’m gonna go actually to the other way. Alright, so what is like a thing that you believe that couples should never do? Like any cringe-like worthy things you hate seeing at a venue or like in advance or anything like it.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (08:31)
Okay.
think one of the things that always kind of gets to us is we, or at least to me, because I’m almost always out there, seeing, and I don’t know if it’s because of just situations or whatever, but I go out there, we had this one bride, and she came in, got her hair and makeup done and everything, and then she’s out there decorating the reception area. And I’m like,
you know, let us help, tell us what you want, we’ll get it laid out for you. You go in there and don’t get all hot and sweaty and just relax and enjoy the wedding day. that was kind of, and like I said, I don’t know if because she just didn’t have help, but that just kind of, kind of got to me a little bit.
Felix And Fingers (09:29)
Yeah, that’s a little, you know, I think about it. This is your special day. You are old, op. You look so great.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (09:33)
So we
really try to drive that home to brides when we’re planning to, know, some brides just want to be in charge, but have somebody you trust that knows how you want it done. And then you get us started and we will have it set up for you. but I would, what I was thinking was, I thought he was going to say was people arriving late.
And then if you arrive late, we understand life happens, but then just kind of stay in the back and watch from where you’re at. But sometimes they just kind of barge right in and sit right down. That’s the only time I can see myself cringing. I thought that’s what you were going to say. Well, that would be a guess thing, not a thing. one of the things that I try to do if, you know,
We’re running on time. The bride says we’re going to start on time. We’re doing everything on time. I’ll go stand at the gate. And if guests arrive late, that’s great. Stand right here at the gate with me and watch it. But please have the courtesy not to walk up and enter during a ceremony. That just drives me nuts.
Felix And Fingers (10:42)
Yeah, that’s and that’s totally fair. I’m like if just like you said if you are late Totally understandable life happens, but please do not ruin their special moment. Don’t take out the edge and they’re already so hyped and ready So yeah, I would say stand back definitely don’t barge in there like sorry. I’m late and just So I feel like yeah, that’s a really probably good tip to anyone who is late to a wedding. Yeah, so let’s go with that
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (10:53)
Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (11:11)
yeah.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (11:12)
One of the things that we
actually do between where you turn into the parking area and the ceremony site about 15 minutes before we actually pull a rope and a sign across the road that says ceremony in progress. Do not enter. Now they still have access to the parking lot. But the main reason why we do that has always been our greatest fear that an Amazon truck is going to come flying up during the middle of the
So, and we get a lot of those shrugs. So, so it just protects the ceremony also and keeps anybody from entering.
Felix And Fingers (11:45)
That’s, well, you see, that’s very actually, that’s very smart. I feel like I never even thought about this situation. Like until you brought this up, I never even thought about this situation. So this is actually, it makes a lot of sense. Do you guys can give like any advice, like any advice you can offer to someone just starting, you know, their planning journey, anything they should be doing probably.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (12:09)
Well, one of the things that I always tell people on the tours is probably the most important thing is get your venue picked and secured. After that, everything becomes a whole lot easier because you have a specific date and a specific place to talk to vendors about. And the other thing that I always ask the brides is, do you have your wedding dress yet?
And we’ll have people who come and want to get married in four to six months. And sometimes it takes a year to get a dress. And so that’s something they don’t think about either. And it just kind of gets them thinking on the track. Well, there are several things that I need to do quite a bit ahead of time and it just helps them plan, I guess.
And that’s kind of my advice too is just they’re looking at this huge undertaking of planning a wedding and I just say, I mean almost 100 % of brides are like, my gosh, I’ve never done anything like this before. So, and I tell them that’s what everybody feels like. So just take it one step at a time. And the first logical step is picking the venue because then you’ve got your date. So that was my advice is just to take it one step at a time. And then as you go,
you can lean on professionals more or less depending on you know the next step. What’s the next step? that’s what and we do we give our brides a little resource that has some checklist of 12 months out, 9 months out, those kind of things to do when they come for a tour.
Felix And Fingers (13:42)
That’s a great advice from both of you actually and I totally agree and yeah, whatever you can offer to make their life easier because there’s so much involved in a wedding. I get it. Even like, I’m well, as a performer, I just see what they are going through. As long as you can make it and plan it ahead of time and get everything done, it’s just gonna make your special day so much more enjoyable, I would say, probably, instead of like…
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (13:57)
Mm-hmm.
Felix And Fingers (14:07)
worrying about other things going on, which you will probably will anyway. It happens every morning.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (14:13)
You’re gonna be stressed on your wedding day, but you just keep the focus on the fact you’re gonna be married at the end of the day so Things are gonna happen here and there that aren’t exactly planned but
Felix And Fingers (14:20)
That’s right. That’s right. That’s what you got to keep in mind.
You know it takes me now because I was looking at a website in the photos and I love the barn It’s beautiful. It’s green. It’s spacious accommodates up to 200 people I know that and you got so much to offer but can you tell me what makes your day? You know sir venue and services in general unique what sets you apart from the other venues?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (14:47)
Well, with my Woodland Venue
Owners’ Group, I’ve had a chance to tour a lot of venues and there are a lot of beautiful venues out there. I give you that. But I think the way we have, we have the manor house that’s kind of in the center of the property. And so that’s kind of the background for the back stop, I guess, for pictures and such. But the parking is right adjacent to the ceremony site and then right around the corner is the barn.
very walkable area for your guests. They’ve got the pastures with the horses that always come up and say hello. So it’s a very, a little, I mean, you would think we planned it this way, but we really didn’t. Our house was here first. But just very walkable for the guests. It’s a very private area. You go to the end of this road and you turn the corner and you’re like, oh my gosh. And then you’re completely private. There’s no road.
there’s no houses that you’re gonna see you know 360 you’re not gonna see anything it’s all private so I love that part and we think like really like doing this so that’s another thing that’s good
Felix And Fingers (15:50)
My back is…
That is so beautiful. You guys are passionate about it. And yeah, I guess nothing can actually beat the fact that you just have so much green out there. And it just feels so peaceful. So I love that. So that’s definitely a huge advantage for any couples that are looking just for some peace. Get out of the city, enjoy a beautiful green part for it, especially Jacksonville, which is so beautiful. It’s so green.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (16:18)
just a little bit.
Felix And Fingers (16:24)
So yeah, this is definitely an amazing advantage. Can you guys describe me like a typical wedding day at the venue?
Hmm.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (16:31)
Well, usually, they have that video for 12 hours. So I guess we see a lot of different things. But typically, the ladies will arrive around that time because they’re going to be starting hair and makeup. They’ll have several people that I tell them two or three people who know how you want things set up and me and we’re good. We’ll have it done in no time.
Felix And Fingers (16:31)
No. ⁓
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (16:54)
The setup crew will arrive. Yeah, so just one thing when they arrive the Ceremony site and the barn site all the tables the chairs the seating everything is set up as per how the bride mourned it laid out So basically all they do is they come in and their job is to decorate and undecorate everything else is already Already set up and ready for them And and from there the guys will arrive
know, later in the day whenever they’re needed to get ready for the photographer. And then from there we go, I guess we really follow the timeline for the wedding, whatever they’ve got set up. Sometimes they’ll do a first look and then they’ll do our private vows. I mean, there’s just so many different things, but.
we’ll just kind of follow their timeline. We love it when the ceremony is later in the afternoon and then transitioning into the nighttime at the barn because it’s so pretty at night, because the lights are so pretty. But we’re just working on their timeline. Probably one of my favorite things, because I’m also inefficient if they need one. But one of my favorite things is in my folder, I always carry tissue because
Probably 50 or 60 % of the time, we got this big macho groom standing out there waiting for his bride to come out. The minute she comes out the door, he just breaks down. So as I always keep tissue. And just seeing those moments is just priceless, really, being able to stand right there and see that.
But then as continuing through the day, I guess they do the reception. And again, those are as different as each bride. Some brides want to do more traditional things. Some brides have brand new things we’ve never seen before. And then we end up at night by 11 PM. And everybody’s kind of packed up and gone.
Felix And Fingers (18:51)
It’s gonna be like great wedding day. So I love that. Can you actually give me, know, just an idea, like how’s your friends like availability? Like how far in advance are you?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (19:02)
So we’re, I handle that more than you, but we’re book, we’re booking about a year, year and a half out. So we’re looking at, we’re just starting to book 2027 and the fall of 2026.
Felix And Fingers (19:02)
No.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (19:12)
But we have availability on website. if a bride is like, like we have a Saturday in September that just opened up and we have Saturday in November open this fall. So, I mean, literally, I just got off the phone call with somebody looking for a really quick wedding. everything from that, a year and a half. Yeah, really quick meeting. Like next weekend, could we have something at the… Yeah, just got off the phone with them. But anyway.
Felix And Fingers (19:34)
I believe that.
It’s like a rapid, almost like a rapid wedding. This is amazing, but it can happen, I know that.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (19:44)
Yeah,
yeah, she said we were going to have this little wedding and a lot of people are coming so we need a place now. So anyway.
Felix And Fingers (19:50)
Yeah,
because usually I know that it’s somewhere around like a year or two, a year and a half.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (19:54)
Yeah,
I think a year is probably and I love it when they can do that. Sometimes if you want a specific date, you got to be a little bit ahead of that. But if you’re just wanting the spring, it’s awesome if you can come during the springtime the year before and see how green everything is and what’s blooming and what it’s like in the springtime because it’s different than in the fall. And you know, we also have a beautiful winter weddings because you know, we’re in Florida, but still the trees are a lot less.
It’s lot more barren looking and it’s winter but the beautiful pictures so. A couple of years ago we actually had a wedding the Saturday before Christmas and brides are always very creative. So anyway rather than have a gift table she put up a Christmas tree and everybody put their presents under the tree. that was really cool.
Felix And Fingers (20:45)
This is so cool, I have never seen anything like it. ⁓
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (20:49)
We hadn’t either
until then, but it was really a neat idea.
Felix And Fingers (20:53)
It
should be doing more of that, like especially during Christmas time. This is really cool. Okay, now I got an idea, know, like for anyone who wants to get married, please do that. This is really cool. Really, really nice. Do you guys have any flexibility, like with gas count in case it changes?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (21:10)
Well, I think I talked about that a little bit. Yeah. Probably, I would say over the years that we’ve done this, I would say 85 to 90 % of the people who are SVP show up. We have had one wedding that a lot more people than RSVP show up, showed up. And so that was just immediately.
you know, they had a planner and she came to me and she said, I don’t know what to do. And I said, well, tell me how many tables you need, how many chairs you need. And during the ceremony, we got everything set up in the reception area. So everybody had a seat. And we do have during the event, there are two staff members on site for the whole thing. And that’s why, I mean, we had people to handle that, to get that set up, throw a linen on and get ready. So the guests didn’t even notice that we had to do that. yeah.
Felix And Fingers (22:00)
That’s amazing. That seems like a teamwork, know, just to make sure the event is going like to be fabulous. So this is great. And I’m sure that every couple or anybody’s listening to the podcast right now, they always like this reassurance that managers, the owners that they’re there and they’re flexible and they’re like, make it work. It’s okay. And it’s only fair. mean, sometimes people, you know, they can have their own visions about it and best flexibility, but it’s always so great to hear when people have this really positive approach.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (22:13)
Hmm.
Felix And Fingers (22:29)
Just trying to get everything done and make sure that it will be a stressless day as much as possible.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (22:35)
And I tell you something, Manny,
the way we, we are an a la carte venue, which means we don’t have in-house vendors and we don’t require couples to pick from a certain list. You can pick any musician, any photographer, any theater that you want. So we work with different people, but in our planning process, the way we help our brides kind of stay
Felix And Fingers (22:39)
you
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (23:00)
it helps us stay up with what she’s planning, is we have an online planner and as she’s going through, once they book they get that planner and as she’s going through making these decisions, it’s just a Google Doc that’s live and so we can see as she’s adding information. And right now we have a 30 day out meeting and that’s when typically we’ll get that guest count and we’ll know how the barn’s set up and how many chairs to put out.
And so, but we’re going to add to that this come in the fall. We’re going to try to do some 90 day and 30 day touch points to just make sure by 30 days. But I can tell you and your that is the most frustrating thing for brides is trying to get those RSVP numbers and people not responding and not or changing their mind at the last minute. And it’s, hate it for the brides, but that is something that.
and we know we have to little bit flexible in that.
Felix And Fingers (23:50)
Thank
Yeah, and that’s totally understandable. You know, another feature, which is really cool, that I came across your website, is that you have a calculator over there. So this is for like more, like when a couple is trying to understand their budget, get an idea of the pricing, can you tell us a little bit more about it? ⁓
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (24:11)
I think that’s
one of the best features too. I that. price calculator. yeah. And I tell people that they can go on there because Fridays and Sundays are cheaper and then the number of guests affects how much it’s going to be and they can play around with those numbers and then.
Everything we have included as far as the venue. We don’t have a lot of add-ons like if you want to use this or if you want to use that, but we do have extra people like if you want a day of coordinator, if you want the officiant, if you want a bartender. So they can put all that in there.
and see how much it’s going to come to. So, yeah, I think our couples like that. Because that’s one of the hardest part about a wedding is figuring out how to pay for it. How expensive everything is. The two things I get the most comments on probably from when I do tours is the calculator and calendar, which lets them look at what dates are available.
And then I explained to them, if you decide to book with us, just send us an email and Diane immediately takes that day off as available and then we go.
Felix And Fingers (25:13)
This is great. This is so good. And like, you know, this kind of communication where they’re like the calculator and anything else that is going on, it just, it gets like help the couples like get like kind of like a clear picture about the pricing in a way and kind of like planning their budget. Just like you said, Diane, it’s already so expensive having money. So when people have like a little general idea of what they’re facing towards, kind of helps them out also like in terms of like planning the budget.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (25:33)
Mm-hmm.
Felix And Fingers (25:41)
or the other things involved in the wedding, if it’s caterer or entertainment or anything else that is going on. Which actually takes me out to the next question, which is just a little bit about pricing and payment of the venue. Can you give me an average event size and the cost of your venue? It doesn’t have to be on the dog, obviously, but just to get a little bit a
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (26:04)
So we always, when I first talked to a couple, I tell them our prices range from 2,900 to 6,100. But the average company spends about 4,800 for the venue. And then in our average, it’s as is 100. So maybe 125, but that’s our normal, that’s our average.
Felix And Fingers (26:16)
Got it.
Do you guys have any deposit amount to use as requirement?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (26:26)
It
takes a thousand a thousand dollars to hold your date.
our cancellation policy is no refunds. Once you’ve booked that date and taken it off our calendar, we can’t sell it again. I know that some people have a hard time understanding that, but it’s like a plane ticket. Once you bought that plane ticket to Washington, we don’t have that seat to sell. We can’t sell it again. So that’s why when I sent that first email to couples, I tell them that. And I say, when you sign this contract, be sure you’re ready.
Felix And Fingers (26:54)
you
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (26:55)
to sign this contract. Now that being said, we got through COVID without canceling any weddings. We rebooked them all and we have had recently had a deployment extended.
and all they did, I said, just send me a copy of the deployment paperwork. We rescheduled it to a later date. So we try to honor our guests, our couples in that way when there’s stuff they can’t. Then the last part of that is we always encourage our couples to get cancellation insurance. Cancellation insurance doesn’t cover you if you break up.
or if you just decide not to get married. But it will cover you if there’s another terrible thing like COVID, if the venue were to get wiped out by a hurricane or a flood like happened in Texas and there’s several venues out there that were just wiped out. So you’re covered in that way. So we do encourage, it’s a big investment wedding. So we do always link them with information about cancellation insurance.
Felix And Fingers (27:55)
Yeah, and that’s actually a very wise tip to anybody who’s listening. I would say you just never know what’s going to happen and you’re already going to be so much invested in the wedding. So you might as well, you know, just to have another piece of mind.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (28:08)
And you know,
think locally, now I cannot remember the venue name, but locally there was a venue that has closed for remodeling and has some couples are, they were sold. Have you heard this Manny?
Felix And Fingers (28:21)
No, I ain’t got it.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (28:23)
I’m sorry that I can’t remember the name of it, but it’s local to Jacksonville and they’ve been sold and they’re going to be remodeling. so for like, it’s really some couples are now out there trying to find, if they had cancellation insurance, they would get their money back automatically and they could go get their other venues. So it’s just an important thing to think about, the investment you’re making.
Felix And Fingers (28:41)
Right.
Definitely, definitely. And I know we kind of like discussed like this situation little earlier, but do you guys have an in-house catering service or do the couples usually need to provide their own caterer?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (28:55)
Yeah, well, when she talked about being a la carte, yeah, they’re free to use whoever they’d like. Now we do have a list of vendors, photographers, florists, caterers, DJs that have been here.
Felix And Fingers (28:58)
Right.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (29:10)
on our website and done a really great job. So that’s kind of a place where they can start. want recommendations. They’re on the website. Right. But like I said, we don’t require them to use anyone.
Felix And Fingers (29:23)
Perfect. they can, and I would assume you can probably recommend them. You probably have like a preferred vendor list usually.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (29:29)
We did.
On the website we have that, yeah?
Felix And Fingers (29:32)
Perfect, so that’s usually very, very helpful. Now, is there a designated bridal suite or changing area in the venue?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (29:38)
There is, it’s beautiful. It’s inside, it’s right inside the manor house, right inside. And it’s just a nice big room for them to be together. Lots of places to hang your gowns and mirrors and stuff. But they have access to the bottom floor. So they have the kitchen, the ice machine, two restrooms. So the bridal suite is just beautiful. The best part about it is that it looks out onto the ceremony site. So the bride can see.
as the decorations go up and as the guests start to arrive and special people are there. She can see all that and she can even see the wedding party walk down the aisle before, you know, it’s her turn. About three months ago, I guess we had a groom and a dog of honor go down the aisle. are pet friendly. And she was able to stand at the window and…
watch them go out. So it’s kind of unique and there’s a whole part of the wedding that people going out and all that that they don’t miss out on. can watch it. And then we also have a nice area for the guys. They’ve got, it’s separate from the house, which is kind of nice because sometimes they don’t want to see each other before the ceremony. And then they’ve got just a nice air conditioned room out there and a PS4 and
A refrigerator. There you go. That’s what’s important to the guys.
Felix And Fingers (30:58)
They just want to unwind like before they go out.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (31:00)
Yeah,
yeah, just hang out and have fun. Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (31:04)
This is perfect. This is really really great. Are there any sound ordinances like in the venue anytime music shouldn’t be played past?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (31:13)
The, and probably the best way to answer that is, is that music needs to stop by 10 PM. We’ve had everything from DJs to live bands to you name it, they’ve been here. And the way we do is we try to set up the layout for the music to be turned toward for 22,000 acres of Jennings State Forest where there’s no houses or neighbors. But really we,
Very seldom do we ever get anything, you know, from anybody around and our closest neighbors are a long ways away. So usually if we get any call at all, it might be my son on the other end saying, I think you might need to turn that down. But what we found is, and what I thought was kind of unique, it’s whoever has the best base on their speakers.
is what people hear. And a lot of times you don’t need to turn volume down, you can just turn the bass down a little bit and everybody’s happy. But 10 p.m. was the cutoff time for music.
Felix And Fingers (32:09)
I like that and 10pm is usually it. That’s usually, I mean my impression as a performer, know, that’s usually just about anywhere 10 to 11 it’s usually what we get. And I loved your comment about the basses. It seems like you have a little understanding of like the whole audio situation, so I love that. And yeah, it’s really helpful. Sometimes people, you know, they think like it doesn’t have to be necessarily the general volume. It’s not gonna be as booming out there to the other people. So it definitely could make a change.
I like that.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (32:38)
But then
in the other little piece of that is, is we ask everybody vendors and everybody to be gone by 11 p.m. And probably the person who needs the most set up and take down time is the DJ. They have more equipment, more loads, more trips to the van or trailer or car or whatever. So it works out better for them too.
Felix And Fingers (32:57)
It actually, you know, it actually just takes me to the next question. How early can the vendor access the venue for set up on the wedding day?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (33:05)
Well, probably the best way to answer that is, like I said, we give them 12 hours. So if they do 11 to 11 or 9 to 9, 10 to 10, whenever the gates open, then everybody can come in.
Felix And Fingers (33:18)
Perfect. that’s yeah, 12 hours. Yeah, that’s usually the window. And is there any, is there like an event coordinator? Obviously you guys are over there, but anybody else on site during the wedding day or just usually just two of you just running everything around in there?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (33:34)
Well, we do have day of coordinators. We have several of those that work with us. And then the two of us, and then both of our sons are also, have also just been that, the on-site extra person. So it just depends, depends on the day of the week. And one of my other sons is also, one of my sons is also inefficient. So somebody needs one and I’m out of town or something, then we do have somebody else.
Felix And Fingers (34:01)
Well, if there’s a last minute cancellation for an officiant, your son is right there. So that’s really helpful.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (34:06)
Well,
that’s why he got ordained because we had an officiant not like 10 minutes before the wedding. still weren’t here. wedding they said they’re not coming. And we were, no they didn’t say that they were just late. okay. And that scared us though because we thought what would we do if the officiant didn’t show up? It would be like, you know, what can you do? So we just found out just he would be there just in case to step in. He’s never had to do that but it just made us think.
Felix And Fingers (34:33)
That’s a little piece of mine right there. Is there any parking available at the venue and is it complemented?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (34:39)
Yes, we have plenty of parking. It’s like Diane said, it’s pretty much adjacent to the ceremony site. We have lighting out there. We have street lights on the poles and that type of stuff. And no, we don’t. That’s just another part of the package. There’s no charge for that.
Felix And Fingers (34:56)
Perfect. Do you have a backup plan for outdoor weddings in case of like bad weather? Obviously it’s Florida.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (35:03)
Yes, and this is one of the things that I always go over with our brides when they come for a tour. As you know, people always ask, what do you do if it rains? And plan A in Florida is that you wait five minutes. And that really has happened several times over the years where you just, everybody’s got radar on their phone. We can see if it’s just a band coming through.
We have waterproof covers on our pews, so it takes us like five minutes to get those off and everything. So we can wait five or 10 minutes and then go ahead as planned or plan B if it’s not not going to rain. Then we just move the ceremony to under the barn. And some brides get married under the barn. It’s just depends on, you know, your vision for your wedding.
Felix And Fingers (35:51)
As long as there’s a Plan B to that, just like he said, it’s Florida. You never know. just never know. It could be like pouring and after five minutes, the sun is out, not a single cloud. So yeah, this is just Florida. That’s the way it is. But that’s great. It looks like y’all, have a very good Plan B for that, which will also take me to another question. One of my final questions is, who is gonna be the main point of contact prior to the event?
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (35:53)
Yeah.
Exactly, yes.
Yeah.
Felix And Fingers (36:19)
It’s going to be you guys.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (36:21)
Yes, that would probably be me prior to the event. I really handle the behind the scenes, the planning and the scheduling and stuff. And then on the day of the event, Glenn is most often one of the two people here. And because he is in charge of all the setup and at the final meeting, he’s always there because he wants to make sure it makes sense. And that if the bride wants something that he can, sometimes he’ll say, okay, yeah, let’s do that. And other times he’ll say, well, let’s think this
through and you know there might be a better way. I guess that’s how we kind of divide. After setting the barn, the reception area 300 plus times I’ve kind of figured out what works and what doesn’t work.
Felix And Fingers (37:04)
I would imagine and you know, it’s it just amazes me, you know It’s I’m always looking like at venues like around like, you know Ford and everything else and whenever I come like into a bar and we play like in those settings before me personally I just love that peace of mind so do anybody’s listening to the pockets right now if you guys are looking for a Peaceful place and beautiful honestly check out once again all full-on farms We’re gonna make sure to attach all the links and the good stuff
to Facebook and Instagram and everything else that is going on. Plus, if you are listening to this podcast and this is where you heard of All 4 One Farms, you should know that you will get a free champagne toast and use off the champagne wall when they book, is that right? It sounds so much fun. I have honestly, it’s been a while since I’ve been to Jacksonville myself, but next time I’m over there, I would definitely love to do this with my own eyes. I would love that.
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (37:47)
Yes, and it’s beautiful.
we’ve… Yes!
Felix And Fingers (37:59)
I just love the website. And yeah, it’s great. So anybody out there is looking to get married soon. In Jacksonville region, central Florida, anyone in Florida, honestly, if you’re looking for just a little peace of mind and an amazing A-Team over here, Diane and Glenn, check it out. All 4 One Farms in beautiful Jacksonville, Florida. Diane and Glenn, you are so much fun. I had such a blast talking to you. And again, on my next trip to Jacksonville,
I should definitely stop by and I would love to see the place as well. ⁓
Diane And Glenn Lassiter (38:30)
Well, thank you
for having us. It has been fun.
Felix And Fingers (38:34)
Of
of course you guys are so great. So thank you so much. Once again guys, this was today’s episode for Eventful Endeavors. Until next time, happy Friday!
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