Dreaming of an affordable NC mini wedding where you can just “show up and get married?”
The 1812 Hitching Post is one of the few Charlotte-area wedding venues where a couple can have a beautiful, fully coordinated elopement for up to 20 people — including the venue, officiant, photography, cake, décor, music, refreshments and coordination at a gorgeous historic estate — for $2,200.
Right at the Crossroads of North Carolina
The 1812 Hitching Post sits just north of Statesville — an area nicknamed “the Crossroads of North Carolina” for where I-77 and I-40 meet. Whether you’re coming from South Carolina, Charlotte, Lake Norman, the Triad, Hickory, or Virginia, you can reach us easily. We’re located just 12 miles north of Statesville.
Image at the Crossroads – Ben Long Mural
A Beautiful Destination
Our 26 acres feature mature trees, colorful gardens, a private lake, a historic home full of character, and multiple outdoor ceremony spaces — easy to find on Highway 21, but worlds away once you arrive.
We take care of the details that make your wedding feel like your wedding. We’ll work with you on colors and your overall theme, help you find the perfect spots around the property for your ceremony and photos, coordinate the music throughout your day, and even help you write vows that sound like you — not something pulled from a template. Because the little personal touches are what turn a wedding day into your wedding day.
An elopement can be small without feeling like you skipped the wedding.
That is something I wish more couples knew.
You can still get ready in a beautiful room. Someone you love can walk you down the aisle. Your parents, children or closest friends can be there. You can have music, flowers, photographs, a first dance and a little cake afterward.
You can have all the moments that matter to you—just without a large guest list and months of complicated planning.
I’m Wendy, the owner and venue coordinator at the 1812 Hitching Post. After more than 1,100 weddings, I have learned that the size of a wedding has very little to do with how meaningful it feels. Some of the sweetest ceremonies we have hosted have had only a handful of people standing nearby.
If you are looking for an elopement venue near Charlotte, here are the things I think matter most.
1. Your elopement can still feel like a real wedding
Some couples hear the word elopement and picture slipping into a courthouse alone. That may be just right for some people, but it is not the only way to elope.
At the 1812 Hitching Post, an elopement may be just the two of you, or it may include up to 20 of the people who are most important in your life.
Your children can be part of the ceremony. Your mother can help you get dressed. Your best friend can stand beside you. Someone special can walk you down the aisle. You can exchange personal vows beneath an arbor, take family photographs afterward and celebrate with the people who know your story best.
It is intimate, but it does not feel incomplete.
That is the kind of elopement we love: one that keeps the heart of a wedding and lets go of the parts you never wanted in the first place.
2. You are getting married at our home—not in a generic ceremony room
The 1812 Hitching Post is a private historic residence, and that makes the feeling here a little different.
The oldest part of the house is an 1812 log cabin, still tucked beneath the home’s yellow exterior. It’s part of the history your guests will experience when they wander around and look at things during your reception. It’s like gettimg married at a “mini Biltmore.” This is the former horse farm of a North Carolina Senator.
My own connection to the property goes back farther than I realized. When I was a little girl, my family traveled this road on the way to Florida. I remembered the yellow house, the hitching post out front and the beautiful horses cantering in the fields.
Years later, when my future husband invited me here, I came up the driveway again and recognized it.
My husband and I were married on the side lawn, the “ceremony lawn,” in 2004. My oldest son and his wife were married here in 2012. Our wedding stories are part of many family conversations and memories. Today, it is still my home, and I am proud to share it with couples who want their wedding to feel warm, personal and full of history.
When you marry here, your wedding becomes one more chapter in a story that has been unfolding on this land for more than 200 years.
Read more about the story of the 1812 Hitching Post.
3. You have 26 acres to make the day your own
An intimate wedding should not mean being tucked into one small room with nowhere else to go.
The 1812 Hitching Post has 26 acres of lawns, gardens, mature trees, fields, woodland trails and a five-acre lake. You can choose a ceremony spot that feels right for the two of you instead of trying to make your wedding fit one permanent setup.
You may love the classic side lawn ceremony location under the giant oak trees. One of our trees is the largest white oak in the county and the third largest in the state. Couples love photos under the trees, at the lake, on the balcony, and all around the property.
Other couples choose a field or the lake. We’ve had ceremories in 8 different locations on the property. You’re welcome to express your personality with your ceremony location choice.
And if North Carolina weather changes its mind, we have covered or indoor ceremony choices, too.
The property gives you options, but it also gives your day room to breathe. Even with a small group, you feel as though you have gone somewhere special.
Take a closer look at the house, ceremony spaces and grounds.
4. You get time to arrive, settle in and enjoy the anticipation
Our elopement packages include three hours of private venue use. You have separate dressing areas where you can get ready, take a breath and enjoy that lovely bit of anticipation before the ceremony. If you feel you need more time, you can add on to the package.
The house is part of the experience. The upstairs dressing rooms are light-filled and comfortable, while the partner’s suite downstairs offers a relaxed private place to gather. The historic rooms give you somewhere to pause, not just somewhere to pass through.
You do not have to arrive fully dressed, step out of the car and immediately begin your ceremony. You get to experience the beginning of your wedding day, too.
5. You do not have to put together a team of vendors by yourself
Small weddings can become surprisingly complicated when you have to find an officiant, rent chairs, choose ceremony music, decorate an arbor and coordinate everyone separately.
We can bring those pieces together for you.
Depending on the elopement package you choose, your day can include:
- A professional officiant
- Your ceremony music
- Guest seating
- A decorated arbor with silk flowers coordinated to your colors
- Separate dressing spaces
- Venue coordination
- Professional photography
- A two-tier wedding cake
- Charcuterie, non-alcoholic drinks and a champagne toast
I am a venue coordinator, which means I am here to make sure the details at the Hitching Post are ready and the day flows the way it should. You will not be left to figure everything out alone.
After 24 years in the wedding-venue business, I know how to help a couple move from getting ready to ceremony to photographs and celebration without the day feeling hurried or confusing. We will have everything set up and decorated for you so you can experinece all the moments of your wedidng day.
6. Your photographs can tell the whole story—not just record the ceremony
When a wedding is small, photographs become even more important. They are how you will remember the expressions, the little glances and the people who stood close while you said your vows.
Because the house, lake, gardens, fields and old trees are all here, your photographs will not look as though they were taken in one corner of one room. You can have a complete visual story of the day.
You may have photographs on the staircase before the ceremony, a first kiss beneath the arbor, family portraits on the lawn and quiet images of the two of you beside the lake.
Those images are not less important because you chose a smaller wedding. If anything, they preserve the closeness that made you choose an elopement in the first place.
7. You can celebrate after the ceremony
I have never thought a couple should say “I do” and then feel as if they need to hurry out the door.
With our all-inclusive elopement, you’ll have a cake cutting, share charcuterie, raise a glass and have your first dance. You can hug your parents, laugh with your children and spend a little time enjoying the fact that you are married.
It is not a full traditional reception, and it does not need to be. It is a lovely pause after the ceremony—a chance to celebrate before everyone heads home or continues the day together.
If you want a meal or a little more reception time, ask us about adding private dining. If your guest list has grown beyond an elopement, our micro wedding option may be a better fit.
You do not have to know which package is right before you visit. That is something we can talk through together.
8. It feels like a little destination wedding without taking everyone far from home
The 1812 Hitching Post is in Harmony, North Carolina, only eight minutes north of Statesville and about an hour from Charlotte.
Statesville sits at the crossroads of Interstates 77 and 40, making the venue convenient for guests coming from Charlotte, Lake Norman, Mooresville, Winston-Salem, Hickory and other parts of North Carolina.
Then you turn off the interstate onto highway 21. It’s an easy drive to our historic home surrounded by trees and open land.
That is one of the nicest things about our location. You do not have to travel across the country to feel as though you have stepped away from everyday life. Your wedding can feel like a private North Carolina getaway while hotels, restaurants and interstate access are still nearby.
See directions, nearby hotels and guest information.
What does an elopement at the 1812 Hitching Post look like?
It begins when you arrive at the house and settle into your separate dressing spaces.
While you are getting ready, we are making sure the chairs are in place, the arbor is decorated in your colors and the music is ready. Your ceremony may be outside beneath the trees or inside if the weather is not cooperating.
You exchange vows with the people closest to you nearby. Afterward, there is time for photographs around the property and, depending on your package, cake, a toast, charcuterie and a first dance.
No enormous guest list. No parade of vendors to manage. No trying to turn a bare rental space into a wedding venue for one afternoon.
Just a beautiful old home, a few people you love and the beginning of your marriage.
Come see whether it feels like your place
Photographs can show you the lake, the gardens and the old house, but they cannot quite show you how it feels to come up the driveway and realize how much space is here.
The 1812 Hitching Post is located at 2463 Turnersburg Highway in Harmony, North Carolina, just north of Statesville.
Come walk the property. Step inside the historic rooms. Look at the ceremony spaces and dressing areas. Stand beneath the trees and imagine who you want beside you when you say your vows.
If you can’t make it for a tour, chat with me on the phone. Text 24/7. I’d love to help! Wendy Waldron (704)437-1710.
Learn more about our Charlotte-area elopement packages and plan a visit.
How to get started: Contact us for a tour!
Where Can I Find an Affordable All-Inclusive Elopement Near Charlotte, NC?
At the 1812 Hitching Post, our All-Inclusive Elopement is $2,200 for the couple and up to 20 guests. It includes three hours of private venue use, an officiant, ceremony décor, music, two hours of professional photography, wedding cake, charcuterie, non-alcoholic beverages, and a champagne toast. You simply show up and get married!
How Much Does an All-Inclusive Elopement Near Charlotte Cost?
Our All-Inclusive Elopement is $2,200 for the couple and up to 20 guests. You get three hours at our historic wedding venue plus photography, cake, charcuterie, beverages, ceremony décor, music, an officiant, and venue coordination—all bundled together.
How Many Hours Do You Get With an All-Inclusive Elopement at the 1812 Hitching Post?
Our All-Inclusive Elopement includes three hours of private access to the venue and grounds, with two hours of professional photography. That gives you time to get ready, have your ceremony, take family and couple photographs, enjoy your mini reception, and celebrate without having to plan an entire wedding day.
What Is Included in an All-Inclusive Charlotte Elopement?
Our $2,200 All-Inclusive Elopement includes the venue, private dressing areas, ceremony décor, officiant, music, two hours of professional photography, a two-tier wedding cake, charcuterie, non-alcoholic beverages, a champagne toast, and venue coordination for the couple and up to 20 guests.
Can I Have an Elopement With Up to 20 Guests Near Charlotte, NC?
Absolutely! An elopement doesn’t have to mean just the two of you. Our Charlotte-area elopement package includes up to 20 guests, so you can invite your parents, children, siblings, grandparents, or closest friends to celebrate with you.
Can I Have a Wedding Reception With My 1812 Hitching Post Elopement?
Yes! Our All-Inclusive Elopement includes a mini reception with charcuterie, wedding cake, beverages, music, and a champagne toast. You can also incorporate special moments such as your first dance. It’s a small wedding celebration without all the expense and planning of a traditional wedding.
How Much Time is Typically Included With An Elopement?
The 1812 Hitching Post offers three-hour elopement packages at our historic wedding venue in Harmony, NC. You’ll have private use of the venue and grounds with dressing rooms for getting ready and multiple ceremony options both inside and outside.
Does the 1812 Hitching Post Offer Photography With Its Elopement Package?
Yes. Our All-Inclusive Elopement includes two hours of professional photography covering getting ready, your ceremony, group photographs, and photographs of the two of you. You can add-on photography services to the Traditional Elopement package, if desired. Having photography included means you don’t have to find and coordinate a separate photographer for your elopement.
Can I Have an Affordable Elopement Near Charlotte Without Planning Everything Myself?
That’s exactly what our All-Inclusive Elopement is designed for. We take care of the venue, ceremony setup, décor, officiant, music, photography, cake, charcuterie, beverages, and coordination. All you have to do is show up and get married!
What Is the Difference Between a Traditional Elopement and an All-Inclusive Elopement at the 1812 Hitching Post?
Our Traditional Elopement is $1,200 for the couple and up to 20 people and includes two hours of venue use, dressing areas, ceremony décor, seating, an officiant and witnesses if needed, ceremony music, and venue coordination. Our All-Inclusive Elopement is $2,200 and adds another hour of venue time, two hours of professional photography, wedding cake, charcuterie, beverages, a champagne toast, and music for your mini reception.
