NEWS

A rendering of Henmick Farm & Brewery

New & Noteworthy

Openings, closings and changes in the Central Ohio wedding industry

BY EMMA FRANKART HENTERLY

OPENINGS A number of event venues have opened in recent months, including Evermore Studios, a micro-venue in the Brewery District; Henmick Farm & Brewery in Delaware; Seek-No-Further Cidery & Bancroft Cottage in Granville; and 1883 Locale in Reynoldsburg, which will host an open house on July 10. Evermore Studios, 1007 S. High St., Columbus, 614-2268513, evermorestudiosllc.com; Henmick Farm & Brewery, 4380 N. Old State Road, Delaware, henmick.com; SeekNo-Further Cidery & Bancroft Cottage, 120 E. Elm St., Granville, 513-461-1782, bancroftcottage1824.com; 1883 Locale, 7345½ E. Main St., Reynoldsburg, 614282-6828, 1883locale.com

Other businesses that have launched since the start of the pandemic include Marengo venue The Brook and event planning companies It’s So Beautiful and roop. Read more about each of them in our story on Page 24. The Brook, 3480 Bene-

Seek-No-Further Cidery

dict Road, Marengo, 740-361-6348, thebrookvenue.com; It’s So Beautiful, 614-266-8712, itssobeautiful.net; roop, roop.events CLOSINGS Classic Limousines of Columbus appears to have closed; the business’ website is down, its phone number disconnected, and its Facebook page hasn’t been updated since September. The company did not respond to a Facebook message about its status.

In July, Tall Timbers Banquet & Conference Center closed its doors for good. The Reynoldsburg-area venue auctioned off much of its furnishings and equipment the same month, according to Columbus Business First.

Sangeeta Lakhani and Jen Marlatt, owners of The Table restaurant and micro-venue, announced via Facebook on Feb. 4 that they had officially handed over the keys for the Short North space. The Table was closed throughout the pandemic, and Lakhani and Marlatt listed it for sale in May 2020, according to Columbus Underground.

CHANGES Several venues have moved locations in the last six months or are planning to do so in the next six months: Clintonville’s Orchard Lane Flowers left its namesake street for 3378 Indianola Ave. in January (614-262-0880, orchardlaneflowers. com). The following month, Short North stationer On Paper moved just a few doors north to 743 N. High St. (614-424-6617, onpaper.com). Clintonville darling Flowers & Bread bid the neighborhood adieu in May, and Pattycake Bakery wasted no time in purchasing the space at 3870 N. High St. (614-784-2253, pattycakebakery.com). And finally, Italian specialty grocer and caterer Carfagna’s is moving this summer from the Northland area to 1440 Gemini Place in the Polaris area; the new space will be called Carfagna’s Famous Market & Ristorante, according to

a report from our sister publication The Columbus Dispatch (carfagnas.com).

In February, bridesmaid and social occasion gown boutique Gilded Social expanded its offerings to include bridal. Gowns at the Downtown shop range in price from $600 to $5,000 and include such brands as Amsale, Rosa Clará, Blue Willow Bride and more. Owner Tanya Hartman notes that this expansion into bridal will not be made at the expense of her wedding party customers, and combined bridal/bridesmaid appointments will not be offered. “I am not interested in cannibalizing that experience for the bridesmaids, because they still deserve their appointment,” says Hartman. “We don’t want anybody to ever feel like they’re second fiddle.” 65 E. Gay St., Second Floor, Columbus; 614-430-9659, shopgildedsocial.com

Local custom fragrance studio The Candle Lab announced via a blog post in February that it would be partnering with Indianapolis-based Penn & Beech Candle Co. According to the post, the “plan is to remodel and rebrand the three [Candle Lab] stores in the spring to improve the look and feel of the spaces and update the customer experience with new, thoughtful touches.” thecandlelab.com, pennandbeech.com

The L.A. Catering Event Center has a new name: The Levee Event Center. The new moniker is a nod to the levees that were built in that spot in the early 1900s. The Levee’s parent company, LifeCare Alliance, has ties to that era; then called the Instructional District Nursing Association, the organization was in charge of flood relief efforts at that time. Proceeds from events at The Levee (and L.A. Catering, which is located in the same building) support LifeCare Alliance’s mission to serve Central Ohioans with critical health and nutrition services. 670 Harmon Ave., Columbus; 614-358-5252, la-catering.com

NEWS In August 2020, Irongate Equestrian Center owner Tera Gore and her mother, Theresa Gregory, pleaded guilty to five counts of tax fraud in a case centered around Gregory’s income through multilevel marketing companies. Gore was charged with helping her mother evade taxes on income earned through those companies in part by transferring assets, including Irongate Equestrian Center, into Gore’s name, though Gore stated in a May phone call with Columbus Weddings that the Hartford venue “was never involved with the tax stuff.”

Gore and Gregory were sentenced in February and ordered to pay $3.3 million in back taxes, according to a press release from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office – Southern District of Ohio. Both women received jail sentences, and Gregory was ordered to pay a $20,000 fine. Gore’s sentence of six months, followed by 12 months of home confinement, is shorter than Gregory’s sentence of 36 months.

In the May phone call, Gore insisted that she has no plans to close the venue and Irongate is “here to stay.” 12298 Croton Road, Hartford; 740-893-8001, irongateequestriancenter.com

unveiled

SILVER LINING For Abby and Andrew Ohl, planning their Oct. 2, 2020, wedding amid the pandemic was “heartbreaking and hard,” Abby says. “However, all of our closest family and friends, as well as our amazing vendors, made our day perfect and special.”

FAMILY 20 ENTERTAINMENT 22 INDUSTRY 24