The Cedar Room: One Of Charleston's Finest Wedding Venues

During my travels a few weeks ago downtown as I was running some last minute errands before beginning my "hurrication" in St Augustine, FL for Hurricane Florence, I stopped by The Cedar Room. Ever since the consecutive "Best City" and "Top City" awards have been bestowed upon our beautiful city of Charleston, SC, the wedding industry has seen exponential growth.  Within this boom in the Charleston wedding industry, we've also seen the opening of many beautiful wedding venues, and one of those is The Cedar Room, which is located at the Cigar Factory in downtown Charleston at 701 East Bay Street. 

Inside the Cedar Room, you'll find a bridal suite, a built-in bar, and a kitchen making it an ideal choice for your downtown Charleston wedding reception.  I had the pleasure of meeting with Graham Ervin, who is the director of sales for The Cedar Room. Before we get into my conversation with Graham about one of Charleston's finest wedding venues, let's delve into a little history about how The Cedar Room came to be.

The History

The Cigar Factory was originally built back in 1881 and once served as a textile factory, cotton mill, and cigar factory. At one point, the Cigar Factory was actually one of the city's largest employers with over 1,400 workers manufacturing over 400,000 cigars. Back in 1980, the building was placed on the National Register Of Historic Places. It was then in 2015, this historic landmark was converted into an elegant event space (The Cedar Room), as well as retail and F&B (Mercantile & Mash). One of the things I found very attractive about The Cedar Room was a lot of the original features of the 1881 building were kept when restoration of the building occurred.. When you go and take a tour of The Cedar Room for your upcoming Charleston wedding, you'll fall in the love with the large windows that provide a glimpse outside into many different views of Charleston. One more thing, before we delve into my questions with Graham. I wanted to let you know as one of the best Charleston wedding DJs, it's my goal to stay on the cutting edge of new wedding venues that are opening in Charleston and pass those ideas onto my clients.  This is especially important as Charleston continues to evolve as one of the top wedding destinations in the country. Hopefully, I've peaked your interest about The Cedar Room. Please read ahead to see some of the answers to the questions I had about one of the most beautiful Charleston wedding venues to open in the past 5 years.


When did the Cedar Room open?
The Cedar Room opened in August of 2015, and has been become one of the premier downtown wedding venues.

How did the Cedar Room come about?
The Cedar Room was actually an idea from the investors associated with the Cigar Factory. Those investors reached out to one of managing partners of the Indigo Road Hospitality Group, Steve Palmer to run the Cedar Room event space and catering. You can view the Indigo Road website by clicking HERE. Indigo Road owns some of the finest restaurants in the Charleston area like Oak Steak House, The Macintosh, Indaco, and O-Ku, as well as numerous other restaurants in other markets across the Southeast, and the District Of Columbia.

How many people does the Cedar Room hold for an event? 
The Cedar Room has 7,500 square feet of event space and can accomodate Charleston weddings, special events, and private parties of up to 550 people, and up to 300 people in a seated seating. For those couples looking for an elegant Charleston wedding ceremony, the Cedar Room has an outdoor courtyard space that can support up to 150 guests. The average guest count for a Cedar Room wedding is about 160.

What separates the Cedar Room from all the other gorgeous wedding venues in Charleston?
There are numerous historic wedding venues that might have specific requirements in regards to the size of your event or specific set up guidelines, but the Cedar Room is one of the only historic Charleston buildings that can hold more than 200 guests inside. In addition to it's ability to accomodate larger weddings and events, the Cedar Room also has an outstanding caterer managed by The Indigo Road. And if that's not enough, the Cedar Room has complimentary on-site parking, which is very rare for any venue located on the peninsula of Charleston.

Do brides require a wedding planner / coordinator on contract when booking their wedding at the Cedar Room?
An experienced wedding or event planner is essential for creating the event design, the elegant decor, and management of all the details of a typical couple's wedding day. Upon booking, all brides are required to have a licensed professional event planner under contract to make sure The Cedar Room, as well as the Courtyard are used properly on their wedding day.

Can a couple bring their own wedding vendors or are they required to use preferred Cedar Room vendors?
The only exclusive vendor is is the use of the Cedar Room's in-house caterer through Mercantile And Mash, part of The Indigo Road. 

Does The Cedar Room provide in-house catering?
Yes, it does. Catering is provided through Mercantile & Mash.

What all is provided when booking your wedding with the Cedar Room?
For each wedding, each couple will have use of the courtyard and The Cedar Room for 5 hours, along with 6 hours for pre-event set up, as well as 2 hours for post-event breakdown.
(300) Natural wood Chiavari chairs
(30) 60" round tables
(10) 6' and 8' rectangular tables
(10) 24" or 30" tall cocktail tables
(1) custom built-in bar
Glassware, serviceware, flatware, and china
Pre-Event cleaning

What is required to book my wedding date at the Cedar Room?
The Cedar Room is available through out the year, but pricing is dependent upon the time of the year you are having your wedding. The "Low Season" consists of the months of January, February, July & August, while the "High Season" consists of the months of March, April, May, June, September, October, November, and December. Saving your wedding date at the Cedar Room requires a signed contract, room rental deposit, and damage deposit. For exact pricing information, click over to the Cedar Room website, and click on Inquiries, or you may send Graham Ervin an email, who is the Director Of Sales at the Cedar Room. Her email is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Does a couple need to purchase insurance to save their date at the Cedar Room?
No, insurance is not required.

Featured Charleston Weddings At The Cedar Room
Now that I've given you a general overview about The Cedar Room and what it takes to save your date and begin planning your elegant and dreamy wedding, let's take a look at some of the finest weddings held  at the Cedar Room. WARNING! Clicking on these links down below may cause you to quickly contact the Cedar Room and set up a tour :) Click each photo down below to be taken to their respective wedding posts.

"Caroline & Jacob" | April 17, 2017

Photo Credit: Clay Austin Photography

"Jennie & Greg" | July 18, 2018

Photo Credit: Anne Rhett Photography

"Jocelyn & Justin" | December 19, 2017

Photo Credit: Dana Cubbage Weddings

The Verdict: You Should Consider The Cedar Room For Your Charleston Wedding
I really appreciate the time that Graham spent with me to show me what The Cedar Room is all about. When you inquire about having your Charleston wedding at the Cedar Room, you'll be given a beautiful booklet that has in it even more photos from some of the most beautiful weddings held since the venue opened. As you may know, Charleston has catapaulted to being one of the top wedding destinations in the country over the past several years. If you are in Chicago, New York, Boston or the Washington DC area and have circled Charleston as a city you'd like to get married in, you and your fiancee should book a flight sooner, rather than later. After you book your flight, you should let The Cedar Room know you'll be in town so you can set up a tour. Let me warn you though that Charleston is one of the most romantic cities in the world and it will grow on you very fast. The Cedar Room's brochure said it perfectly by calling the venue "a blank canvas with historical features". Your wedding planner can work with you in transforming this historical venue into an elegant and classy wedding reception. As one of the top Charleston wedding DJs, I hope to have peaked your interest about The Cedar Room. I cannot wait to get back into the Cedar Room for another gorgeous Charleston wedding.  If I have also peaked your interest about music and you have begun to plan your Charleston wedding and want to begin interviewing DJs, click HERE to tell me a little more about your big day. If this blog post served it's purpose and you and your fiance have booked your flight and are now on your way to Charleston, click the link below for the perfect soundtrack when you arrive.
Songs To Hear When You Are In Love In Charleston, SC