Whether you come from near or far, staying at 1900 Inn on Montford means you’re a part of our family. And for us, it’s personal. We love getting to mingle over breakfast, talking about our beloved city of Asheville, and hearing tales from our guests. While there is so much to love about running the inn — the energy of a full house, creating new recipes, and hosting memorable weddings and events — it’s our guests that fill our hearts and make the long days worth it.
In our seven years, we’ve been fortunate to meet some incredible individuals with so many of these folks returning again and again to spend time with us and enjoy the tranquility of the mountains. We are immensely grateful for our guests who have supported us throughout the years, and we decided to do something special to say thank you, leading us to host our first ever Alumni Event. From the food to the conversation, it was a weekend we’ll remember for a long, long time.
Giving Back & Enjoying Quality Time with Friends
With 2024 being a Leap Year, and February being one of our quieter months, we decided to jump on the opportunity to host our inaugural alumni event and gift our repeat guests with a long weekend that included a bonus night’s stay for free.
Giving back was really important to our innkeepers, Willy and Shawnie. They said, “We’re incredibly appreciative of our repeat guests, and we don’t always get a chance to say thank you, so this was a special weekend for us to be able to spend some quality time with our longtime guests and show our gratitude.”
Tastings, Dinner, Dessert, and Music at 1900 Inn on Montford’s Alumni Weekend
The vision for our weekend get-together was to create a lively but leisurely experience. “We wanted to have some fun things lined up for our guests but we also wanted them to be able to relax and venture out and do things they wanted as well,” says Willy and Shawnie.
Our Asheville bed & breakfast’s common spaces are able to hold many people, but at the same time, guests could peel off and go into individual rooms to relax as they pleased. And the itinerary left the days largely freewheeling. Mornings were for pampering our guests with our famous breakfasts crafted from fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients, and evenings were for merrymaking. And of course, our guests’ favorite cookies were in ample supply for nibbling throughout the day.
But it was our local partners who really stole the show.
To start off our first evening, we brought the local tastes of Asheville to the inn starting with a whiskey tasting from Oak and Grist Distilling Co. As one of North Carolina’s few 100% grain-to-glass distilleries, Oak and Grist’s North Carolina whiskey beautifully captures the unique flavors of the region and celebrates the local terroirs of our beloved mountains.
What better way to enjoy this spirit than with a classic whiskey cocktail? We had Old Fashioneds made for our guests to try as they mingled and lounged in the inn for happy hour.
On night two, we hosted the main event, the “Alumni Dinner”, and transported our guests to Greece with a delicious catered dinner of Greek favorites like Spanakopita, Souvlaki, Dolmades, stuffed mushrooms, and more. Paired with a white, red and rosé (which was a huge hit!) from our friends at Mother’s Cafe, it was a feast to remember. To top it off, we had a delicious limoncello and blueberry boozy ice cream from Luscious Liquor Ice Cream and three homemade pies (apple, lemon meringue, and mixed berry) from Camille Cogswell, a James Beard Rising Star and up and coming pastry chef.
At the end of the evening, our inn was full of smiles, happy stomachs, clean plates, and zero leftovers.
The weekend came to a close on night three with a very special musical serenade from Ben Scales, our lead musician and wedding officiant, and other local musicians who played a compilation of their favorite Bluegrass tunes. Guests settled in with a glass of beer or wine to join in on a yodel as we gathered around for a toe-tapping musical hour.
Newfound Friendships & Memories Made at Our Asheville Bed and Breakfast
Throughout the entire weekend of fun filled events, the most special part was getting to watch new friendships being made. While we had guests who had stayed with us ranging from six times to 20, the most remarkable part about our alumni weekend was that none of our guests had ever crossed paths at the inn before.
Since all in attendance had visited Asheville multiple times, conversation was easy and everyone clicked, making the weekend just that much better. Willy and Shawnie said, “It was so much nicer than we could have imagined. It was so rewarding to help facilitate a group of people and make sure they had a great weekend together.”
The cherry on top was hearing our guests at the breakfast table say, “Everybody in for next year’s event?” with a resounding “yes!” And we couldn’t agree more.
More Alumni Events on the Horizon at 1900 Inn on Montford
After the last guest departed and our event officially came to a close, one of our most impactful takeaways from this memorable weekend was how much our guests enjoyed the experience. We asked ourselves, “How can we continue to make this event happen and make it special too?”
Well, we’re excited to share that we will be hosting another alumni event in July, called “The Summer Camp”, with more fun alumni events in the works too! If you’re interested in joining, please call us to learn more. We hope to see you at one at our Asheville bed and breakfast soon!