by Frank DeLoache

Kristi and Chris Trangsrud could have had the traditional wedding at their church, Assurance United Methodist on Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road in Huntersville.

"But we wanted to have a small wedding, and we didn't need that whole church," Kristi says last week. "We wanted something unique and different."

So like a growing number of couples, Kristi and Chris said their vows in the presence of friends and row after row of grape arbors at one of North Carolina's growing number of vineyards. The Trangsruds picked Davesté Vineyards in Troutman, which they had visited several times before deciding.

The Trangsruds (it's Scandanavian) got married about 7 p.m. on Aug. 6, and "it was perfect," Kristi said. It rained about an hour before the ceremony, but the Davesté staff and others quickly dried off the chairs, and the shower helped lower the temperature and the humidity. Kristi and Chris said their vows, led by their minister from Assurance United Methodist, in a grove of pine trees overlooking a pond and the vineyard.

Afterwards, during the reception, Mother Nature treated the couple and all their friends to a spectacular sunset, Kristi said. And the wine was delicious.

Davesté didn't open its tasting room until September 2008 and hosted its first wedding in May 2010. Business has picked up steadily since then, with 10 weddings in all and a few more wedding receptions, Stevie Frye, Davesté 's tasting room and marketing manager, said. Davesté is averaging about 100 inquires, mostly about weddings, a year. So much so that Davesté is adding a special link to wedding information on its Web site, and in April, it will open a new outdoor pavilion that can accommodate larger weddings with up to 200 guests, Frye said.

Weddings are big business to North Carolina's growing wine industry. Not all vineyards — such as RayLen in Winston-Salem and Shelton in Dobson — host weddings, but with a simple Internet search for "N.C. vineyards, weddings," you'll immediately find VisitNC.com, the state's "official travel and tourism Web site." The site devotes an entire section to vineyards and weddings.

"There's something deeply ro mantic about a vineyard wedding," VisitNC.com writes. "Sweeping views of vibrant grapevine fields, the earthy, rich smell of something wonderful growing and cool, darkly lit wine cellars all combine to make your special day truly unique. ... North Carolina is home to 400 individually owned grape vineyards and over 90 wineries."

In that same Internet search you'll also find private Web sites, such as wineryweddingguide.com, catering specifically to the growing industry.

Owl's Eye Winery opened only four years ago last September in Shelby, but its wedding business has thrived right along with its grapes.

"We started with a few here and there, until last fall, when we had an event booked every Saturday from August through November," says Manager Pierre Dalmas. "We had some class reunions, but most of them were weddings."

According to Jan Blanton, event planner at Owl's Eye, the winery had two weddings in 2007 and 15 in 2011, as well as an anniversary event, six rehearsal dinners and 10 luncheons, most of them for brides. Owl's Eye already has 12 weddings booked this year, Blanton says.

Childress Winery in Lexington reports a booming wedding business. Amy Parrish, the director of special events at Childress, says the winery hosted "20-plus" weddings in 2009, "40-plus" in 2010 and more than 50 in 2011.

"I dare say 2012 will be another record-breaking year, with easily 60-plus," Parrish says. "Most of our couples come from the two closest large cities — Winston Salem and Charlotte — along with everywhere in between. The Raleigh and Greensboro areas are starting to catch on to our venue. But they've come from states all over as a destination wedding as well."

Echoing Kristi Trangsrud, Childress Wedding Coordinator Ashley Frye says, "The biggest overall change that I have noticed is that folks are opting for smaller, more intimate weddings, with only family and a few close friends, as opposed to large, extravagant receptions."

Davesté , Owl's Eye and other regional wineries are competing for Charlotte couples with country clubs, hotels and other traditional wedding venues. And besides the romance of wine and a vineyard, they're also offering competitive pricing and convenience, according to Frye and Dalmas.

Davesté has packages ranging from $1,500 to $5,000, with the only requirement that wedding parties purchase their wine and other beverages from the winery. They can also arrange the catering, or couples can make their own arrangements.

Owl's Eye has a $2,000 package, which includes rental of the building and chairs and tables and the winery wait staff serving beverages, Dalmas said. Like Davesté , Owl's Eye can arrange for a caterer, or couples can make their own, but the Shelby vineyard is in the process of adding its own commercial kitchen.

With interstate access and enough hotels for out-of-town guests, the wineries can accommodate the needs of the couple. And on the wedding day, guests stay in the same place for the wedding and reception, and guests usually can begin sampling wine and hors d'oeuvres while the wedding party takes pictures.

The vineyards may even be influencing the weddings themselves, Dalmas said. He has noticed more couples want shorter, simpler weddings done in an informal setting, and he thinks more couples are scheduling their weddings in the fall, especially October and November, to avoid the heat of May and June, the traditional wedding times. October and November also are the harvest months for N.C. wineries, so guests attending weddings then get to see the vineyards in full leaf and often ripe fruit on the vines.

Closer to home

If you don't want to travel 45 minutes or even a half-hour from Lake Norman to enjoy the ambiance of a winery. Some other sites with ambience and good wine also are gaining wedding business.

Lake Norman Cottage, for instance, which sits right on Lake Norman, just off the Davidson exit on Interstate 77, has developed a flourishing wedding business by word-of-mouth and quite by accident, according to owner Trudi Zangardi.

A former banker, Zangardi opened the cottage two-and-one-half years ago as a wine shop, next to the North Harbor Club Restaurant, where people could drink wine and wander from room to room, rather than sitting at one table or the bar. Her business has evolved along the way to wine-and-beer bar and gift and gelato shop.

But the wedding business came as a surprise. It all began with a couple who met for their first date at the cottage and, a few months later, the man called to say he wanted to propose marriage at the restaurant. Zangardi set aside a separate room for them and served complimentary champagne after she said yes.

Then, in April 2010, the couple returned to Zangardi and asked if they could hold their wedding at the cottage, taking their vows right on the dock, the nearby cottage and patio serving as the reception site. Since then, without advertising, more couples have come to Zangardi to be wed. She hosted 10 weddings in 2011 and started getting calls last June and July for 2012 bookings.

Two couples are getting married on May 5. When a third bride called about getting that day, she and her future husband decided to get married May 4, Zangardi said.

Like the wineries, Zangardi believes the cottage draws couples because they can get married on the lakeshore and take a few steps to their reception. She also prides herself on "customizing each wedding to their likes."

"I never do anything twice," she said, "so we can be as formal or informal as you want to be. We can design the food and wine to fit your tastes."

Like the wineries, she also offers a competitive price. Couples don't have to rent the cottage, only let Zangardi handle their wine, beverages and food. "I'm here. This is my place, and I'm thankful they're here," she said.

Lisa Healy and Todd Amis got married at Lake Norman Cottage on April 6, 2011, right after another couple. Lisa was attracted to the small, intimate setting and Zangardi's relaxed, accommodating style.

"She didn't say 'I can't do this, and I can't do that,'" Lisa remembers. Zangardi "was clued into the magic."

Lisa also "wanted to have a wedding in a place where you create a connection and you tend to go back for anniversaries and dates," she said. "People are looking for that in a day of automatic everything."

Kristi Trangsrud has similar feelings about Davesté . She's a Charlotte-Mecklenburg teacher, and her husband, Chris, an engineer for a NASCAR racing team in Mooresville. They met through a local travel club, and they enjoyed taking weekend trips together touring N.C. vineyards.

They had stopped by Davesté before, liked the wine and got to know Frye, the tasting room manager. "We wanted a small wedding, we like nature and we liked Davesté ," Kristi said. "Simple but natural, it was the perfect combination."