Meet Amanda Dlouhy Bailey of The White Barn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Dlouhy Bailey.

Amanda, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Me and my husband met in 2006 and started dating. We were engaged in 2008 and started planning our wedding. We knew we wanted to get married on my family’s property and farm and when we started pricing out a tent large enough to hold our event, we realized it was quite a few thousand dollars to do that. We knew we were going to build our dream home on the property that my family had given us, so I went to my dad and said why don’t we build a barn we can get married and have the reception in the barn. So I saved my money and my dad saved money and we both put money into the barn and built the barn. The barn was built in 2011. My grandmother had passed away the day after Thanksgiving, and then my dad had cancer and my husband Branden and I both had to have surgery so we Pushed the wedding back until November 2013. We were then married a week and Gulf Coast spine contacted us and asked us to have their Christmas party here. So that was the very beginning of us having events in the white barn for other people besides our family and friends. We used all of the honeymoon money that we received from our wedding to buy 100-year-old church pews from a church in Tampa so that we could use those for the ceremony seating. We have had events for seven years, and it has been a journey. We learn something new from every wedding we have. We have added pavers and string lighting everywhere, and we continue to improve the property.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
A dream is where it all began. We had to apply for permitting and go to the county. We were the very first venue in the county to be granted their use permit and they told us that we were the pioneer setting the example for the others to follow. It has been a wonderful experience with them, and then our neighbors have been wonderful. We really are blessed to be able to do what we love to do. It has not always been easy, but our family and friends and wedding couples have been a huge support system for us and are here for us whenever we need.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
The White Barn is located in Brooksville, Florida, which is 45 minutes north of Tampa. We are special events and wedding venue and we have been doing events for seven years. Our family has been doing events for over 30 years. We are also a Wedding Wire and Rustic Bride Member. We have won 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Wedding Wire couples choice award and have been recognized amongst the top 5% of wedding professionals nationwide. We also recently were featured in The Knot best of wedding venues. We also are featured at Rustic Weddings as a Top Barn Wedding Venue in Florida. The White Barn was chosen for the Best of Brooksville Awards in the category of Wedding Chapel. The Best of Brooksville Award was created to acknowledge the best businesses in our community. With only one wedding per day, our wedding venue can ensure that the Bride and Groom receive our undivided attention and have a day that they will never forget. We are not corporate run we’re family-owned and operated.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I would definitely have to say that we are lucky. We have family and friends that work for us that we trust and that are reliable that are here every weekend for us and our couples. We work very hard to make the White barn feel like home for all of our couples. My husband Branden has laid every single paver on the property. I’ve passed him every single paver that’s been laid in the property. My dad Michael and mother, Linda have been a part of building the barn and maintaining the barn. They believed in the dream in the very beginning.

Contact Info:

• Email: thewhitebarnwedding@gmail.com
• Website: www.TheWhiteBarnWedding.com
• Instagram: TheWhiteBarnWedding
• Facebook: TheWhiteBarnWedding
• Twitter: TheWhiteBarnWedding

Image Credits
Melissa Dozier MAD IMAGES