Now booking 2026 holiday parties and 2026–27 wedding weekends — check your date · events@townhallhighlands.com · 828-482-7352

Private Events · 474 Main Street

The whole town
shows up here.
So should your party.

Town Hall is a full-service venue and event space in the middle of Main Street in Highlands — dining rooms with elevated rustic finishes, a full bar, and an outdoor patio and garden. We host everything from a twelve-person dinner to a three-hundred-and-fifty-guest reception, and your guests can walk here from where they are staying.

Check your date Spaces & capacities

350Reception, full restaurant

200Seated, full restaurant

150Reception, main dining + bar

< 24 hrsInquiry response

Who we host

Two kinds of guests, one very good room

Most of what we do falls into two buckets. Find yours and skip ahead.

Wedding weekends

Everything except the ceremony

Highlands weddings are weekends, not afternoons. We are the venue for the other events — the ones that decide whether guests remember the trip.

Welcome parties & cocktail receptions
Rehearsal dinners, seated or family style
Wedding receptions
After parties with a late bar
Farewell & going-away brunches
Bridal luncheons and showers

Planner information

Business & community

The room your town already knows

Holiday parties, business happy hours, client entertaining, and the celebrations that hold a small town together.

Company holiday get-togethers
Business happy hours
Corporate functions & team dinners
Charity events & fundraisers
Club & association dinners
Anniversaries, birthdays & celebrations of life

Holiday party dates

Occasions

If it is worth gathering for, we have hosted it

Every one of these runs differently. Tell us which you are planning and we will send the version of our proposal built for it — not a generic packet.

Welcome Party

The first night sets the weekend’s tone. Passed hors d’oeuvres, a signature cocktail, and a room that lets people actually meet each other.

Thu & Fri evenings

Rehearsal Dinner

Three- or four-course plated dinner, or family style. Toasts, house sound, and a room where the microphone carries.

Seated

Wedding Reception

The full restaurant, the whole team, and the run of the place — up to three hundred and fifty for a reception.

Full restaurant

After Party

Late bar and late-night bites, in a town that does not have many places open after the reception ends.

Late night

Farewell Brunch

A soft landing before everyone drives down the mountain. Guests come and go on their own schedule.

Sunday

Bridal Luncheon & Showers

Daytime, bright and pretty. A lighter luncheon menu and a private space for gifts and photographs.

Daytime

Company Holiday Party

The one everyone judges you on. Stations or seated, full bar, and a December calendar that fills early.

Nov–Dec

Business Happy Hour

Hors d’oeuvres and the full bar, easy in and out, for the annual thank-you that has to look like you meant it.

Weekday evenings

Corporate Functions

Board dinners, team meals, and year-end celebrations. Set menus, one invoice, and audio/visual support on request.

Weekdays

Charity & Fundraising Events

Ticketed dinners, auctions, and donor receptions, with a bar structure that protects your margin instead of eating it.

Full restaurant

Anniversaries & Milestone Birthdays

Fiftieths, sixtieths, and the surprise ones. Often the same families, back on the same night, year after year.

Any night

Celebrations of Life

Handled quietly and quickly. We will turn a room around on short notice and take the logistics off a grieving family.

Flexible

Small Group Dinners

Twelve to twenty-four guests, booked inside two weeks based on availability, with a set lunch or dinner menu.

2 weeks out

Patio & Garden Events

Our outdoor patio and garden, open air in the middle of Highlands. Weather permitting, always with an indoor plan.

Seasonal

Luncheons

Salad bar, wraps and burgers, or a family-style spread — three luncheon menus built for daytime meetings and gatherings.

Daytime

Full Restaurant Buyout

The entire building and the whole team. The only way to host a crowd this size in the middle of Main Street.

Exclusive

Spaces

Three ways to take the room

Beautifully curated spaces — warm dining rooms with elevated rustic finishes, a full bar, and an expansive outdoor patio and garden. Spaces can be combined, and the whole restaurant is available for exclusive use.

Main dining room and bar area set for a private dinner

Semi-private · Our most-booked space

Main Dining + Bar Area

The heart of the restaurant and the full bar together — the right size for a rehearsal dinner, a holiday party, or a reception that wants room to move.

Seated100
Reception150
BarIncluded
Food & beverage minimumFlexible

Exclusive use

Full Restaurant

The entire building, the whole team, and the run of the place — dining rooms, bar, and the patio and garden when the weather cooperates.

Seated200
Reception350
Patio & gardenWeather permitting
Food & beverage minimumFlexible

Small groups

Limited Reservations

For groups too large for a normal booking and too small for a buyout. Available within two weeks of your date, based on availability, from a set lunch or dinner menu.

Group size12–24
Booking windowWithin 2 weeks
MenuSet menu
Per-person minimumFlexible

Capacity at a glance

Space	Seated	Reception	Best for	Minimum
Main Dining + Bar Area	100	150	Rehearsal dinners, holiday parties, receptions	Flexible
Full Restaurant	200	350	Wedding receptions, buyouts, large celebrations	Flexible
Limited Reservations	12–24	—	Small group lunches and dinners	Flexible

The venue is handicap accessible throughout. Approximately three space configurations are available depending on the season and the weather.

About our minimums. We keep food and beverage minimums flexible — they move with the season, the day of the week, and the shape of your event. Rather than publish a number that will not fit your date, tell us when you are looking and what you have in mind, and we will quote it honestly. We are competitive, and we would rather have the conversation.

Menus

Southern food, served like it matters

A wide range of menus, from new American to casual comfort food. These are our set menus — and our culinary team can build something entirely different with notice. Dietary substitutions are available with advance notice.

Three course

Dinner I

$34.95 / guest

The straightforward plated dinner. Choose the salad, choose two entrées, and we do the rest.

Select one: Caesar or mixed greens
Select two entrées
Smashed potatoes & green beans
Assorted cookies & brownies

Request this menu

Three course

Dinner II

$45.95 / guest

More choice at every course, with sides selected by you and a proper Southern dessert.

Select two: salads or vegetable soup
Select two entrées
Select two sides
Chocolate pecan pie, bread pudding or cobbler

Request this menu

Four course

Dinner III

$55.95 / guest

The full occasion. Adds a passed or plated appetizer course ahead of everything above.

Select two appetizers
Select two: salads or vegetable soup
Select two entrées & two sides
Chocolate pecan pie, bread pudding or cobbler

Request this menu

Entrées across the dinner menus

Southern pot roast with roasting gravy · crispy roasted chicken breast with natural pan jus · pan-roasted salmon with blistered tomato-caper butter · grilled shrimp with lemon butter or tomato-caper butter. Sides include garlic green beans, roasted garlic smashed potatoes, sautéed spinach and German potato salad.

Luncheons

Luncheon I — $26.95
Salad or vegetable soup, then two of: chicken salad wrap, Town Hall smash burger, Caesar with roast salmon, Santa Fe chopped salad. Soft beverage included.
Luncheon II — $32.95
All-American salad bar with ham, turkey and bacon — or chicken salad and smoked trout dip. Warm sweet rolls, vegetable soup, cookies and brownies, soft beverage.
Luncheon III — $42.95
Served family style. Salad, two entrées, garlic green beans and smashed potatoes, cookies and brownies.

Hors d’oeuvres

Priced per person, built for receptions, welcome parties and late-night service.

Taco bar — $8
Jumbo shrimp cocktail — $8
Chili-lime marinated shrimp — $7
Nacho bar — $6
Wing bar — $6
Smoked trout dip — $6
Mini pigs in a blanket — $6
Southern chicken salad — $6
Vegetable antipasta — $6
Fried cheese curds — $5
Pimento cheese — $5
Pretzel bites — $5

Substitute shrimp on the taco or nacho bar for $2 per person; add guacamole for $1. Selected items are available for late-night service; others are available late night with a chef attendant at $150 per attendant.

Bar and outside food. A $125 bar setup fee applies to full bar service for events over thirty guests. Corkage is $25 per 750 ml bottle. Outside dessert is welcome at $2.50 per person, including plates and utensils; no other outside food is permitted. All prices are subject to tax and gratuity, and menu items may change with availability.

How it works

Five steps, and we move fast on all of them

The single biggest complaint planners have about restaurant venues is slow replies. We answer every inquiry within one business day — most within a few hours.

Inquire

Send your date, guest count and format. Ninety seconds on the form below.

Hold the date

We will hold a date free for up to 72 hours. Beyond that, a date hold runs 60 days.

Confirm

A signed Private Dining Agreement and the event deposit confirm your event.

Plan

Menu selections two weeks out. Final guaranteed guest count seven business days out.

Event day

A dedicated team runs your event start to finish. You get to be a guest.

For wedding planners

We know you are booking four events, not one

A Highlands wedding weekend is a welcome party, a rehearsal dinner, a reception or after party, and a farewell brunch — usually at four different venues, with four contacts, four contracts and four chances for something to go wrong. We would like to be one of them. Ideally more than one.

Date holds that work the way you do. We will hold a date at no charge for up to 72 hours while your couple decides. For a longer runway, a formal 60-day hold is available. If another qualified inquiry comes in for your date, you get written notice and 48 hours to sign before we release it — you are never surprised.

Start a weekend inquiry Request the planner kit

Steps from where your guests sleep

474 Main Street sits in the middle of downtown, with the area’s lodging and attractions within walking distance. No shuttle contract, no drive down the mountain in the dark.

One contact, one reply, one day

A dedicated events team and a 24-hour response standard on everything — proposals, changes, and the 9pm question the night before.

Any menu you can describe

Set menus from $26.95 to $55.95 per guest, and a culinary team that will build something entirely different with notice.

Three configurations, one building

Main dining and bar, the full restaurant, or a small group reservation — plus the patio and garden when the weather cooperates.

Your vendors are welcome

Bring your florist, band and photographer. Entertainment is approved in advance and must meet community noise guidelines; we will help you arrange it.

Audio/visual handled

We are happy to assist with audio/visual needs. Equipment, setup, technical support and outside rentals may carry additional fees, quoted up front.

Holiday & corporate

December is decided in September

Highlands has a handful of rooms that can hold a real company party, and they book in a narrow window. If you are planning a holiday get-together, the honest advice is to lock the date now and choose the menu later.

Sunday through Wednesday costs less — our minimums are lower earlier in the week than they are Thursday through Saturday.
Hold it free for 72 hours — enough time to get the date past your leadership before you commit.
Set menus make budgeting simple — a fixed per-guest number from $26.95 lunch to $55.95 dinner.
Book it once, keep it — recurring annual clients get first refusal on the same date next year.

Hold a holiday date

The dining room dressed for a holiday party

The room

What it actually looks like

Warm dining rooms with elevated rustic finishes, a full bar, and an outdoor patio and garden that show off the Highlands.

Details

The questions everyone asks

Answered here so you do not have to email for them. Anything missing, ask.

What are your food and beverage minimums?

They are flexible. Minimums move with the season, the day of the week and the shape of your event — Sunday through Wednesday is lower than Thursday through Saturday, and off-season is lower than a wedding-season weekend. We would rather quote your actual date than publish a number that does not fit it. Send us the date and we will come back with a real figure.

How do I hold a date?

We will hold a date at no charge for up to 72 hours. For a longer runway, a formal date hold reserves the date and space for 60 calendar days and begins once we have a signed Date-Hold Acknowledgment and the hold fee. A date hold is not a confirmed reservation.

What if someone else wants my held date?

If another qualified inquiry comes in for the same date and space during your hold, we send written notice by email and you have 48 hours to sign the Private Dining Agreement and complete the deposit. If we do not hear back in that window, we may release the date.

How is an event confirmed?

An event is confirmed only once we have a signed Private Dining Agreement and the full event deposit. Any date-hold fee already paid is credited in full toward that deposit, and the deposit is applied to your final balance.

What is your cancellation policy?

The event deposit is refundable up until ninety days before your event date. Inside ninety days, the deposit is non-refundable. Any further cancellation charges are governed by the Private Dining Agreement.

When do you need my final guest count?

A final guaranteed count is due seven business days before the event. Without one, we bill against the count in your agreement plus any additional guests who attend.

When are menu selections due?

Two weeks before your event. Dietary substitutions can be arranged with advance notice. Menus, pricing and individual items are subject to change based on product availability.

What service charges and fees apply?

A 20% service charge and a 3% administrative fee are added to every event, both applied before state and local sales tax. The administrative fee is retained by Town Hall and is not a gratuity distributed to service staff.

Is there a bar setup fee?

Yes — $125 for full bar setup on events with more than thirty guests.

Can we bring our own wine?

Corkage is $25 per 750 ml bottle, arranged in advance.

Can we bring a cake or dessert?

Yes. Outside dessert is $2.50 per person, which includes plates and utensils as needed. No other outside food is permitted.

Can we decorate? Are candles allowed?

Personal décor is welcome and must be removed by you immediately after the event. Tape, adhesives, glitter, confetti and open-flame candles are not permitted. Décor left behind incurs a $500 disposal and cleaning fee charged to the card on file.

Can we have a band or DJ?

All entertainment is approved in advance, and must comply with community noise guidelines. We are happy to help you arrange it.

Do you have audio/visual equipment?

We are glad to assist with audio/visual needs. Equipment, setup, technical support and any outside rentals may carry additional fees, which we quote up front.

Is the space accessible?

Yes — the venue is handicap accessible.

Do you have outdoor space?

Yes. There is an expansive outdoor patio and garden area. Roughly three space configurations are available depending on the weather, and outdoor events are always planned with an indoor backup.

Can you host a small group without a buyout?

Yes. Limited reservations for twelve to twenty-four guests are available based on availability, booked within two weeks of the date, from a set lunch or dinner menu.

How quickly will you get back to me?

Within one business day, every time. If your event is inside two weeks, call 828-482-7352 and we will answer today.

Getting here

Middle of Main Street

474 Main Street, Highlands, NC 28741 — in the walkable center of town, with central access to the area’s many local accommodations and attractions. That is the reason most planners call us in the first place.

Downtown lodging & innsWalking distance
Main Street shopsSteps away
AccessibilityHandicap accessible
Outdoor spacePatio & garden
Events team828-482-7352

Events: events@townhallhighlands.com

Let us get it on the calendar

Tell us the date. We will tell you today.

Whether it is forty people for a rehearsal dinner or the whole building for a reception, the next step is the same — send us the date and we will come back with a real answer. Use the form just below, or reach the events team directly.

events@townhallhighlands.com 828-482-7352