Exploring Life & Business with Eric Regensburger of The Meadows at Firefly Farm Preserve

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Regensburger.

Hi Eric, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am the Director of Operations for The Meadows at Firefly Farm Preserve. I was born in Taipei, Taiwan, because my parents were the first ones to bring a dominoes pizza franchise there. We moved back to the states when I was still a baby so they could open a self-storage business in NC. Small business is woven into our DNA. I remember going with my dad to run storage auctions as a kid, and I am pretty sure the first thing I drove was the maintenance golf cart. As I got older, I began working there in the summers, starting with sweeping units to eventually managing my own store. I went to Boston University (I was one of two people from Raleigh in my class) for International Relations.

After a few years up in the frozen north, I decided to come back home to NC with a newfound appreciation for warm summers and our family’s business. I realized my true strength was my ability to add value to our company by pursuing licenses, permits, and knowledge that we lacked. I became a realtor and worked with my father to kickstart a new period of growth in the company. I spearheaded the purchase and build-out of three new storage facilities as well as expansions at our existing facilities. This made me realize that I also needed to become a General Contractor in order to manage the construction so I went out and got my NC General Contracting License. Self Storage is a great business, but outside of solving the puzzle of new acquisitions, I never truly felt a passion for it. We needed a mission that we could pour our skills, knowledge and unique problem-solving skills into. That mission turned out to be the Firefly Farm.

When I was 13, we lost our cat in our suburban neighborhood. During our search, my dad stumbled out of the woods near our house and onto a working farm. It turned out to be one of the last farms in our part of Wake County, a rapidly urbanizing area only 12 minutes from the heart of downtown Raleigh. The owner of the farm helped my dad look for our cat and told him that she was thinking about selling the farm and moving to the beach. We ended up finding the cat as well as our new home, Firefly Farm. We had to learn a lot of new skills quickly. The farm boarded horses, raised chickens, managed forestry, and grew an assortment of fruits and vegetables such as figs and blueberries. My three sisters learned to ride horses and I got to explore every creek and meadow. Deer, coyotes, beavers, hawks, owls, herons, opossums made the farm their home and over time, we realized how important open space was to their survival in a rapidly changing landscape. This led us to purchase our neighbor’s farm in 2016 in order to continue our mission of land conservation. This brought the farm up to 150 acres which meant we had to expand our agribusiness in order to pay the mortgage. After going through a ton of ideas (Christmas tree farm, retirement community, equestrian community), we settled on a wedding and event space called The Meadows at Firefly Farm Preserve. We would utilize the existing buildings (with extensive renovations) in order to maintain a small environmental footprint and create an agirtourism business.

We have been hosting weddings since 2017 and have had over 180 amazing events so far. Now we are expanding our buildings and outdoor space in order to meet the challenge of a post-Covid landscape. We have also set up a partnership with BEE Downtown in order to bring bees to the property as well as create The Meadows branded honey products. The next project I am working on is The Vineyard at Firefly Farm Preserve. We are currently building a tasting room in the heart of our new vineyard which will be serving wines we have created with our local winery partners. I am super excited about this new business as it will allow a greater swath of the general public to experience the natural beauty of the property while enjoying local wine, charcuterie, and other local products!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When we set out to start an agritoursim business, none of us had any experience in the event/wedding industry. We had to learn everything from the ground up, from catering and bar policies to designing new outdoor ceremony sites. A lot of what we learned was through trial and error. For example, we used to allow people to bring their own alcohol instead of utilizing bar vendors. We learned quickly that this leads to unprepared bars (warm drinks and no garnishes), shoddy service, and a lack of clear ownership at the end of the night when the bar should be ending. This led me to obtain our own liquor license and we got into the bartending business ourselves! We now provide bar services for every event at The Meadows.

Another major challenge is that our local government (Wake County) was not used to dealing with agritourism. It took us a full year in order to get the permitting needed to start our business and it was a real challenge to convince them that weddings/events would fall under agriculture. While the law is very clear on the state level, we lived in an urban location where agriculture had long ago been pushed to the periphery. We dealt with a lot of ignorance regarding what you are allowed to do on a farm as well as an ingrained interest to develop open space for housing and commercial interests. Ultimately we did get our permits and we became a learning experience for the county. Now we work with them regularly and have a great relationship in order to pursue new and exciting agritoruism ventures.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about The Meadows at Firefly Farm Preserve?
The Meadows is a wedding, elopement, and event venue on a family-owned heritage farm near the heart of Raleigh. Our space blends Southern elegance, rolling meadows, and mature forests. We are proud to share our 150-acre preserve and our passion for land conservation with our clients. Day rentals include Private use of Heron Hall, Aerie House, The Roost, and The Preserve. Our packages include a variety of amenities & services, including a venue representative, gorgeous reclaimed furniture pieces, tables + chairs, and more.

The Meadows offers a curated + extensive list of the Triangle’s most talented wedding professionals. They are hand-selected by The Meadows for their performance within the industry, with our clients, and at The Meadows. Our mission is to support vendors who reflect the diversity of our community – this allows each couple to design a celebration unique to their style + needs while ensuring a smooth and happy event day.

What makes us truly unique is how much we offer and our location. Every bride & groom have access to the entire grounds, including two homes (Aerie House and the Roost), that they can get ready in and relax during their big day. Each house is curated to create a truly memorable experience, with fully equipped game rooms, dressing rooms and four fully plumbed outside antique claw-footed bathtubs being a few examples. We also offer five unique outdoor ceremony sites to choose from. This includes everything from the middle of a 65-acre native prairie to under huge willow oak trees by Aerie house or even nestled among a mature hardwood forest under twinkling market lights. Even though you feel like you are in the middle of a natural oasis, you are also only 12 minutes from the heart of downtown Raleigh. Our clients love this as they can truly have the best of both worlds.

We are also super proud of our brand because our mission comes first. We do what we do to preserve open space and the natural world for future generations. This mission is reflected in everything we do, including composting, banning single-use plastics, utilizing gently used and upcycled furniture, and building with salvaged building material. Many decorative and foundational elements of Heron Hall use brick, glass, and wood from other buildings that were torn down in the area. We also moved two1920 era farm houses that were scheduled to be burned down from down the street via tractor trailers in order to utilize them for our new vineyard tasting room. The land itself is also important as we have a large amount of crucial wetland habitat that helps keep our communities’ water clean for both people and animals. It also provides habitat and safe refuge for a ton of species, including deer, coyotes, beaver, otters, herons, hawks, owls, songbirds, woodpeckers, and so many more.

How do you think about happiness?
Hosting events that make people happy brings me a lot of joy. I love throwing parties and events in my private life and it’s great that I get to extend that to my career! When someone entrusts you with one of the most important days of their life, it’s a huge responsibility. Nothing is better than talking to a client or reading a review that says we blew them away and that their family and friends had an amazing time at their event.

I go home every day to my wonderful fiance of four years (Sarah, who is currently at NC state getting her master’s in social work), as well as our dog (Indy) and Cat (Mosley). We always joke that at least we already have our venue picked out when we get married!

It is not easy working in a family business and it can cause a ton of stress when the boundaries of work and family are blurred. It is also incredibly rewarding, however. Everything I do directly helps the people I love, which makes the crazy schedule and jack of all trades lifestyle worth it. I work with my mom and now my sister (she just signed on as an account manager), so I get to see them almost everyday! It’s a blessing to share that time with them.

Pricing:

• Elopements Start at $750
• Weekday Weddings $5,800
• Fri/Sun $10,800
• Sat $11,800

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.themeadowsraleigh.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themeadowsraleigh/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMeadowsRaleigh

Image Credits
Adam Chapin Photography Michelle Elyse Photography