When you plan your celebration at Wishing Well Barn, you get more than a beautiful venue on a working blueberry and cattle farm. Your experience extends into the evening around the glow of our bonfire and s’mores station.
When a venue includes a bonfire and s’mores, guests gain a relaxed gathering spot that encourages conversation, connection, and a natural break from indoor activities. It adds warmth, atmosphere, and memorable photo moments while supporting groups of all ages. The setup expands the event flow and creates a comfortable outdoor space that feels inviting and adaptable.
We include this as part of your event because we’ve watched it create some of the best moments. Guests who’ve been inside dancing come out to the glow of the fire, grab a stick and a marshmallow, and suddenly they’re talking with people they just met at your ceremony. It’s casual, it’s cozy, and it gives your celebration a second wind.
The Bonfire Experience Adds a Layer Your Guests Remember
A bonfire isn’t just about staying warm. It’s about creating a different kind of space where your guests can shift gears without leaving your event. When you add fire and s’mores to a celebration on a working farm, you’re giving people permission to slow down, talk, and connect in a way that feels natural. It works because it’s simple, hands-on, and tied to the setting you’ve already chosen.
How the Bonfire Fits Into Your Event Flow
Your six-hour event gives you plenty of time to use different parts of our 50-acre farm. Most couples do their ceremony near the pastures or blueberry fields, then move into the air-conditioned barn for dinner and dancing. Around the time the dance floor energy shifts, we have the bonfire ready outside.
Weather permitting, we set it up so guests can wander out, roast marshmallows, and enjoy the night air without leaving your event. You’re not cutting the celebration short. You’re giving people options, and that matters when you have 299 guests with different energy levels and ages.
What S’mores Do for Guest Interaction
S’mores are hands-on activities that require a little focus, a little waiting, and that creates natural conversation. Marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate, and roasting sticks wait for your guests.
The rest happens naturally. Grandparents teach kids the perfect roasting technique. Wedding parties gather for photos in the firelight. Couples steal five quiet minutes by the flames before returning to the reception.
It’s not a big production. It’s a simple, tactile experience that works because it’s real.
The Backdrop You Get With a Working Farm
Our property sits on 50 acres with scenic blueberry fields, a fountain-fed pond, majestic oaks, and pastures. When the bonfire is going, and the sun has set, the twinkling lights from the barn spill out into the evening, and you get that combination of warmth and open sky that you can’t replicate indoors.
Your photographer will love it. We work with eight professional photographers who know how to use firelight and farm landscape together. If you want guest candids that feel genuine and unposed, the bonfire delivers.
What’s Included in Your Deluxe Package
The bonfire and s’mores are part of the full-service setup our crew handles. You don’t coordinate vendors or gather supplies. We take care of the setup and the teardown so you can focus on being present.
Your package includes unlimited planning sessions with a wedding designer and event coordinator. Want the bonfire timed a certain way or positioned in a specific spot? We map that out together ahead of time. We’ve been hosting events since 2012, over 1,500 of them, and we know how to make the logistics invisible.
Your package handles the details that matter: bartender service, full beverage stations, and complete decoration setup with linens, china, and glassware. Your full day venue access means you can use the Bridal Cottage, Groom’s Tack Room, and farm grounds leading up to your six-hour event without feeling rushed.
Other Layers That Build the Experience
The bonfire pairs well with the other elements we include. If you’re using our 14-passenger shuttle service to bring guests from local hotels within 20 minutes of the venue, they arrive relaxed and ready to enjoy everything, including the fire.
If you want a unique entrance, you can ride our 16-hand Palomino Quarter Horse up to the barn while your guests watch. Later, those same guests end up around the bonfire with s’mores, and the whole event feels cohesive, not pieced together.
We also offer horse or tractor photos, so you can incorporate the working farm elements throughout the day and into the evening. The bonfire becomes one more touchpoint in a celebration that uses the land intentionally.
Why It Works for Different Event Types
We host weddings, quinceañeras, corporate events, birthday parties, baby showers, bridal showers, and celebrations of life. The bonfire adapts to all of them.
For a quinceañera, it’s a gathering spot after the formal dances. For a corporate event, it’s a relaxed networking opportunity. For a wedding, it’s the moment when your college friends and your aunts end up in the same circle, laughing over burnt marshmallows.
It’s versatile because it’s simple. Fire, s’mores, and a little time outside work for almost any group.
The Practical Side of Planning With Fire
We handle the bonfire setup when the weather permits, so you don’t have to worry about permits or safety logistics. Our venue crew manages the full service setup and teardown, and that includes the bonfire station.
You’ll have access to our décor collection, lanterns, vintage furniture, mason jars, chalkboards, hay bales, and we can style the bonfire area to match the rest of your event. Real linen napkins, formal china, and flatware in gold or silver are included, so if you want s’mores served on real plates instead of paper, we make that happen.
Our property is wheelchair friendly with accessible restrooms, pathways, and indoor air conditioning, and the bonfire area is positioned so guests with mobility considerations can participate comfortably.
Location and Access
Getting here is straightforward. We’re at 4302 Pippin Road in Plant City, 45 minutes from Orlando and Tampa, and one hour from the beaches. If you’re drawing guests from different parts of Florida, our location works.
You’ll have multiple ceremony locations across the 50-acre property, including spots near the pastures, fountain-fed pond, blueberry fields, and wildflower gardens. After the ceremony and reception inside the barn with its chandeliers and custom farm tables, the bonfire gives your guests one more reason to stay and enjoy the setting.
How We Approach Service
We’ve been a family-owned working farm since 1960. Blake and Michelle Welch opened the venue after hosting their three sons’ weddings here within one year. We know what it’s like to plan from the family side, and that shapes how we serve you.
Unlimited planning sessions mean you’re not counting meetings or feeling rushed. A dedicated wedding designer and event coordinator works with you from booking to the day of, so you have consistent support.
We provide 15 approved catering vendors, full floral services with silk florals included and real florals optional, four bakery vendors with an allowance or package discount, five DJ companies, and officiant services within your package. You’re working with professionals we trust, and you’re not starting vendor research from scratch.
What Happens When You Add the Bonfire to Your Vision
You’re giving your event a second space, a second mood, and a second chance for connection. Some guests will stay inside dancing. Others will move outside for s’mores. Both groups are still part of your celebration, just in different ways.
We’ve seen how this works across hundreds of events. The bonfire doesn’t compete with the reception. It complements it. And when you’re looking back at your photos weeks later, you’ll have images from inside the barn and images from around the fire, and together they tell a fuller story.
If you’re planning an event that uses the outdoors intentionally, the bonfire is one more way to do that well. It’s included in your package, it’s managed by our crew, and it’s designed to feel like a natural part of the evening, not an add-on.
You can contact Michelle at (813) 478-6554 or email us at wishingwellbarn@gmail.com to reserve your date. We also offer free venue tours that take about an hour, and we’ll walk you through the barn, the grounds, and the bonfire area so you can see how everything connects.
FAQs
Is the bonfire and s’mores station included in all packages?
The bonfire with s’mores is provided with the Deluxe Wishes Come True Package, weather permitting. Our crew handles the complete setup and supplies, including marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate, and roasting sticks.
What happens if the weather doesn’t allow for the bonfire?
Since the bonfire is weather-dependent, we’ll assess conditions on your event day. If the weather doesn’t permit, your six-hour event inside our air-conditioned barn with twinkling lights, chandeliers, and custom farm tables continues seamlessly with all other package elements intact.
Can we customize the bonfire area to match our event décor?
Yes. Your unlimited planning sessions with our wedding designer allow you to coordinate bonfire area styling using our décor collection, which includes lanterns, vintage furniture, mason jars, chalkboards, and hay bales. We can match the bonfire setup to your overall event aesthetic.
Is the bonfire area accessible to all guests?
Our venue is wheelchair friendly with accessible pathways, restrooms, and indoor air conditioning. The bonfire is positioned so guests with mobility considerations can participate comfortably as part of your celebration on our 50-acre farm.