Our History
Mark & Stephanie Smith
Owners of The Venue at White Oaks Farm in Myrtle Beach, SC
Allow us to introduce you to the Smith Family: Mark, Stephanie, Townsend and Marklie. All are local Horry County natives. After a few years of dating, Mark and Stephanie got married at their small Episcopal church in North Myrtle Beach in 2003. They have since been blessed with two beautiful children, Townsend and Marklie.
Stephanie
Stephanie was born and raised in Conway, South Carolina. Her business focus started from her own business in interior design, to now focusing on the social media presence, business relationships and the face of White Oaks Farm. Her continuous attention to detail ensures that each aspect of the venue is immaculate everyday.
Mark
Mark was raised in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Since high school, Mark has constantly been on top of the business game by building an array of different companies to service the many areas of the Grand Strand. He is now the owner and founder of The Venue at White Oaks Farm.
From learning the ins and outs of the wedding industry, his business has gone out of its way to elevate the expectations put on venues by their amazing clients. Mark takes pride in focusing on value and service in order to gain the bond and trust that we all must have between fellow vendors and couples.
Our Values
As small business owners with deep roots in the community, Mark and Stephanie are always looking to improve and focus on their existing business ventures, while also creating new businesses that are needed in our rapidly growing area. Being entrepreneurs is second nature to the both of them; it’s just in their blood.
Together they have started, operated and even sold some businesses in order to elevate themselves within the Grand Strand community – always with White Oaks in mind. The Venue at White Oaks Farms has been a dream venture of the Smith family for years and they’re as excited as ever to have finally made that dream a reality.
Now is the time to ask you to join their family in this journey that we all call life, and let them share their breath-taking property to make your wedding vision come true!
Townsend Smith
From the very beginning, Townsend has been an integral part of building White Oaks Farm with the initial infrastructure, the building process, continued building and grounds maintenance and working behind the scenes of events. Not only has he put his all into the venue, but his hard work in studies has now led him to a 4.98 GPA! Following in his dad’s entrepreneurial path, he plans on working towards his own business venture! With all of this he still finds time to volunteer, spend time with family and friends, and work on his prized possession, his car! Go Townsend!!
Marklie Smith
Marklie also helped with establishing the venue. Whether it was helping her mom make final interior selections, or cleaning and unpacking chairs, she was involved. When Marklie isn’t behind the scenes of events you can find her enjoying one of her many hobbies. She enjoys thrifting with her mom, searching for antique shops, listening to her vinyls, horseback riding, bike riding, and playing with her beloved fur-bunny Niko to name a few!
Our White Oaks Farm Team
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Wendy Jones
Operations Manager
Wendy is a proud resident of Charlotte, NC although born and raised in Conway, South Carolina. With 20+ years of experience with corporate operations management she brings not only the brains, but the FUN to White Oaks!!! Wendy is here for events to make sure day-of operations run smoothly and no detail is overlooked. When Wendy is not at White Oaks Farm, you can find her cuddling up with her two pups (Gianni, Elwood)!!
Alison Rogers
Venue Manager
Alison was born and raised in Fayetteville, NC. With a Masters in Marketing and Business Administration and years of experience in the wedding industry, Alison provides behind the scenes support and occasionally day of assistance! When Alison is not at White Oaks Farm, you can find her traveling to see family and friends with her doggy copilot, Ivy!!
South Carolina Wedding Venue
The Venue at White Oaks Farm is 75 acre of forest, pasture and gracefully manicured grounds surrounding a beautiful, unique all-season and all-occasion venue. Located in the small community of Longs, South Carolina only 9 miles from North Myrtle Beach, 1 mile off of Highway 9. The location could not be better, a little bit of town and country with a modern-day minimalist and industrial farm style flare. It’s simply an unmatched location and a one of a kind venue to gather the ones you love.
Before The Smith’s purchased the property, it was farmland like most of the area at one point in time or another. The property was a family farm cultivated with some of the area’s local crops. In 2015, Mark and Stephanie purchased the property from a former teacher of Mark’s at his childhood elementary school, Mrs. Huggins. As larger tracts of land have been snatched up to for development for the ever expanding Myrtle Beach, they acquired this property to create something amazing for the community, and also for people from afar. The farmland was purchased with a simple goal in mind: to create a private event and wedding venue unlike any other in or around the Myrtle Beach area.
The Smiths also plan to create a flourishing vineyard to add to the area’s diverse small business setting, but like most things, they have to start one phase at a time. Planning and transforming the property into the best version of itself took years. The future has many bright and exciting things planned for the growing and evolving layout for the property.