Heyward House Museum — Attraction in Bluffton

Our family recently had a wedding at this location. It ended up being a beautiful wedding, but not without spending a fortune and dealing with a few issues.

Things you should know…

the entire reception area is on a parking lot made of stones. Some of the stones were swished aside, making it slippery and people were having stones in their shoes and we ended up having ants on tables and up legs.

There is an area to have the ceremony with wedding party and chairs but that area is also where the DJ or band would be and the Dancefloor so it’s a little difficult figuring that all out.

If you’re going to do the wedding, do it in April because by the time the summer comes, there’s zero flowers left and the grounds just don’t look kept up. The trees are nice though.

Because of the risk of another band playing at the park next-door, we ended up having to rent that out as well.

There are useful tables and benches that we were happy about, but before the wedding, they were painted an odd color green, which you would need to check out to see if it blends with your wedding scheme.

There is one bathroom that you can use at the back of the museum, otherwise guests have to walk to the park to use those public bathrooms.

Just beware that you pay for the day of the wedding and are required to get insurance but that does not cover you if you want even a quick meeting with your wedding party or officiant. You need to rent another day for that, even after hours during the week when vacant.

We ended up with a beautiful wedding, but we spent a fortune with all the vendors and we ended up getting a tent so all in all we do wish we had it inside somewhere, where it was cool and...

My fiancé and I just had a horrible experience at the Heyward House/Visitors’ Center. We traveled from Savannah to close on our first home and thought we would check out some Bluffton history before heading back. My fiancé dropped me off at the front (I am 7 months pregnant) while he went to find parking. This older man immediately yelled at us to not park there. I apologized for the confusion and told him he was just dropping me off, no biggie. He continued to get upset with me saying he’s trying to protect the public. I chalked it up to him having a bad morning and continued to walk towards the door. He came back around aggressively trying to argue. I told him there was no reason to be rude, we were visitors and were in fact, not going to park in the middle of the walk way (duh). Another comment was made (I’m not sure what he said). I walked in to the house and asked for a self guided tour but decided to walk out and not proceed with the tour because of how rude this man was. I believe his name was Robert. So thank you Robert, for putting a damper on our exciting day. We will not be returning to the Heyward House/Visitors Center and I will strongly discourage any family and friends from...

Stepping back in time in Bluffton was an incredible experience. Walking the very small farmers market, the historic church’s, homes, oyster factory and art gallery that has local Gullah artists works for sale was several hrs of amazement. The Heyward house and visitor center is worth the stop to see the authentic home and furnishings, outdoor kitchen and slave quarters. Your visuals during this time is only limited by your imagination. The docent at Heyward will give you a walking or drive map of the town. Talk to a local and learn of a good place to have a bite in the new part of Bluffton. We ate at a seafood place and the fried shrimp plate was great. Easy drive from Hilton Head. Make Heyward house your first stop to get...