Born for Special Events

Not far from the Point Mountain Reservation in Glen Gardner, NJ, sits Born to Run Farm. It is a lovely farm and event space with one of the most impressive views in Hunterdon County. Its 360-degree view from the top of the hill provides a great birds eye view of how rural and protected much of Hunterdon County is. 

How Born to Run was Born 

Sitting on 130 acres, the farm is not only an event space but an active farm, where a kine of cows, a flock of sheep, a drove of donkeys, a flock of chickens, and “other barnyard friends” lurk about. They aren’t market animals, so will live out their lives on the farm. The property was purchased in 1978, so the proprietors, the Gerish family, have seen how Hunterdon County has both changed and not changed over decades. Bex is a preferred vendor for catering for the special events held there. 

Making Special Events Special 

Chef Becky has planned tons of events that had a lot riding on them for different reasons: a memorial, a milestone, graduation, nuptial…all moments in time that will be remembered – and documented – for better or worse (hopefully for the better!). Sometimes events just happen spontaneously and are remembered fondly, but “to make a special event a success there is always more behind it than meets the eye,” the Chef shares.

Events in a Hypervisual Culture 

 “We live in a culture of glossy finished products, camera filters, and comfortable-on-camera people, but at Bex, we create good food from scratch, and it’s hard work. People wanting an event are often innocently clueless about what they want, so we help them bring the event into a vision out of the void. But it’s important to take our hypervisual culture with a grain of salt because what ends up on social media or on the plate is a finished product that took a lot of thought, trial and error, planning, and skillful execution to pull off.” For this reason, people are often interested in “b-reels” (bloopers, editing room floor footage) and “process” videos that show just what it takes to make something that talented people make look easy, from cooking to art to events. 

Baby We Were Born to Run 

Chef Becky is used to doing events rain or shine, and she has seen Murphy’s Law occur more than once. “Born to Run is such a beautiful location, so that’s half the battle,” the Chef says. Carolina Rivera, who had an event there, noted that rural/farm weddings have become very popular, but authentic farms are rare. The government’s definition of a farm is quite loose and easy to satisfy, but finding working farms or historic farms is not as common. Thankfully, Hunterdon County is a good place to look! 

Check out Born to Run and Bex for that special event you’ve been thinking of! 

Photo Credit: The photo of the scenic view on the farm was taken by Armin Kososki Photography

Photo of man on tractor: is Jay Gerish, founder of Born to Run Farm, Photo Credit: Born to Run Farm