Why One Louisiana Plantation Does Not Host Weddings and Receptions

(Wallace, Louisiana) - Louisiana plantations seem to be the subject of conversation on social media since a fire destroyed the home on the Nottoway Plantation this week.

Some on social media were heartbroken over the loss, while others seemed relieved that the historical home went up in flames.

In the midst of all of that, I came across a social media post from 2020, and it came from another plantation in Louisiana. The plantation post that caught my attention came from the Whitney Plantation.

In 2020, during the COVID years, the plantation, nestled in Wallace, Louisiana, along the banks of the Mississippi River, announced on social media that it does not and never will host weddings or wedding receptions on its grounds.

If you're familiar with American History, you know that plantations were often the homes of those enslaved. And yes, some cruel things happened on the grounds of plantations in Louisiana and across the South.

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Aware of that, those who now operate the Whitney Plantation have decided that the grounds in Wallace are not a place for celebration but rather education. Thousands of people visit Whitney Plantation each year, and they are educated on the history of the plantation and all that it produced in the early years of its existence.

In their post from 2020, the plantation says:

"We do not glamorize the Big House or the grounds. In addition to our mission to educate visitors and the larger community about slavery and its legacies, our site is a place of memory and reverence."

The main home is now a museum, and it displays what happened on the grounds while slaves resided there. In addition to that, there is a memorial at the Whitney Plantation that honors those who died on the grounds while esnlaved, adults and children.

"Plantations are sites of immense cruelty and violence. We do not allow any event that would overshadow this reality and disrespect the memory of all those who suffered, labored, and died here."

And that is why this plantation, unlike some others in Louisiana, has decided not to allow celebratory events to be held there. Its history was anything but a celebration.

Whitney Plantation Tours

If you'd like to visit the grounds of the Whitney Plantation, visit their website HERE for more information on the tours offered to guests.

For a quick lesson on the Whitney Plantation, over 350 people were enslaved on the grounds in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Here's a great look at the Whitney Plantation in a documentary posted on YouTube.