The owners of Cole Farms restaurant and Spring Meadows Golf and Country Club on Route 202 in Gray are planning to open a new venue for weddings and receptions across from Cole Farms.

The venue, which is still in planning stages, has a barn for weddings and a house that would be available to rent overnight for wedding parties.

Brad Pollard, owner of Cole Farms and the country club, said the idea is for a couple and their wedding party to rent the barn and the house for the weekend, where they can hold a rehearsal dinner and the wedding. It would cost $4,500 to rent the venue for a weekend, he said.

While Spring Meadows also holds weddings, Pollard said the idea is to “provide something a little different” from the banquet facility. He describes the new facility as “more rustic.”

Barn weddings is a growing trend among couples seeking unique venues for their happy day. The website, www.rusticbride.com, documents state-by-state details of rustic wedding sites, including barns. There are dozens of Maine listings.

The Cole Farms barn is 2,580 square feet and has an elevated deck off the back. The home was built in 1789, and has four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

Pollard and his wife, Peggy, run the restaurant and country club together. Cole Farms was opened 64 years ago, and Pollard opened Spring Meadows across the street in 1999. He said the country club hosts around 25 to 30 weddings each year.

The next steps in the plan for the new venue include renovating the barn to bring the floors up to building code, and adding lighting and new electrical systems. Pollard said he and his wife will do all of the work to redecorate the inside and outside of the barn.

Pollard met with the town on Jan. 14 to introduce the project and look over the plans. They will meet again in March to go over more details, he said.

Eventually, Pollard hopes to expand, adding more rooms and opening an inn at the facility.

Catherine Caswell owns and operates Caswell Farms in Gray, a working farm that also hosts barn weddings. Caswell Farms is the only other host for weddings in town.

Caswell is not worried about a new wedding venue, and said, “I welcome anybody to the arena.”

Caswell said her business of hosting weddings is a “nice way for me to keep my family farm.”

Caswell said she has consulted with other people looking to host barn weddings in Maine.

“It’s great we’re a destination for this style of wedding,” she said.

Jean Bibber, president of the Gray Economic Development Committee, said she is “always happy to see another business coming to Gray.” She hopes that the new wedding venue will attract wedding industry suppliers to open locations in the area.

The house and barn across from Cole Farms on Route 202. Brad Pollard, owner and manager of Cole Farms and Spring Meadows golf club, plans to hold weddings in the barn starting this summer.