We also are looking to have it within an hour of Philadelphia, so the majority of our family and friends can get there easily. That being said, the majority of the people we want in our wedding party are coming from out of state, so we also need there to be hotels (and nice ones at that) close to the venue as well.
We've seen 6 places so far, and we are quickly learning what we do and don't like, as well as what we can afford!!
Here's a breakdown of what we've seen:
1.) Spring Mill Manor
I should have known this wasn't going to be the one right off the bat. First of all they don't even have a working website. Secondly, the lady I contacted, didn't have a number I could reach her at, and the sign for the place is so small I passed it twice!
Now I understand this place is VERY reasonably priced but there is NO way in hell I'm going to be walking past a PUBLIC restaurant on my way to and from the bridal suite. Not to mention, I was walking around in jeans through another couple's wedding when I went for the tour. Oh and there are 2 events a night! They seperate the ballroom into 2 with sliding doors. Thats a definite NO for me! Oh and their back up rain plan is to just marry you in the lobby which the public has complete access to. There goes that place! On to the next one...
2.) Joseph Ambler Inn
Okay this place is cute, if you're a barnsy, farm-sy kind of couple. Mike and I just aren't that. Yes I'm into the outdoor feel, but this lady was talking about having hay bales and what not for my September wedding and I just can't get into that. That being said their "rain plan" was even better than their outside ceremony option and the place was pretty darn cute. Don't even step into the "farm house" though, b/c it will make you want to cry. It smelled like it did when it was built which was in the 1800's. It looks the same too.
I did like the idea of renting an entire house there for our guests to stay in. But, that plus didn't outweigh the fact that it really wasn't the venue for us.
3.) Winterthur
This for us is a SERIOUS contender. The place is absolutely gorgeous. The pictures on the site do not do it justice. They also had by far the nicest/most beautiful place for a ceremony. They have a bunch of different spots where you can have the ceremony outside, but we personally liked the reflecting pool the best. There was a ceremony site just below the pool and then you could do cocktail hour around the pool itself. Truly beautiful. We have about 100 guests on our list, so the reception site for that size party would be at the Gallery. To be honest when we walked through, I really could not picture a reception there. There was no designated dance floor and I worry that the girls in heels would surely be falling all night. The stone floor was very slippery and I was in sandals. Also they had a huge information "booth" on wheels that they said could be set up as a bar, but it was so big that I can't imagine there would be enough room for 10 tables, a dance floor, and that thing.
The other negative about Winterthur is there is a cost for everything. If you do your ceremony outside (which we are) you have to rent that site, then you have to rent the reception site, then you have to pay for their catering package, and you even have to pay for the cocktail hour seperately! But the woman who does all the wedding coordination, Nicole, was fantastic and she had both Mike and I really wanting to have our wedding there. Once we really crunched the numbers, it looks like it might be out of our price range, but if we don't find anything we like this weekend, we may try to contact Nicole and see if there's something we can do to get within our budget.
4.) Fonthill Castle
Driving up to this place both Mike and I were in awe. The castle looms in the sky and it was an overcast day so the effect was very dramatic. Upon getting there, we met Jack who owns the catering company, Memorable Affairs, and they have exclusive use of this property for events. We both shook his hand and then there was complete silence for at least 3 minutes. If I didn't start talking, I'm not sure Jack ever would have. So right off the bat off to a bad start. I'm not sure he should be showing these properties because it didn't seem like he cared at all.
We walked through the tent outside first. This is where the reception takes place. This is the only spot that the reception can take place, and this is also the "rain plan" for the cermony. Nothing extradonairy about this tent. Elevated off the ground and a built in dance floor but that's about it. Other than that, just a tent. There's only 2 bathrooms (1 men, 1 women) so if you think that will be an issue you have to get port o pottys. No thank you!!
The castle itself is where the bride can get ready (although there's no mirrors or anything so not much of a "bridal suite") and it's where cocktail hour would take place. The celing is all tiled with ceremaic tiles that they make next store. I thought it looked pretty cool, but Mike was NOT a fan. Other than that it's pretty rustic in there. I'm sure a florist could spruce the place up. On the balcony off that room is where cocktails would be. It was gorgeous looking out into the woods, and being on the balcony of a castle is obviously appealing, but it left us with the thought of what exactly would happen if it rains?
The cermony "sites" left much to be imagined. You could get married on the side of the castle, which would be fine, aside from the huge telephone pole in the middle and the ugly tent to the side. Or you could get married near a bubbling creek, which really was just a small strem of water with a billion weeds growing out of it. It was weird. The place I thought was pretty was down hill about a foot but Jack said if it rained within a week of your wedding, everyone would be in the mud. So basically the only real charm about this place was that it was a castle and the cocktail hour would be awesome. That is if it didn't rain.
If it rains on your big day then everything and I mean everything is in that tent.
The only other positive was that we would be supplying our own alcohol. And Mike and I kind of love that idea. Since he's a beer fanatic and I love champagne and wine, we would have a lot of fun doing that (plus huge money savings).
And to be honest by the end of our tour I kinda started to like Jack. He just has an air about him that screams "I've done this a million times" so where it might come off kind of like he doesn't care, I felt like at least the day would go on without a hitch, because he's done it so many times before.
But this one is not for us. On to the next one.
5.) Cairnwood Estate
Well right off the bat pulling into this place you drive right by the Bryn Athyn Cathedral and if you've never seen it, I highly recommend you take a drive past. It is GORGEOUS!!! Carnwood Estate isn't too shabby itself it fact it is stunning! Walking up to it we both were pretty excited. We met with Shannon who is kind of unbareable to deal with. She's bubbly but not in a good way. Because I'm bubbly too, but this girl was just plain annoying. It probably doesn't help that I'm super business minded and come into these things with a professional attitude, but either way this girl was passonite about the place, so at least she's doing her job well. She made a good point right off the bat. She said when people pull up to the estate they kind are open to anything b/c its something so different, and we really liked that. We don't want to do just another ball room wedding. And this is definitely unlike any other wedding I have ever been to or heard of. Basically the concept is, this is my mansion, and I just happen to be having a wedding. The bridal suite was friggin huge. 2 gorgeous and big rooms and a beautiful bathroom. They also had a "grooms room" which was big and comfortable and had a seperate staircase to access it, so we could not see each other before the wedding (which is what I want). The other great thing about this place is the bridal party has access to the mansion 3 hours before the wedding!! So we could do pictures, get dressed, have drinks, etc and just relax before everyone gets there. A major plus. The mansion was very mansion-y but it was really beautiful.
The ceremony area was outside along the gardens and it was stunning. There was a view of Bryn Athyn Catedral in the background and there was a fountain in the middle. There was plenty of seating for our guest count.
Cocktail hour, if it was a nice night, would be on the terrace of the mansion. Very very beautiful and it overlooks Pennypack. They light up the area and provide high top tables.
The reception is where we ran into some negatives. Firstly they can't sit everyone in the same room. Even if you only have a 100 people. So people would be split up between 2-3 rooms. Also the dancing is it's own seperate room, so if your in there, your dancing. I kind of hope to have everyone in the same area so people all feel like they are a part of the evening. The only way to do that, would be to tent the terrace outside and have the cocktail hour, reception and dancing there, which would be great, but it will set you back another $2900. And with the pricing already being super high for this place (think $6000 just to rent the place) we just couldn't swing it. Still though a top contender for us, because if we can figure out how to fit it in our budget, this place is just really stunning.
6.)Glen Foerd Mansion
And lastly for the weekend, we took a trip to Glen Foerd Mansion for their open house. As soon as we pulled up to it, all I could think was: This is no Cairnwood. It just wasn't comparable. I kind of wonder if we would have went her first, if our impression would have been different. Probably. Mike has been to a wedding here, so he knew what was going on. The ceremony site was just "ok". There was this weird statue of a dog right in front of where we would get married which I hated. But, one of the woman who works for the catering company that do the events, said that she had a table that would hide that godforsaken dog. So that's good. They had a gazebo type thing you could get married in front of, but the tree next to it was so awful looking. It was all dead and brown and just not scenic. Aside from the property being on the Delaware River and having that in the background, the cermony sites were very underwhelming.
Cocktail hour would be in the mansion. Sans awful carpeting, this place isn't that bad. They have a wine cellar that is musty but pretty cool, and they have an art gallery upstairs that is open during the event, but Mike and I were tempted to ask them if it was possible for them to just close it off. Too much of a liability. The bride and groom "suites" were literally next to eachother so not sure how that would work out, since I don't want to see him the day of the wedding. I guess a lot of coordinating b/w bridesmaids and groomsman, but who wants to stress about that?
The reception area was PERFECT. Which kind of stinks since this was the only thing we really loved about this place. But really though, it was exactly what we're looking for. It's in a tented area connected to the mansion. Everyone is seated together and the dance floor/dj booth is elevated. There are steps that lead from the mansion to the dance floor so the bridal party entrance and announcements would be awesome. The bar is off to the side but still easily accessible. A really ideal reception location. But that's really all they had to offer and for the pricing, it just wasn't the one for us.
All in all it was a long weekend but we got to really see a bunch of different places and get a feel for what we want and what is really important to us. The places we're seeing this weekend, are more our style, so stay tuned for reviews and let's hope we finally find the place for us!
