Wedding Ceremony and Reception Venues in MA & NH

[brightstone]

Well, I have been chasing my tails for weeks to try and find a geographical location and then a venue to marry sometime in June ''09. I need to get my butt in gear because it doesn''t leave me a lot of time to plan. I was thinking St. John USVI (where hubby and I met, but it''s too $$ for everyone to get and stay there) or Savannah GA (where we live now, but doesn''t feel like home yo me) or somewhere in Mass or NH (I lived in Cambridge MA/Boston for 12 years, family and friends are there, and it feels like home),

So, I think I have, out of a need to move forward with planning, finally decided to target MA/NH for the wedding. I want my wedding preferably to be somewhere outdoors, in a beautiful place, or in a chapel and with the reception outdoors. I am open to other things as well. I don''t want anything overly formal and reserved. I like a more casual, relaxed feel but with some elegance....fun, romantic, maybe a little whimsical feel to it.

Can anyone recommmend any leads for venues in MA and NH, within 2 hours of Boston? I have been driving myself batty with these endless internet searches for something, unable to visit places bc I am in GA, coming up with not much....

Thanks!! Off to get some Indian food..back later.
xo-brightie

 

[neatfreak]

The Berkshires in MA is about 2 hours outside of Boston (it's the county in the complete western part of the state) and is just stunning. There are a ton of outdoor venues I can think of there depending on what you are looking for. Think Normal Rockwell, charming small New England towns, and plenty of stuff to do for your guests.

Check into it and if you are interested in the area let me know what you are looking for and I can recommend some places.

It's also only 45 minutes from the airport in Hartford, CT or Albany, NY so it's fairly easy to fly in/out of.

 

[brightstone]

Date: 11/8/2008 6:42:38 PM
Author: neatfreak
The Berkshires in MA is about 2 hours outside of Boston (it''s the county in the complete western part of the state) and is just stunning. There are a ton of outdoor venues I can think of there depending on what you are looking for. Think Normal Rockwell, charming small New England towns, and plenty of stuff to do for your guests.


Check into it and if you are interested in the area let me know what you are looking for and I can recommend some places.


It''s also only 45 minutes from the airport in Hartford, CT or Albany, NY so it''s fairly easy to fly in/out of.

Thanks! I am definitely interested in venues out that way. I have been there before and know it''s beautiful. We want to get married end June, so we won''t have the foliage which is so great out there in the Fall. Maybe something like a really great barn venue, rolling hills, etc. I saw Gibbet Hill online, but the barn was just ok in my mind and hubby wasn''t too crazy about it.

Thanks again for any ideas you might have....can''t wait to hear them!!

 

[neatfreak]

Price range? I know of a number of barns, one of which I almost got married at myself, but they are drastically different price ranges.

 

[Allison D.]

I'm admittedly partial to Lynch Park in Beverly, MA. It's 20 miles northeast of Boston; the park has a sunken Italian-style rose garden with gorgeous ocean views.

This is the entrance to the sunken rose garden....pillars say "Whosoever enters here, let him beware / For he shall nevermore escape nor be free of my spell"

 

[Allison D.]

View from inside the pillars overlooking the rose garden......

 

[Allison D.]

View from the left side - toward the right beyond the trees is the ocean

 

[Allison D.]

A little bit closer, with view of the ocean beyond the benches

 

[Allison D.]

View from up at the colonnade looking toward the water

 

[Allison D.]

Overview of the park looking from the front toward the back

 

[brightstone]

Thanks AllisonD!! That looks beautiful. I love Beverly MA and used to visit Pride''s Crossing Chocolate shop all the time. If you haven''t been you should check it out!

I''ll do some research on the site you suggested tomorrow morning.

Neatfreak, in terms of price range. I would like the total cost of everything to be about $10,000-$15,000 if possible. However, there is some flexibility with that. I want something wonderful but cringe at all this money going on one day only. Also, if it helps, I LOVE nature, the ocean, etc.....and think that that can be half the "decoration" for me.

xo

 

[brightstone]

just one more thing....this link will show a picture of reception dinner in sugar mill ruins....the way this looks is SO my taste, just so you have a sense of what appeals to me. I realize this is in St John, not MA or NH, but it gives a sense of the style I like....rustic, nature, elegant, warm, friendly, fun....

Here''s the link: http://www.caneelbay.com/meet.cfm

 

[rockzilla]

How many people is that for? I think the guest count will affect both budget and venue choices.

 

[Allison D.]

I found this one too.....looks very similar to your link above....

http://www.harringtonfarm.com/weddings.asp

 

[brightstone]

Hi AllisonD,

Thanks for the link to Harrington Farm. I like it, but not super crazy about it. It looks a little ordinary. I looked more closely at Lynch Park and think that looks really pretty. What time of year did you take those pictures? I guess because it''s a public park, there would be on-lookers during the ceremony....not sure what I feel about that yet.

I saw some pics where a wedding couple used the pillared pavillion as their backdrop. Do you think it would be possible to set it up so the ocean in the backdrop?

Also, do you know of any good reception locations in Beverly?

Thanks!!
Bright

p.s. Oh----the total number of people will proably be about 100. I''d also be willing to look at anything an hour from NYC as well.

 

[brightstone]

I also like the idea of having the ceremony and reception in one location, but that is not a must.

 

[rockzilla]

I have to say that having an outdoor wedding in New England ANY time of year is risky. You absolutely need to have an indoor backup plan for everything. This is coming from a girl who grew up there and is used to unexpected turns of the weather

That being said, $10-15k for ~100 guests is going to be pretty tight. When I was briefly looking at MA wedding venues (we ultimately decided to go with CA, where we live now) for places that weren't "ordinary" or downright boring, e.g. local cookie-cutter ballroom, the minimum food packages were ~$70pp. This isn't including alcohol (at least another $20-30pp), florals, your dress, photographer, etc. I'd suggest plugging your overall budget numbers into a calculator such as the one they have at theknot.com and seeing what this the rough suggestion from that is for each portion of your wedding. Once you know how much you're willing to spend for - the reception, for example, you'll be better able to target venues.

 

[DearBuddha]

My husband and I had our reception at the Georgetown Club in Georgetown, MA. It was great for us, and our guests really loved the lawns and balconies that were provided. Here''s a link to the club: https://www.memberstatements.com/tour/tours.cfm?tourid=50715

Maudslay State Park in Newburyport had an older farmhouse style facility if I remember correctly. When I was checking the park out for my ceremony site, a park manager mentioned the house to me, but for some reason I never really went for the idea. I tried to find some info for you but the website isn''t very detailed. I might just call the park office if it sounds appealing to you.

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/maud.htm

They do allow tents there if you''re interested in an outdoors reception.

A friend of ours got married at the Hyatt Harborside at Logan airport. They had an outdoor ceremony overlooking the Boston skyline-it was so pretty, and the airplane noise was practically nothing. It was great! The reception rooms are gorgeous, too!

http://www.harborside.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp

We went to a wedding at the Saphire Estate last night, too. It''s in Sharon, Ma, which is about 30 minutes south of Boston. It was VERY pretty: http://www.saphireestate.com/

This place is in Hampstead, NH, and it''s about 2 hours north of Boston. I went to a few proms here, and the facility is very pretty. It''s woodsy and there''s lots of rich redwood decoration everywhere. I considered it, but it was a little too far for some of our guests to travel to: http://www.graniterose.com/home.htm

Cranes Estate/Castle Hill in Ipswich, MA: http://castlehillfunctions.thetrustees.org/
This was my dream wedding site, but it was just to expensive when we considered our honeymoon and moving expenses

It''s stunning though!

You can also get married in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts: http://www.gatheringguide.com/event_directory/ma_massachusetts/event_venue_1562.html


I hope this is helpful. I know it''s a lot, but I just got married in Massachusetts, so I have all kinds of information I can pass along!