Wedding Update- Having the wedding (hopefully new england)

[Person24]

 

[zoebartlett]

I apologize for the length of this post.

I wanted to reply with lots of detail since your FI is from Maine and that''s where we just got married.

I saw this and got really curious -- where in New England are you? I know the Bedford Village Inn, and it''s a really pretty venue. I''ve been to a few weddings there, and everyone had a great time. The food is really good, and the grounds are really nice. We go there for brunch and dinner occasionally, and we always enjoy ourselves. I''d call the inn and meet with the coordinator. We met with someone there (sorry, I don''t remember her name), and we liked our conversation. If you have guests who are flying in from OOT, the BVI is a great spot since it''s near the Manchester airport. It''s on Route 101 and it''s really close to 293 and 93.

I just got married, but when we were looking for venues, it was just over a year ago, in either May or June. I don''t think it''s too late to book anything, but it might depend on where you''re looking. I''d call or meet with a few people and try to be open/flexible to dates.

I''ll plug the places and people we used. We decided to go with a venue near on the southern coast of Maine, since that''s an area that means a lot to my husband and me. We lived near there for 5 years, and we got engaged at Nubble Light in York, Maine. We wanted something with a lot of things for guests to do, so we focused our search on the White Mountains, the seacoast of NH and southern coast of Maine. We loved a few of the places in the White Mountains, but we decided that it was just too far to ask guests to travel (especially those who were going to fly in).

Our Venue:

We got married at Clay Hill Farm in York (Cape Neddick), Maine. It''s a fabulous place and the coordinators are on top of everything. Clay Hill Farm is a restaurant, and the food is REALLY great. They take care of everything, and the best part is that you don''t have to go through several vendors. We''re still getting phone calls and e-mails from family and friends who raved about the food and the venue. They don''t do traditional tastings, but that was okay with us. We had been there for dinner and loved the food, so it was fine. I can''t speak highly enough about Clay Hill.

www.clayhillfarm.com.

Our florist:

We used Kate Henderson as our florist, and she is incredible. I loved everything she did for us. She even gave my mom and me a gift on my wedding day -- she was so sweet. She works out of her home (she has an office and workshop in their barn). We''ve had so many compliments from family and friends, and we were super happy with Kate.

http://www.katherinesgarden.com/

Brenda''s Bloomers is another place to check out. If you''re ever on Route 1 in York, you can''t miss her flower shack. Really, it''s a shack with a TON of flowers and birdhouses in front. It''s so tiny. We met with Brenda and loved her work. I came *this close* to working with her, but in the end, I thought my personality and Kate Henderson''s meshed really well.


Our hotel:

We stayed at the Meadowmere Resort in Ogunquit. We blocked off rooms in one of the buildings (the East Meadow building I believe). We loved the hotel and everyone had a great time. It''s not on the water, but it''s within walking distance to the water, shops, and great restaurants. Alyson Cavaretta was great to work with. She''s the one to speak with if you''re considering the Meadowmere.

http://www.meadowmere.com


We also considered the Achorage Inn in Ogunquit. It''s on the beach, and it was originally what we wanted. They have a minimum 3 night''s stay in the summer, however, which we thought was too much to ask guests to commit to. The Meadowmere has a 2 night minumum, which we were more comfortable with.

Our DJ:

We used Heart of Boston Entertainment, from Methuen, MA. It''s a husband and wife team who work out of their home in MA. They have a home in Maine as well, so it wasn''t a big deal for him to travel. Dave, the DJ, also teaches at Berklee School of Music in Boston. He''s a great guy, and he gave us a good deal. To be honest, there were a few things that happened that we weren''t too pleased with but I could have spoken up about it and chose not to. I believe these things would have been taken care of if I had. None of the things were that serious, and my mom reassured me that no one noticed. We went with Dave because my parents had been to a wedding that he did, and they really liked him.

http://www.heartofbostonentertainment.com

We also looked at Scott Langlois and a few other DJs in the Portsmouth area. I think Cuzin Richard Entertainment is where Scott works, and their website is http://www.cuzinrichard.com/. We were on a strict budget but if we had a few hundred more dollars to spend, we''d have gone with Scott and CRE.

I''d be happy to help in any way I can.

Just let me know if you''d like more information.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I believe that if you''re flexible you can work with any budget. Obviously reducing the number of guests is one of the best ways to save, but we found that New England is saturated with wedding vendors, which worked in our favor. We didn''t go with a traditional venue which gave us the freedom to choose any caterer we wanted (the key is more negotiating room) and buy our own alcohol--both big cost savers. We used a landscape photographer who did weddings on the side instead of a traditional wedding photographer (though I did want to focus on the landscape, so that was my goal) and that saved a ton, we didn''t use many flowers at all which cut costs. All in all, D and I were really surprised at how much we''d cut costs and came in several thousand dollars under budget.

I tend to think that New England is a great place to get married because you don''t have to spend an arm and a leg to have a beautiful wedding.

 

[Person24]

 

[zoebartlett]

 

[Person24]

 

[loverocks]

Hi! If you are open to New England in general, my future cousin-in-law was married last year at the Chatam Barrs Inn in Cape Cod. http://www.chathambarsinn.com/
It was beautiful! She also had about 70pp - perfect size. She did her ceremony bare foot on the beach. Followed by reception in their boat house (I think it is called). That it right on the beach with all glass windows overlooking the ocean. Dinner was filet and lobster (buckets and all - sooo cute). I recall that at first she thought it would be too pricy of a venue, but in the end she adjusted the cocktail hour and dessert and it was more reasonable.
The hotel is on the national register of historic sites, I believe. It was just stunning and very memorable. I reccomend a look.
Good luck with your venue hunting