Reception sites in Harford & Balt Co - anyone been here?

swelchphr

We've narrowed it down to 4 places:

/> Harford County: Mountain Branch (Joppa)
/> Harford County: ceremony @ the light house & reception at Bulle Rock (Havre de Grace)
/> Baltimore County: The Mansion at Valley Country Club (Towson)
/> Baltimore County: Gray Rock Mansion (Pikesville)

If anyone has had their wedding or attended a wedding at any of these places, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Jody&Jason

I went to a wedding reception at the Mansion at Valley Country Club.  It was beautiful.  The food was really good and everything ran smoothly.  I loved hanging out at the tables on the front porch during cocktail hour.  I think there are some great photo ops there too.  Awesome staff---the bride said that they were really easy to work with! 

The only negatives I see is that the main room is on the smallish side.  I'm not sure how many people were at the wedding we went to, but it didn't leave a ton of room for a dance floor.  The bar is really neat, but also a little small although I don't ever remember it being too crowded.  So I'd just be aware of how many people you have.

Overall, I really liked it---good luck!

BelAirBride04

I have not been to the other locations, so I can't comment on them.  However, I love Mountain Branch.  There food has always been delicious and I think it's such a cozy place.  A friend had her son's reception there and they were very pleased with the event.  

I'm moving to Chicago or else I would have wanted to have had mine there.

Best wishes to you wherever you chose to have your venue.

Kristin

StephanieG01

We are having our reception at grey rock mansion! its gorgeous there and they do a great job.  The food is great.  My aunt had her wedding there and the people that run the mansion are family friends of mine! I highly recommend Grey Rock!

rands09

I attended a wedding at Mountain Branch, and for the time of the year that you're looking to get married, it would be beautiful. The background is great for photos, and it felt intimate. We visited Grey Rock during our venue search...the only "negative", if you could call it that, was that the dressing room for the bridal party was pretty small, and you only had access to it for 1 hour before the wedding.

So, many brides that I talked to who went with them had to get a room at a hotel in Pikesville (the hilton, I think?) and start getting ready there, and then pack up and finish dressing at GR for that last hour...which I didn't really want to do. Either that, or start at home, and finish up at GR...but other than that, we thought it was a great venue in a nice location...GL!

SweetCFly

Two of my cousins (they are sisters) had their receptions at Grey Rock... one actually had both her ceremony and reception there.  It is a very nice venue- classy and elegant.  But in order to make it work for larger numbers you have to seat the majority of your guests in a separate "tent" area off the ballroom.  There are pluses and minuses to that.  It was a fun and very photogenic venue, and I know both my cousins were very happy with their experiences.  We really only used the bridal suite as a "holding area" between ceremony and reception for my first cousin who got married there, her wedding was right down the road at McDonough School's chapel.  And then her sister's wedding, who had her ceremony @ GR as well, we got dressed in like a board room or something upstairs, before being allowed to go into the bridal suite... or maybe we had access to both rooms beforehand, but I remember we got dressed there @ GR (had hair and makeup done in a salon and then went to my aunts house in Reisterstown for a little while before heading to the bridal suite). 

One of my best friends looked into Mountain Branch for her wedding (I was the MOH so I helped her plan a lot).  We are also from Harford County, I can vouch that their food is delicious!  I do know that the major downside to having your wedding there is that if you're having it outdoors in a tent, there is no plan B for rain.  Basically, you're stuck out there in the rain if it rains on your wedding day, you'll be protected under the tent but if you need to go into the main restaurant to go to the bathroom or get a drink (I think that's the only place they set the bar up, indoors), you have to walk exposed.  They don't have/provide for a covered walkway for you.  So in the end she ended up choosing Maryland Golf and Country Club. 

LauraT25

I've heard good things about Grey Rock, though PPs have pointed out some specific issues that I was not aware of.

As for the getting ready issue - my venue is the same way, so we're getting ready elsewhere and I'm basically only changing into my dress at the venue.  I'm not too concerned about it.  The size of your guest list might be an issue, though, if you don't want to do the tent thing.

MarinoRabeno

I was thinking of Mountain Branch, but the tent wasn't up when we were looking for a venue. And I don't know how I felt about just being in a tent rain or shine. I know there's walls and a dance floor, but guests going to the bathroom and things concerned me. I like the security of an actual place.

Bulle Rock was where I thought I was going to have it, but I had some concerns. The cake would be put in the corner of another room so nobody would see it until you cut it. Cakes are expensive so I wanted it displayed the whole time! Also the main room has doors that open up to a patio area with big windows which is nice, but it even with the doors open it still feels closed in. And my other big thing was that the cocktail hour would happen in two small rooms around the ballroom so you're guests would be going in and out of the ballroom before the reception started. I just wanted a seperate space, but that's just me.

Vally Mansion is a really cool place. But like someone else said, the ballroom seems small. We were looking at about 130 people and we thought it was too small, but they said they can fit up to 180 in there. It just seems tight to me. Also, its right in front of a community pool!!! I'm getting married in June and didn't want a big crowded pool with lots of loud children!!! Just something to think about.

Everybody looks for different things, but those are the things that bothered me. We ended up going with a place in Wilmington, DE. Totally random!  Good luck!

tmp101108

I had my ceremony and reception at Mountain Branch in 10/08.  Everything was perfect!  We still hear reviews from our friends and family about the beautiful views and the food.  DH and I are thrilled with our decision to have our wedding there.

If it would have rained, our Plan B was to have the ceremony under the tent.  We considered renting another tent to still have the ceremony outside on the lawn, but for the cost of it...and only a 20-ish minute ceremony...we decided against it.  The bar is normally placed outside the tent, but that too would have been moved under the tent (as long as you're not at max seating capacity).  For me, I really wanted that outdoor feeling and was willing to take the risk.  It was well worth it in my opinion because we ended up with a gorgeous sunny day, in the high 70's!  The cocktail hour was on the lawn, and even during the reception many people spent time outside the tent talking, enjoying the nice weather, etc. 

I did look at Valley Country Club.  Although I liked the indoor space for a reception, I did not like it for a ceremony site.  Maybe because when we went to visit, I was weirded out by the pool that would have been in the background.  Plus, you have to rent chairs for the ceremony there.  (That was included with the site fee at Mountain Branch.)  I have been to receptions (not any ceremonys though) at VCC and everything turned out nicely.

Good luck in your search for a venue!

eco1103a

I'm having my ceremony in Harford County (where my fiance and I are from) at The Church of Sant Patrick in Havre de Grace and our reception in Baltimore County at Martins East on Route 40.


Mountain Branch and the surrounding area is gorgeous and just a hop-and-skip from I-95,I just went there for a bridal show on Sunday and parking was horrendous.  If church is letting out across the street, you can expect longer times in traffic.