Bridgewater Manor

CarissaB812

Anyone have any experience with this place? My FMIL and I were driving around today (looked at some other places) and decided to pop in. I liked the outdoor space but didn't really get to look at anything inside. I got a good vibe from it and want to go back and take a tour with my fiance. Just figured I'd see if anyone had any stories. Thanks!

raangoli

One of my closest girl friends got married there in June 2007 and it is by far one of the best weddings I have been to. They had their ceremony outdoors under the gazebo and the reception was in the banquet hall that over looked the gazebo. The food and cake (which FI and I were talking about today actually) were good.

They also had all their pictures taken there - both indoors and out and they came out beautiful.

Hope that helps!

CarissaB812

That does! Thank you so much. I'm hoping it can work out for us because I really do like it...and so does the FMIL which is a bonus! I've only looked at like 4 places so far, but this is my favorite. 

raangoli

You're welcome!

I also remember that my friend said that there are discounted rates if you wanted to do an afternoon reception. That is what they had originally booked for, but sadly, the evening reception had cancelled on their date, so they were able to have theirs in the evening for the same price as the afternoon.

I remember looking at the Manor's website and they did have "deals" for certain dates, so that's also something to look into.

Sorry, I am just super budget conscious, so I thought I'd pass it along

HeatherC37

My FI and I are getting married there in October. So far they have been absolutely great. They will have up to 3 events at a time but they are all in seperate wings of the building. The rooms are elegant but not over done and each have their own personality. Each of the rooms has a seperate cocktail room. There is also a gorgeous staircase in the middle, right when you walk in.

They are always offering great promotions. We are doing a saturday afternoon promo which has slightly less food than the regular menu. There is still going to be more than enough food. All of the packages include vallet service, open bar, cocktail hour, linens (in any color you want), place settings and cake. I believe some also include centerpieces.

The food seems to be very good. They allow you to have a free tasting at their restauraunt on sight. We absolutely loved it. The restauraunt has its own entrance which is great so it wont interfer with other events. With the package we have (maybe all of them) you get a free gift certificate to come back for your 1 year anniversary.

If you have any questions, let me know.

CarissaB812

Thank you both so much. Great info. I'm definitely planning on heading back to take a look with  the fiance. Are they open to negotiations on price? I'm also very budget conscious and I know they run specials all the time so that helps but was just curious about how open they are to negotiation. 

Heather-are you doing your rehearsal dinner there? There was a sheet about it in the material they gave me but if you have any more info, I'd be very appreciative  It seems like it would would be a good idea, but also not sure if we need all that is included. 

Thanks again!

HeatherC37

They are not open to negotiating. We are on a tight budget too and were trying to bring it down a smidge by doing a partial open bar. However, the gratuity is only 8% versus 18-20. That pretty much sealed the deal. We looked at places slightly lower in price but bridgewater manor came to be less after gratuity and they give you so much more.

We are not doing the rehearsal dinner there. Its over 30 per person which is a little much for us. My grandma lives right down the road and there is this awesome pizza place near her called Chimney Rock inn. They do Banquets  and have a private room. My family has always used them for small parties and rehearsal dinners. We are just going to use them. Its 12-20 per person depending on the package. The food is also amazing.

Heather822

I went to a bridal shower there & it was very nice. Food was especially great.

During the shower, there was a also a wedding taking place, so keep in mind that though they do one WEDDING at a time, they do more than one EVENT at a time. (I think there may be a restaurant in there round back too.) Just something to keep in mind if that is important to you.

allie828

They do more than one wedding at a time. I was there in Sept. and we were waiting in the lobby to go outside for the ceremony b/c another wedding was currently taking place and then when we came back in for the reception another couple was waiting for their ceremony to take place. Ceremony area is really nice and the food was really good, particularly the cocktial hour. The room was a pretty standard room, there were no windows in the reception room, just mirrors. It really is a beautiful spot, you just need to be ok knowing that there are multiple weddings going on at the same time and that you may see them.

smw42

We're also getting married there in October and they've been great so far. They also use Palermo's for the cake and a good baker was important to us.

They aren't willing to negotiate on price per head but they were willing to negotiate on the minimum per person and we got it lowered from 175 to 150 people. Also, their pricing is strongly determined by what month you're in so be concious of what time of year you're looking for as that will determine the price even more so than some other halls.

They're always running specials but some are better than others. The first time we went in they had a special, then by the time we booked there was another special which was actually $10 less per person than the original.

Also- they book up extremely quickly. We looked at Bridgewater Manor in August 2009 looking for a date in November 2010 and they were all booked, so we decided to go with October 30th.

Good luck!!

lizabe522

I attended a wedding there recently and liked it. The lobby area is really nice, and the ceremony spot was gorgeous. I wasn't as crazy about the cocktail and reception rooms, especially because the reception room had no windows! But that's not really a huge deal, I guess. There are a ton of different rooms, so maybe some of the others are nicer.

RamsKR01

I actually JUST booked my wedding (July 2011) there!  My mom and I did the venue shopping and went to 7 or 8 different places.  Bridgewater Manor was the one that had what I was looking for and the most reasonably priced.  I also felt comfortable there.  A few places I went to felt "old" and some had a  "snooty/stuck up" feeling.  BM was more my pace and so far everything I've heard about events there have been positive.  My finance's friend is actually getting married there in 2 weeks so we'll get a sneak peek of what's in store.

hollyberry88

I'm late to this party but....

I have also booked my October wedding there.  I can not agree more with the girls about the quality of food and the amount of it.  Plus, we could not beat the price for what we are getting. 

If you are flexible about your date and time, afternoon weddings are cheaper there, as well as doing it in Jan/Feb/March.