Venue ideas?

christinelyn0131 · August 2010

FI and I recently discussed completely changing our wedding around (we have time, dont worry, that ticker lies)

We've become interested in having it in Maryland. It's about 3 hours away from us. I was raised in the South, so it'd be something close to me. We also don't have any desire to get married in NJ.

Does anyone have any good venue ideas? We'd prefer no hotels, but if it's amazing we'll consider

weezie825 · August 2010

A friend of mine got married at Liriodendron Mansion and it was gorgeous!
http://www.liriodendron.com/

You may also want to consider:
The castle at Maryvale: http://www.maryvale.com/castle/index.aspx

Westminster Hall: (Edgar Allan Poe is buried here!)
http://www.law.umaryland.edu/westminster/celebrate.htm

The Cloisters Castle:
http://www.cloisterscastle.com/

The Baltimore Zoo: (There is a Mansion there!)
http://www.marylandzoo.org/visitor-information/rent-the-zoo/weddings/

christinelyn0131 · August 2010

Oh my gosh thank you! These suggestions are great

jesslovespete · August 2010

My FSIL was married at the Cloister's. It was GORGEOUS!

I'm a little partial, but my reception is going to be at HIllendale Country Club which is just so pretty! http://hillendalecc.com/facilities.html check it out!

good luck!

sunshine_day_dreams · August 2010

What kind of a place are you looking for? Do you want outdoors?

My favorites are Morningside Inn (where we're getting married, so of course I'm biased :-)) and Thorpewood.

gottahavashorti · August 2010

I'll second Liriodendron. We got married there and used Dean and Brown for catering. It was gorgeous, the outdoor ceremony site was great, and the food was delicious. They did have one of the arbors break during this winter's snow storms and the wisteria is still growing, but I barely noticed it with all the work they'd put into the gardens and such since last year.

blondeintgeragrl · August 2010

We are getting married at Gramercy Mansion. Good outdoor ceremony garden spot with reception on the mansion porch - but also still a beautiful rain plan (a part that seems to lack in many outdoor locations).

christinelyn0131 · August 2010

gottahaveashorti: can you tell me more about your wedding? I super love the Liriodendron website. I e-mailed them, but they asked me to come visit! I was like ....um

I'm a student and we're 3 hours away.

We definitely want something outdoors, for the ceremony at least. We want to do early Saturday (11-4). We want a vintage feel for our vintage wedding (I'm a history major, he's an old movie afficionado). Hope that helps narrow down what I want!

gottahavashorti · August 2010

There are some pictures/details in my bio. Is there anything else specific? I thought it looked much prettier in person than online. I can PM you with some pictures around the lawn/indoors once I'm on a better internet connection.

It's a Victorian style mansion and it's very well decorated on its own. We didn't add any decorations and it was gorgeous. There are chandeliers, fire places, flower arrangements on the mantles, etc. It also has an art gallery of local artists' work upstairs (though we had a last minute issue with getting them to open that to our guests) and the bridal suite has a fainting couch. Downstairs, there's a "museum room" with some history of the building and pictures of the Kelly family. There are blueprints for the mansion hanging in the hallway. A lot of the doorways are archways and it has a grand staircase. It would probably be rally good for the type of wedding you're looking for.

The daytime wedding slot for Saturdays is 12-4, although you might be able to add an extra hour to the beginning. For outdoor ceremonies, you can either have the woods as the backdrop and have it by the urns, or it can take place on the stairs with the guests facing the mansion.

We had an indoor/outdoor reception with food/dancing indoors and most of the seating on one portico and the front porch, although most people stayed outside since it was a nice day after threatening to rain in the morning.

They are a little strict about decorations isnce it's a historic site - no candles, no tape on the banisters, etc. but like I said before, we didn't even bother with decorations. You have to use a caterer on their list and there are 7 on the list.

Venue capacity is better for a smaller wedding, they can seat 100 indoors in the event of weather bad enough that the porticos can't be used, which was a concern for us since May is rainy and can get cold. But with the porches the capacity is 150.

christinelyn0131 · August 2010

gottahaveashorti: THANNKS! Yeah, they won't send us any information via e-mail...which sucks. If I know I can't afford the place, I don't even want to check it out.

I'd love some pics of the place if you don't mind! You've been super helpful.

gottahavashorti · August 2010

All of their pricing should be online and there's no additional tax. We didn't have any extra fees besides those.

I don't have my planning binder with the approved caterers, but Dean & Brown was one of the most reasonably priced caterers in the area and had great service. I've never heard a bad (or even neutral) word about them. When we booked I think they started at about $33 per person plus tax and service fees for staff, we paid a little more than that since we had a heavy hors d'eouvres reception. But that included linens, plates, flatware, glassware, cake cutting, soda/water/coffee, setup and cleanup. They let you bring your own alcohol and if you want a full open bar it's only a couple bucks per person to add the juices and garnishes for open bar.

christinelyn0131 · August 2010

Thanks a million! This has been extremely helpful.

gottahavashorti · August 2010

YGPM. I think there are more venue pictures in my bio including what it looked like for the wedding, but these are from October 2008 and May 2009.

SweetCFly · August 2010

I know I'm a little late to this thread, but I think another really cool place would be the Baltimore Museum of Industry. My best friend got married there on June 19th. It is so cool because it overlooks the whole harbor, and the set-up for the outdoor ceremony is great. It's under a pavillion which blocks you from rain, wind, too much sun/heat, etc. It really was such a pretty sight- and with a marina and the harbor right in the background.

The "ballroom" overlooks the harbor as well and is a very cool set-up. You can have a bar inside and outside, and the cocktail tables can be set up outside on the patio for guests to go in and out as they please throughout the whole reception. She had her band set up right in front of the big glass windows overlooking the harbor, so you could hear them when you were outside almost as well as you could when you were inside. People danced outside, too! I can't tell you how many conga lines we had that we took out onto the patio as well. It was probably one of the best wedding venues I've ever been to... I think it would be a wonderful venue for an out-of-town couple with a lot of out-of-town family members coming in as well... I think it really shows off our great city. And My best friend did the vintage theme, too, because it really fits the BMI to a tee. Everything in that place is vintage... they actually have an old-time airplane haning from the ceiling in the middle of the ballroom!

HeatherMek · August 2010

Not a great place for outdoor ceremonies, but for the reception, you might like the Tremont Grand - www.tremontgrand.com.

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