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Maryland
soontobeamrs2012
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Union Mills Homestead Brides??
in Maryland
Hey ladies.
Are any of you using Union Mills Homestead in Westminster as your wedding venue?
If so, can you share any information you have about hosting your wedding there?
Is there a preferred list of caterers? Do you have to rent tables, chairs, china, etc or do they have that there? I know there are a ton of other things I should be asking, but just wanted to get an idea of what weddings there include.
Thanks so much for any input you can provide!!
Are any of you using Union Mills Homestead in Westminster as your wedding venue?
If so, can you share any information you have about hosting your wedding there?
Is there a preferred list of caterers? Do you have to rent tables, chairs, china, etc or do they have that there? I know there are a ton of other things I should be asking, but just wanted to get an idea of what weddings there include.
Thanks so much for any input you can provide!!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Union Mills Homestead Brides??
Do you rent the barn thru Kountry Kafe or do you still have to go thru Jane Sewell?
How many people can the barn accomodate?
Thank you again ever so much!!! I would love to stay in touch as I'm thinking this might be a perfect fit for us and would love to see how your planning is going :-)
I spoke with Tom and he mentioned that he was pretty sure 2013 dates were booked up and that Jane was working on booking 2014 dates. This kinda bummed me out, but we've already been engaged for almost 4 years, so what is another 2 (maybe a little less) to wait??!!!
Did you setup an appointment with Jane to tour the barn or did you just go there on your own and look around? Before even saying, yes we will do 2014 - I guess it would help to see it in person and decide. Fiance and I have both been there 10 + years ago as a middle school overnight camp run by our school system, so weddings there had never even been a thought in my mind. I'm sure going back now and with an agenda will give me a whole new perspective on this place.
I'm happy to see the barn rentals doing so well for that area, but sad that I may not be planning a 2013 wedding anymore if this is what we decide we absolutely love!
I know it's not air conditioned, but are there fans?
Sidenote: I did speak with Tom and what a super nice, helpful guy! Thanks for sending me his name :-)
The venue: Could not be more gorgeous or affordable. The only reason to rent Union Mills Homestead, in my opinion. The bullfrogs in the pond behind the ceremony were out in full force, and there was a lot of croaking going on during the rehearsal and ceremony, which I was delighted about since we had an animal themed wedding.
The catering/bartending: This one is more complicated. I will break it down by each topic: Catering: The food was good. It's not the fanciest thing you will ever eat, so brides looking for a fancy meal will not want this place as a venue (as KKK--yes, poor choice of catering initials but I suspect it's on purpose--is the only caterer allowed on site). My guests liked the food, but as I suspect is the case with most wedding guests, they will soon forget it. The servers overall were attentive and polite. Tom, the main manager who works with the clients, is very helpful, down to earth and attentive. He was wonderful to work and plan with. Unfortunately, he was not there for our wedding, as he had another event that day, and he did not tell us this until the day before the wedding while we were setting up. I think A LOT of what we had discussed with Tom got lost in translation when it came to working with the co-manager, Donnie.
Bartending: This was my main concern, and if it does not bother you, then you should have no problem. A week before the wedding we discussed with Tom how we would like to pretip the bartender, so that tips would not be accepted from our guests. We wanted that kind of experience for our guests. Tom recommended what would be a generous $ amount, and we were happy to go along with it. On our wedding day, while setting up, my now-husband gave the bartender kid (early 20s?), Casper, an envelope and confirmed what we had discussed with Tom (no accepting tips).
However, after dinner, several people who knew of the arrangement saw Casper accepting tips. I went to Casper to see what was going on and to make sure my husband had given him the envelope (as my husband was very busy that day and could have forgotten). But, he had given Casper the tip envelope. While at the bar, I did see a cup filled with cash on the back table. Though it had appeared he was not accepting tips (no cup was on the front table) while I was there, several people saw him taking tips and saying "thank you" rather than "thanks, but I am not permitted to accept tips as the hosts have already taken care of that." And I get that guests can be persistent with tipping; if tips are left on the table and the guest walks away, put them out of sight. Don't leave a tip cup on the back of the table making it appear as if tips are being accepted.
About 30 mins after my chat with the bartender, his father, the co-manager caterer, Donnie, told me how his son relayed to him that the "bride came huffing and puffing, running up to the bar to see what was going on" and that his son "felt insulted and as if he was accused of stealing." This is not the case on my end. I was composed and wanted to make sure my husband did not forget to tip him. Any insult or embarrassment he felt was probably due to his own internal demons for double dipping the tips and getting caught. So, in summary, my advice to avoid this drama is to NOT offer to pretip the bartender. Just let your guests do it to keep the drama away. It's not as "fancy" but it will save you drama and keep you focused on having fun.
The cake delivery was also late, which caused some issues. I am not sure who made this decision, but because of that, we and our guests were not allowed into the reception barn until 5:30, 30 minutes after our introductions were to occur, making us lose 30 mins of our dinner/reception. It may not seem like a lot, but with that lost time and the time I took to work things out with the bartender and his dad, the co-catering manager, I feel like I missed out on a lot of time to meet with my guests and dance. In addition to that, the bar helpers purchased 7 small cranberry juices from the liquor store and charged us for them ($18), even though almost three 62-ounce containers of cranberry juice that we provided went untouched and unopened. I am not sure what happened there. When I spoke with Tom on Monday, he said the cake situation probably caused his team to get flustered and confused, so that could have caused the extra juice incident.
Info that may also come in handy for you, for budgeting purposes: We had 114 guests. We ordered off the cheap menu, and our catering/rental bill came to over $7,000 (with about $1,700 of that in rentals). None of the bill was itemized, so we do not really know how much we paid for linens, chairs, tents, etc. I did not expect the rentals to cost $1,700 but they were necessary items to have.
(sorry about formatting--will not let me change colors)
Concerning KKK: When the cake was late, which I was chatting with Donnie about, all he seemed to focus on was that the delivery guy was "black." He dropped that several times in our conversation. I am not sure why he had to make sure to point out that the delivery guy was black, but it was all he seemed focused on. At one point he mentioned how he wanted to "kill that black delivery guy in the parking lot when he arrived." I found that a bit off-putting, esp since I had black guests at my wedding.
Bats: as the reception room (The Tannery) is a barn, there are bats living in it. When you set up the Friday before a wedding, you will see bat poop all over the tables and floors (unless the caterers get there before you). However, you will not see any when you uncover the tables the day of the wedding. I guess they fly away that night due to the commotion. As I mentioned, we had an animal themed wedding (and we own pet rats), so we were cool with the bats (and even excited to know they were there), but that may turn some people off...esp when they have to clean off bat poop on Friday before setting up.
I spoke with local restaurant owners that were distraught over the KKK catering company's exclusive contract for the homestead seeing as it's a county run facility and their tax dollars go to maintaining yet they can not obtain the contract. Instead the customer is left with a very unflexible choice.