Maryland-Baltimore

Eastern Shore wedding venue?'s

Hi everyone!  I am planning on a July 2012 Wedding for around 125 people and i am getting a little stressed because i still don't have a venue locked down and things are starting to book up.  Does any one have any recomendation or have any information on the following places? 

My top choices so far ar the Historic Tidewater Inn in Easton and the River Plantation.  I am also looking at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, Harbourtowne Resort, Willow Grande, Wades Point, The Inn @ Huntington Creek and Osprey Point.  Thanks for any info!

Re: Eastern Shore wedding venue?'s

  • VlnVlaLoveVlnVlaLove member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I am looking at those venues also and have played with my string trio at weddings at a handful of those as well! I have to say, from the vendor standpoint the Beach Club runs all of their weddings SO smoothly. The coordinators there are fantastic and the food is great. There are some negatives I think--maybe more expensive than other places, there could be up to 2 other weddings happening there at the same time as yours (although people say they never even know).. The location and knowing that everything will be perfect there means a lot to me. 
    For the venues further away from the bridge (like in Easton) you have to keep in mind what kind of vendors you want to hire out. With our trio, we charge more travel fees for events in Easton and even Queenstown. But, all the vendors I know work at the Beach Club and venues in Annapolis easily. I believe the same people own both the Tidewater and the Beach Club so you'll get great service at both. Plus, the Tidewater has rooms for your guests to crash! 

    Obviously I am grappling w/ the same decision and can't make one myself either :)
  • VlnVlaLoveVlnVlaLove member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    OH Just remembered--you could also try the Kent Manor Inn in Stevensville (right across the street from the Beach Club)
  • edited December 2011
    Not sure what your budget is but I am having my wedding at The Oaks in St Michaels.  You get the venue from Fri 2pm thru Sun 11am and you are the only wedding the entire weekend!  Below is there site

    http://www.the-oaks.com/
  • edited December 2011
    I looked at the same area originally.  I loved The Oaks, but it ended up being too expensive. 

    I really didn't like the available spaces at Harbourtowne -- the ballroom overlooked a parking lot and the layout of the restaurant wasn't good for a wedding. 

    There is also the Inn at Perry Cabin, which is small (capacity for only 100 or so), but its a beautiful site -- that's where Wedding Crashed was filmed.

    I actually ended up booking across the bay at Herrington on the Bay, which was perfect!
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • edited December 2011
    We loved the TIdewater - their ballroom is brand new and the coordinator was excellent to meet with.  Ultimately we decided we wanted to be on the water and went a little further east to the Hyatt in Cambridge, which is beautiful and the food is amazing!  Having a place right there for our guests to crash was also important to us, which is why we didn't end up going with the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club
  • GmcburneyGmcburney member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hey Everyone, we decided to go with the Tidewater, i love Melanie the wedding coordinator there she used to work at the Chesapeake Bay Beach club.  I did have to grapple with losing a water front venue but a lot of the places we looked into we needed a tent and "comfort stations" etc... we also thought maybe being inside would be better since we are having the wedding in July which is always super hot!  I have been to a wedding at the Oaks it was beautiful but we just wanted to try a place that was different.  I did visit Harbour Town it was really nice and the wedding coordinator was great there too.  Some other ideas for people still looking would be the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum we stopped by and it was just really neat and they do wedding also in Annapolis the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has a really great venue.

    Good luck to everyone still searching!!!
  • edited December 2011
    We got married at the Kent Island Yacht club and it was amazing!!! You don't have to be a member. Contact Kevin. PM if you have any questions.
    Visit The Nest!
  • Where did you decide?! I am from Annapolis MD and we are getting married this June 16th 2012 at the willow Grande in Claiborne, Md. I couldnt find many reviews but went with my heart and Jessica lane the owner is creating our dream wedding. She does everything and you just give your input. I wanted to talk to another bride before going with the willow grande but so far everything is going well and she includes soooo much for the price, being she is new to the wedding business.  I hope the day runs smoothly and is nice weather since there isnt an indoor option for 175 people.


  • Hi tsilbert. We are looking at the Willow Grande as a possibility for our wedding  next June among other locations on the eastern shore. Did you have your wedding at the willow grande and would you recommend it? I havent been able to find many reviews either.We are planning for around 150 people and I really want to have an outdoor wedding by the water.  Thanks!<img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" title="Smile" />

    n Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_maryland-baltimore_eastern-shore-wedding-venues?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:85Discussion:96d58d85-af1f-4c3e-88f6-12203938cc07Post:69070ff7-ae5d-4724-985b-62ba65fcedab">Re: Eastern Shore wedding venue?'s</a>:
    [QUOTE]Where did you decide?! I am from Annapolis MD and we are getting married this June 16th 2012 at the willow Grande in Claiborne, Md. I couldnt find many reviews but went with my heart and Jessica lane the owner is creating our dream wedding. She does everything and you just give your input. I wanted to talk to another bride before going with the willow grande but so far everything is going well and she includes soooo much for the price, being she is new to the wedding business.  I hope the day runs smoothly and is nice weather since there isnt an indoor option for 175 people.
    Posted by tsilbert[/QUOTE]
  • Wow, where do I start?! my wedding was June 16, and it was beautiful because the weather was amazing however the owner Jessica Lane did many things wrong and will probably NOT do many  more weddings! My wedding cost over $35, 000 and her performance was far from stellar. We decided to do a wedding package however, she was disorganzied and out of the state most of of the year. We had our food and cake tasting weeks before my wedding and then she gave us the final invoice the day before the wedding! She charged over $400 for each bartender who was very young and they had many mistajes! Trash and plates piled up and she had her young girls bussing tables! She never coordinated the day and timing was off, cakes wasnt served and we ran the wedding ourselves. Her boyfriend approached the groom and told him he was running out of alcohol instead of going to the people of contact. Too much stress and money for this venue!!
    The wedding turned out beautitul because we had amazing caterers, gourmet by the bay, beautiful tent (eastern shore tents and events) and the best band (the rich whiskey audition) and the flowers the owner provided was also stunning. She convinced us to get restroom trailers, mosiquito nets, and other things but she never tells you that you need these until the end of the planning process and then costs add up. I would not recommend this venue unless you want to be stressed. I was warned by a bride and locals and did it anyways. I was in tears the day before my wedding, Jessica Lane does not belong in the wedding business!
  • Thanks for the heads-up on the Willow Grande. I'm SO sorry that you had to deal with so many problems. Someone like that should not be in business. After doing some research on my own, I have found similar warning about this planner/owner regarding promises that were not kept.  We will definitely cross this venue off our list!! 
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