OT: New England Wedding Venues | The Boneyard

OT: New England Wedding Venues

uconnphil2016

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hey all,

Planning a wedding and looking for venues. Would prefer to stay in CT, but would also consider VT, NH, or the Berkshires in MA. We’d prefer something more rustic—farmhouse kind of thing maybe, or a barn that’s been fitted to hold wedding receptions. Anyone have any good recommendations?
 
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A UConn classmate of mine had her wedding at Sturbridge Village. At first, I thought it was a weird venue to have a wedding, but it turned out to be fantastic and memorable. She was a student on a full ride, so I wouldn't think the venue is over the top in terms of price.

If you are having a smaller wedding, mine was at Montgomery Pinetum in Greenwich, CT and that was a all-around fantastic experience. Very accommodating, affordable and beautiful grounds. Best of luck!
 
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Not sure if you're an alum, but I think UConn makes a lot of the campus available for weddings and, as we all know, a significant portion of Storrs is pretty "rustic."

As someone who recently got married, my two biggest pieces of advice (I know its unsolicited, sorry!):

1) pick a venue either owned or affiliated with an event company.

2) (this is most important): hire a day-of corrdinator
 
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I attended a wedding at the Hartford Riverfront Boathouse which was pretty sweet. As long as your willing to risk being shot.:eek:

Hartford Boathouse
 
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The Lace Factory, LLC -

Wife and I would've done Eolia if we could've swung it. It's beautiful there.

Instead we waited until September for the off season and rented a beach house in Old Lyme that had a big side yard. Rented a tent, had the ceremony on the beach, did our own decorations and flowers and kept it under 20K.
 
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I got married a few years ago in northern VT (just outside Burlington). Still married so far, so can't say the wedding venue was a bad choice yet. We went through The Essex Culinary Resort (the food is obviously on point, if that's important to you). Ask to see their "The Ponds at Bolton Valley" wedding venue. Very rustic, intimate setting for the ceremony/reception. The venue can probably hold a 2016-2018 Husky game @ XL Center crowd, but we managed to pull it off with only 60 guests. Plenty of activities in the area to make it a good weekend get away for your guests.

The Ponds at Bolton Valley
 

August_West

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I went to a wedding at Powder Mill Barn in Enfield. It was fun and certainly rustic. Perhaps too rustic for some.


I know the owner.

She used to put jamband shows on in that barn for a few years, in between normal functions. Quite the scene. Of course like anything good, it wasnt meant to last. The town got whiff of the debauchery and that was that.
 

Drumguy

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We just booked this for our daughter for next Memorial Day - The Preserve at Chocorua. It checked all the boxes for us. You rent the entire "Farm" for the weekend (3 days) and there are multiple venues - all beautiful. There is a tent that can fit up to 225, a new "Barn" that will also hold up to 225, a sap house that will hold 125, a manor house and 4 cottages that will sleep 60 on-site (which offsets the cost when you rent out to guests). Its within a short drive of Mt. Washington and Lake Winnipesaukee. Paul Newman and Joanne woodward used to stay in the house when they performed at the Tamworth Playhouse. We were just there this weekend on a planning mission!

PM me if you want more info.

Home
 
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We just booked this for our daughter for next Memorial Day - The Preserve at Chocorua. It checked all the boxes for us. You rent the entire "Farm" for the weekend (3 days) and there are multiple venues - all beautiful. There is a tent that can fit up to 225, a new "Barn" that will also hold up to 225, a sap house that will hold 125, a manor house and 4 cottages that will sleep 60 on-site (which offsets the cost when you rent out to guests). Its within a short drive of Mt. Washington and Lake Winnipesaukee. Paul Newman and Joanne woodward used to stay in the house when they performed at the Tamworth Playhouse. We were just there this weekend on a planning mission!

PM me if you want more info.

Home
This bodes well for The Preserve anyway.

Jenn-Tim-1281.jpg
 
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The Barn at Wesleyan Hills would fit into what you are looking for.
 
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Went to wedding at Gedney Farm in Marlborough, Ma couple years ago in November. Cool place and it had fresh snow from the day before for the wedding that made everything look real new England winter
 

Husky25

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When? In New England, that could make all the difference. Got married in Sept. '09 at Anthony's Oceanview in New Haven. Ceremony on the beach, Drinks in the private Italian Garden, and Reception in the big ballroom. Would never consider it if we had a cold month wedding.

Also went to a wedding where the reception was held at the Webb Barn in Old Wethersfield. Would honestly not consider that in the summer months.
 
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If you haven't picked a state yet, do your homework on laws that vary between the states, especially as they relate to alcohol. If you're looking to provide your own, rent a bartender for cheap, or have a catering company bring in certain beers especially.

We got married in RI partially because I was able to bring in excellent beer from outside the state's distribution.
 

StingLykOllie

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I got married three weeks ago in CT and made the decision to go with an all (well, most) inclusive venue in which venue, food, and alcohol all rolled up under a single per person price. This made things a little easier to plan, budget and coordinate.

We looked into finding a rustic, barn-like venue, but when it came down to it, coordinating all the other factors into got really expensive, really quickly.

A few tips when planning the venue with whichever option you choose.

- Make sure where you understand the accommodations surrounding the venue. I went to a wedding up in Sharon at Lion Rock Farm (it was gorgeous), and after the family had booked the One inn/bed and breakfast for 20 miles around, they had to bus the rest of their guests to and from Danbury (45 minutes). Also know the time that the hotel will open your block of rooms back up to the public. We forget, and they released our unbooked rooms and luckily we found a hotel that still had accommodations.

- Ask about the back up plan and make sure it's something your comfortable with. This might not be a huge factor, but we hated our backup plan and the weather forecast said it was going to rain on our wedding day for the week leading up. We got lucky that it was just cloudy, but the added stress of rain vs not rain broke my wife down in tears a few times.

- Enjoy the wedding planning process and track all the costs! It gets out of hand quick if you don't track everything and understand where you may need to cut corners!
 
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Hi, longtime lurker, first time poster. My fiancé and I are getting married at Stonewall Farm in Keene, NH this fall. It's a working farm but specifically caters to educational and private events. Here's what the main space looks like:

8a2f25d8-ed4a-4b66-a6a3-86f36f20c99f


It's also only like a 2hr drive from Storrs and Boston and there are several hotels in Keene if you have out of town guests.

Here's their website:
Home | Stonewall Farm

If you want more specifics feel free to private message me (or whatever it's called). Hope this helps and congrats!
 
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Not sure if you're an alum, but I think UConn makes a lot of the campus available for weddings and, as we all know, a significant portion of Storrs is pretty "rustic."

As someone who recently got married, my two biggest pieces of advice (I know its unsolicited, sorry!):

1) pick a venue either owned or affiliated with an event company.

2) (this is most important): hire a day-of corrdinator
Hmm now that I think about it I don’t remember ever seeing people getting married in horse barn hill, a pretty awesome and uber-UConn spot. I can see that being nice, especially over the summer when the kids are all home
 
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Hmm now that I think about it I don’t remember ever seeing people getting married in horse barn hill, a pretty awesome and uber-UConn spot. I can see that being nice, especially over the summer when the kids are all home

I've definitely seen people get engagement pics taken up there.

As far as actually getting married on horsebarn hill...you'd better hope they do an intense sweep for cow pies.
 
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Hi, longtime lurker, first time poster. My fiancé and I are getting married at Stonewall Farm in Keene, NH this fall. It's a working farm but specifically caters to educational and private events. Here's what the main space looks like:

8a2f25d8-ed4a-4b66-a6a3-86f36f20c99f


It's also only like a 2hr drive from Storrs and Boston and there are several hotels in Keene if you have out of town guests.

Here's their website:
Home | Stonewall Farm

If you want more specifics feel free to private message me (or whatever it's called). Hope this helps and congrats!

Congrats! Welcome.

(And congrats on getting married too)
 
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hey all,

Planning a wedding and looking for venues. Would prefer to stay in CT, but would also consider VT, NH, or the Berkshires in MA. We’d prefer something more rustic—farmhouse kind of thing maybe, or a barn that’s been fitted to hold wedding receptions. Anyone have any good recommendations?

In either Pittsfield or Rochester, Vermont (just north of Killington), there is a wedding facility that uses a barn for the reception that friends of ours attended once and thought was great. There are lots of places in Vermont around Okemo that have tons of fall weddings, including Okemo itself, Inn at Waters Edge and The Castle.
 

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