- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee boards
This may be your experience, but I'm also having my wedding at a historic house and mine has been very different. Granted, my venue is part of a state park and not privately owned, but I don't think that matters so much -- what really matters is asking questions and getting things in writing BEFORE you book, not trying to get accommodations after the fact when they have no obligation to give you what you want.
Expense: I agree with this, my venue is also quite pricey. It's just a personal choice of whether it's worth it to you or not.
Event Coordinators: we don't have one, we're pretty much on our own. The woman in charge of bookings has been helpful, but there's no hand-holding whatsoever. On the other hand, the answer to pretty much everything I've asked has been "yes, if you feel like doing it yourself."
Timing: we have our venue from the time the park opens to the time it closes, but all clean-up must be completed before closing or we get charged extra. This should be clearly spelled out in your contract, no surprises.
Caterers: some historic sites have preferred lists, some have exclusive caterers, some have an open policy (which mine does). Check with the site before booking, and if you want to bring a caterer in that isn't on their list, get approval and the terms of the deal before you book.
Other issues: the main issue I have is that we have to figure out a backup plan in case of rain, since my venue doesn't actually have a separate rain site. We knew it in advance, and the possible inconvenience is worth it to us. It wouldn't be worth it to everyone. Again, ask questions, get answers, and get things in writing if you have any special issues you want to be certain about.
I don't think it's fair to say that all historic sites are bad just because you've had a bad experience with ONE. This could be helpful to other brides using or considering the same venue as you, but it by no means holds true for all venues and people should know that. I'm sorry that the people you're dealing with are difficult and that you've had to pay extra -- but some of these are things you should have verified in advance, so it's not 100% their fault. I hope your wedding goes smoothly, though!
pics_155.jpg (1245.9 KB, 104 downloads) 1 year old pics_087.jpg (1228.9 KB, 65 downloads) 1 year old 
I'm so sorry you've run into so many issues with your planning =(...as one who is also going the historic mansion/estate route, I can say that it seems the base rules are similar -- a lot more expensive, a lot more rules, many preferred/exclusive vendor lists, etc. I was originally going to have my whole wedding there but in the end compromised and will only have the ceremony there and the reception in a nearby and much cheaper location. But I also have to say the experience will vary from location ot location. At my venue, my event coordinator has been nothing but flexible and accommodating! We will be able to bring in outside vendors and negotiated adding a couple of hours to our site for free. So I agree with HL and think it just comes down to being very clear about their existing rules, negotiating it all out before you commit, and getting it all down in writing by the time you sign the dotted line. Anyway, I also wish you luck on your planning and hope it comes together beautifully in the end :)!
You must log in to post.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| Lyndzo | 26 |
| his chippymunk | 18 |
| Ms. Salamander | 18 |
| LammChop | 17 |
| fivemonthsnotice | 17 |
| beargoose | 15 |
| kat2014 | 15 |
| mypinkshoes | 15 |
| aussiebee | 15 |
| Mrs. Chai | 14 |
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| DeeVine1217 | 5 |
| AshleyR83 | 3 |
| his chippymunk | 3 |
| mightywombat | 2 |
| LammChop | 2 |
| beargoose | 2 |
| ana77 | 2 |
| KCKnd2 | 2 |
| cbee | 1 |
| KristenGotMarried | 1 |
My wedding is coming up in less than 2 months, and its going to be held at a georgeous historic mansion in middletown, connecticut. I have learned some hard lessons when it comes to choosing a mansion wedding, so I thought I'd share the pros and cons.
Pros:
-your wedding will be unique, elegant and stunning. Fabulous.
Unfortunately, t I've found that there are way more cons than pros.
Cons:
-It costs a lot more (mine is around $4500)
-I thought my rental would be 8 hours, but its only 5 hours. The other 3 hours are for set up and break-down. Extra time is $400 per hour.
- The event coordinators have a holier-than-thou attitude and refuse to accomodate any requests. When I asked if my caterer could come into the facility a little bit earlierfrom the set up time, I was told that I'd be charged $200. When I asked for the fee to be waived I was told I am being 'frugal' and they cannot accomodate that.
- The restaurant I needed to cater from (because of ethnic food reasons) was not on their list of preferred vendors, so they charged me a lot of money for bringing in this restaurant. This is even though this restaurant has catered to parties of over 1,000 people and is critically acclaimed by the new york times. The mansion listed itself as allowing outside caterers, but in fact, they meant that the caterers could only be those selected from their "preferred vendors list". I think this was dis-honest advertisement.
-The event supervisors have been unprofessional and inhospitable to say the least. You are going to need to come by your venue multiple times to show your prospective caterers and DJs where everything should be set up. In my experience, it was impossible to get them to keep the mansion open on weeknights and weekends and this created a huge problem. We had to always discuss things with our vendors from the exteior of the building and just peek inside to figure things out. Or, we had to take time off work. I mean, your venue is in a way a bottleneck for the rest of your vendors because they all need to come there to set up, check things out, etc. If you have venue coordinators that are as pigheaded as I got, its going to be a heartache.
My parting words to you bees is to find a beautiful banquet hall or a luxurious hotel that is used to weddings. It may not be a fairy tale, but at least the owners know a thing or two about the hospitality business. People who rent out historic locations have an air of entitlement and they just don't understand how to treat a customer. I don't deny that my wedding is going to look fabulous, so maybe this will all be worth it in the end. But don't close your eyes to other venue ideas. If your heart is still set on the historic location (hey, mine was in spite of the price), then read the contract closely, negotiate hard, and really test out which people are the most flexible and hospitable.