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Have you come across Smith Barn in Peabody, MA? It's owned by the Peabody Historical Society so it doesn't always come up on typical wedding sites but I am from the area originally and have heard great things about using it as a reception site. It's only about 10 minutes from Salem and very easy to get to from the main highways. Here's a link if you want to check it out... http://www.peabodyhistorical.org/wedding_facilities.asp#smithbarn. Hope this helps!
Look into Hamilton Hall in Salem, it's on Chestnut Street in Salem (love that street!). I would also look into the Seven Gables (they do outdoor weddings). The Lyceum and Finz restaurants also do weddings.
I looked at Endicott College (way too much!), Hellenic Center (Ipswich, which I loved, but was nervous about the food and not being able to have a tasting before our date).
I eventually chose Danversport Yacht Club after originally booking at the Georgetown CC (then that closed on us!)
I looked at Hawthorne Hotel (not what I was looking for) and my friend got married at the Waterfront. The Smith Barn is beautiful, but it was booked when I wanted our date. The PEM is really pretty also, but pricey. Hope this helps!
The Hawthorne Hotel is lovely and I've heard it's a great value! I think it's very charming inside, and you have the commons right outside for photos.
Peabody Essex Museum is really cool, but I think (?) more expensive.
The 7 Gables would be beautiful!
I adore Salem!
Hi Kim,
I'm a Salem local, (and no, not a witch!) and I think I looked at EVERY possible place to have my wedding. Oh, and been to friends weddings pretty much everywhere too. Here are the few that I would recommend having been to events there (and talked to the friends about their experiences working with the staff)
-Hawthorne Hotel: been to loads of amazing functions here, the only reason we didn't do our wedding here is that their ballroom is enormous, too big for our 90 person wedding. But a great space and great to work with (friends highly recommend).
-Hellenic Center: nice space, yummy food (they use Vinwood Catering, which is delicious!! I've been to a ton of events catered by them). Would have seriously considered this but my fiance had it in his head that he wanted super high ceilings for our wedding and this place didn't have them. Gorgeous landscaping too!
-Ipswich Country Club: This was my runner up. gorgeous space, great to work with, but a friend of ours had just gotten married here!
-Smith Barn: I actually haven't been here, but I've heard its great. We would have used it, but we're not "barn" type people!
-Lyceum: wonderful, wonderful wonderful, but it is two smaller rooms and that didn't work for us.
-Peabody Essex Museum: Amazing a space, but $$$$$$$$
I would NOT recommend the following, due to personal experience: Sheraton Ferncroft, Hamilton Hall. I don't want to badmouth publicly, but if you want to know why, PM me and I'll happily tell you why.
So what did we go with? Newburyport! There are two FANTASTIC AMAZING WONDERFUL venues that I would recommend over anything else. The first is the Phoenix Room, which I used for my wedding. It is a reception space owned by Harborside Catering, which owns 10 Center Street (upscale) and Michael's Harborside (casual). They were amazing, definitely unique (call it a federalist style loft space) and the food was spectacular (custom menu!!). Plus the wedding coordinator took care of everything - was basically a DOC for free!! I cannot recommend them enough!!! I would also recommend the Mission Oak Grill - an amazing space just around the corner that a good friend of mine got married at. I know she was very happy with her experience and it was a gorgeous wedding. Also a very unique space (restaurant in an old church)
Ok, that's long enough! So yeah, the girl that loves Salem ended up getting married in Newburyport. Hope this helps, Feel free to PM me with any questions...
We ar getting married in August in Salem. We choose to go with the PEM-Phillips Library for our wedding ceremony. http://www.pem.org/library/ And having our reception at the Lyceum http://www.thelyceum.com/ We are inviting 100 people, mainly because the Lyceum can only hold that many. I LOVE the atmosphere of the Lyceum and the food is great too. Like many other have said, it is two rooms, so we will be doing our cocktail hr in one room, transition to the other room for dinner and back into the other for dancing.
I am actually getting married at Brooksby Smith Barn in Peabody :) It's not super cheap unless you are getting married on a Sunday like me. Sundays cost $1500 and Saturdays (if I remember correctly) are $3000. Also, there is a $400 additional cost if you having your ceremony there as well. You will need to supply a caterer and for us, that is our biggest expense - roughly $5000 for 125 people. Everything else is details and fortuantely the barn really doesn't need much. We are at the half way mark of our planning and it's been pretty easy going. Everyone loves the space and we're looking forward to our day :D
@kim_bee
I am from the North Shore. I've photographed at the Brooksby Smith Barn (see pic!) and it was really gorgeous. Lots of character so if that's what you're looking for, I'd check it out! I've photographed at the total opposite end of the spectrum as well - Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. While it was beautiful, I'm SURE it's on the higher range of any budget! Whoever your photographer ends up being will love a barn-type venue. They are so much more intersting that a standard hotel ball room. Good luck!
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Amber Shomo
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Thanks for the recos everyone, believe it or not we ended up finding a vineyard in NH that was perfect!
we just bought out the entire greenland cafe in Salem MA for a december Saturday night wedding and it was amazing! check my first post for the breakdown and pix.
they were incredible and it was really nice and intimate to buy out a whole place. we had 80 people.
@kim_bee: I just got married at Moraine Farm in Beverly ... It was an awesome experience and the caterers, Fireside catering, were really good and it's all farm to fork. The grounds are gorgeous as well.
here is a video of our wedding at the Green Land Cafe...can kind of give you a feeling for how it was: http://vimeo.com/36047677
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Hi all,
I am looking for a venue in the Salem, MA or North Shore. I have been doing tons of research, but so far nothing has really felt "right." We have a tight budget, as do most these days. We need a place that can hold approx. 80-100 people. I have looked at hotels in the area, but they just don't have much character.
I was hoping for a unique venue like a barn or restaurant.
Thanks!
kim_bee