Sunday, May 2, 2010

Interviewing the Staff At William Penn Inn

We stopped in without an appointment and luckily got a chance to talk to one of their wedding coordinators.  We were impressed with her organization. She clearly knew the information inside and out and was easily able to communicate both the financial costs and the psychological appeal of the Inn.  The tour was short, but covered all the rooms available as well as the restaurants and lobby (which is where they have most of the cocktail hours unless you want to rent one room for the cocktail hour and one for a wedding).  The costs, especially off season, are a real bargain. At the time we were planning a February wedding.  If you're going off season they give you a great deal on the prices. 

We looked at two other venues in the area. Normandy Farms and Presidential Caterers.  We were very underwhelmed with Normandy Farms.  Their planner was brusque and in a hurry.  We were there on a Sunday and had an appointment, but she acted like we were imposing on her.  Hopefully she's moved on to a job she enjoys more because we'd never book there based on her attitude.  I do have to say that the silo room is incredible and would make for some great photo ops!  Presidential Caterers appeared to be more a  'wedding mill' type of venue.  I suspect it gets very noisy when there are multiple weddings there all at the same time.  But the staff were pleasant and appeared interested in our business.  The rooms appeared adequate but just not what we wanted, and my daughter didn't like their outdoor 'gazebo' type structure.  That was all subjective though, and I haven't been there during a wedding to see if it really is crazy.  I'll set up another blog for each of those venues. 

Vendor Review from Bride

The day was wonderful! We are packing for the honeymoon so I'll write vendor reviews when I get back. The ceremony was so beautiful. Father is a family friend and he made it so personal and special for us. He had us write a letter to each other and he read them during the ceremony. It was asking why we want to marry each other and what does marrying the other person mean to us. Apparently, there were a lot of tears. We both cried during the vows. Apparently that got a lot of people crying too haha.


Of course there were some glitches. Mostly with the florist. (She doesn't say who her florist is, I know Wm. Penn offers to have their florist work with you, but there's no mention if she used them or another florist) Wrong bouquet, wrong corsages (wrong flower and supposed to be a wrist, but it was a pin on), wrong flowers in the placecard arrangement (supposed to be all roses but it was roses, orchids and lilies even though i said i don't like lilies or orchids), and wrong flowers in our sweetheart table arrangement (same thing as the placecards---supposed to be all roses). The headache with the florist cost me a lot of time lost. I missed important photographs at my house. I did not have one with me coming down the stairs with everyone waiting. We kinda faked one with my dad for picture sake. We completely ran out of time. I was supposed to do this whole interview thing with the videographer and we missed it completely because of the florist headache. That was a contractual thing and I believe we paid more for that package. I am trying not to regret it now, but we will see how I feel after the video and pictures come back. I know if I am missing important photos and videos of me getting ready (because I didn't have time to at all) and I was clearly feeling rushed and it probably did not look good in pictures, I will be upset. I will be taking care of that after the honeymoon.

I will highlight two vendors for now. The William Penn Inn was incredible! The food was AMAZING, the ambiance was delightful, and above all, the service was top notch. I've never been so taken care of. Even my parents tables they constantly checked on to make sure everything was wonderful. From what I've heard from other guests, the staff was wonderful.


So many people told us it was the best wedding they've ever been to and how much fun they had. They complimented the ceremony especially which was very special to us, that is the whole reason we were there!

I will also say that Claudia Seyler was amazing. She is truly an artist when it comes to hair and makeup. More than that, she was such a calming person that morning. When I got upset with the whole florist thing, she calmed me down and gave me hugs. I would highly recommend her and will provide pictures when I get back. I LOVED my hair and makeup! I hope it looks as good in pictures as I thought it did the day of.

Photos from William Penn Inn








Welcome!

This blog is to provide brides searching for a venue with photos and insights about The William Penn Inn.  Some photos are my personal collection, others are from other sources.  Enjoy!