Blithewold Mansion Gardens & Arboretum

s the team was incredible. Melissa, Olivia, Erica and Lindsay were our go to's and they made our process incredibly stress free. They treated us so well and were always so responsive. They are so professional and are true experts in their field. Despite rain on our wedding day, we had a beautiful ceremony on the covered terrace of the mansion and got so many magical photos in the pine forest, bamboo forest and around the grounds. The reception was so much fun under the tent and had our guests raving for days after. Thank you again to this team!!

being non-stop rain and we had to move the entire event inside. Unlike other venues where you might have to last-minute rent a tent or come up with other options, Blithewold was able to move our entire 160-person ceremony and cocktail hour inside, and my guests loved the mansion so much they had no idea the entire event was supposed to be outside! Additionally, you get a bridal suite with a private bathroom, which is a really nice touch. Blithewold truly has the feel of one of the larger mansions in Newport while being closer to Providence and somewhat more moderately priced. With Blithewold, you have to use Blackstone as a caterer, though we couldn't have asked for a better caterer. Guests truly loved the food and, importantly, Blackstone was able to cater to guests with very specific allergies. We had lots of food-related questions and changes, and Blackstone was amenable to working with all of them. Melissa at Blithewold and Blackstone was extremely kind and great to work with. I probably emailed her more than any vendor in the planning process! She is more responsive to email in the months leading up to your wedding, which makes sense, but something to be aware of. However, she truly wants your day to be perfect and in the days leading up to my (rainy) wedding, fielded multiple calls (even on her day off) to help us figure out options. Our main issue is that day of, we had planning changes due to the weather and it did create some initial confusion as to where the bridal parties and families that arrived early for photos would wait, since the mansion was still technically open to the public. I'm not sure if it was a miscommunication but they initially had our group waiting outside under their awning instead of being brought inside. Thankfully, these issues were resolved quickly. Additionally, we had brought lots of items to the wedding, felt rushed out of the venue at the end of the night, and now are unable to find these items. None of them are extremely important, but in hindsight, I would be very specific about everything we were bringing to the venue in order to let them know to keep track of it.

a special place that provides a beautiful backdrop to your wedding, even if you don’t go all out with florals or extra decorations in the tent. The guest experience is fantastic, as they get to park on-site, explore the grounds, walk through the first floor of the house, and enjoy the water view. The bridal suite and guest restroom facilities are a nice touch too. The day-of coordination staff were great to work with, communicated directly with our other vendors, and were very attentive to our needs – we only wish we had met them sooner! Blackstone is the exclusive catering partner, however there is one exception for clambake dinners, which we did with McGrath Clambakes and would definitely recommend if you want a truly unique meal!

ceremony in the North Garden, and I was truly stunned by the lack of professionalism and organization on our wedding day. It seemed to be a major inconvenience for them to show the bridal party to the bridal suite when we arrived. We were told on arrival that the coordinator we had been working with from the Blithewold was simply "not here today." The woman who was there to "help" us in his place was rude and seemed stressed and angry. Someone burst into the bridal suite to give a tour to a prospective couple while we were waiting to start the ceremony, as did some florists who were there to set up for a different wedding. There were multiple events happening that day on the property, and it just seemed they were very poorly equipped to manage it all, and a smaller ceremony like ours was dead last on the priority list. It was unfortunate to see, as we loved the beauty and history of the venue itself and were so excited to get married there. I would have preferred the staff not help us at all, as them being there just cranked up the stress level on an otherwise fun and lowkey wedding day. It was sad to see how little they cared about us. We were obviously not a high-budget wedding, but we still paid money to have the ceremony there and had hoped for a bit more respect at least. The funniest part for me was when I walked into the mansion in my wedding dress with my bridesmaids and couldn't find anyone to give me any instruction as to where to go, until I ran into a worker who asked, "Are you...here for a wedding?" Made me feel really special!

my expectations. I dropped off a box of decorations and Matt amazed us with setting everything up. We forgot bring some items and he was knew how to remedy every situation. Everything turned out better than planned. Matthew went out of his way to show my photographer around on the property for perfect places to take photos that we could have otherwise missed.he helped us stayed organized with planning and during the event he did not make us feel rushed. This is not a job for Matt… he pours his heart into this. He is an amazing historian and cares about your experience. The venue is beautiful and well kept. Our guest had several allergies not only were they were extremely accommodating but kept our guest safe with necessary measures. I can’t not express how happy we are with how our vow renewal turned out.

and I couldn’t have been happier. My daughter and husband said they wouldn’t have changed a thing, it was perfect.

food, and the service. If we had it to do over again, we wouldn't change a thing-- a very positive experience, and a perfect day!

e. Throughout the planning process, which ended up being a year longer than anticipated due to the pandemic, there wasn’t a moment that we didn’t feel so lucky that we would be able to have our day with this stunning backdrop. Additionally, Blackstone (and Karen in particular) made the entire planning process flawless and fun. Karen was so accommodating and understanding when we had to postpone due to the pandemic, and was communicative throughout the next year hopping on calls and emails whenever needed to answer the many questions we sent her way. On the day of, Karen, Melissa, and the Blithewold team made sure everything was running flawlessly, and we couldn’t have imagined a more perfect day (with unparalleled cuisine by Blackstone). Blithewold will always hold a special place in our hearts and we want to give one last special thank you to Blackstone and all the people who helped create our day. We can’t recommend them enough!

ndemic. Almost every guest in our 180 person wedding said that Blithewold was the most beautiful wedding venue they had ever been to. I was so worried about things going wrong on my wedding day, but thanks to the Blithewold staff that were assisting with my wedding, absolutely nothing went wrong and everything transitioned so seamlessly. Melissa, Karen, and the rest of their team were so quick to respond to my questions (and there were MANY questions) and made me feel absolutely comfortable leaving the biggest day of my life in their hands. They were so professional and even had many suggestions on how to make our wedding day more fun (i.e., extending the cocktail hour as the sunset was so beautiful). You get to have your ceremony essentially in a botanical garden with the ocean on one side and a beautiful historic mansion on the other. The tent is there year round and was so beautiful and even when it started raining and there were strong wind gusts, none of our guests noticed. I would recommend this venue to ANYONE, and I am so happy I chose to have my wedding at Blithewold.

hen book. Our wedding day was perfect and the staff at Blithewold were simply fantastic. We couldn't have done it without them and I highly recommend. On to our story: Our engagement was very short (9 months) and we planned our wedding ourselves... as Rhode Island began to open back up our plans and guest list changed along the way. During that time Matthew and Allan were responsive to all our requests, spoke to all our vendors (Florals, Baker, DJ) to ensure scheduling was on track, provided timelines for us to follow and if they had questions they would call us to hash out (Tasting dates, finalize head counts, cocktail selections, rehearsal dates, etc). The day before our wedding we dropped off our table decor and left the rest to them. On our wedding day we had a first look and photos in the mansion. Matthew made sure the bride was tucked away into the bridal suite with plenty of time to bustle and powder before guests arrived. Blithewold provided both sunshine and rain plans ahead of time (it rained) and the staff just kept the whole day moving smoothly. Little details matter and the staff were on top of it. Everyone flowed from the ceremony to cocktail hour for passed apps/drinks. Umbrellas were provided by the venue as guests transitioned from cocktail hour to the reception tent and the party just kept going til the dj told us our shuttle would be arriving in 20min. It's been two weeks since our wedding; my wife and I are still smiling about how perfect our day was. Let's talk $'s. We researched 15 venues and getting upfront pricing was tough for many. Blithewold was upfront with all costs: venue, cocktail hr, passed hors d'oeuvres, gratuity, taxes, per-guest reception costs, etc. I was provided an invoice on Day 1 and the total at the bottom was the price we paid (deposit to reserve, balance due 30 days before wedding). Zero surprises and no fine print that padded on extra for "admin fees, gratuities, taxes, etc". Our only outside costs were to provide signage, floral arrangements, wedding cake, music and centerpieces for tables. We dropped off our decor the day before the wedding. Again, the staff set everything up perfectly and our reception looked fantastic.

ded organizationally on the day of the event. Blithewold showed up, and passed with flying colors. I was able to relax knowing I was in good hands when I showed up the day before to drop off items up until the end of the night when we packed up our items and left. The event itself was straight out of one of my wildest dreams! I felt like a princess walking down the aisle with my father and marrying the man of my dreams. Big shoutout to Matthew who kept the us in check the entire night! Kiersten was amazing too! They let me speak up about what I wanted when necessary and helped guide me back to the tent after we took a little bit too long for photos! Everyone loved taking photos in the mansion and outside in the gardens. I know this year has been tough on the wedding industry, and it didn't help that this summer was full of rainy weekends. However, my magical day was only possible because of Blithewold's amazing staff and that is something I will never forget.

Every detail we asked for happened. All 215 of our guests were in awe of the venue, with the details, the attentive staff and amazing cuisine. We are very detailed people and they did not disappoint! All the vendors gave 100%. Thank you for making our daughter’s wedding truly amazing! We highly recommend Blithewold Mansion for a wedding venue.

staff to witness them fail miserably and so carelessly on behalf of the bride, groom, and their families to be able to explain what I witnessed afterwards. Instead of retrieving Domino's for their own staff in the middle of transitioning all of the guests from outside to inside, maybe next time do your job as an event planner and executive staff of the venue and orchestrate the wedding. It couldn't of been any more obvious that whoever was calling the shots strategically served all the guests the most expensive part of the wedding (the main entrees), watched us all consume our meals, and then proceed to make the "extremely hard decision" to have to evacuate due to a storm that miraculously popped up out of the abyss onto the radar. Give me a break. I watched a staff member drop the Polaroid camera into a puddle of rain water, look around frantically to see if anyone had seen them, and then pick it up, dry it off with their shirt and act like it never happened (the camera was broken from this). I also watched a staff member put down an entire large tray of cake that had been cut on a table outside in the pouring rain out of pure laziness and carelessness of not wanting to walk around and serve it to the wedding guests. I have never in my life witnessed a more unprofessional and ignorant venue manager and absolute careless event planner. They had that reception tent packed up faster than they were able to transition all the guests inside for the goddamn ceremony. They knew they had an early night from themselves and their staff to head home, I see right through every single one of you responsible for ruining brides and grooms wedding days. Rhode Island is a small state and word travels fast, don't waste your time and money with this venue, there are a ton more exceptional options for your special day that blow this venue out of the water! To the owners and bosses of both the event planner and the manager of the venue, congratulations.... they are robbing you of your money.

this place. This was one of the most awful experiences ever, and this place is an absolute scam. It is one thing to be able to host a great event when the sun is shining, but what matters most is a staff’s ability to prepare and adapt when things go wrong. Blithewold staff just could not deliver, and it cost a couple their wedding day (and a lot of $$$$). I was one of the groomsmen in the bridal party, and when we arrived at Blithewold it had been a hot and sunny day. They put us in a small room in the basement to wait for the photographer. I had asked for water twice and it took them 45 minutes to finally bring something over. The weather forecast had shown that it was going to rain right about when the ceremony would start. Before the ceremony started we asked them what would happen if it starts raining, and the staff said that it was not going to rain. “Be positive”, they said. Are you kidding?! What do you know, right as the ceremony began it started to rain. It took what felt like forever for someone to come over in the middle of the ceremony and tell us that we have to get inside. Relocating the ceremony alone took them at least 45 minutes (unlike what that fake review down there suggests), and the entire group of wedding guests were standing around inside the mansion waiting for the ceremony to be set up, crowded like sardines in a can. After the ceremony we moved into the tent. After 1 hour there, we were told that we had to move back inside since a lightening storm was coming (I'm no expert in this, but thinking about it, their tent should have been grounded in the first place). Also the fake review conveniently mentions that the DJ suggested that we move inside but the DJ was only the messenger, it was the management staff who made the decision and the call. As we were moving inside it took them another 45 minutes to set things up for the cake to be cut. The management staff was nowhere to be found leaving us clueless and with no direction, so we decided to take matters into our own hands and assist the DJ in bringing his booth inside. After we picked a spot that we saw fit we were told that the music cannot be higher than a certain decimal since we were in a museum (clearly they were never prepared to have this wedding inside, there was no plan B). They also told us that we could not move or touch anything since everything was historical inside the building (again proving that they were not prepared to have a wedding inside). I could go on and on but I hope this is enough for people who are considering this place to think twice. For the record, we had a videographer there and have footage of the entire night for anyone who wants to challenge the truth of this review. If it were up to me I would see you in court, but it is not.

hoices or any semblance of decent service. My aunt and uncle were devastated by the way that wedding went. My cousin was devastated when she arrived the next day to pick up her things and watched another wedding being set up on a beautiful sunny day. (And then she was told by a staff member that the weather was "unfortunate" on her wedding day.) No. The weather was not unfortunate. I've been to many a great rainy wedding. What was unfortunate was the lack of care or ability to see a problem and identify a solution on the staff's part. What was unfortunate was the way the staff tried to so blatantly beat the rain at the expense of my cousin and her 160 guests who got to sit outside as it poured down on them. What was unfortunate was that my cousin and her husband lost over 2 hours of time from their wedding due to your staff's incompetence. What was unfortunate was that every other vendor in the room knew that the level of chaos that was happening that night was beyond anything they had ever witnessed (the DJ and Florist both offered free services to the bride and groom for a second event... one that will be held far away from Blackstone & Blithewold) - and yet, you still don't understand the repercussions for that. All you give a sh** about is the bad review that came after. That day was supposed to be the best day of my cousins life. An incredible day of joy and celebration for the bride and groom and their families and friends. We still made the best of it - DESPITE your staff. (We made the best of it because of the people you've described as monsters.) However, what that day really was, was a mess. And that's on you, I hope your next bride and groom don't go through what happened that night. But for these two, the damage is done. How you can write a positive review to try to save yourself is beyond me. You should feel ashamed. And you should be refunding my aunt and uncle every penny they paid for your sham of an event. The funniest part of your review is that my aunt was the one being screamed at by one of your staff members at the end of the night, and my uncle's only experience with your staff all night was when he went to the bar at the beginning of the night and asked for a whiskey (that was supposed to be a part of your premium bar) and was told that they were out - better yet, that the particular bottle was downstairs and that they did not want to go down and grab it. (Mind you, he kindly just changed his drink of choice and walked away. Didn't throw a fit or even tell him he was paying for the entire event and that the whiskey was supposed to be there.) I bartended and managed bars for many years - never would I ever have been able to tell a customer that I had what they wanted but was too lazy to grab it for them (and too unprepared to have just had it in the first place). I could honestly go on with stories from the night, but, unfortunately, I only have so much space here. TLDR; Have your wedding somewhere else. The staff is careless, unorganized and petty, and you'll be happier elsewhere. Even if it means giving up the view.

sisted the wedding be outside. So, while it did start to rain the staff of the venue had the entire wedding moved inside in less than one minute. While the staff was setting up the wedding inside of the mansion, they had a reception for everyone -- very impressive for the venue to be able to pull together this cocktail party. Clearly they knew exactly what they were doing. It ended up being an absolutely beautiful wedding. As soon as the ceremony was finished, the cocktail hour started and the venue was able to open up the first floor for the guests to be able to enjoy this spectacular museum. The reception did happen in the tent and the dinner was wonderful. At that point, there was lightning beginning so the DJ moved made an announcement that the reception was being moved into the house for the safety of everyone. All of the guests were ushered into the house as well as the venue setting up the cake cutting in the living room. It was absolutely a wonderful segue into the reception continuing on in the house. Again, clearly this venue knows how to handle every situation as they had the bar set up in one room, the DJ had space in another and again the first floor was opened up. I can not begin to tell you how impressed I was at seeing how well the venue had everything under control. What was the most impressive was how professional ALL staff were with members of the wedding party who were out of control; for example, the mother of the bride is standing in the middle of her daughter's wedding reception and starts to scream at the staff. If it were not so deplorable on her part, it would be comical to see a human being act so incredibly poor. Further, many members of the wedding party, again including the parents of the bride, had absolutely no respect for the amazing beauty of Blithewold. As one who attended this wedding, I can not begin to offer enough praise for the venue or the staff. Having seen so many of them in action, I knew that they had everything under control. I can only hope that the poor actions of the parents of the bride do not completely tarnish the memories of an absolutely beautiful start of a lifetime together for this couple. For me, my memories are split between being embarrassed by the parents of the bride against a wonderful venue and an amazing staff. If you wish to have your event at a place where they have everything under control (including brash guests and New England weather) so that all one has to do is just enjoy themselves, then immediately book Blithewold.

ed. About 30 minutes before the ceremony, it was very apparent that a significant storm was rolling across the Bay, and the ceremony should not be held outdoors. As guests waiting for the ceremony to begin, we could see the lightening striking across the water. Instead of moving the guests inside ahead of time, they went ahead and had the bridal party, Bride and her Father walk down the aisle only to have the rain start pouring down on them almost immediately. After moving us inside the Mansion, it took them about an hour to set up a ceremony space. Now they have cut off an hour of the Couple's night by not being prepared for this to happen, even though all they had to do was check the weather. Kind of a bummer, but we were ready to help the Couple move on to celebrate. Cocktail hour occurred in the Mansion and on the porch, and as the weather cleared we were moved to the tent for dinner and dancing. About halfway through dinner, the Groom was pulled aside and told we would have to be moved inside again because of a lightening storm. The Couple hadn't cut the cake, been able to dance with their parents, or even begin to dance with their guests. When we got back into the Mansion it was very apparent by the staff that they didn't anticipate the Guests being inside. The staff was extremely rude as Guests tried to navigate around the Mansion and help the Couple continue to enjoy their evening. It took about another hour for the Staff to figure out how to set up the cake for the Couple to cut and where they would allow the DJ to set up. They allowed the DJ to set up in one of the rooms, however he was only allowed an hour. The Couple was not given any additional time to celebrate their evening, even after the Venue cut off almost 2 1/2 hours because they were unprepared. I understand the Venue cannot control the weather, however, they should have procedures in place to accommodate whatever situation may arise. My heart breaks for this Couple as their highly anticipated Wedding night was not what they expected due to lack of preparation on the Venue's part.

t almost looks like our daughter and her new husband visited 5 different places for pictures as the variety of vignettes on the grounds of Blithewold is hard to believe. From seaside to botanical gardens, to flower covered archways, to a stone curved bridge to a bamboo forest - all within minutes of walking. The areas where the ceremony is held is beautiful, spacious and dreamy. The area for the cocktail hour is huge and how nice to be able to have your guests play some games or walk around and enjoy the grounds. Then the tent decorated by Exquisite Events is stunning. Even with the COVID restrictions and the limited guest list, a group of 50 people didn't feel lost under the tent, it felt warm and inviting. The tent has a permanent floor, the bridal room right next to the tent is huge and comfortable and bathrooms are very nice. We highly, highly, highly recommend Blithewold.

a wedding, Blithewold was professional and gracious.

was looking for - and our wedding reception was truly stunning. The massive lawn leading down to the water, gorgeous sunset views, unique gardens, beautiful and historic mansion, a big stone terrace and porches, a beautiful marquis tent, plenty of parking and a great set-up for event flow, helpful and knowledgeable staff - what more could one ask for?! We were completely blessed with the perfect wedding day weather (sunny, warm with a cool breeze, low humidity) and our guests got to enjoy everything that Blithewold has to offer at its absolute best! Karen, the events director, was great to work with and incredibly helpful in guiding us with vendor decisions and making sure details were accommodated. Their catering relationship, with Blackstone catering, was a true blessing - we didn’t have to search for a catering vendor, and Blackstone offers delicious, creative food and truly amazing and professional service - they made our wedding the incredible event that it was! I am so grateful that we got to celebrate our wedding reception at Blithewold!

rything ran smoothly. Everything was beautifully set-up and ready to go when we arrived for our reception. Thank you, Karen and team!