Harding Allen Estate

ack and forth, Grace and Carmine really made planning a wedding as stress free as it can be, they made it feel like you were planning a wedding with one of your close relatives. Most of the vendors they recommended were amazing, especially Sharon the florist. My centerpieces and flowers were gorgeous and the reception and how it was decorated was so elegant and classic, just the look I was going for, like living in my own fairy tale, I truly felt like a princess. I feel like I wouldn't have made it through my wedding without their help. The food and hors devours were also amazing and there definitely was a lot of it to go around. We had a signature drink that went quite quickly (it was very popular with our guests). Our guests to this day cannot stop ranting about good the food was and how gorgeous the reception was. We had our rehearsal dinner there the night before. It was such a great way for my husband and I to share with our families and close friends a glimpse of the venue we fell in love with. We were able to share the beauty of the mansion with our families in a very intimate setting. It almost felt like we were putting on a party in our very own home. The food was exquisite and our families could not get over the beauty of the mansion and all the different rooms each with it's own unique characteristics and intricate details. I truly cannot thank Carmine Grace and staff for making my wedding everything that I ever dreamed of. My only complaint would be with the photographer they recommended Sue Mason. The quality and quantity of the photos provided after the wedding were not good at all which truly makes me sad as I'll never be able to get that day back. We were relying on the photographer to capture our very special day and what we got was a photographer with a very old wind up camera who gave no direction to us when taking pictures. When we got our pictures back they were off center, blurry and I only received 204 pictures from her shooting from 12:00 in the afternoon to 10:00 that night. I am truly upset and forever sad that I do not have great photos to look back on such a beautiful day.

eryone they recommended to support the wedding, the florist, videographer, photographer, and DJ Bob made a night full of memories we will all cherish for a life time. Carmine and Grace went out of their way to make us feel like we were part of their family. They accommodated every request as if it was their own niece who was getting married. We also had the pleasure of having the rehearsal dinner at the Harding Allen Estate and it was a great way to start off this wonderful weekend of fun, family, and joy. Along the way we have made new lifelong friends with Carmine and Grace. Thank you for making Samantha's wedding such a wonderful event. Michael and Maryann Thorpe

s the through the whole process. The did their absolute best to make out special day magical. We feel truly blessed and without a doubt will recommend this absolutely beautiful venue to any bride and groom we come across. I promise you that you will not be disappointed. :)

rices, and special attention from all the crew, who were all accommodating, professional and treated us like family. The accommodations in the mansion we beautiful and convenient. The venue is a gem in central Massachusetts. The DJ that the venue uses is, Bob Solano, who is great! He rocked the night, played every song we requested, and even played the sax during dinner. We would highly recommend the Harding Allen to anyone!

d and I ended up choosing the estate for our wedding not only for its charm and the beauty of its grounds but also because it was affordable for us as a young couple out of college. We are from Massachusetts' north shore which is about an hour and a half from the estate but everything that they could offer for us was well worth the time, expense and travel. Grace and her husband Carmine run everything at the estate and they were an amazing pair to work with. Both are super attentive and truly care about their clients. It honestly was like working with a pair of longtime friends. The day of our wedding was POURING and I was very nervous about whether or not out outdoor ceremony was going to happen. Carmine came to the bridal suite and showed me a printout of the latest overhead satellite imagery, explained that the clouds were passing and assured me that he would hold off a little to make sure that we could have our ceremony outdoors as planned and we did! It was truly a miracle and I was so grateful for Carmine's calmness and expertise in handling the situation that was turning me into a frazzled bride. The HAE offers an in-house florist that we consulted with and used for all of our floral arrangements bouquets, etc came out beautiful. We also used their in-house baker for our wedding cake and, although we couldn't taste test the cake beforehand, it was also delicious. As my husband and I are both brazilian, we wanted to incorporate some brazilian hors d'oeuvres into our cocktail hour and Carmine graciously took over that request and made it happen. The HAE also offers a DJ that we chose to go with. DJ Bob Solano was wonderful, affordable and also very accomodating to the various requests we made from special dances mixes to playing brazilian and american music. He even accompanied some songs with a saxophone and danced right along with our guests. Grace, besides helping Carmine in the organizational aspects of events is also head chef at the HAE and the food served for dinner was delicious! There are so many things that I could keep raving about when it comes to our wedding venue. We were truly, truly blessed in choosing the Harding Allen Estate and it will always hold a very dear place in our hearts.

g else the service is top notch and Grace and Carmine treat you like family. I had my wedding booked for August 2014 until I found out my dad had stage 4 lung cancer in July 2013 and only had 6 months to live. Not only did Grace and Carmine help me choose a closer date but they helped me plan my wedding in only 6 weeks! They helped coordinate everything! I felt like I had a second set of parents looking out for me. I could not imagine planning my wedding any other way. Getting to have my father walk me down the aisle was the best gift life has ever given me and it couldn't have happened without H.A.E. I truly had the wedding of my dreams!

d the aisle with candles and rose petals! It was perfect! They provided us with all of our food and desserts(including the cake) which was excellent! Their florist that they highly recommended definitely did not let us down. I loved my bouquet and center pieces! I would recommend that whoever gets married here to stick with the florist! The grounds are absolutely gorgeous!!! You should check it out for yourselves!!!! Carmine, Grace and their staff did an excellent job. They made our day perfect!!!

flowers, cake, table settings, DJ, photos etc. The ceremony site was beautiful! Alex, one of the staff is so sweet. She wads with us right to the begging of thge ceremony, fluffing my train. She frequently checked in on us. One of our favorite parts was when the staff joined us on the dance floor and taught us a dance :) Also my family loved the food. They are still talking about the beautiful grounds and meal. They paid great attention to the little details, things i never even thought of, including fresh rose petals on the aisle. They even had bug spray on all the tables around the pond. The pictures cannot show how wonderful the staff and venue is. We felt the staff was genuinely happy for us. I couldn't have asked for anything more! Thank-you Thank-you

eting with, and immediately I knew that this was the place that we would get married. We had planned a relatively short engagement, about 10 months, and they had an opening for August 30, 2013 which we grabbed. We thought that with a rather unique theme that it would be difficult to pull off (Swan Princess) but Grace took all of my visions and ran with them. She was beyond helpful with flowers and centerpieces, and planning went off without a hitch. Fast forward to the day of, and the Estate was looking immaculate. We stayed the night before at the Sturbridge Host, and we ended up getting to the Estate off schedule. Carmine rushed everything up so we not only got to do everything we wanted with less time, but I still made it down the aisle on time. The ceremony location was beautiful, and reception ballroom took my breath away. The food tasted just like my grandmother used to make it, with all of the recipes being their old family recipes! All in all, thank you to the Estate for not only making our dreams come true, but for working with the fantasies of my childhood! BONUS: My flower girls went to the Estate instead of the Host where they were supposed to get ready. Immediately the Estate jumped into action, calling around to get them in with a hair stylist as soon as possible so there would be no stress for me!

bout something and 2 days later Carmine would call me asking the same questions I had just answered for Grace. The greatest insult however came about one month before the wedding. When we initially met with Grace she explained that there is a certain minimum guest requirement and I told her right off the bat that we may not have the minimum. She told me not to worry and that we can simply use the money that would have gone to pay for those guests toward something else. 1 month before the wedding, Carmine tells me that that is not the case and that we would have to pay for the minimum number of people, even though that many were not attending. After a few upsetting emails, I was able to get the owners to stick to their original promise, however the interaction left a sour taste in my mouth and afterward I felt I had to triple check everything with both owners. The food was good; the concern was that we were able to attend the tasting of the entrees only after we gave them a check for a deposit. Additionally, not all entrees were available to taste and there were no desserts. I am a huge dessert person and Grace raved about their onsite pastry chef, so naturally I wanted to do a cake tasting, however was told that they do not do tastings for cakes. It took me several months of asking and stating that I would not hire them to do the cake without a tasting, for me to get a cake tasting. The day of the wedding, the wedding party did not receive the requested and paid for beverages in the dressing rooms and instead of the cake cutting set we bought, we found a completely different set near our cake. We decided to stay overnight at the Estate after the wedding. Our bed was rock hard, the bathtub in our room had not hot water valve and the bathroom right outside our room had no cold-water valve. My advise is that if you decide to have your wedding at the Estate, make sure to get everything in writing, get your cake at an outside bakery and the night of the wedding, do not stay at the Estate!!!!

joined in dancing at the ceremony which everyone loved. If I ever need to do another event I will most diffidently call The Harding Allen Estate.

ere pleasant with the guests, extremely organized, everything looked better than I could have imagined, and the food was to die for. All of my guests were raving not only about the appetizers great, the emails were scrumptious but the 4 dessert plates they packed up for me to bring home, were PERFECT even 4 days later when I got to eat them. They made my wedding day more than I could have imagined. If you are looking for a perfect day with a beautiful facility, that makes your special day stress free, Harding Allen is the place to go.

t and clean. The food (Grace is master chef) was amazing and plentiful. Chris, their assistant, welcomed questions and random visits with ease. It fit well into our budget and they really worked with us to allow us to personalize our day. Off the beaten path but WELL WORTH it. Thanks again to Grace and Carmine and staff for an amazing day of everything we hoped it could be and then some!

perienced and confident, but attention to detail is lacking. The main issues were communication and food. It was very hard to connect with management. We had to ask for weeks to schedule our final planning meeting. When we finally got a response back less than 3 weeks before, it was "Can you come tomorrow?" In that meeting we finalized a number of things (in writing), from the bottle champagne on our table for toasts, signature drinks, renting the cake cutting knife, etc. Day of the wedding, there was no champagne our table and we ended up toasting with empty glasses. When we asked for it, we were met with looks of confusion. Our signature drinks were never made available. We paid $5 for the non-existent cake cutting knife and ended up using a butter knife. These little things permeated through the entire evening. Despite claims they don't “nickel and dime”, expect to pay for all the little things, from the cake knife to favor placement. Food-wise, it was a tough call. Guests loved the appetizers but half were unable to get any. 160 guests had to pass through a single buffet line. Only a few servers walked around with trays. Many guests complained to me that by the time they waited through the line, the trays were empty. When everyone was finally seated and served their salad, they wasted so much time trying to get the wedding party together that guests were leaving before dinner was even served. The food was hit or miss, and the prime rib left something to be desired. I should have expected issues with the food, particularly after the tasting, which we weren't given until over a year after we paid the deposit. Forget everything you heard about how amazing your friends' tastings were. To start, they didn't offer any of the beef dishes because they "are straightforward: we prepare top-quality beef." They claimed they would be serving the chef's choice of sides to make a meal of it. That's taken straight from their provided paperwork. I guess the chef's choice of side that night was nothing because they didn’t even bother to provide bread, beverages, or vegetables. It was an embarrassment that we had to pay $25/pp+tip for the bride's family and the 5 of us were only given a few bites of the 3 meal items we chose. It reminded me of what a prison dinner must be like given the somberness of all ~100 people, most of whom left quickly. Needless to say, we needed a real dinner after. The wedding felt much the same way. But it wasn't all bad news. The venue truly is beautiful in person and in photos. The waitstaff were phenomenal,and were having as much fun as we were. I sent a more detailed letter to Grace and Carmine in a letter hoping that they might be able to use it to improve their services in the future. They never bothered to respond. I was hoping I might at least get the info for the waitress who helped serve us as she definitely deserved a tip at their "tip-free" venue. Almost a month later and I still haven't heard anything back. If we had to do it again, we'd probably go with the other venue that we were considering. If you choose Harding Allen, just take everything that you hope to take for granted with a grain of salt.

we mostly worked with Grace who was lovely and understanding in all of our questions, concerns etc. We did feel somewhat strong armed into choosing the "house DJ" Bob- as I was very nervous after reading a few reviews of him, I asked who our other options were and their response was- "well, you can try to find someone else but they can't be on our "not allowed back" list of 400 DJ's...So clearly it was not worth the effort to try to find someone else. We went with Bob and I was so happy with him but I am even more happy that I gave him OVER SPECIFIC instructions such as no sax, no singing, and an extensive please play/do not play list. He does tend to be a little cheezy but otherwise kept a lot of people on the dance floor. We did not utilize their cake or florist services and at first had trouble bringing in our own (we had cannolis instead) but after discussion with Grace she was amenable to keeping them in the fridge for the afternoon until the reception. The grounds, pavilion, and rooms speak for themselves they are GORGEOUS! We got married at the end of fall so a lot of the plants were like super dead but I guess there is no good way of covering them up, but we got a lot of compliments about the decor. The food was to die for! So many compliments about the flavor (we offered turkey, or pork) but we had many complaints that some of the food was cold and needed to be sent back. I tried to personalize my wedding a lot and met a little resistance from the staff as to changing how I did things but with good reason...They are professionals! They really know what their doing and whatever they do- it usually works. For every suggestion I had they had good reasons as to not do it that way (ex: what if we put the sweetheart table in the corner- no, because the air vent is there and looks ugly in pictures as well as your guests cant always see you) they really know what they do well and how to make it happen. In the final planning of the day Grace, Chris and Carmine were really helpful and put me at ease, they made sure that all my little touches were just right and even decorated our tower of cannoli with fake little books! (our reception was book themed) as a surprise. She also was willing to work with us on prices even though we used their package system. Make sure to include extensive directions to the estate as it is difficult to find and use the address that they recommend. We did stay over the night of our wedding and we loved the little touches such as rose petals on the bed and the fact that they saved our favorite cannolis for us and had them waiting. The only downside was that when we were sweaty after the party and wanted to shower there were no towels in the room! We probably could have gone and found someone but were too tired to look for then so we improvised with some paper towels and a t-shirt. Overall I was impressed with their expertise, know how, and professionalism and felt very comfortable giving them such a large sum of money to make my day extra special. I would definitely recommend HAE to other brides as long as you make sure you are clear with your expectations and are detail oriented!

had a lot of fun. The set up was perfect, exactly what we wanted, and the food was superb. Grace, Carmine, and the rest of the staff really care about making your day perfect and beautiful, and made planning stress free!

bulous. However, working with HAE's main wedding planner was not the easiest thing in the world, so I had no idea how my wedding was actually going to end up until it actually happened. Thankfully, they pulled everything together, but they really need to work on their communication and be more flexible to the bride/groom's ideas. But, in the end everything was great and I would recommend this venue to a friend - as long as they don't need to know exactly what is going on at every second of the planning process.

what we wanted, and gave us exactly that. We didn't have to worry about a thing the day of the wedding.

taff at the Estate were great and very professional. Thank you for a perfect day!!

is answered my million and one questions leading up to the wedding and Abby made sure that all of our wedding needs were taken care of. We also did our flowers and dessert through the estate. They are a great one stop shop. They do not have any hidden fees and you don't need a degree to understand all of their pricing. My husband and I fell in love with the venue at our first meeting and have raved about it the place ever since.

DJ Bob Solano (as do I). 'One Stop Shopping' is an unattractive term, so think of it instead as a fabulous package deal. They have a number of 'packages' you can choose from and customize as needed. They handled my customization very well and made all the adjustments for a reasonable fee that was fully disclosed in advance. The grounds are beautiful, and our ceremony and pictures happened out in the garden. The fountain view ball room was very lovely, and the estate itself is fantastic with its tasteful furnishings and amazing woodworking. The only down side is that during the planning if you need a lot of hand-holding you might be a little disappointed by their response time (a few days to return an email some times) but when you sit down for your meeting with them and go over the package choices you want they are very responsive, take excellent notes, and did it just the way I wanted. Happy wedding!

my flowers were exactly what I wanted! Food was great.

ite bakery, both of which were amazing! The owners, Grace and Carmine, are very gracious, accommodating and experienced at what they do. The venue is unique, the gardens are breath taking and the food is amazing! The estate makes for an incredible back drop for pictures, while offering your guests a unique venue to appreciate and explore. Our wedding was everything we hoped it would be and I could not recommend them more!

even things we missed or forgot! My mom changed at the church down the way and left things (including her wedding band!) at the church. I asked Carmen mid wedding to help and he got (most of) her things back from the church! I don't know how they do it, but I hope I get to attend a wedding here in the future. The food was amazing, the ambiance was as well! THANK YOU for an amazing wedding day!

s the place. The HAE can do food, cake, bar services, flowers, all decorations, the ceremony, the set up of everything, and the rehearsal; they can also make recommendations for all vendors you will need to hire (photographers, DJs, videographers, hotels, transportation, wedding/bridesmaid dresses) all of which they have worked with and trust. Grace & Carmine (the owners) are also the chefs and wedding planners. You will not only feel like a bride when planning with them but you will feel like family. I'm actually sad that I will no longer be talking with them on a regular basis. They do offer "packages" and you can easily add or subtract elements or do everything completely "a la carte." Whatever your wedding budget may be, they can work with you to meet that budget and not skip out on major wedding components. I highly recommend attending one of their wedding demo days to get ideas for flowers and decorations. We had both our ceremony and reception at the HAE and it honestly couldn't have gone any better. I really don't know what I would have changed about the day, thats how great everything turned out. Grace & Carmine totally "got my vision" for the day and made it happen. My whole review probably sounds very cliche but I really cannot stress how perfect my big day went! It has only been two days since my wedding and I have gotten non stop calls and emails from my guests complimenting everything from the venue itself, right down to the canoli's that were part of the venetian spread. I absolutely recommend the Harding Allen Estate and would be willing to talk to anyone about my experience. If you're a bride reading this review and trying to decide between a few options, go see Grace and Carmine and I can promise you that you will go with the HAE and won't regret it. Thank you to Grace, Carmine, Chris and all of the staff at the HAE for pulling off my flawless dream wedding! I will miss you guys and of course, when I am home in MA, I'll stop by for some wine and a dessert or two!

d easy and were accommodating to our budget. Grace had many valuable tips on how to get the most for our money. I looked at many reception sites, and the HAE offered the best packages and menu of any of the places that I visited. All of our wedding guests raved about how beautiful the site was, how amazing the food was, and how comfortable they felt the entire evening. I have been told by almost all of my guests that this was the best wedding they have ever been to. So... if you would like to be a happy and less stressed out bride who has the wedding of her dreams, I honestly couldn't recommend a better wedding venue than the Harding Allen Estate.

over the house for pictures. Grace and Carmine are an absolute delight to deal with--they made us feel right at home and like we were part of their family. The reception room is amazing and even though we only had about 70 people, the place felt warm and full--no one would ever have guessed the room could have fit three times as many in there! Grace is also the head chef and her food is DIVINE! I got a ridiculous amount of compliments on the food, people said it was the best they ever tasted at a wedding and even more said it was the most beautiful wedding they'd ever been to. Everyone was just absolutely in awe of how wonderful everything was. We rented out all the rooms that night and had an after-party on the super comfortable couches in the bar area and it was an utterly amazing time. The staff is wonderful and they make sure everything runs smoothly all night. We had also gotten our flowers from Rebecca, the florist on staff there, and they were gorgeous! Besides the cake, it was like an all inclusive wedding package! It's a far drive from Boston but definitely, DEFINITELY worth the trip! Prices are entirely reasonable as well, as opposed to anything you'll find in and around Boston--even on the north shore! If you want a romantic wedding setting this is absolutely the place to go. I had an amazing time at my wedding and I have no doubt you will too if you choose the Harding Allen Estate to host it!

d put them to bed for the night. The pictures are so pretty. I would recommend this place to anyone. The only downside is the location being so far away from major highways or large hotels.

She worked closely with Me, my wedding planner Grace from the Harding Allen, and of of course my mother who helped me plan my dream wedding! The day of the wedding the bouquets were gorgeous, the centerpieces amazing and the floral arrangements throughout the estate were beautiful! I don't think I could have asked for anything more. I didn't have to worry about my flowers not being at the venue, didn't have to pay a delivery fee, and didn't have to worry about them wilting or not being in water waiting for the ceremony. I highly recommend any bride at the Harding Allen Estate to look into Rebecca, Grace's florist at the Harding Allen. You won't regret it!

difficult?). I did bring a lot of things to the wedding in terms of props, programs, favors, etc. I labeled everything clearly and was happy to find on the wedding day that all décor was laid out according to my wishes. The grounds were kept immaculately and the ceremony at the pergola was gorgeous. I received so many compliments on our choice in venue. One thing we arranged that I believe is a must, were shuttle buses. It’s in the middle of nowhere so we had all of our guests stay at the same hotel and used buses. It worked out great and everyone was happy in that regard. The food was tasty and abundant. The dessert bar never ended. A friend and his date thought the chicken was bad, but I had the chicken and mine was good, so I’m not sure if it was just a matter of taste. The prime rib was amazing (we already knew it was great). I can’t comment on the bar because I never went to it, but from the few times I passed by there never seemed to be much of a wait. Being the bride, I’m sure I have been sheltered from any complaints by guests or unaware of things that may not have been good, however the day through my eyes went perfectly and I am very pleased with how it turned out and how attentive the staff at the estate were. Overall, we would recommend the estate for a wedding. One thing I do want to fairly-but-honestly caution brides about is their in-house/ recommended DJ. If I were to do it again we would have researched more DJ’s. He was great in communication and leading up to the wedding, but details were missed on the wedding day. I am in no way saying he was bad- the dance floor was crowded most of the night and he nailed the ceremony. However, he got our entrance songs wrong for both the bridal party and us. That’s not a big deal; however my father was not able to give his speech, which was a bigger deal to me. I realized half way through the night and asked my Dad if he wanted me to ask the DJ to announce it as he had done with the best man speech, but at that point dinner was over and dancing was underway and it would have been awkward. So our best man gave his speech, but my MOH and father didn’t get to give theirs. This is my biggest regret of the day because it was one of the moments I was most looking forward to. He also missed the bouquet toss song. I can’t remember what I wanted, but it definitely was not “single ladies”. That’s not a big deal and I went with it (even though I hate that song). Also I should make mention of his style- he plays the saxophone during some songs (and he plays well, no complaints in that department). Depending on your taste, this can be charming/ endearing or cheesy. For us it got real cheesy after a couple songs (he only played during dinner) and I know was the butt of some guest jokes. We were aware the sax was part of his shtick, but we thought it would be one song or something. So again, this could be great if it’s your taste but it wasn’t ours. All in all we’re still happy with how everything turned out and the wedding was by no means ‘ruined’ or a ‘failure’- people were still dancing/ having fun- I'm just saying we were not completely happy with the DJ. The estate was pretty, just don't feel the need to use their vendor

s beautiful. The staff was very friendly and professional, well organized and gave helpful suggestions throughout. It was also nice that the estate was exclusive to one couple at a time and therefore much attention was paid to us. We would highly recommend.

green beans not canned. The service was incredibly slow. 3+ hours for dinner service for only a 3 course meal. In addition one of the servers snapped at a child (not a child I am related to) who took a piece of cake off the buffet table after it had all been laid out for no reason, the child was polite and it was not apparent to adults that the buffet was not yet open. Bathroom facilities are poorly laid out with only one toilet / sink on the main level. Guests need to wander about the estate to find other bathrooms tied to the guest rooms upstairs which is awkward. The dance floor is nice and large and the room layout is good.