Newton White Mansion

ndows on 3 of 4 walls of the reception area really give the feel of being outside overlooking green valleys. However, being indoors, we also never had to worry about rain, heat, cold, wind, etc. As well, there are many special touches, such as the ensuite bridal pedestal for upscale dress pictures, and a convenient groom's room that was just what we were looking for. Another highlight - they coordinated the timing of the fountain turning on to be in sync with our first kiss! AND...the floor plan was simply perfect for event flow - and I know "perfect" can sometimes sound cliche. But seriously, we had toured approximately 20 venues in the DC area when we were first engaged, and no one had a better floor plan than Newton White. The biggest drawback however is their lack flexibility. The mansion is park of the PG County park system, so there are many policies where there is absolutely no room to budge - though I imagine it's equally frustrating for their employees to enforce. Be prepared for this, and be prepared to ask for the fine print. We were engaged in 2019, booked for Fall 2020, and obviously that didn't happen because of the pandemic. Our new date ended up being Spring 2022. But it was after several months of going around and around talking about price differentials, uncommunicated policies about their outdoor space, refusal to let our coordinator tour the facility. And still, we showed up on the day of with the entire hallway (where guests needed to walk) blocked by furniture. It was worth it, and I still would recommend to other couples in a heartbeat. But do your homework in advance, because they will be your most difficult vendor to work with - and again, not because they're a bad vendor, but because the park system is so highly controlled.

mperature and seriously, no AC in May? They have staff available the day of the event to tell you the long list of rules they have in place and to make sure you don’t break their rules. They are not there to help. My wedding planner is not taking anymore events at this space because of the way they treated us. My planner sent them an email following our event to voice our concerns and they never responded. Why would they? They got our money.

NSIDE & HAD TO SWITCH FROM SERVICE TO RECEPTION. IT WORKED. LOVED IR.

his challenging time, but we have faced nothing but hassle trying to reschedule our event. They have now changed the date and time on us 4 times - one of which was because they tried to increase the price on us by $7000. They have told us they are unable to fulfill the terms of the original contract (I'm not talking understandable social distancing requirements either - I mean even the choice of chairs we wanted). The continuous back and forth has also placed us in bad rapport with our other vendors who are trying to be understanding why the date keeps changing so many times. And honestly, I wish that we could just forfeit our contract entirely at this point with them. It's very beautiful, I truly wish that the management lived up to our expectation of having a remarkable ceremony.

remony was perfect! The venue staff was always happy to answer questions over the phone and set-up times to meet/walkthrough when needed. They will also stay on you about deadlines, and when certain forms are due. But I am glad I had my caterer to help with some of that. There is not a lot of on-site help that you receive like you might with a full service venue or hotel, but our caterer paired with my coordinator I hired were able to handle everything. I would recommend having someone work through floorplan with you in planning stages and also lead guests to the different parts of the day because the house can be a little confusing. During busy seasons, they will have more than one wedding in a day so entry and exit times are very exact. There is also not a time where you can get in early to leave stuff and sometimes rehearsal times are limited because of the other events. I would highly recommend some sort of planner! The only "hiccup" we had was that some of our rental chairs for the brunch were marked up but they made it right! Overall, we were very pleased with our choice!

ed, but I don't think it is noticeable and the atrium, where the reception is held, has beautiful natural light and because of the windows doesn't need a ton of decoration. Look out for upcharges for things like Chivari chairs, but overall I loved it and it had everything we needed.

live in NY currently and it was challenging for me to come down during the week. Their staff was not helpful when I️ asked about visiting hours or taking photos for my wedding. Needless to say, I️ was absolutely frustrated with the entire experience and suggest you shop around for other venues if you want to skip the headache.

o follow the guidelines they provide you when booking and you will be absolutely fine. Our reception was absolutely beautiful and that's in great deal because of this venue.

derful. With the large windows overlooking the golf course it felt like we were outside anyway. We will definitely use this venue again.

ception at Newton White on September 6, 2014. The cost of the venue was reasonable, the outside fountain and grounds made for a lovely outside ceremony, and the atrium added a dimension of elegance to my reception.

at night and the grounds around the mansion would provide a beautiful landscape for taking portraits. I would highly recommend this site to anyone.

ding. Only drawback is that the built in sound system in the reception space is reportedly unreliable, so you need to rent your own sound system even though there is a beautiful one built into the space.

nclosed Atrium as a ceremony rain plan option. The venue and the grounds are beautiful and all of the staff is very friendly and helpful. If you are considering this venue get on it AS SOON AS YOU CAN to book because the dates fill up VERY fast. We ended up using the venue on a Sunday because we could use it the full day to ourselves (Saturdays are double booked with weddings in the morning and evenings). The venue was perfect for our ceremony, cocktail hour, photo booth, and reception. The guests could flow smoothly throughout the different rooms of the venue. We even had a kids room setup so that the children could play freely. This venue is a little pricey but has great value. If you are a Prince George's county resident there is even more incentive as the prices are lower. A note(beware)- this venue is VERY strict on whatever is listed in your contract. They pulled the plug on our DJ at the EXACT hour our contracted time was over. It also gets hot in the Atrium room (all the glass and sunlight shining through creates heat with all the bodies in the room so keep that in mind with your guest count). All in all, Newton White is a beautiful venue with great value.

aterer, chairs, etc. and pay extra for them to set up the outside area. They do give a discount if you live in the county or state.

g, we had candle light dinner setting. The glass windows above and surrounding us with the calm rain made it feel more cozy and romantic! The staff was attentive from day 1! Some staff members even had their special events at NWM and truly love the venue. Staff were available, promptly returned emails and phone calls. I highly recommend them and this venue (rain or shine!)

e Newton White Mansion and felt the staff sabotaged my wedding, here is why... PROS Beautiful grounds: The grounds are beautiful! Located on a golf course, there are plenty of rooms in the main area for guests to spread out and explore. The glass atrium is breath-taking! So many guests stated how gorgeous the ceremony was because the sun was illuminating us up front. Responsive when contacted. Also, the on-site supervisor called my guests a taxi at the end of the night—thanks. Please note the Newton White Mansion staff will not allow you additional hours, no red wine without a waiver, no flower petals/rice/oatmeal being thrown—these were not surprises just setting the stage. CONS In the months leading up to the wedding the front office is responsive. Please do not mistake responsive for helpful; they were not helpful. I’m pretty sure they read from a script, can’t think/imagine outside of the box. The front office lost/misplaced my caterers insurance/proof of liability, not once, but four times. This meant four trips to the Newton White Mansion by my caterer, beyond the many faxed versions provided. (We have confirmed fax receipts from all the tries, different fax machines were used in trying to provide the Newton White Mansion this document). The Newton White Mansion has many forms they request in advance. Their forms are out of date, photocopied many times, hard to read and not enough space is provided to adequately respond. Golf anyone? My suggestion is to request to have signs placed around the golf course of the Newton White grounds that say private event from x time to y time because golfers were teeing off during my ceremony. It’s on video. Air conditioning was not working at our evening wedding on Saturday, July 13, 2013. The on-site supervisor refused to call an HVAC company, said that the park didn’t have anybody on-call during the weekend. The 2 mechanical engineers who happened to be in attendance at my wedding were both in agreement that it wasn’t broken; rather somebody didn’t turn the air conditioning “on”. Fans did not cut it. Guests left early as a result. (2) restaurant-style ice machines completely empty, no ice. If you are a non-preferred caterer at the Newton White Mansion be prepared to bring your own ice. We received 90% refund from New York based Magnolia Photo Booth Co. because the Newton White Mansion on-site staff members kept unplugging the power to the photo booth. Here are the fun pictures were able to capture: http://photos.magbooth.com/New-York/NYC37-2013-07-13-HarrisTadesse/30574495_ZNjKZC#!i=2638791979&k=zC2Ft7h My caterer (responsible for set-up and tear down) took a photo of the set up on her cell phone so she could reference it and put back the tables and chairs EXACTLY the way she found them. The Newton White Mansion supervisor and staff watched 8 people stack 230 chairs. Upon completion, they were told they needed to put pillows in the chair in the “up” position. They had to unstack and re-stack 230 chairs. For more information email mastadesse@yahoo.com

ect for photos! Many of our guests complimented us on the venue, and with the exception of a heating system gone a bit overload, everything went smoothly the day of the wedding. The management staff were great to work with in the months leading up to our wedding, they answered our questions promptly and thoroughly. Plus, the mansion is owned by the county, so you can't beat the price!

side. The rain stopped the sun came our and everything went great! The atrium is beautiful and the gardens very well maintained. We had a Friday morning wedding because Saturday and Sunday was to expensive that would be my only draw back!

You do not need to bring in many decorations. There is a beautiful patio available for outdoor weddings and an upgraded section inside for the reception that over looks the golf course. The venue also includes tables, cocktail tables, rolling bars, etc in the rental but you have to order everything else from another vendor (i.e. linens, napkins, glassware) As for some of the negatives. The venue is pretty strict (no red beverages, no flower petals can be tossed, no open flames, strict time schedules with charges if you go over them). The main 2 things that irritated me about the venue were that it is only open during the work day so you have to take off of work whenever you want to meet a vendor there for walk throughs and you are not allowed to sign up for your rehearsal until a month before the wedding AND it is not guaranteed if they are booked (there is also an additional $100 charge for the rehearsal).