About this vendor
For a unique and memorable venue, host your wedding, reception, or vow exchange on the picturesque 118-acre former estate of Henri Bendel. The large, Tudor-style mansion boasts an elegant dining and dancing area for up to 150 guests. Home to the Stamford Museum, the stately building is flanked by a renowned sculpture garden and terrace and overlooks scenic Bendel Pond and the Meadow, a charming outdoor space that can accommodate a large tent. Elsewhere on this rustic property in North Stamford is Heckscher Farm, filled with animals and historic barn structures, including Heckscher Barn (capacity 45 guests); our Wheels in the Woods Picnic area, with two pavilions and two shade tents (capacity 100 guests); and the Indian Room, an art-filled space on the second floor of the Bendel Mansion
Amenities + details
Covered Outdoors Space
Indoor Event Space
Liability Insurance
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Dressing Room
Handicap Accessible
On-Site Accommodations
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Ceremony Types
- Civil Union
- Commitment Ceremony
- Elopement
- Interfaith Ceremony
- Non-Religious Ceremony
- Religious Ceremony
Settings
- Barn
- Farm & Ranch
- Estate
- Garden
- Historic Venue
- Museum
Venue Service Offerings
- Planning
- Rentals & Equipment
- Tents
Reviews
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4.7
out of 5.012 reviews
Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 9
The Bendel Mansion at Stamford Museum & Nature Center was the perfect place for our wedding. Every part of the house and grounds is more beautiful than the last with Italian sculpt...
ures, including a beautifully carved fountain, and of course the stunning Tudor style house.
There is a large conference room to get ready, a gallery for cocktail hour with art installations, a wooden dance floor area, and a long dining hall and atrium for seating guests at dinner. They have a great selection of furniture to start from that offsets rental costs and while you do have to select from their list of approved caterers, we found the list to be quite long and were introduced to the perfect company for us through it (shout out to Best In Gourmet!).
The SM&NC team takes such beautiful care of this property and we were so grateful for their hard work at our wedding, highly recommend!
The Knobloch Family Farmhouse was a BEAUTIFUL venue for our wedding in April 2023. The reception went flawlessly thanks to the collaboration of all our vendors. The venue also prov...
ided a golf cart and driver to drive us and our photographers around the property during cocktail hour for photos! This was CRITICAL to getting all the photos done in time!
The farmhouse was beautiful because it has multiple spaces - inside main room for dining and dancing, terrace area for cocktail hour, and front area with fire pit, waterfall, and string lights for a break from the action. Definitely recommend this venue! Coordination leading up the event was good as well, I had multiple contacts working with me and making us comfortable leading up the big day.
The location was BEAUTIFUL. You can't beat it. Everyone loved the venue. The coordinator that I worked with while planning Jeannette was LOVELY and so kind. Answered any questions...
. The day of employee was sitting on her phone the entire event, couldn't answer any questions(ex: where should we walk out to go down the isle) and did not want to even give a signal to the DJ that we were ready to start the procession . She did not help at all and we actually had to search for her to unlock doors so we could have our first look. Our vendors were a little in shock with how checked out she was.
. The venue is LOVELY though and so beautiful. The building and location really was a knockout. The planning and communication with Jeanette was amazing and so comforting. She answered all of my questions and met with me an additional time to think things through. She suggested amazing and kind vendors and I really appreciate all of her help throughout the process. The Stamford museum is such a sweet location and I am so glad I picked the venue. Everyone was amazed and had great childhood memories connected to the place. We are so thankful.
Having our wedding at the SMNC was the best choice ever. I knew immediately after touring the facility with Jeanette (the event manager) that we would be in good hands and boy was ...
I right! Jeanette worked closely with us to amend our wedding plans several times throughout COVID, and made it so easy. She worked beautifully with our catering staff as well (a preferred partner) and together the entire staff created a perfect day for us. The venue was absolutely stunning - we used the outdoor area of the farmhouse for the reception and the terrace for the ceremony. Everyone was amazed by how beautiful it was, and our guests loved looking out on the farm throughout the event. If you have any doubts, book this place for your wedding. You will not regret it!
We visited many wedding venues before deciding on the Stamford Museum & Nature Center. We got married right outside of the farmhouse (GORGEOUS) on a perfect fall day, and then our ...
reception was held inside the farmhouse and on the terrace. Jeanette is the events manager and she was so flexible, understanding, and accommodating with us. I love Jeanette and we appreciate the high level of service she demonstrated with us. I absolutely love the farmhouse and the surrounding area, our photos came out amazing. And I love that the money paid for the venue supports the Stamford Museum & Nature Center itself. It also helps that this venue is conveniently located 5 minutes away from us. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
Incredible venue. We were fortunate enough to be one of the first to use the Farmhouse. Everything about it was wonderful (the space, the acoustics, the grounds, etc.). Also, thoug...
ht it was special that what we paid ultimately went back to supporting the museum and nature center.
And if you're lucky enough to meet/work with Jeanette, know that you are in the best of hands. She was attentive, responsive, thoughtful, and an overall joy to work with. Cannot say enough great things about her.
Thank you to the SM&NC for blessing us with the greatest celebration of our lives!
The Stamford Museum and Nature Center was the perfect venue for our wedding. We we're looking for an outdoor area with plenty of greenery and romantic setting. Jeanette was a plea...
sure to work with. She is kind, thoughtful, and communicated promptly and professional!
This place will forever be one of my favorite memories of all time 💕 I had my wedding at SMNC and it was ABSOLUTELY the best choice I could have made. I come from a background in ...
wedding management so I was really seeking freedom in how I constructed the wedding but also personal care as this is a big life event and I had helped many brides before myself. Jeanette & her team were an absolute joy to work with. Jeanette was always available & quick to answer questions (even when I had lots of them!), she gave me great input and tips and really helped guide me in the right direction. The entire process felt very friendly and supportive. I am hard to impress with customer care but Jeanette and her team really did impress me; I was honestly sad when it was all over because there were no more meetings to coordinate at this beautiful venue!
The venue itself (in my opinion) is lovely. It's a unique blend of nature/rustic meeting elegance/history. Everyone has there own taste, but we did the ceremony outside with cocktail hour, food/dancing in the mansion and then a fire/smores by the water and the entire night was flawless with the support of Jeanette, Gigi and their team. Jeanette was also very helpful with afew of our guests who needed special transport due to ambulatory issues and that was a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders as I wanted certain parts of the wedding done in different areas of the venue but I wanted guests to be comfortable/able to participate and with Jeanettes help there were no issues at all with this!
I cannot reccomend this beautiful venue with their professional, kind and committed event management staff enough!!! If it is your style venue you will not be disappointed in having your event here, you are in great hands 😊
The grounds and venue were absolutely beautiful. Gigi and Jeanette were so helpful and wonderful to work with!!!!
I had a private event catered at SM &NC in July 2018 and I have the say our experience with the venue and the event planning staff was nothing short of exceptional. Jeanette and Gi...
gi were a pleasure to work with and I would recommend them for all types of events in a quaint and unique setting!
My name is Sherry Le Fay and I was the wedding coordinator working on a wedding earlier this summer and I wanted to let everyone know the phenomenal experience I had with them. To ...
put this in context for you, I’ve never felt so compelled to praise a team, to the extent that I've found out who their boss is and took the time to right them a note during busy wedding season-- this is a first. That’s how awesome this team is.
Jeanette throughout the entire planning process was an absolute dream. Jason and Ann were very detailed and thorough, and Jeanette answered every single one of their many, many emails and requests. Then while onsite, Jeanette went above and beyond. She always made herself present and continuously asked how she could be of help. Dom was an extension of Jeanette. Being just as incredibly helpful, and taking over when Jeanette departed, Dom was the epitome of cheerful and hospitable. He was kind, friendly and a joy to work with. Even though we had some major setbacks with our caterer being over two hours late in the beginning, these guys didn’t miss a beat. Don’t get me wrong, it was a mad dash to get everything finished on time, however Jeanette and Dom were the reason the bride and groom never knew that catering was so late. Jeanette and Dom without asking or hesitation threw themselves into the mix, setting up all 150 ceremony chairs, popping-up tables, working with the caterers, they even printing floor-plans when the catering company had arrived with none - just to make sure they were set, and they took care of all their questions (when they did finally arrive). You have an absolute dream team on your hands and I just couldn’t go without saying anything. I hope to be back with you all soon to work with this awesome crew again!
We rented both the SMNC grounds and mansion as we wanted a non catering hall experience for our wedding ceremony and reception this past September. The grounds are quaint with tra...
ils and paved walkways. The farm and its animals seem well cared for etc. The gardens are also well maintained. From the receptionists to the young members of their grounds keeping crew..all were very nice and helpful. What we experienced from their Events manager in charge of weddings, however, was nothing short of demonstrative unprofessionalism.
To make matters worse we hired her early on, per her suggestion/offer, to be our day of coordinator. What a mistake. Non disclosure of fees/costs, curt emails to us as well as other vendors, nasty, one-word correspondence for timeline reviews a week before the actual wedding, cursing/F-bombs said in front of the bride as well as family & friends during on-site meetings and the actual wedding, a frozen wedding cake left inside the venue's refrigerator all day prior to cake cutting, botched coordination of large rental pick ups the day after the wedding etc.
Until SMNC management can come up with better oversight of weddings in general I'm afraid I can't recommend you have your wedding here.
Contact
39 Scofieldtown Road, Stamford, CT
Stamford Museum & Nature Center