Union Bluff Meeting House

Darlene and Annie and the entire UB team were exceptional from start to finish. From our first visit to the Meeting House to check out the ceremony and reception space through the end of our reception and beyond, we can’t say enough about how organized, thoughtful, and thorough the team is, and how special they helped make our most important day. Working with Annie as our coordinator provided a seamless experience planning our wedding day. She kept us organized, communicated quickly and with timely and relevant information, and was doing a little bit of everything on wedding day to ensure everything was perfect. She answered questions very quickly leading up to our wedding day and was very helpful and thoughtful while guiding us through the planning process. Darlene took over the planning of our Rehearsal Dinner at the UB Grill and was extremely helpful in getting us on track, answering all of our questions, and ensuring that us and our guests had a great night. The picturesque setting and the ability to arrive and spend the whole weekend in York is what drew us to the Union Bluff, but they delivered beyond measure. The entire staff was wonderful, helpful, and extremely kind to us and our guests. The food was exquisite, everything we ate all weekend was delicious. When choosing where to throw the biggest day of your life, the Union Bluff team is all in to make it easy and enjoyable for you and your guests, and we can’t recommend them enough.

Annie was our saving grace!! She was so helpful, knowledgeable, and patient. Any questions we had she found an answer and made us feel super confident that everything would be perfect on our day. I couldn’t have imagined not having Annie to make our day go absolutely perfectly!

The Union Bluff is an icon w/ amazing views for good value as far as a New England beachfront wedding venue. Overall, our wedding was great, but there were some issues leading up. Food: The garlic & herb chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans w/ baby carrots were excellent. Cucumber dill salmon was solid. Lemon risotto and broccoli rabe got mixed reviews. People loved the late night snacks! Go to the fun annual tastings! They served my celiac+vegan mum an inedible standard vegan meal (pasta primavera) w/ GF pasta. So we requested a different vegan meal for our wedding, a stuffed pepper, which UBMH kindly accommodated! Our vegan guests RAVED about it and the protein in it (beans, edamame), which most vegan wedding meals lack (incl. UBMH’s pasta primavera). Highly recommend stuffed peppers if you like your vegan guests! Hotel: The hotel’s front desk was incompetent. Guests booked by phone, then the hotel would say they had no record. Multiple guests were double charged and had to spend a long time getting the money back. The hotel is astronomically expensive for what you get (old building, poor service). Also, can’t book in room block online, only by phone (inconvenient for int’l guests). Day of coordination: Darlene and her team were incredible day of. We didn’t have to do anything, everything just happened around us. UBMH staff made sure we ate, helped us rehearse ceremony mechanics, and dealt w/ vendors day of. Some guests complained later the ballroom was too cold so they went outside rather than dance — we wish we’d realized so we could've asked to adjust the temp. Communication: Our meetings w/ Darlene were helpful. She was also usually straight w/ us, even if it meant us spending less (like whether to extend the party an hour, whether to book an all inclusive package). Some missteps: Our photogs suggested we go out for sunset photos as dinner service was wrapping up and that we open dancing after. A month before, we ran this timeline by Darlene and called out the sunset photo timing specifically, and she approved it. On our final call weeks later, we found out she had neither fully read the photogs’ timeline nor the body of the email w/ our callout before answering. She then insisted it would be too long for guests to wait and had us move the father-daughter dance to open dancing before the sunset photos. On the day, dinner service was too slow, so she delayed the father-daughter dance, making us late to our sunset photos. It meant we missed a big chunk of the dancing :( We paid a deposit for a ceremony tent knowing we would have the option day of to not put it up. The week before, Hurricane Debby was projected to hit on the wedding day. Darlene emails us the Wednesday before to ask our tent decision (to pay remainder as scheduled), and tells us that due to a wedding the day before us, we wouldn’t be allowed to make a call the morning of. This sudden breach of our agreement was stressful. After hours back and forth, Darlene says it’s b/c if there are strong winds, it’s unsafe to setup the tent. It would have prevented a ton of stress if she’d led w/ that, not pinned it on the other wedding. We went sans tent and lucked out! Costs: Our final counts came to 151 (incl. 6 kids). Open bar and Concordville food package plus blue napkins. Food package prices increase annually ($105pp at signing in 2022 was actually $112pp by 2024). We paid UBMH $39,961 w/fees (doesn’t include the required rooms). Brunch was another $2,135 for 60.

As a native of Maine, I have always adored the iconic "big white hotel on the beach." So when my fiancé and I began searching for wedding venues, we knew this would be our top choice. Living out of state, we were unable to tour the venue in person, so we entrusted my mom to do so with Darlene. From that moment, we knew this was where we would be married. Darlene’s professionalism, expertise, warmth, and humor were invaluable throughout the wedding planning process. The venue offers thoughtfully curated packages, providing a wide range of options to accommodate various needs. Darlene carefully guided us through selecting the perfect package, addressing any questions and accommodating our desired customizations. Darlene answered all my questions throughout the entire wedding planning process, even if they were silly and repetitive. On the wedding day, every detail ran seamlessly thanks to Darlene and her dedicated team. My vision for the ballroom was brought to life in ways that exceeded my expectations. Our bridal party and family members were well-coordinated, and the entire day felt effortless. The bar service was exceptional, and the appetizers were served hot and promptly. Darlene’s team ensured that my husband and I had appetizers at our table, allowing us to savor them amidst greeting all of our guests. We opted for a plated meal, and the food was served swiftly, hot, and absolutely delicious. Our guests couldn’t stop complimenting us on the beautiful venue and how much fun they had, which is a testament to Darlene’s remarkable work. We are deeply grateful to her and her team for making our wedding day truly unforgettable.