We booked with Windham in September 2019 because of the gorgeous view, indoor venue options, and great reviews about Erika. Now, after getting married in September 2020, we are SO GRATEFUL we worked with Windham.
First, the venue. They have a ...beautiful mountaintop platform and a beautiful backup for the ceremony in the breezeway. Having a backup location with air flow and shelter this year gave us a lot of peace of mind. The indoor venue (which we are planning to use for a larger celebration with all our guests post-COVID) is beautiful and has a 120 or 400 person capacity depending on your room. I am not sure the photos online do the indoor space justice and encourage you to visit in person. Windham was one of the few venues that had the mountaintop scenery we were looking for and the upscale accommodations we preferred. It felt like we got the best of both.
Second, the team’s communication, empathy, and agility were unparalleled. Erika, Jenn, Frankie, Shamus, and Ashley helped us transition to a small guest list and seated dinner and moved the entire event outdoors. Windham has tables, linens, chairs, and a fairly elegant set up as a starting point. They made sure this translated to the outdoor space. They were great at adapting to local regulations and accommodating our comfort levels, which were often more restrictive. Frankie built our archway and helped get everything set up both mountaintop and at the base. Jenn ran the day of.
Third, the food. Chef Ashley worked hard to design a menu that told our story. Every detail was personalized (and delicious). She, unfortunately, had to have an emergency (non-COVID) procedure right before the wedding, but the Windham team came to us with an easy solution and introduced us to Chef Shamus for the day. He sourced local ingredients and made sure we had the freshest produce to serve our guests. He met with us to fill in and finalize the menu for our guests with restrictive diets. The end result included a duck confit over Parmesan gnocchi with peas; lamb lollipops with chimichurri and potatoes; and a Chilean sea bass in a beurre blanc sauce that was honestly too tasty to capture in text. In addition to cake, we had (very popular) cookies and cereal milk shooters with Rice Krispie rims for texture and optional Rumchata - a playful adaptation of a cereal milk dessert that we have loved for years. Jenn helped us source all the alcoholic beverages we wanted and found the local beers we were looking for on tap.
Finally, 2020. We have heard horror stories from friends and family who were also planning events this year. Windham has been adaptable, open, and immensely helpful throughout. They truly understand that we are all working with something unprecedented. They were gracious and re-assuring in helping us figure out our deposit use. They were so good, that after planning a COVID wedding, we still want to work with them for our (eventual) larger scale celebration. It is a difficult year to build your life. Windham worked hard to make this a beautiful, special, and safe celebration and a day of so much joy in the midst of uncertainty. The best way to describe the planning process is this; when the challenges overwhelming, we called Erika. She always had a solution.
We are so grateful to the entire Windham team for their detail-oriented nature, wonderful facilities, and adaptability throughout. We cannot wait to work with you for our eventual larger-scale party/celebration in easier times.