Estate Wedding Venues in Boston, Part 1

Estate weddings can be beautiful, unique, and  elegant affairs, and can be a real breath of fresh-air from your more typical ballroom weddings. This is true whether the estate is located oceanside, tucked away in the rolling hills of a ranch, set dramatically amongst a winery. Estate weddings have the potential to be the setting for the wedding of your dreams, and come with a number of advantages. 

So, if you’ve always dreamed of getting ready for your wedding in a suite within a historic house, or simply love the privacy and amazing photo opportunities an estate wedding provides, keep reading to hear more about two of the large assortment of amazing estate wedding venues in the Boston, MA area! 

The Endicott Estate

The Endicott Estate is a gorgeous and historic architectural gem in Dedham, MA. The Estate is less than 10 miles from Boston, has the proud distinction of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is situated on over 18 acres of rolling lawns, which are surrounded by century old elms, spruce and gorgeous weeping willow trees. Dreamy! 

And, that’s just the grounds. The mansion venue is a  graceful three-story, 25 room Colonial Revival mansion. The mansion has been historically restored, and boasts eleven fireplaces and provides a charm and elegance one rarely finds today.  The mansion is decorated in authentic period furnishings, works of art, gorgeous Italian marble fireplaces, rich wood paneling, and classic asian style carpeting. 

The estate was founded in 1904 by Henry Bradford Endicott, who was also the founder of the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Corporation. The mansion, as it stands today, was actually the second home to stand on the grounds. The original homestead burned to the ground, and Henry Endicott took the fire as a divine command to rebuild – and he did, in a spectacular manner!

The estate would be perfect for hosting a traditional plated reception for up to 150 guests, or up to 200 guests for a cocktail style affair. 

The Dane Estate

The Dane Estate in Chestnut Hill, MA, is an impressive yet rustic mansion, perfectly situated on 45 acres of pristine woodland, while also boasting a stone terrace, plentiful manicured lawn space, and lush gardens with gorgeous rhododendron hedges which provide a beautiful backdrop for a ceremony or tent wedding! 

The mansion itself was designed in the Richardson style of architecture, and much of the inspiration was supplied by an artistic study in dragons. In fact, two dragon sculptures greet every guest at the front entrance. And, once you pass the front door you will be blown away by the rich and beautiful wood paneling, large windows, high ceilings, and grand sweeping staircases. 

The Estate was founded In 1891 by Major William Cox and was first named “Roughwood”, and consisted of the mansion as you see it today, two gatehouses, a stable, a barn, a greenhouse, and chicken houses. Then in 1904, the Dane family purchased the estate and all its buildings, then over the years acquired additional surrounding parcels of land. The only major modification of the estate took place in 1951 when the gravel driveway was replaced by millstone and then paved with cobblestone, which had been removed from Boston streets, and had originally been used as a ship’s ballast.

With many varied indoor and outdoor spaces, the Dane Estate is able to host everything from small weddings for 50 guests in the Moncrief Library, all the way up to large tent weddings for 250 guests on the Founder’s Lawn. And, with your event booking you can expect to receive the use of two private dressing rooms, five hours of guest time, two hours of set up and one hour of breakdown time. As well as a one hour wedding rehearsal prior to the event at an agreed upon time, complimentary parking for your guests and the use of the tables and chairs owned by the estate.

Stay tuned until next Monday, for Part 2 in our Boston Estate Wedding Venue Series!

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Beat Train Wedding Trend Forecast, 2023 Edition

It’s official! We’re in the midst of a huge wedding boom! And, in fact, it’s the biggest boom the wedding industry has seen since 1984! So, if you’re happily planning your wedding right now, you’re in great company, as the US saw approximately 2.5 million weddings in 2022, and we are expecting similar numbers in 2023, and likely beyond.

What’s this mean for you and your wedding? Well, for starters, it is now time to secure your venue and all your top priority vendors, since many will be busy filling their schedule for the summer/fall wedding season. It might also mean that your favorite venue/vendors are already booked for your preferred date(s), so it might be time to look at hosting a shoulder or off  season wedding. Meaning, spring, late fall or winter might be a better and occasionally more cost effective option for your big day. It also means that you’ve got a host of current ‘real-life’ weddings to draw inspiration from thanks to the abundance of weddings that have taken place in the recent months. 

So, whether you’re already in the throes of wedding planning or are simply contemplating future plans, you might want to include some of the awesome new wedding trends in our little list! 

Unofficial Wedding Officiants

Many couples are now passing on the priest or more formal officiant options and opting for a friend or family member to marry them instead. Doing so is a good way to end up with a wedding ceremony that feels extremely authentic to who you are, making sure that the ceremony feels both personal and intimate.

Retro Style Photography

Retro-style photography is a definite 2023 wedding trend! We’re starting to see many wedding galleries full of direct flash, blur-motion, and a big return in straight up film photography. Also making a big return are small digital cameras or disposable film cameras on all the tables, so that your guests can contribute to capturing your big day! 

Wedding Brunches or Luncheons

We’re seeing a big resurgence of couples planning more informal wedding brunches or luncheon receptions. Think 10am wedding ceremony followed by champagne brunch with fancy bagel or donut stations, or 11:30 ceremonies followed by a light luncheon with tea, sandwiches, salads, fruit and cake & cookie tables. But, if your heart is still set on dancing the night away, you can also host a separate late night (after 8 or 9) cocktail dance party, to keep the celebration going all day!

Upcycled, Recycled & Rented

We’re seeing many couples embrace thrifted, borrowed or upcycled items to bring their personalized wedding ideas into reality. With the cost of living rising, many couples are more conscious of their budgets and prefer to thrift and buy used when they can. More couples are prioritizing spending more money on entertainment and guest experience and less money on decor. And, some couples would prefer to save money for things like offering an open bar, or simply saving some money for an epic honeymoon experience! We’re also finding more couples are focused on sustainability and decreasing the waste aspect of having a huge event, and are more likely to embrace consignment and thrift stores either online or in-person. Just remember to have patience and think outside-of-the-box.

Bright & Bold Decor Palettes

While white on white, minimal weddings have been super popular in the past, in the current wedding climate there’s no need to shy away from color! Go ahead and think bright, bold and energetic! Embrace it fully and feel free to include vibrant hues, contrasting metallic accents, eye-popping patterns (gasp…maybe even pattern on pattern), super saturated and dramatic decor lighting, and maybe even requesting that your guests dress in a certain color palette, or simply avoid wearing all black.

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Happy Lunar New Year from Beat Train!! Throwback to DJ Mariko killing it at this event last year 🎉🎉 We've got plenty of availability in the coming months, so be sure to check out our website for all your upcoming bashes! #weddingdj #weddingdjnyc #weddingpro #BeatTrain

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How to Create an Amazing Wedding Speech

Take a few moments to think about all of the weddings you’ve been to and wedding speeches you’ve heard. What did you notice, and what do all the very best wedding speeches have in common?! I bet your answer falls somewhere along the lines of “It had the right flow, the right feeling and it didn’t go on too long!” 

With that in mind, we recommend that you factor in some of the below guidelines to help you find your very own short but sweet wedding speech flow!

Open With a Statement or Possibly a Question

Don’t open with a (tired) joke or a reference to how nervous you are!  After all, the goal is to engage your audience, not make it about you, or your bad jokes. It can be as simple as “Hello and welcome everyone. I hope you’re all having a great night so far, and we’re just getting started!”

Address Your Audience

Focusing on yourself will only enhance the wedding speech nerves. Instead, we recommend that you concentrate on your audience and how you would like to make them feel with your words. This will help you to really speak from the heart, and will let everyone know that you value being chosen to be part of such a special moment.

Focus on a Few Important Points

We recommend that you select between one to three unique aspects of the newlyweds that you love and appreciate, along with very simple, short stories where the bride and groom are the heroes. This will help illustrate just how much you love and care about the bride and groom, and is an excellent way to keep your message both clear and focused. This is definitely not a time for risque inside jokes or “You had to be there” stories. The speech shouldn’t feel like a club the audience isn’t invited to.

Rehearse, But Just a Little

The more prepared you are, the more confident you are going to feel behind the podium and in turn, the better your speech will be. A good amount of prep is to practice your speech enough times that you can remember the most important points you want to make and the general  order in which you plan to make them. This will help to relax you into the present moment and free you up to make eye contact with some of the guests, instead of staring at your note cards the whole time. But, you don’t want to practice so much that you are just reciting from memory, word for word. You want it to feel sincere, and heartfelt, not canned!

Minimize Cocktails Pre-Speech

Although it may be tempting to indulge in a bit of liquid courage, alcohol isn’t likely to do you any favors. But, if you really feel like you need a drink to loosen up the nerves or don’t want to feel left out during other toasts, stick to one or two small glasses of Champagne or one or two cocktails before you address the crowd. Don’t let all that pre-wedding prep go to waste by slurring your speech, forgetting your most important points, or embarrassing the newlyweds.

Be Authentic

Please keep in mind that you’re not putting on a show! Remember this isn’t about you! After all this isn’t ‘open mic night’ or your ‘stand-up comedy class”, you’re only there to share your personal perspective on the newlyweds and offer well wishes for their new lives together. And, trying too hard to force the funny can have the exact opposite effect! To that end, we’ve noticed that keeping it short, sweet, heartfelt, authentic and staying focused on the newlyweds generates some of the most wonderful wedding speech moments. 

Don’t Embarrass the Guests of Honor

Please remember, you’re delivering a wedding speech, not a roast! So, while this should go without saying, please ensure that you keep the bachelor or bachelorette party jokes out of your speech. Remember that Grandmas & Grandpas and possibly some of your friends’ colleagues are in the audience!  It can be okay, to look back at childhood and refer to something funny, but leave the keg party zingers out of your speech! Before you commit to any historical anecdotes, ask yourself… If the shoe was on the other foot, would you feel comfortable with 100-plus of your closest friends and family knowing that story about you?

 

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Just Say No To Wedding Day Drama!

The time from the moment you decide to tie the knot, until the very last moments of your honeymoon,  should be a joy filled, fun, exciting and memorable era for you and your fiance! 

But wedding planning can get a little complicated, when you or your fiance come from a family with divorced parents, separated parents or blended families. Which could mean that engaged couples may also need to navigate an emotionally charged landscape of unspoken rules, misunderstandings, or hurt feelings. This can add a lot of tension to an already emotional time!

The reality is, that in many couples these days, one, or both parties, have divorced parents, bonus parents and likely step Brothers and Sisters to consider. And, seeing as some couples may not have separated or divorced on good terms, there could be calls for increased sensitivity, diplomacy and boundaries during the wedding planning process.

Whether parents have separated recently or have been apart for many years (or decades), your wedding, your loving relationship and your upcoming nuptials can bring up a lot of strong, and at times unresolved, emotions. And, these feelings might take everyone by surprise in their strength!

It’s no wonder that wedding planning and trying to make your divorced or separated parents feel included can feel like it creates a lot of added pressure on you. It does! But, we’ve come up with a few ways to help take the pressure off!

Set and Share your Expectations Early!

Cutting through the (often) complex dynamics that exist between divorced, separated or remarried parents requires forward thinking, along with a big dose of sensitivity/tack! 

To that end, when people are surprised or put on the spot, they’re much more likely to bring unproductive/unhelpful emotions/ideas out in the open, especially when it comes to a grand, formal (and highly emotional) occasion like a wedding. 

The key is sidestepping that, is to be upfront with everyone as early as possible, meaning:

– Keep tensions low by communicating your expectations openly and honestly to your parents and your wedding planner (if you have one) at the start of the wedding planning process, or even include it in the phone call announcing your engagement.  

– Talk individually with all of your parents and step parents and be upfront about your hopes and plans for them on your big day. 

– Do not, in any circumstance, spring things on them in a group setting or with their ex-spouse in attendance. Do not put them on the spot!

– Give a heads-up/parent primer to your fiance, bridesmaids, wedding party, siblings, and other key family members. If you do that, they will likely be able to help to make uncomfortable situations a little more bearable in the leadup to your wedding, and on the big day.

– Also take some time to think about all of  the pre-wedding gatherings and their impacts too. Things like engagement parties, the hens/buck’s night, bridal shower, as well as wedding dress shopping are other times and occasions you may need to consider the emotional impact of including (or excluding) one parent/step parent might have on the other.

Give Everyone Something to Contribute

People can be so strange! If they feel that you’ve given them too much responsibility, they’re likely to be unhappy, but on the flip side, if you don’t give them enough responsibility, they’ll often feel that their contributions are unimportant or the relationship is not valued in the way they would like it to be.

So, please take time to consider parents that are not going to be included in the ceremony entrance or processional, make sure to give them some opportunities to help with different, but equally important jobs and try to include your step-parents too, if applicable/possible!

There’s lots of opportunity to help everyone feel included: From readings during the ceremony to toasts at your wedding reception, to helping set-up decor before the celebration, ask your parents and step-parents to help with tasks that make them feel both involved and valued during the leadup to and on your actual wedding day. 

It might seem like more work for you, but it will pay off in a big way!

Be Strategic With Seating

Allocating specific seats for (at least) your immediate families, from the ceremony right up to the reception, means that: 

– Everyone will know where they need to be.

– No one will waste time/energy trying to second-guess what you want.

– Uncomfortable/problematic interactions are minimized or avoided altogether!

– Everyone’s anxiety and sense of authority will be kept in check.

Bottom line: The less problematic contacts need to interact, the less there’ll be to worry about.

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Including Cultural Traditions in Your Wedding

So much of what we think of when we think of weddings, is based on our community, culture or country of origin, and of course, it is further influenced by what we see in mainstream movies, media and now, social media.

That being said, what if any wedding traditions do you and your sweetheart plan to embrace on your big day? Will your wedding include ways to honor your cultural heritage, either shared or different? And, how can this be done in a way that feels sincere and meaningful even if embracing your heritage and culture is new to you?

After all, wedding traditions tend to have a long history so it’s important to research the nuances of the traditions you would like to include, because most customs have a specific purpose, and you don’t want to be unintentionally disrespectful to the culture!

The best source of information is, of course, your family and your future in-laws. Talk to them about their/your culture and heritage in order to more fully understand the how, and why of the way weddings are traditionally celebrated in your family.

There are so many ways to say “I do!” and “I love you!” in the world, and we think that’s amazing! So, while you decide if embracing cultural traditions at your wedding is right for you, here is a very small sample of incredible wedding traditions from around the world!

Nigeria

When it comes to Nigerian weddings, they are definitely not a one-size-fits-all celebration! There are an estimated 371 tribes in all of Nigeria, and each tribe has unique and meaningful traditions, unique to them. But there are a few traditions that are common across the majority of Nigerian weddings. Some of those include traditional attire like aso-ebi (the word aso in Yoruba means cloth and ebi denotes family, so by extension, Aso-ebi means family cloth, and is usually worn during memorials and ceremonies, not unlike clan tartans in Scotland and Ireland), and gele ( a woman’s head wrap which can be as simple as a scarf, or bandana, or as elaborate as the train of a peacock). 

Another Nigerian wedding tradition is the money spray at the reception, and symbolizes showering happiness, good fortune, and affection on the couple. During the Money Spray, the couple are ushered into the room and dance behind the wedding party, while the guests encircle the couple and come forward, placing bills on the couple’s forehead, thus allowing the money and good fortune to “rain down” on the Bride and Groom.

France

At French weddings it’s quite uncommon to see bridesmaids and groomsmen as part of the event. In France, weddings are more about bringing together two families, rather than solely centered around the bride and groom. So, though a couple may have many close friends in attendance, they are there just to enjoy the day, and not play an official role; in fact, in France is is considered proper etiquette to let both sets of parents know about the engagement and spend some time together before announcing to the rest of your circle. 

Then comes the food! It should really come as no surprise, when talking about French weddings, but food is of utmost importance at French celebrations. And, if you’re thinking of hosting a very formal affair, consider a truly French meal served mise en place, meaning, everything in its place. For meals served mise en place, each course is served, in proper order meaning: appetizer, soup, main course, palate-cleansing sorbet, salad, cheese, dessert and coffee, and a cordial, which is indeed quite an undertaking and would require a French trained chef or restaurant to pull off!

China

The wedding traditions practiced in China and at Chinese weddings mainly deal with bringing good luck and fortune to the marriage while also honoring and paying respect to their elders and ancestors. And it all starts with the date of the wedding. The Wedding date is of utmost importance, and you’re unlikely to see many Chinese weddings in what are considered the unlucky months of March, July and September. 

When it comes to the wedding day, the color red and the double-happiness symbol are both considered lucky and are often threaded throughout much of a Chinese wedding as a way of bringing luck and good fortune to the newlyweds. Chinese weddings also often include a tea ceremony; during which the couple will serve tea to their parents as a sign of honor, deep gratitude and respect, and parents generally reciprocate with red envelopes with money as a wedding present, to start their new lives together as a married couple. 

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