I hosted a party for about 85 people at the Elks on June 10th and I have nothing but good things to…read moresay about this venue. Kimberley Banks was my contact leading up to the event; she was a consummate professional when it came to planning the details (big and small). Patty ran the show the day of the event and was always available when I needed her. This venue is unique in that it is both affordable and elegant. Oh, and the water views cannot be beat!

What a nice venue to have a wedding on the water! The space was simple yet elegantly decorated, and…read morethe catering and event services were top-notch. Heads up to any guests of a venue at the Elks - there are benches across the way overlooking the water that are property of the neighboring inn, which means Elks guests can't use them.

Thank you Missy for all your help. I went back and forth a thousand times through email changing…read morethis changing that etc.... Well it was worth it. The tent / lights were beautiful! I received so many complements that they didn't expect the set up to look the way it did. The tent definitely helped! The guys who also came to set up put in a lot of work to set everything up also. You guys did a great job, thank you!

When we had to transform our backyard into a wedding venue we were suddenly faced with coordinating…read moreso many unfamiliar aspects of event planning. Working with Taylor and Missy at The Event Company made the tent and other rental details a breeze. They understood how important this event was to us and were extremely responsive and accommodating. After scoping out the yard with Taylor I was completely at ease that he understood what we needed. Missy was awesome, with a quick an accurate quote, answering my many questions, and updating the numbers and sizes of tables as we approached the big day. She was even able to accommodate a last minute request for some additional tables to be delivered the day of the wedding! The set up was smooth. Taylor was happy to shift the tent to my exact location and placed stakes in my preferred spots. When setting up the lights, Trevor was fine with moving them around to suit my needs. The guys that came to break everything down we're quick, quiet, and did so with no impact to my lawn, even after the rainstorm the day before. Our guests all commented how great the tent and lightning was. Thank you all for helping us create "the perfect wedding", according to our daughter!

Went to a 50th party here Friday. Great location right on the harbor. Meg the owner was very…read morehelpful to the hosts of the event. Large inside room and a outside deck.

We had our wedding in the harbor room last month. If I could give this venue 6 stars, I would. The…read moreoverall experiences with incredible. 1. The venue: The harbor room is an absolute gem of a find. First, you CANNOT beat the view. The balcony has the most amazing view of the pier with breath-taking sunset. The sea breeze entering the room make the entire experience even more amazing. Also, the room itself is beautiful and beautifully maintained with a great sound system as well as a nice bathroom upstairs and one downstairs. 2. The absolute BEST part was the owner Meg, who is absolutely amazing (the best owner you can ever dream of). She was very flexible with us, helped us with so many last minute details and was very present/hands on. She is an absolute sweetheart.

Truly a jewel of an Inn in Gloucester with amazing views in every direction. The Proprietress is an…read moreabsolute angel and gladly and kindly went the extra yard to make me feel extremely welcome while I was visiting. I'd give more stars if I could. Thank You Elizabeth. !!!!!

The view is phenomenal, location is ideal (5 minute walk to Good Harbor Beach), the staff is beyond…read morefantastic (accommodating to a high maintenance person - ahhh -- how rare is that?), the guests are friendly, the pool is clean, each room is unique .......when will summer come back so I can return??? This is by far not high end.....but it is as close as I get to camping.

My mom and I toured Beauport when we visited Gloucester for a day a week or so ago and it was one…read moreof the many highlights of our Cape Ann trip. The house was built in 1908 as the summer home of interior decorate and antique collector Henry Davis Sleeper. Sleeper designed this unique house, where he lived until his death, when it was bough by Charles and Helena Woolworth McCann. They preserved most of Sleeper's designs and decor (making only a few modifications) until their heirs donated the house to Historic New England in 1947. The house is full of incredible decor: a kitchen that utilized 17th century paneling from his mother's ancestral home, a central hall with an incredible amber glass cabinet, a dining room with incredible views of the Harbor, an Octagon Room, and so much more. We reserved our tour ahead of time, and three others joined our tour. Our guide was wonderful, and we learned so much about this unique house, Henry Davis Sleeper, and the McCanns. Our time in Gloucester was wonderful, but Beauport was one of the highlights of our time there. It's a really incredible house, and I'm so glad we had time in our itinerary for a tour!

My girlfriend and I toured Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House, on Friday, August 8th…read more The house was beautiful and we enjoyed the wonderful interior designs, but unfortunately our tour was tainted by our rude, disrespectful, and unprofessional tour guide. Shortly upon beginning the tour, our guide, Alberta Hill, made an extremely rude and uncalled-for comment, slut-shaming and embarrassing my girlfriend in front of the entire tour group for her clothing. Her outfit was not that revealing- it was a hot day and she had on shorts and a tank top- but even if it were, it would not grant a tour guide the right to treat a guest in this manner. It's sad that what was otherwise such a fun experience was impacted by an insensitive guide who made my girlfriend feel uncomfortable and self-conscious. It's disappointing that Historic New England would employ someone with such an old-fashioned mentality, someone who would go out of her way to police another woman's body and enforce traditional gender norms. This is especially troubling to see at the Beauport Sleeper-McCann House, a space that was once a sanctuary for the queer Henry Davis Sleeper and a pinnacle of early individual expression. I would expect those employed by the Beauport house to reject moral conservatism and embrace personal freedoms and expression, but sadly Alberta did not.

We celebrated birthday dinner at the Beauport restaurant. We were able to get a table overlooking…read morethe water. We had to wait 20 minutes but they allowed us to go to the roof deck/pool for a beverage while we waited.

Beautiful location but do not recommend staying there overnight. Restaurant was good but hotel very…read morepoorly managed. Pool is over run by day passes the hotel sells for $20 meanwhile I paid $600/night and couldn't get a seat. When spoke with manager was dismissed and said they are paying guests also. She also lied about their policy. Trash on roof from rooftop guests in photo.

We were looking for a tent and chair rental for a yard party and after doing much research in the…read moreReading area we chose Marblehead tent for the following reason(s). 1. A person (Kosmo) not an answering machine answered when we called. 2. Kosmo couldn't have been nicer answering my questions and concerns. 3. Their prices are very competitive. 4. The set up crew was on time as well as very polite and accommodating as to where I wanted the equipment set up. In conclusion I would highly recommend Marblehead tent for your event!

We used Marblehead Tent (dba North Shore Events) for our wedding chairs recently and the…read moredelivery/pickup service was absolutely terrible--both unprofessional and disrespectful. Our ceremony location was a walk from the parking lot, which was planned for beforehand with the company and led to an upcharge. We also paid 50% extra for same-day pickup, yet when the delivery person dropped off the chairs, he told us he refused to come back today and instead would return tomorrow to pick them up. Since our ceremony was at a state park, leaving property overnight is not permissible and could lead to a citation/penalty. After multiple pleas to get him to return to pickup the chairs, he threatened that he wouldn't return unless I and members of my group moved the 60 chairs from the ceremony location to the parking lot. This all occurred while we were preparing to start our reception. So, he wanted the groom and his family/friends to carry these chairs to the parking lot before the reception, despite having paid extra for this very service. When reaching out to the company about how poor the service was, not to mention how unprofessionally he spoke to our coordinator, they made an excuse about the time a gate closed (though our invoice clearly states the pickup time) and said the chairs were eventually picked up overnight, then refused to respond to another email. Don't risk having to deal with this on your wedding day. Avoid this company.

I guess we got lucky. Flat seas. We saw a lot of whales for about 45 minutes. We saw them make…read morebubbles in a ring to force up the fish. Then the whales would surface with open mouths and feed on the fish. And we saw this four or five times! Also saw them coming out of the water and diving down many times. The boat wasn't crowded. The captain would steer the boat left and right so that everyone on board got an even amount of time seeing the whales. The naturalist who guided the tour was very informative. Overall a great experience.

After the first two hours of our whale watch, we had our doubts. We only saw water and a few…read moredive-bombing birds. But once Captain Bill found the whales, we were treated to a non-stop thrill exhibition of fireworks in the water, from below the water, and majestically hurtling out of the water. Five stars for sure. My Sweet Lord, we saw it all. We had a ton of sightings, pods of four whales at a time, three magnificent full breaches and a dozen majestic flukes. Our guide/naturalist Rebeca added quite a bit to the experience with some expert commentary on the whales and the state of international whaling. One cool thing we learned was that whales spend their winters in the warm waters of the Dominican Republic and live off their blubber. Sounds like a good career path to me. Rebeca knew the names of the whales by their fluke markings, and she knew which whale babies belonged to which whale mommas. She was terrific. Just be warned, the ride to the whales is two hours out and two hours back to Gloucester. Our ride back was choppy and the barf-bag inventory was seriously depleted after our run. But this goes with the territory, it's a hazard for doing something like this. So if you have a weak stomache, take some pills or something . I was 100% satisfied with how this spectacular excursion played out. Well done, Captain Bill!

We contacted Amanda and Shelby about the partial planning and coordination package only two months…read morebefore the wedding. Even with unusually short notice, they did a phenomenal job: They helped plan all the remaining details, bringing our attention to things we had not considered and giving us great ideas and recommendations all along the way. Their experience planning and coordinating numerous weddings gave us the confidence to trust their advice. They took care of all the setup/breakdown and decorations with detail and precision. They personalized the design to our needs. They researched vendors we had not yet secured, priced out and purchased all of the extras needed for the setup (e.g. flowers, linens, desserts, personalized signs), and coordinated with the venue, vendors, and ceremony participants beforehand and on the day of. I cannot even list all the details they managed, and they made sure everything was covered. Before we hired them, we were doing all the planning ourselves (in the midst of busy work schedules and moving). I honestly cannot imagine how we would have finished the remaining planning and setup/breakdown without their help. They took a huge load off our shoulders and allowed us (and our family and friends) to thoroughly enjoy our wedding week with as little stress as possible. All of this was for a reasonable price, far more affordable than what many wedding planners and coordinators charge. The wedding was beautiful from start to finish, and our family and friends are still talking about it. I would absolutely recommend Sweetly Designed Events for a wedding or any other major event.

We reached out to Amanda a little over a month before our wedding reception. She was very proactive…read moreto understand our vision and very motivated to reach out to all the vendors to establish a connection right away. Amanda is very detail oriented and made sure to touch base as needed leading up to the event. When we walked into the venue the day of we were blown away. The decor and setup was perfection and the timelines ran smoothly. All of our guests were so impressed with the whole evening, very grateful for Amanda's services.