Working with Uncommon Feasts was a pleasure from start to finish! Michelle worked with us to…read moredevelop a custom menu for our wedding, and we could not have been more thrilled. After having dinner at her restaurant, we were happy to hand over the reigns and let Michelle have creative freedom. We knew that we wanted the food and drink to be memorable at our wedding, and Michelle and the team delivered on that in so many ways. Their team primarily coordinated with our wedding planner, which we'd definitely recommend. They sorted out all the details from pacing, to glassware, to where to take the trash at the end of the night. Overall the menu was incredible, the food and displays were beautiful, the staff were so friendly and knowledgeable, and they made our wedding day a breeze!

Located within the historic Lydia Pinkham building, Uncommon Feasts is an uncommon space in Lynn…read more Airy and open, industrial chic, with long tables to encourage conversation, the space is a unique spot coupled with thoughtfully prepared food and coffee making for a nice addition to the neighborhood. We stopped into Uncommon Feasts for lunch and found parking on a side street. Walking into the building, one must navigate down a few hallways until you pass a working prep kitchen into an open seating area. There are quite a few long tables, couches, shelves with fresh jams and other kitchen goods, and a ping pong table. The menu was written on a sheet of construction paper reflecting changing, daily specials. One orders at a window peering into the kitchen with staff hard at work preparing meals and supporting an impressive catering operation. Fresh coffee and tea were available as was an inviting dessert charcuterie of truffles, figs, and other sweets. We enjoyed our brunch - especially the salmon, cream cheese, and arugula on a One Mighty Mill Bagel and less for the tortilla plate (fried egg, kale, squash, red onion on a tortilla). The weekend brunch menu had a nice mix of vegetarian and non-veg options and we look forward to returning for dinner. Staff was very friendly and hospitable. There is no table service at lunch (unclear if this is the case at dinner). Uncommon Feasts is a nice spot to grab coffee, read a design magazine in a cool, industrial space, and show off Lynn's uncommon spaces to visiting friends.

My mom and I visited Castle Hill on the Crane Estate about a week or ago when we spent a long…read moreweekend exploring Cape Ann. Our experience was great. Chicago industrialist Richard Teller Crane Jr., heir to Crane Co., and his wife purchased the property in 1910. They built a first house on the site, which was razed only a few years later (it was not constructed to withstand New England weather). Then they built the house you see when you visit, a Stuart-style mansion inspired by 17th century English country houses. The house was bequeathed to the Trustees upon the death of Mrs. Crane in 1949. The Trustees still take care of the property - 2,100 acres of the original 3,500 acres, the house, Crane Beach, and the Wildlife Refuge. I learned all this and more when my mom and I took a guided tour of the home. The tours are interactive, and the guides are dressed in period costumes. Typically, at least a couple of people on the tour are given characters as a way to learn about the family and the house. Our guide Theo was incredible - so friendly and knowledgeable about the house. Since our tour was just my mom and me, we didn't do the interactive tour, but it was perfect. We really learned a lot from Theo, and we just had a great time with him. If you don't do a guided house tour, you can do a self-guided house tour of the first floor only. And you can get a grounds and gardens pass that does not guarantee admission to the house but does let you explore the Italian and Rose Gardens, Grand Allée, Casino Complex, and our vast network of woodland trails. The grounds are pretty incredible - the Grand Allée in particular, with its rolling hills out to the view of Ipswich Bay, so if you just have time for the grounds, gardens, and the exterior of the house, it's worth a stop. It was a great tour, a beautiful house, and gorgeous grounds. The estate is well worth a visit if you're in the area and are interested in architecture, gardens, or history!

Another beautiful day at Castle Hill. This time we did a cupola tour and had the opportunity to…read morevisit other parts of the house. After we walked around the grounds and enjoyed a great summer afternoon.

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.

If you're looking for great Portuguese food and very cheap drinks, check out Club Luis de CamoeS…read moreOn 10 Collins St in Peabody. Everything was amazing,place was very clean and the staff are super friendly.

This weekend we spent a lot of time at this Portuguese club both decorating for a party as well as…read morecelebrating a 1st Communion. This little club has a decent amount of space, a great kitchen, and a ton of great Portuguese drinks. We enjoyed the Sagres and Super Bock as well as the Sumol. The only downsides to this venue are that the parking lot is small as well as the fact that they ran out of some drinks. That being said, there is a decent amount of street parking and no one went without a drink. Overall, it was a great experience and we hope to spend time here again in the future. This is also a great place to hold an event so try and find a member to hook you up!

I know what you're thinking - you don't need a wedding coordinator -- you manage a big team, big…read morebudgets, have great design sense and can do it all. I was one of those gals...but am SO glad that we had Tiffany with us during our planning and on our big day so we didn't have to bother with any of the details. We focused on being present and making memories while Tiffany and her team expertly and joyfully guided and corralled us through our day. Detailed Engagements was one of the best investments we made in our wedding planning. She was so helpful creating timelines, working with our caterer and providing great recommendations for vendors. And, she was downright fun to work with. Tiffany was hard at work throughout the day and think she had anything you could imagine needing at her fingertips. If we could do it all over again, we wouldn't change a thing!

Tiffany is a wedding super hero, but also just an amazing awesome person. She made our wedding…read moreperfect. Everything that we ever dreamed of on our special day happened because of Tiffany and the Detailed Engagements team. The entire day went by without a single hiccup. Her meticulous organization and planning made it so we had the perfect wedding day. I am a super organized and particular person. I thought my wedding planning was going to be a breeze. I slowly realized that it is extremely time intensive to communicate with vendors among many other things. I wanted my wedding day to be perfect. Like many brides, I had many Pinterest inspired signs, decorations, and knickknacks. I needed to figure out a way that I could create this amazing wedding without forcing my family and friends to be at the wedding venue setting everything up hours before the ceremony. The term "wedding planner" was not appealing to me. I did not need someone to pick out my invitations or tell me how the tables should look. I was also on a tight budget and I did want to pay for something I didn't need. I needed someone to be there on the day of the wedding to put out all of the details I had made and coordinate with my vendors ahead of time. Detailed Engagements was truly essential for our wedding. Tiffany and her team were their for us throughout the wedding planning process to support us when we needed recommendations and to make sure we were on track. She helped make sure that our wedding was truly representative of who we are and what we wanted. Tiffany, we can't thank you enough for everything you did to make our wedding day perfect. You go above and beyond for your clients and that is clear. Have a magical wedding, hire DE.

Room was fine. Price is somewhat reasonable. However, I'm not thrilled with this concept of remote…read morecheck in/check out as a business model. Would it really break the balance sheet to have an on-site manager at a front desk? No, it wouldn't. Not sure if I'll ever book another room here again now that I know the owners don't hire humans.

The best part is the location, directly across the street from Front Beach. The worst part was…read morecheck-in. When we arrived, the door was locked, directing guests to use the info in their text or email to access their room, or to call the phone number on the door for 24/7 service. I hadn't received check-in info via text or email. When I called the number, it went directly to voicemail twice. Fortunately, a current guest of the hotel let me follow him in, and a housekeeper was able to get me the information I needed to access our room. It was two hours and twenty minutes past check-in time when the text arrived with check-in information. When I replied it would have been nice to have the check-in info prior the check-in time, or the phone answered, the person who replied said they were doing laundry out back and did not get the call. Another couple was experience the same issue as I attempted to check-in, so I believe this was not a one-off problem. If they're not going to have a lobby and front desk, I think they really need to have someone actually answer the phone and/or reply quickly. Our King Oceanfront room was on the second floor, leading onto the deck that seats thirty. We were the only ones using the deck, fabulous for watching the sunrise. but I would not have loved looking out at thirty people using it, between us and our ocean view, during a busier time of the season. I'd recommend getting a room on the third floor for the view and to avoid hearing people above walking. On our second night, guests were in the adjacent room and it felt like they were in the room with us, we could hear their television and every word they said. The walls are thin. The bed was very firm and the pillows are large and extremely firm. We found it very uncomfortable. I was very excited to stay here; I grew up in Rockport, going to Front Beach with my grandmother, and looked forward to being at this location and checking out the new hotel. We'll try a different place next time we visit.

We loved Mary and we're glad that we chose her to officiate our wedding. We went into meeting her…read morewith the idea that we would keep our options open and meet with other officiants as well. After our chat we felt completely at ease with her and hired her on the spot, a decision that we never regretted. She was knowledgeable and available at any time to answer any questions we had about the ceremony. She showed up to the rehearsal on time and put our nerves at ease. On the big day, she did the same. She also submitted the paper work on time so that we received our marriage certificate faster than anticipated. We loved that Mary was part of our special day, we even took a picture with her for our photo album! I highly recommend Mary if you are looking for someone to officiate your wedding!

When searching for a DJ for my wedding, I specifically looked for a woman in the Boston area. I…read morefound Kim Collins and after a phone call with her, my fiance and I agreed she was the one. From our initial contact with her it was clear that she was both professional and experienced. We met a few more times and gave her specifics on what music we liked and didn't like and an outline of the day and left the rest up to her. She made our wedding day flow so smoothly, I did not have to think about a single thing. She was exactly on point and kept the time line moving. When the dancing portion of the night came, she absolutely killed it. My main goal for the wedding was to have all of my guests say "that was a great party". And Kim Collins did not disappoint. From the first song until the last song we were on the dance floor. She read the crowd and no one was standing still for a second. Since the wedding, a dozen of my guests have reached out to mention how great our DJ was. I would recommend her to any one. My only complaint: People were having so much fun dancing we forgot to take pictures. But that is what photographers are for.

Kim is great. Make sure to call her for all of your wedding, party, and event needs. She will…read moremake sure everyone has a wonderful time!