After my husband proposed to me on my birthday in 2013, we celebrated for a week before we dove…read morehead first into wedding planning. We instantly fell in love with the Colonial Dames for the following reasons:
- 1921 historic two-story house, hard wood floors, true divided-lite arch top windows with original single-pane glazing (seeds and distortion present), tastefully decorated, in excellent condition
- two interior entertaining spaces, one on the first floor for cocktail hour and/ or ceremony, one light filled ballroom on the second floor for the reception
- two beautifully manicured private gardens, a paved patio, and loggia
- space for up to 100 guests (we were aiming for 60)
- location, location, location! affordable Rittenhouse Square space, off the beaten path, conveniently located near at least 5 hotels within a 3 block radius
- a beautiful on-site library tucked away from the main spaces, perfect for a pre-wedding hang out space for our bridal party
Adriana Robinson, Executive Assistant of the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America, was an absolute pleasure to work with. She granted us access to the Dames on multiple occasions -- our initial site visit, two walk-thrus with our caterer, and one site meeting with our florist. During our initial walk-thru Adriana cautioned against getting married along the west side of the gardens -- where a nearby medical office building's HVAC equipment could be seen and heard. We took this warning to heart, and ended up getting married underneath a brick arch closer to the eastern side of the site. (We still had the DJ provide a microphone for our officiant.)
The Dames' list of preferred caterers is extensive -- three pages long to be exact -- so we were grateful when Adriana helped us cull the list, pointing out companies that would be willing to work a smaller wedding. All of the preferred caterers we talked to allowed us to byo-booze. It was a huge cost savings to purchase our own wine, beer, and liquor on our own (with no vendor markups).
The Dames also has a wide variety of site furnishings, including some 60" and 72" round tables, several rectangular tables, and 240 white chairs (two sets indoor and outdoor) which helped us keep our rental costs down. Adriana was very accommodating, and worked within our budget. We were given the choice of renting just the first floor and gardens, or the entire property. We chose the latter, and added an hour to the standard 4 hour event time.* Another cost savings? Having our ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception all in the same location.
In the end, every vendor we selected had previously worked at the Colonial Dames. It was refreshing to find vendors who appreciated the site as much as we did. We signed contracts with the following vendors:
- Ashley Power, Power Catering Events
- Amy Young, Leaves of Grass florist
- Alyssa Maloof, Alyssa Maloof Photographique
- Kim Alexander, No Macarena DJ
*Please PM me if you have additional questions.