Venue Crashing: Bolingbroke Mansion

Time for another edition of House Crashing: Wedding Edition!!
Now here's your hostess with the mostess: LIZZIEBETH!!!!!
{applause}
Thank you thank you... no really, please sit down...

Alright ladies and gents, today we are looking at Bolingbroke Mansion (which I still cannot pronounce right; BOILingBROOKE? BOILingBROKE? BOWLingBROKE? I don't know)

This beautiful estate built in 1727 is located in Radnor, PA, just off of Lancaster Road/ Route 30. SUPER easy to get to. The layout is as follows (click on ANY of the pictures to enlarge):

I have to start off with: I LOVED THIS PLACE! The gardens where beautiful, the rooms were so pretty with such beautiful achitecture, and it really had that country-chillaxed vibe we are looking for. First, a couple pictures...

Me in the backyard by the terrace. Look at the molding above that door. And that chick is pretty sassy too. I have to point out that the woman who was showing us around, Leigh, told me I looked "fabulous". Well duh. I think at that point JEGs realized there would be no living with me for the rest of the day. hehe.

This is the front foyer. The molding around this door is sooo beautiful. And that fireplace! swoon.

Fireplace in the Dining Room. Stop it, I'm drooling.

Here is the general plan: we would get married in the back garden past the terrace and those big orbs on the floor plan ( I think those are supposed to be trees). There is a great little stone staircase for the wedding party

I would walk from the foyer, through the terrace, between those massive orbs trees and down the aisle. You can stand on the staircase, or do what this couple did and use it as a backdrop

image from bolingbrokemansion.com

They have plenty of Plan Bs as well. The church next door, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, actually owns the property and will allow you to host any denomination wedding- free of charge. Or you have the option to stay on the grounds and get married on the covered patio:

Our cocktail hour would be on the terrace with bar set up on the left and d'oeuvres on the right

drinks in this corner

snackies in this corner

Or you could have the cocktail hour on the covered porch and the reception on the terrace. Here is an example of how someone else set theirs up:

OR you could keep your cocktails on the terrace and have your sit down dinner on the covered porch. The possibilies are endless.

Our general plan would be ceremony in the gardens, cocktails on the terrace and dining in the Dining Room and Library.

Dining Room

Library

Now, Leigh told us they could fit 100 people in these two rooms, but I'm not so sure about it. It looked like 60 would be cutting it close.

The dancing (oh yes, there WILL be dancing) will be in the Living Room, with extra tables set up on the Covered Porch. There was direct access to the porch AND terrace via the living room so we thought it would be a nice flow for dancing, drinking, and getting some fresh air.

Living Room

But we did also like the idea of everyone eating out on the patio

What we liked about Bolingbroke:

• Character- this place had TONS of it. I cannot stress enough how it had the simple, yet elegant feel we were looking for
• Ceremony- we loved the gardens in the back. I could totally see myself getting married back there.
• Options- there were so many of them, from where to have the cocktail hour to which room to use for a Plan B.
• Dates- all of our dates were availible.
• Price- really affordable and totally reasonable.

What we didn't like about Boilingbroke:

• Seating- I really hate to say this, but the seating for the reception is kind of a deal-killer. To begin with, I really don't see 100 people fitting in those two rooms. Secondly, even though the rooms are next to each other, they are still seperate rooms. We wouldn't be able to have everyone dine together. Are only other option was to do buffett style and have everyone just find a place to perch. TOTALLY not interested in that idea.

We aren't totally anti-Bolingbroke, but we have other places to look this weekend. Here's hoping we fall in love- and not just with each other again ;)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Always & Forever,

ME