Receptions

From intimate dinners for two or state occasions for hundreds, Crestwood is poised to help assist you as your plans evolve from a series of notes, to the reality of the day. Your guests will experience seamless service that can begin when they enter the estate. After the service the elegance of a Crestwood service begins to unfold as your guests are welcomed with refreshments. Attentive, polite, professional and active staffs quickly take over as the guests are welcomed to al fresco garden settings or into the Salon or Lounge.

As final work proceeds on your custom created feast, uniformed waiters pass elegant luncheon or dinner hors d'œuvres. Bartenders pop the cork on Champagne for toasts and often the Orchestra begins to play as a feeling of conviviality spreads from guest to guest. When it is time for music or dinner service for the Wedding dinner is presented. Throughout the meal silverware is updated, rolls are passed and glasses are refilled. When dinner is over the tables are cleared for coffee service and Wedding Cake. We'll have more coffee before the departure of your guests and the Wedding Cake's top layer will be in the Pavilion before you take care of the last details. We'll also make sure the gifts that arrive that day are safely secured.

Throughout the year receptions, like the wedding itself, reflect the season and draw on the elements to become special.

In the spring primroses, tulips and bright bedding flowers are featured in the gardens. Inside the Salon and Conservatory where many receptions are held are welcoming in all seasons. Cascades of blossoms announce that spring is a reality even if the weather fails to cooperate. Our spring is marked with snow often until the first weeks of April, after that rain, and lots of it, makes our gardens lush but a challenge to plan an event outside before the end of May. Marquee's and awnings over the entrance to the Salon help assure the custom color on very special silk wedding shoes are kept dry. The greenhouse conservatory is an ideal background for the garden wedding until the middle of May when the grounds are lush with newly planted flowers and the grass in intensely green. The century old rhododendron begins to bloom around Memorial Day and usually produce amazing lavender blossoms until the Fourth of July.

As summer begins in earnest thousands of white and pink rose blossoms surround the Chapel gardens. Two hundred and fifty guests can be seated in the garden for a service or it can be set for dinner and dancing with a dance floor covering part of the brick parquet. Our floral design team may augment the pots of flowers throughout the garden. The walls of the garden have been lined with diaphanous draperies, strung with lights and accented wit candles for magical summer events. The fountain in the pond behind the Pavilion is a great background for photos as well as an outside bar where you can experience the tranquil effect of water's and watch a Vermont village one thousand feet below. The serpentine garden has a natural canopy of century old Oaks, that is cool throughout the day and well into the afternoon throughout the summer. It's view of the fountain, west lawn, Chapel, and Vermont's Green Mountains is dramatic. Two hundred guests fit comfortably in this location.

The west lawn covers several acres and it has three prominent features; the fountain, the yellow garden, and the panoramic view that has a feel of timelessness. The yellow garden is topped by a post card view of the Chapel. The west lawn that cuts from green grass to misty blue "green" mountains up to sixty miles away. This space has it all and awaits your challenge. Outside lighting and electrical connections allow late night events for dancing with an orchestra or even a concert under the stars. We've tented 650 in this location and had plenty of room for more.

As fall begins, the colors become more intense and the weather becomes predictably cooler. Tents outside should have sides, heating and air conditioning units are usually included. While most hurricanes stay in the Caribbean, which can befuddle honeymoon plans, often tropical downpours make their way north and descend upon New England, taking with them the brightly colored leaves and anything else not secured. We have tented the brick terrace of the English Garden to have some of the reception outside and some inside. After about the first of October we don't have cucumber sandwiches unless the weather is guaranteed to be 80 degrees, we'll offer some warm appetizers if the tents need heaters and the side walls securely fastened. Our experience is that in fall you need to choose a back up as you develop your plans. It may mean setting up outside and inside as well. By the third week of October we don't give you the option. It's time to set fires in the Salon's massive green marble fireplace, along with the cozy wood stove in the lounge and time for velvet gowns with Kansdale hooded cloaks.

Winter days are short and that usually means that part of your celebration will be at night. Candles and seasonal lighting can be incorporated along with other holiday fare. Intrepid as they are, many of your friends may not be equipped to deal with icy or snowy roads. Please use this as a point to consider as you develop your plans. We recommend professionals be used when they are needed, and that if you choose Crestwood for a winter wedding, make it special with extra features and a small number of intimate friends and family. Consider a digital video of your special day.