Great Oak Manor was the kind of venue we had always dreamed about. It was like the stars aligned for us to have our wedding here. My husband found the venue when we had to go to Chestertown for work (does a groom ever find **THE** venue??), we saw it in May 2020, and knew it was the venue but we were still unsure of booking because of the pandemic. When we toured we met Holly (who adds part of the magic to Great Oak Manor!) She was so lovely to talk to and she was understanding that we weren’t able to book due to the uncertainty. In January 2021, we decided we weren’t going to wait any longer to get married and started our planning again and GOM was booked over all of the weekends in 2021, so then we were considering a week day wedding there.. but like magic.. a full weekend opened up! We were able to have our dream venue in June 2021! We booked out the entire manor for the weekend and had a small 50 person wedding! Half of our guests stayed at the manor and the other half stayed around the corner at the Great Oak Lodge or in AirBnBs around Chestertown. We loved staying in the carriage house (I took a bath every day!!). The weekend was so magical. We had a welcome reception on Friday in the conservatory (while it rained). And we had an outdoor ceremony and an open air reception the next day (like magic it was a sunny day and the ground was luckily not wet from all the rain the day before). We had the most beautiful sunset on our wedding day— absolutely breathtaking! It is such a beautiful venue with so many great places for photo ops, from the front of the manor, to the beautiful staircase, to the library, to the beach. Our guests absolutely loved it and enjoyed the other amenities offered like kayaking and the fun golf carts and 9-hole golf course nearby. The breakfast was delicious (GOM also hosted and prepared a delicious breakfast spread for all of our guests on Sunday to close out our weekend). We also loved that it was dog friendly and we were able to bring our dog with us, he really enjoyed his stay too! Holly and Joe and the rest of the staff showed us such exceptional hospitality, we are so grateful for them! Holly recommended some amazing vendors to work with as well. They helped us to bring our vision to life and Great Oak Manor will always be a special place for us to return to year after year.

This place is the absolute best!! My wife and I got married in an elopement weekend during the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2020. The Great Oak Manor staff (especially Holly and Joe) went above and beyond in every way to make it a dream weekend, from working with our friends and family to deliver flowers and cheese platters to our room before arrival, to helping us coordinate with the photographer (Laura’s Focus Photography – incredible!) and officiant (Cheryl of Celebrations-by-Cheryl -- also incredible!) before and on the big day, to even arranging for a kayaking session in our wedding dresses, which made for some amazing wedding photos! Our suite was lovely (Marmaduke), the grounds were exquisite, and the breakfasts and wedding night dinner were delicious. We can’t overstate how much we recommend this venue for an elopement weekend, for LGBTQ+ couples or any couples!

My new husband and I first fell in love with this picturesque, hidden gem when we toured as a potential wedding venue in Oct. 2019. We were not only memorized by the beauty of the property and the sense of calmness and serenity we felt while visiting, but we were so at ease and impressed with the hospitality when speaking with the main Inn Keeper, Holly about the possibility of hosting our 2020 nuptials there. We had been to several nice waterfront properties up and down the Eastern Shore before we went to Great Oak, but none held a candle to GOM and all it had to offer. Driving into the gates and up the gravel drive, we knew we'd eventually marry at the the Manor, and so we signed a contract that day and never looked back. Fast forward 1 year and few wedding bands later, we know without a shadow of a doubt that Great Oak was the perfect home away from home to host our closest friends and family for what has now become the best day of our lives to date. Every time we have stayed at the Manor, both before and after the wedding, the staff has rolled out the red carpet and made us feel so special. And I personally have no words for how enchanting our actual wedding day was from start to finish, how exceptional the whole wedding weekend was - from welcome bonfires to waterfront yoga to relax - words alone are not adequate. We've been told by guests that our event felt like "a summertime lawn party you only see in the movies." But more importantly, Holly, Joe, Lizzie and the rest of the GOM bunch now feel like family to us. Its only been a week since our wedding and I am sad its over/ready to get married there all over again! The good news is we know that Great Oak Manor will hold a special place in our hearts and for our new family for years to come. We can hardly wait to go back for anniversaries and special events, and maybe one day bring our own little ones to visit the Manor and meet the very special people there. We're so glad we discovered this special place- its only an hour away from our home, but feels like worlds away in the very best sense of the meaning. Many thanks to everyone at Great Oak Manor and until next time!