ME Wedding Venue: York Harbor Inn

The York Harbor Inn is a conundrum to me. When I was starting to look at venues I had great hopes that this would be the answer to my prayers. I was feeling a little desperate at the time because we had recently visited a bunch of places that weren't in my budget so I was searching for an option I could afford and image having my wedding at; enter York Harbor. One big thing going for York Harbor is the price. The packages are all inclusive and then some. They have a good value when everything is all said and done. They also get high marks on their food even though we didn't personally try it when we visited but I have seen a bunch of good reviews. Other than that when I visited I was disappointed. Sure it has the charm of an old inn on the seacoast but once you leave the common spaces the charm ends. The seaside ceremony is run by a preservation company in York Harbor and they only allow something like 25 chairs, while the inn requires at least 100 guests for a Sat wedding. Granted most ceremonies aren't long but I didn't like the idea of making everyone stand for the half hour, I feel like they would get distracted and uncomfortable. Inside, the ballroom is nice but dated and to fit 100 people in with dance floor you have to seat people behind some half walls. I though the decor was a little dated, not in a 1800's good way but like 1960's bad way. We visited some of the guest rooms right near the ballroom and they were tiny and smelled heavily of chlorine. On top of that they charge $200-$250 a night during May-Oct! Overall I was unimpressed. The staff were super nice so I don't want to take away from that but I guess I would suggest this to a bride who is focused on cost and can do a lot of extra decorating to spruce the place up. Details below.

Information		Comments
The Venue: York Harbor Inn		The main inn is ok but the rooms are small and dated.
Location: York Harbor, ME		A cute seaside town
Rental Season: No prime season specified.		May-Oct is the "busy" season but prices don't change.
Ceremony Onsite: Yes, outdoors or inside.		Outdoor location is by the sea and only a limited number of guests can be seated (25 max?)
Capacity: up to 150.		This is for the ballroom which is the most popular.
Guest Min Required? Range from 25-100 ppl depending on the room
Bridal/Groom Rooms? They have rooms to rent and use as bridal suites.
Function Rental Fee: Up to $3,750. This is included in the wedding packages.		The rental is for 5 hours with receptions ending at 9:30 unless you rent out the 14 rooms around the ballroom.
Overtime Fee: $250/ .5 hr
Ceremony Fee: $1500 for seaside, $500 inside the inn		Seaside ceremony run by a preservation group, not the inn.
Catering: Food done by inn. Packages range from $115-$175 pp		A lot is included in this price. Ex: tax and gratuity, cake, function room fee, toast, etc
Alcohol: Open bar $29 pp (all night), beer and wine (all night) $22 pp, does down from there.		Pretty cheap.
Food/Beverage Min? Up to $7,000		Using a min # of guests and a package you will hit this no problem.
Bar Fee: $100. Included in packages
Extra Fees: 7% ME Sales Tax, 16.5% gratuity and 3.5% facility charge for alcohol.
Accommodations: 64 rooms spread over multiple buildings.		The room charges are crazy for the size and quality. Some rooms (near the ballroom) smell like chlorine.
Venue Contact: Casey Syvertsen		casey@yorkharborinn.com