With Love and Thanks

My wedding at the Ashford Estate was above and beyond what I could have imagined! Not only is this the most beautiful venue (peak European vibes right in NJ!), it comes with a seriously top-notch team, amazing food, and so many little perks during planning and the day-of.

The venue itself is perfection. It sits upon a large grounds and has so many diverse spaces scattered around the beautiful estate. If you opt to do the full overnight wedding, you get all of this to yourself until the next morning. The guest suites right upstairs in the main building were a major selling point for us. Our entire bridal party got to spend the night in what are truly over-the-top beautiful rooms (think chaise lounges in the bathrooms, showers that can theoretically fit 10 people). We also were thrilled to be able to have our after-party right on-site in the fun ‘library’ space.

The second big selling-point for us was the flexibility of this venue. We were able to bring in vendors of our choice in general (e.g. after-party food), whereas many venues require you adhere to a more restricted list or get all food from them. Simply put, the venue worked with us to make all of our requests happen, from our friend DJing the after-party to my many decoration requirements.

While I could see from my first tour of the venue that the staff at the Ashford were going to be helpful and supportive of my (somewhat complex) vision, it wasn’t until the day of my wedding that I really understood what pros they are. Our wonderful event coordinator, Christina, handled my many personal and specific requests for DIY decorations, immediately resolved any concerns or small mishaps throughout the day, and was overall so pleasant to work with. I had an entourage of the most lovely staff members all day to usher me around, make sure we were taken care of, and ensure everything ran smoothly. All of this was preceded with months of phone calls, emails, and texts with event planner Laura McCann from Merri-makers, who is beyond helpful and patient and just amazing to work with. I cannot stress enough how important all of this was for our wedding and how grateful I am to the whole team! They made the day seamless but also fun!

Last but certainly not least, the food at the Ashford is really excellent (we had many compliments from our guests). From the cocktail hour to the desserts, everything was delicious and also hand-picked by us. The caterer really prides itself on giving you a personalized experience; in our case, we took advantage of this to provide a fully vegan meal option that we really liked (that differed from the default option) to accommodate our many guests with dietary restrictions. The chef offered this especially upon our request.

I don’t have a single bad thing to say about the venue, the staff, the food; I could have my wedding here 1000 times! If you didn’t get this already: I highly highly recommend the Ashford Estate for your wedding

Hi Laura and Christina,

Kristen will have more things to say about our experience at the Ashford when she gets back from her honeymoon but in the meantime, I just want to thank you for everything that you and your staff did to make Kristen and Michael’s wedding so AMAZING! I really cannot put into words how absolutely perfect everything was! Magical is probably the best word I can come with in this moment. The level of attentiveness and service that Christina and the other staff provided to Kristen and Michael, us parents, the overnight guests and all the guests at the wedding was unmatched. Every vision Kristen and I had was executed to perfection. We knew the property, the venue and the food would blow people away and it did. So many people told us that they had never experienced anything like that. We know people will be talking about their time at The Ashford for a long time to come…especially all the people from the mid-west! Oh, and they loved the cheese curds at the after party and they are experts on cheese curds!

Thank you again for being so easy to work with throughout the entire process! The only thing that I am sad about, is that it is over and I don’t have any more children to marry off. lol.

You will be hearing from Kristen when she returns but I couldn’t wait that long to just thank you and tell you how wonderful every last thing was!

Thank you!

Hi Laura,

Good morning, I’d just like to let you know how wonderful our daughter’s wedding was on July 9. Your staff is truly the best we’ve ever encountered. Everything ran so smoothly and perfectly, the guests raved about it! Absolutely loved the food too! Thank you so much for making this day so memorable.

Bob and Susan

Lauren,

We had high expectations for the big day.  Bonnet and Merri-Makers blew us away.  We have heard a nonstop shower of compliments on the food, the execution, and the natural beauty of Bonnet.  You and the team nailed it.  The tomahawks were ridiculous.  The halibut was top top tier.   The attention lavished on our family was humbling.

Wayne

Hi Lauren,

Best day of our lives!!!!!! Thank you for making it so special. Andrew and I were so touched by the incredible thoughtfulness that went into every detail. Words cannot express our gratitude & bliss.

Thank you for making it happen <3

Emma

We truly cannot say enough amazing things about the entire Mallard team. From the very beginning, they made us feel supported, organized, and completely at ease throughout the planning process. Every detail was thoughtfully handled, and they were always available to answer questions, offer advice, and make our vision come to life. Gianna was a lifesaver throughout the entire process always ready to help and give her expert opinion! On our wedding day, everything ran so seamlessly that we were able to be fully present and enjoy every moment without worrying about a single thing. They kept the timeline moving perfectly, coordinated all of our vendors, and handled anything that came up behind the scenes without us ever knowing. Our wedding was absolutely perfect, and so much of that is because of their hard work, professionalism, and genuine care. If you’re looking for someone who will treat your wedding like it’s their own, look no further. We are beyond grateful and would recommend them to anyone planning their special day!

Brooke & James

Lauren,

Thank you SOO much for all your help, countless visits and many reach outs. The entire team was incredible and beyond helpful from the beginning of planning to the day of and even down to the night manager. Simply wonderful! We can’t thank you enough! And we’ll definitely be back!

Christina R.

Dear Gianna,

I am still on cloud 9 about our event Thursday night.  I just wanted to send a note to thank you again for all of your hard work in making our Monmouth NJ 250 event one for the history books!  We all so appreciate everything you did to make it a success.  Everything went seamlessly, on schedule, and according to plan, and the food was better than I had imagined it could be for an event like this.  

With appreciation,

Christine

Gianna,

We can’t thank you enough for doing all you did to make Kristen and Colin’s wedding day so perfect and magical!! Everyone kept raving about the food, the venue and how nice all the staff was! A lot of them said this was the best wedding they had been too! We couldn’t have asked for anything more to celebrate their wedding. It was such a pleasure working with you! Thank the attendants for me also. Kristi was sooo awesome! She made sure Rob and I had everything we needed! Everyone was great!

Thanks again for everything!

Linda & Rob

Hi Haley!!

Just wanted to say thank you so much for everything! You and the team did such an amazing job. Saturday was perfect and all of our guests have been raving about how awesome the wedding and food was. We truly had the best day and would highly recommend Bonnet! 🤍🤍 thank you again