Historic Shady Lane LLC — Attraction in East Manchester Township

Historic Shady Lane is/was/will always be the most beautiful venue I have ever been to. A hidden gem that I am so glad we found. And, no. I hold no bias just because we were the ones getting married there.

Now let me take you on the adventure…

We were planning the wedding from afar - we live in California, my husband is from Ohio and I’m from New York…. but we met in Pennsylvania. We wanted to go back to the state where it all started, and a middle ground for our guests. We knew that the decision making and planning was going to be long distance… and I never expected how stressful that would be. The question soon became, “but where?”.

The ask’s were simple, or so I thought. We wanted an outdoor venue, surrounded by ivy covered trees, a sprawling property with historical buildings placed throughout. If there was a greenhouse, that was an added bonus. This soon became an impossible search. Where to begin? So I turned to Instagram and scoured through PA based photographers' instagrams to find inspiration. We didn’t want “just any venue”. Just when I thought this method wasn’t working and that we’d have to resort to a wedding directory site… Historic Shady Lane appeared. Not only was it EXACTLY what we were looking for… it was more.

They took care of everything - the tent, the tables, the chairs, the set up and breakdown. They had golf carts to help guests get to different parts of the grounds. They had spaces to get ready. The grounds are immaculate. The only thing you needed to do was make it your own - you chose the vendors, you made it “yours”. Just as every love is different, so is the look and feel of your wedding. They set the scene, and we brought the love. We could make the space ours - and I, personally, LOVED that. It would truly be OUR day.

I knew instantly that this was the place where we would be getting married. It looked and felt like a dream. It didn’t take much to convince my soon-to-be husband that this is where we’d be exchanging our vows. And with that, we made the decision.

This next part will make anyone planning their wedding anxious. We put a deposit down… without having visited the grounds in person. And, looking back, I would do it a thousand times over if given the chance to. It was one of the best decisions we made.

The first time we visited HSL in person was 4 months before our wedding. How I wish I could relive that moment! We drove in and my jaw dropped. It was everything we had dreamed it would be and more. We toured the property with Caitlyn and Mandy (our day of coordinator). They stepped us through our day, and ran through so many of the details we (I) had been obsessing over the previous few months. There was no doubt in my mind that we had made the right decision.

We planned everything from afar. To begin to tell you just how scary that is would not even begin to chip away at that kind of iceberg. It was terrifying! Enter HSL - the property director Caitlyn answered every question, soothed every doubt and stepped in to help at the last minute to help when some unexpected decisions needed to be made. Come the day of the wedding, the HSL staff guided and helped get our party and our guests get everywhere they needed to go. There was never a moment where someone was not available to help. Our day went on without a hitch.

The act of getting married is nerve-racking enough… and to have a team of people behind you who do everything in their power to make it the best day ever for the two of you MEANS THE WORLD in your most anxious-nervous-excited moments. I can not thank the entire team at HSL for making our day the most perfect day.

If you are thinking about having your wedding at Historic Shady Lane, stop thinking. It was one of the best decisions we made and we’d make the same decision if given the chance to do it all over again.

(NOTE: We got married Sept 2022 and I could have sworn that I had posted this review here last year when I initially wrote it. Posting again because because everything I said still holds true a year later. Thank you...

The only redeeming quality of this venue was the beautiful and picturesque grounds, architecture, and greenhouse.

Where it is lacking is professionalism and management. When we picked this venue for our day, the staff couldn’t be more welcoming and hospitable. We were given a tour of the grounds and a description of what all would be provided on our day. We were so excited that we booked our date and paid in full a year and a half in advance. Once COVID came, we were a little nervous leading up to our July date. Come May, we realized that things were not going to be better by our July date. We organized a call, expressing our concerns of the virus, the health and well-being of our guests, and the inability of our out-of-state/country guests to attend (Including 2 bridesmaids, 1 of which being the bride's sister.). We had booked this venue for 250 people, and at that point, only the county that the venue is in was allowing gatherings of up to 250 people. We were told that we would have to pay another full deposit if we would like our date moved unless it was on a Wednesday or Thursday the following year. The owner chose greed and politics over the health of our guests. He said that "You will be happy that you had it now instead of postponing,", and that "People will be excited to get out and have a good time". The venue assistant started crying on the phone, saying that we don’t know how hard it is for them right now, and that the owner could lose his house because it was on the venue property, even though the property brochure indicated that property was purchased many year prior to it being converted into a venue. They compared a venue date to an airplane taking flight with empty seats. We understood the missed revenue opportunities, but it was a poor analogy because flights were grounded at the time and the airline companies assumed the risk, not the passengers. The venue owner passed the risk off to us. My wife has one living parent and one living grandparent. She buried her grandmother the Wednesday before our wedding and her grandfather was walking her down the aisle. The fear of him potentially getting COVID from our wedding was a very real emotion for my wife.

60 of our guests were unable to attend due to COVID travel restrictions. The owner of the venue even made a point to come talk to us, on our wedding day, stating “It looks like you were able to get a good turnout” without congratulating us on our wedding day. It felt more like rubbing salt into a wound. He was not someone we wanted to see or speak with on our wedding day.

When speaking with other COVID brides and grooms, none of which had any problem rescheduling their dates to a later time with their venues.

When looking back on our wedding day and viewing our pictures, we do not have the joy and beautiful memories we should have, but only sadness, anxiety, and discomfort.

I highly recommend looking elsewhere for your...

We got married at Historic Shady Lane this July and it was the best experience we could have ever asked for! It truly was the most picturesque day at the location of our dreams.

HSL was actually the first and only venue we toured. We chose it immediately after our tour with their Venue Director, Caitlyn, because it was the most gorgeous place and had everything we wanted for our special day. (Note: We also toured the venue in December, their off-season, which says a lot considering nothing was even in bloom yet and the foliage was limited! It was still that stunning.) The grounds are extremely well kept and it’s clear that a ton of work and love go into making it perfect for each couple’s day. We chose to get married in front of the greenhouse (although there were so many gorgeous ceremony locations to choose from), had our cocktail hour in and around the greenhouse, and had our reception in the tent. The proximity of everything made it very convenient for us and our guests.

When it came to the planning and logistics, HSL had so much included and Caitlyn was a dream to work with! One of our favorite parts of the venue was the fact that there were getting-ready suites for each of us and our wedding parties. It made it so our entire day was spent at HSL and there was no back and forth to other locations. The ladies brought breakfast to the cottage and spent the morning getting ready—there was so much space (all beautifully decorated!) for everyone to get ready, jam to music, and spend some time together. The men also had a great time in the den playing foosball and hanging out before the ceremony. HSL had plenty of large golf carts on-site to help both us and guests navigate the grounds and get where we needed to quickly and comfortably.

The day of was so much less stressful than we expected because everything was in place and planned to perfection by both our wedding planner (Events by Gillian & Co.) and the HSL team. All of the moving pieces were handled and we felt extremely taken care of. During and after the wedding, our guests were raving about how beautiful the venue was and said that the wedding felt like it was out of a fairytale. We could not have asked for a more perfect day and would do it all over again at HSL...