The Greater Wilmington and Brandywine Valley area is quite the inviting destination for meetings, with many charming, quaint venues gracing its landscape and serving as especially good hosts for memorable off-site events. Storybook settings, from cobbled rock structures to facilities situated amid lovely gardens, are the norm here for receptions and banquets held away from the host hotel.
Plus, the area has picturesque options that are also “spirited,” as several local wineries also facilitate shindigs that are worthy of a celebratory toast.
Following are eight fabulous ideas.
Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library
Wilmington, Del.
Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, set in the rolling hills of the Brandywine Valley, showcases one of the preeminent collections of American decorative arts in the world and is also home to one of the country’s finest naturalistic gardens, according to Isabelle Farrell, the attraction’s assistant director of corporate relations.
“The garden combines the art of horticulture and landscape design,” she says, adding the garden and 175-room museum remain open for tours during group events.
Function spaces include the visitor center pavilion, atrium, reflecting pool and garden areas.
“Some of the event spaces are constructed of salvaged architecture from former homes in the South,” Farrell adds. “All the meeting areas are surrounded by a lush landscape offering incomparable beauty amidst a world-class country estate.”
Hagley Museum & Library
Greenville, Del.
Hagley Museum & Library offers customized tours for groups, according to spokeswoman Meg Marcozzi, who adds on-site caterer Toscana Catering is available for fun culinary activities, including tastings and demonstrations.
“The riverside landscape is dotted with restored 19th-century Brandywine blue rock buildings and gardens and mill ruins,” she says of the venue’s setting. “You are likely to see wildlife like herons standing in the river, and birds and butterflies darting in the gardens.”
Among the venue’s unique spaces for group get-togethers are the Soda House, a restored circe-1888 powder building, a restored water turbine landing area, an outdoor space that sits next to the Brandywine River, and the visitor center.
“Guests can enjoy a reception and wander through exhibitions about industry and innovation,” Marcozzi says. “There is also a patio that overlooks the Brandywine River.”
Nassau Valley Vineyard
Lewes, Del.
Delaware’s first winery is open year-round and self-guided tours, as well as tastings, are available for visiting groups.
Among the wines likely to show up in a tasting lineup are pinot grigio, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, Peach Ambrosia, a semi-sweet white wine, and True Blue Blueberry, a sweet red wine.
Meeting spaces here, which accommodate from 20 to 400 people, include the 8,400-square-foot Grand Cru Hall, the outdoor Bacchus Grove and Gallery One, a smaller space that overlooks the wine cellar.
Deerfield
Newark, Del.
“Deerfield is distinctive in every way,” says spokesman Jeff Robinson. “Flexible and expansive meeting spaces, tall ceilings and tons of natural light provide a refreshing and reinvigorating setting for meetings of all types.”
The staff at Deerfield, which overlooks White Clay Creek State Park and its namesake championship golf course, can facilitate a cooking class, wine tasting or a team-bonding golf tournament to go hand-in-hand with a business or social gathering.
“Deerfield’s spaces offer breathtaking views,” Robinson adds. “Plus, every room at Deerfield opens up to an inviting terrace that’s perfect for some fresh air, a meeting break or food-and-beverage service under the sun or the stars.”
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Harvest Ridge Winery
Marydel, Del.
Not even two years old, the Harvest Ridge Winery, which opened in November 2013, is already a standout venue for group gatherings of varying sizes, both indoors and out.
“Those attending private events at Harvest Ridge Winery will be treated to a clean, attractive venue surrounded with views of the vineyard,” says Sofia Horvath, the winery’s social media manager. “The courtyard, also with views of the vineyard, has a gazebo in the center of it, giving it an elegant feel.”
Tastings are available at any time during business hours, and guided tours are offered Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
“The winery also hosts a multitude of events open to the public, from events featuring local food trucks, live music and yoga in the vineyard to wine and paint events, and large annual events benefiting charitable causes,” Horvath says.
Longwood Gardens
Kennett Square, Penn.
Situated in the picturesque Brandywine Valley with just north of 1,000 acres of formal gardens is Longwood Gardens, which, according to spokeswoman Patricia Evans, is “one of the great gardens” of the world.
“It is hard to find a more beautiful setting for an event than Longwood Gardens,” she says, adding several guided garden and behind-the-scenes tours are available to groups. “From a history of the gardens to a tour highlighting what’s in bloom, there is a tour for every level of interest.”
There are several on-site venues for private events held during normal business hours, including the Founder’s Room, with two walls of windows that look out over the picturesque patio and lawn; and the Terrace Tent, an outdoor space on the lawn that’s available from April through October.
“After-hours events may only be booked for corporate or nonprofit events and are most often held in the dazzling setting of Longwood’s Conservatory, where guests are surrounded by beautiful horticulture displays,” Evans says.
Phoenixville Foundry
Phoenixville, Penn.
Phoenixville Foundry, a designated special events venue, has hosted events for as few as 50 people but can accommodate up to 650 guests.
“The exterior grandeur of Phoenixville Foundry combined with the unique interior lends itself to be a blank canvas to design any type of event, corporate to social,” says Caroline DeBottis, facility and events director. “We describe our extraordinary space as ‘industrial chic,’ marrying historic charm with modern day amenities.”
DeBottis adds the column-free venue allows for a wide variety of table and seating configurations and staging needs for events large and small, as well as different design scenarios.
“We’ve often recreated the mezzanine area from cocktail reception into a late night dessert lounge,” DeBottis says. “There are many great options to create different experiences for our guests.”
Inn at Grace Winery
Glen Mills, Penn.
Located on 50 bucolic acres and surrounded with views of vineyards, rolling lawn and gardens is the Inn at Grace Winery, which innkeeper Farrell Leo says is the perfect location for a corporate retreat.
The inn features 15 elegantly appointed guest rooms inside a stone manor house that dates back to 1734, and can accommodate all catering needs of the group throughout the day, Leo says, adding formal meeting space with all the necessary modern amenities is available on-site in a renovated barn.
“The winery and back patio of the barn are great spaces for cocktail parties,” he adds. “Should the group want a more informal location to gather, we offer cozy living rooms with fireplaces, porches with views of the horse pastures or vineyard, or a fire pit with Adirondack chairs. The wireless Internet even covers the pool should that be the location for the meeting.”
Private vineyard and winery tours, and wine tasting with the winemaker, are all available for groups, along with any number of fun lawn games including bocce, croquet or horseshoes.
