Amish Country Wedding Venues

No, we’re not in the stages of planning a wedding. We’re not even engaged. But, if we had been on a vacation to choose a wedding venue, we’d come to the right place. We had come for a romantic weekend getaway, but that’s speeding things up a bit too fast.

While visiting Amish country we stayed at Manor View Inn, a quaint B&B I had found online. What I hadn’t realized beforehand is that the Inn is part of a family owned and operated small farm, wedding destination, and farm-fresh and Amish baked goods market. When our weekend plans were upturned (by my own bad planning-more on that in another post) we were happy to have a free day just to spend on the grounds!

Upon arrival we were met at the door by a lovely elderly couple who claimed to have passed on the business to their son, but were greeting us while their son was otherwise engaged. The couple went out of their way to attend to our needs. When we asked if we could leave some of our lunch leftovers in the B&B fridge while we spent the evening exploring the area, they not only agreed but also offered us the use of a mini fridge for our room. When we left for the evening, the husband was struggling up the old stairs with a mini-fridge en route to our room.

In the mornings we ate breakfast with the other guests either in the fancy breakfast room or outside on the porch, depending on the weather. Our elderly hosts served us a continental breakfast, complete with Amish baked goods(!!) and chatted with us about the local Amish culture. We learned that the Amish do not actually forsake technology altogether. They just don’t want land-lines into their houses. Instead they run lines to sheds out back. So the young Amish are able to charge their cell phones as long as they charge out back. Our hosts explained that they get much of their cell phone help from the young Amish that work around the farm.

The first morning of our stay we breakfasted with another guest who asked if we were the newly engaged couple he’d heard was also visiting. Not wanting to offend anyone’s religious or otherwise sensibilities, we didn’t correct him before he launched into a story about losing his Long Island home to Hurricane Sandy and having the help of firemen to rebuild because he’d been a 9/11 first-responder.

After breakfast, when we inquired what we might see in the area as the Amish had closed shops for the weekend, our hostess suggested her husband take us on a tour of their farm and wedding venues and then suggested we spend some time in the corn maze and stroll through the small farm grocery store. This sounded like a fine idea, so when we’d finished eating we met her husband at the door.

The family maintains several different wedding & reception sites, the small farm which is used as a Christmas tree farm in the winter, a pumpkin patch in the Fall, and a corn maze in the summer months, as well as a small market where fresh grown produce from the farm is sold alongside Amish baked goods. As we headed out the door the husband asked if we were the newly married couple he’d heard was visiting. Our non-answer was skipped by our exclamations at how pretty we found the first wedding site, the lawn in front of the B&B, all set with a pretty white arbor.

Next there are two old restored barn buildings each with an upper and lower room, each decorated differently, but complete with a bar for drinks.

We finally met the son, outside barn building number two, who asked if we were the couple visiting for our first year anniversary. Again, our answer may have gotten lost amid our exclamations at how nicely rustic we found his wedding venues.

And finally, a pretty stone patio out front one of the old barns.

After the wedding tour we followed the husband to the small farm: Barnyard Kingdom.

During the summer a very tall corn maze appears in place of the pumpkin patch/Christmas tree farm. After petting the farm animals, and a tour of the small farm buildings, including a silo that was used in a film-I forget which-,

he left us at the entrance to the corn maze to try our luck. He also gave us the children’s maze supplement- if you find all the answers hidden in the maze you can earn a free Wendy’s ice cream! We happily spent the rest of the morning lost in the maze.

Around lunch time we emerged from the maze to explore the small Country Barn Market.

If we’d thought any of the produce would have survived a hot car ride back to Washington D.C. we would have loaded up. Instead we bought a doughnut peach and a small shoestring pie for tasting.

Finally, we headed to Wendy’s to collect our free ice creams.

Thank you Manor View Inn hosts for saving our weekend!

*I do want to note that the Inn is an old building, and there was a slight problem with ants in the bathroom which the hosts kept attempting to fight. But otherwise the stay was very enjoyable.

Would you consider having a wedding in Amish Country? Have you ever had awkward encounters traveling as an unwed couple? Have you run into interesting cultural differences while traveling? Tell me about it in the comments below!