Harding Allen Estate

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this place yet, and I am even more surprised that it has less than 5 stars.
We were married here 5 years ago. The venue is gorgeous. The owners were so helpful to us at every moment, and we had some kind of crazy requests.
After going for the tasting (which remember, was 5 years ago, so I can’t speak to their food now), it seemed very much like most weddings we’d been to. Then we had the following discussion: «How many weddings can you remember the entrée? If anything, you remember the apps.» And we were blown away by their cocktail hour offerings. So, we went with only apps. It worked out better than we could have expected — huge variety, great quality, everyone was very pleased. And they went over the top with our desserts — they must have made 10 kinds of whoopie pies (my request) plus cakes and pies and other treats. I think there was a chocolate fountain too.
There is one… uncomfortable topic. DJ Bob. This was (not sure if still is) the «house DJ». He was cheap. During our initial meeting, he wrote down everything we requested, it seemed like we were on the same page. Day of the wedding, he went rogue. I don’t even know where to begin, so I’ll spare the details, but he didn’t follow our requested songs, he played saxophone to accompany them (!), he came to chat with us during the cocktail hour as we were doing our pictures. Etc etc etc. Now, to be fair, DJ Bob is still one of our top memories and stories from our wedding day because it was so bizarre. I was blessed with a wife who is able to adjust and not freak out on such an important day — she would have been completely justified to lose it at many times (i.e. — when he sang to us — ugh, we were so uncomfortable), but instead, she was cool with me saying «The train has left the station — go with it.»
That said, you can have your own DJ or band — we just went with him, so I do not fault Harding-​Allen for him.
We also arranged buses to take our guests there, and that was a very very smart idea.
We did not stay at the Estate.
All in all, this place was fantastic. We had terrible weather the night before, and they adjusted our rehearsal instantly. They approached every little adjustment with ease and made us feel very comfortable, which was more than we could ask for.
Oh yeah, and there is a beautiful garden that is the perfect spot for your pictures, and the spot for the ceremony is more picturesque than any wedding I can recall attending.

Great Location, Bad Management
My new husband and I recently got married at the estate. We had both the ceremony and reception there.
The venue is gorgeous and absolutely perfect for a wedding, however, that is where the positive experience ends.
Overall, I felt there was absolutely no communication between Grace and Carmine. I would talk to Grace about something and 2 days later Carmine would call me asking the same questions I had just answered for Grace.
The greatest insult however came about one month before the wedding. When we initially met with Grace she explained that there is a certain minimum guest requirement and I told her right off the bat that we may not have the minimum. She told me not to worry and that we can simply use the money that would have gone to pay for those guests toward something else. 1 month before the wedding, Carmine tells me that that is not the case and that we would have to pay for the minimum number of people, even though that many were not attending. After a few upsetting emails, I was able to get the owners to stick to their original promise, however the interaction left a sour taste in my mouth and afterward I felt I had to triple check everything with both owners.
The food was average; the concern was that we were able to attend the tasting of the entrees only after we gave them a check for a deposit. Additionally, not all entrees were available to taste and there were no desserts. I am a huge dessert person and Grace raved about their onsite pastry chef, so naturally I wanted to do a cake tasting, however was told that they do not do tastings for cakes. It took me several months of asking and stating that I would not hire them to do the cake without a tasting, for me to get a cake tasting.
The day of the wedding, the wedding party did not receiving the requested and paid for beverages in the rooms and instead of the cake cutting set we bought, we found a completely different set near our cake.
We decided to stay overnight at the Estate after the wedding. Our bed was rock hard, the bathtub in our room had no hot water valve and the bathroom right outside our room had no cold-​water valve.
My advise is that if you decide to have your wedding at the Estate, make sure to get everything in writing, get your cake at an outside bakery and the night of the wedding, do not stay at the Estate!!!

The Harding Allen Estate is the only wedding venue we looked at. It immediately took our breath away and we knew it was the place. Grace, Carmine, and Chris are the best! Grace, who is also the chef, helped calm all of my nerves and assured me everything would go perfect, and it did. Carmine handled all of the logistics, and Chris answered daily emails from me. The pricing was upfront and more than reasonable for what we got. Spring for the fill Viennese dessert table!
Our guests said it was the best wedding they have ever been to. The selection of appetizers and desserts is unbelievable and they are delicious. Everyone is still commenting on how excellent their meals were as well.
The grounds are gorgeous and the pictures are beautiful.
Harding Allen Estate was the perfect place to have our wedding!

I recently went to a families wedding here. I thought that the wedding was beautiful and elegant and great for a small wedding. The rooms are expensive and which is why the 3 stars.

Always a dangerous proposition reviewing the place where friends’ have their weddings. I wonder if they were to read this and see that I didn’t give their wedding venue five stars if they would be offended. Oh well. I’ll take the chance. Four stars is nothing to sneeze at.
Let’s start with the facility itself. The Estate is actually on a fairly small plot of land, much smaller than something called an estate should be in my mind. I was expecting a huge white mansion on many acres of rolling green. I was right about the mansion part, but the Estate is nestled right in the thick of «downtown» Barre. That being said, it is quite beautiful. The grounds are very nice and made for some very nice photos. In the back of the house, there is a lovely courtyard area with a large coy pond and fountains. Continuing further beyond that, you walk under a purgola and into another small grassy area surrounded by tall bushes. This is where the wedding was held and was a lovely intimate setting. There was a threat of rain on this particular day, but thankfully it held off and the ceremony could be outside as planned.
The reception was held in a large event room which I believe is actually a permanent tent structure put up next to the house, but it didn’t feel tent-​ish if that makes any sense. Everything was white white white – the tables, napkins, walls, ceiling, etc. If there was a speck of dirt in there I would have seen it and I tell you I saw none. Spotless, it was. There was one snafu in that the waitstaff came around and lit the taper candles in the center of the tables, but apparently they were for decoration only, as soon thereafter, they came around and put them all out, explaining that they could not be lit due to fire codes. Something about the fabric ceiling and open flames, I guess. Oops! No biggie. Dinner was just as elegant without candlelight.
Speaking of dinner, let’s discuss the food. Never before have I seen so many cocktail hour appetizer options. Most everything was served buffet style but there were a few passed appetizers. They had cheese and crackers, fresh fruit, some kind of soup, pasta stations, meatballs, kielbasa, little savory pastries, crab cakes, bacon-​wrapped scallops. That’s all I can remember but I feel like there were many more. I had the prime rib for dinner and it was phenomenal. I tried the chicken dish and it was standard wedding chicken, nothing to write home about, but tasty just the same. Why anyone orders the chicken is beyond me, but that’s just me. On the whole, the food was excellent. I shudder to think what this feast must have cost the bride and groom, although I could probably look it up easily enough online if I get curious.
Inside the mansion, upstairs there were several rooms where the bridal party was getting ready and not much else, other than a bathroom. The bathrooms here were my one big dissatisfaction. I could only find two, and each of them was a single-​person bathroom. There’s no giant men’s or ladies room with several stalls, so the couple of times I ventured out to find relief, I had to wait awkwardly outside for the person in there to finish up. I know the house was probably not built with its future as an event space in mind, but they really should add some restrooms. Oh yeah, and label the ones you do have a little better. I was told to go upstairs to find the second bathroom and opened several linen closets and two guest rooms before finding it.
The bar area felt very… Republican, like I should be sitting swirling a Scotch and smoking a cigar or something. Dark wood, low lighting, with a library-​like atmosphere. They offered a full bar, but selections were limited; e.g., Absolut was the top name vodka if I recall correctly. Drinks were well-​made, however, and more than reasonably priced. Service was pretty quick, too, although there were a few moments where I thought a second bartender would have been useful. Overall, they did a nice job, though.
Final thought: a wonderful location for a wedding or any other function you might be hosting, as long as your guests aren’t babies about driving to the middle of nowhere. I suggest hiring a «booze bus», like the bride and groom so generously provided for us, to take you from your hotel and back. It’s a 30 – 40 minute drive from Worcester to here, a drive you may not be looking forward to after a long night of nuptial revelry.
Oh yes, and according to the website, the legal address is 59 Allen Dr but that is some sort of tiny back entrance. If you’re trying to drive here, put 27 West St into your GPS and that’ll get you to the main gate.

I went to a wedding here recently and was completely surprised. My date and i were not too excited about driving to the middle of nowhere for a wedding, but the mansion is beautiful and still quaint, the grounds are exquisite and the service was really warm. the ceremony took place outside in a little shady glen with a white-​pillared stage. it was so cute! the outside reception area was a flagstone and grass patio with a huge coy pond complete with lily pads, frogs and a small fountain. we were indoors for the dinner and dancing, and the space was small, but just right for the 60+ people that attended. the whole event felt really intimate. the bridal party was also staying at the mansion, so basically this is a one stop shop for all your wedding requirements!