AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler
Spring flowers are not the only thing popping as the weather warms. After a somewhat difficult year, the wedding business is beginning to bloom. Wedding dresses are being shopped for, venues and caterers booked, cake tastings arranged, and flowers selected as community residents rebound, recognizing that even amid the uncertainty of a pandemic, life goes on.
Mary’s Designer Bridal Boutique at 150 Jennifer Road has definitely seen business pick up now that the COVID vaccines are out according to stylist Nita Munevar.
“Weddings seem to be a little smaller than usual but are certainly larger than they were last year,” she said. “We are selling bridal gowns and dresses for the wedding party including dresses for the mother of the bride and mother of the groom.”
Mary’s Designer Bridal Boutique carries bridal gowns and related fashions and accessories from eight designers including Allure, Maggie Sottero, Sophia Tolli and others.
With some brides planning more intimate weddings, smaller venues like Historic Baldwin Hall in Millersville and Historic Holy Grounds in Severna Park are experiencing a revival of interest.
Classic Baldwin Hall, built as a church in 1861, has four weddings booked for April with good availability for late spring and summer. Several weddings that were postponed are rescheduled for fall according to building manager Annie Medford.
“Once a house of worship until replaced in 1896 by Baldwin Memorial United Methodist Church across the street, we currently function as a historic landmark and site rental,” Medford said. “Brides can choose to have their wedding ceremonies here as well as the reception but most prefer to have the ceremony at the church .
She said all COVID protocols are followed including a restriction to 50% of capacity for an indoor wedding and there’s ample space. However, many couples opt for outdoor marriage ceremonies and the spacious grounds of Baldwin Hall are an ideal setting.
The Severna Park landmark building known as Historic Holy Grounds, is owned by Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church and managed by the Severna Park Community Center. Constructed in 1926 as the home of St. John the Evangelist Church, its architecturally interesting interior is well suited to hosting wedding receptions. It even served as the site of a wedding show a few years ago with vendors and models wearing the latest bridal fashions.
Holy Grounds’ quaint exterior and spacious interior, with graceful windows and a railed balcony, can be beautifully decorated. There’s even a small kitchen. For an outdoor wedding, there’s an attractive portico and beautiful gardens.
According to SPCC’s marketing manager Amy Holbrook, there have already been small weddings and receptions taking place at Historic Holy Grounds with proper distancing and observation of COVID protocols.
“However, we’re having to take a break from booking events for a couple months for renovations including the replacement of Holy Grounds’ fragile original windows with new stained glass ones. After that, we have wedding receptions booked for July and August and beyond,” Holbrook said.
Wedding venues that can accommodate larger weddings/ receptions include Severna Park’s Chartwell Golf and Country Club which has a spacious ballroom.
“We’re having more weddings booked for 2022 than for 2021. But we’ve had some small weddings here for 40 guests or so that were held outside,” director of events Morgan Kilduff said. “For a larger number of guests, we’ll typically do the ceremony and cocktails outside, weather permitting, and the reception in the ballroom.
A popular waterfront destination for weddings is Kurtz’s Beach in Pasadena which, because of its size and extensive outdoor space, continued hosting weddings throughout the past year.
According to event director Ashley Mason, wedding bookings remained strong since Kurtz’s Beach has tremendous outdoor capacity and could easily shift things as COVID restrictions changed. For spring and summer, wedding bookings have picked up even more for both indoor and outdoor settings.
“We are well-booked through May and June and beyond,” Mason said.
Spring is always a busy time for caterers and, partly due to weddings, this spring is even busier said April Cunningham, owner and executive chef of Olde Severna Park-based April’s Table.
“We do have a few weddings booked for spring that are generally very intimate with 20 guests or less and a plan to sit outside under a tent to enjoy a multi-course plated meal,” Cunningham observed. “However, most of the weddings we had booked for this spring season opted to reschedule for fall, so our calendar is full September through November which we are thrilled about!”
The spring wedding receptions April’s Table is catering will be more intimate, outdoor affairs while those rescheduled for fall will have as many as 200 guests. Buffet service works for both. (Courtesy photo)
With regard to the fall weddings, she said most clients are still planning on a large headcount, anywhere up to 200 guests, with buffet style service. April’s Table is equally comfortable serving small-scale plated dinners or large-scale buffet dinners.
A typical intimate wedding dinner might include passed Hors D’oeuvres like Watermelon Feta Cubes, Fresh Apricot Crostini and Gazpacho Soup Sips followed by a salad of Spring Field Greens. Main event entrees might include Maryland Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes, Eggplant Napoleon or Herb Rubbed Beef Tenderloin. And, of course, there’d be special desserts in addition to wedding cake.
A large wedding menu would include a grazing display board of Hors D’oeuvres like cured meats and artisan cheeses, a Hot Hors D’oeuvres station, a Slider station, and Pasta and Salad Stations to tickle wedding guests’ taste buds.
While caterers are busy, bakeries have revved up too. Kristin Witmer, head cake decorator for Kirsten’s Cakery in Olde Severna Park (who decorated the wedding cakes pictured here and above), said the bakery has been sending out wedding cake tasting kits for the past two months.
“We have quite a few custom wedding cakes scheduled for the spring and summer,” she said. Some orders are for bigger cakes and some for smaller cakes or cupcakes,” she said.
Michael Brown, owner of Cakes and Confections at 342 Ritchie Highway, an establishment also popular for breakfast and lunch quiches, salads and sandwiches, said he, too, has been sending out wedding cake tasting kits.
“We’re now having phone consultations and getting some orders. There’s a bit of a comeback and were seeing some of the earlier postponements due to COVID-19 reschedule their orders,” he added.
It’s not surprising, since Brown is noted for his decorative wedding cupcakes and his genius in arranging them, that many brides prefer to order those instead of a cake. They’ll often order extra sweets to go with them like mini-cheesecakes and tarts.
Newer Severna Park businesses like Tammi Molavi and Michelle Hickman’s j.lolly and Atalie Payne’s Atalie Day Photography are getting feelers too. Payne has a wedding photo shoot booked for August and further inquiries while a client has booked j.lolly to supply table settings for a large October wedding.
Well established photographer Laura Wegman of Laura’s Eyes Photography said, though she focuses more on corporate photography now, she has shot photos for four weddings, the largest of which had 50 guests. She has another smaller wedding coming up and an additional request.
“It’s nice to see wedding assignments and other photographic work making a comeback,” she said.
