Codman Estate

I went to a wedding at Codman Estate on Saturday, and I thought it was a wonderful venue. I’d never been to Lincoln (I live in Los Angeles, so I’ve only even been to Boston a handful of times), but the area was green and pretty, and this property in particular was quite lovely.
Both the ceremony and the reception were held on its grounds, the ceremony in a lush garden, the reception in an open structure (like a barn in form but not spirit?) with a tented space for dinner and an indoor dance floor. There was a cocktail hour on a nice spot of lawn. The whole estate was just very lush and scenic. The wedding was beautiful.
Not sure if Codman had anything to do with the catering or anything like that, but everything went smoothly from top to bottom. We had a great time at this wedding, and would recommend it to any New England couples. Big congratulations to Anna V. and Jonathan F. We loved sharing in their special day.

I visited the Codman Estate this fall looking for a wedding venue, and while I didn’t end up choosing it, there were a lot of things I liked about it. The garden in the back is beautiful — although while I felt the statue had a lot of taste, it wasn’t necessarily mine. But the flowers were lovely, there were options for electrical wiring.
It was also a lovely place to walk around: the grounds are stunning. I would have been really excited about it if the actual house were open — for me the carriage house was not so formal.

BEAUTIFUL property on a beautiful tree-​lined windy road in Lincoln, the Codman Estate is a Georgian beauty that was built in 1790. Great venue for weddings & they also hold art fairs where you can wander the property!
Pictures and more on – —-

We were married here fall 2011, and this was a wonderful venue for us. Located not too far from Boston, making it a short drive, Codman Estate was so beautiful and picturesque.
Demi was our on-​site coordinator and could not have been nicer. She was really helpful and all of the staff were responsive to my questions (and I had a lot!).
The ceremony took place in the Italian Gardens, which really blew my guests away! It is just so beautiful and unique. We lucked out with a gorgeous day, but we had a tent (with heaters) as a back-​up. We had dancing inside the Carriage House and dinner was under the tent. Picture perfect!

I have not had or been to an event at Codman, I recently went on a tour here to see if it was the right fit for us and I wanted to share my experience.
PROS:
*The ceremony area is BEAUTIFUL, even in the winter I could tell that it has to be just stunning in the spring/​summer.
*The lily pad pond is unique and special, and there is even an area for cocktail hour right by the ceremony site so you can stay and enjoy the area longer.
*There is no additional fee for the ceremony– it is part of the fee for the day so long as it is within the 8 hr rental period.
*The carriage house can have a tent set up right to it to make it larger.
*They have a pond and a nice field to set up a larger tent while still being close enough to the carriage house for use of bathrooms.
*They have a pretty flower garden for pictures called «Dorothy’s Garden»
*They provide white chairs and plenty of tables.
*Nancy and Sylvia were very kind and helpful in getting information and setting up a tour.
CONS:
*You can not use the Estate, it is just backdrop.
*The carriage house– to be honest– is fairly ugly. Wood panelled walls that you can only decorate where there are already nails, and a terrible carpet.
*You have to choose from their list of caterors. The poster above states that they are flexible on this– they may have been at one time but they are not anymore– they provide about 6 vendors you must choose from.
*The bar area has license plates above it, kind of offputting for a more elegant event.
*The bathrooms are just ok– kind of small and noticable from the main area.
*There is no bridal suite.
*Ceremonies if rained on have to take place in said carriage house– would be a huge letdown in my opinion from the gorgeous garden you would have been married in.
*Lincoln is a dry town– thus you are required to have an open bar (you can supply the alchohol yourself though and are not required to go through a cateror).
All in all– it just does not seem worth the fee unless you are having a weekday wedding or off-​season because it just does not include enough– if they made use of the estate it would be a different story. Theoretically a perfect weather day would leave you with a wonderful special ceremony, an amazing space for a tent reception and a great time… but lets face it– it is New England, and I just can’t leave it to chance.

My daughter had her wedding here and everything was perfect. It was just what she was looking for — and we did a lot of looking — and it was reasonably priced.
Definitely worth a look if you’re looking for a wedding venue.

We got married at the Codman in August 2009, and we have to say Nancy is great to work with and the place is absolutely gorgeous. There’s a ton of room (we had hors d’oevres in one place, the ceremony in another, and the reception in the carriage house), and each area has its own feel.
The Italian Garden is wonderful, and there are turtles and frogs (which we never saw outside of the pond so don’t worry) which make it even cooler. Pricing is very reasonable (compare with a church… zomg) and they have you or your caterer do the bar, which was great for us. They also have a list of caterers they work with (Tastings is fantastic) but will let you work with someone else if you have someone in mind.

This is part one of a two part review!
Part One: This is the location that was picked for my upcoming wedding! My boyfriend and I checked out a few places, but really liked this spot for the landscaping. We are planning to have the ceremony, cocktail reception, and dinner (under a tent) outside. The gardens are beautiful, as it all the open land surrounding the place. We just have our fingers crossed for good weather on the big day…
Part Two: TBD

Jesse and I went to my friend’s wedding here last Saturday, and it was by far one of the prettiest wedding venues ever. The ceremony was by a little lilly pond under columns and it was just a lovely setting. Prices are apparently reasonable for wedding standards, which means more money for open bar… the issue with that? It’s in Lincoln, not too far from Walden Pond. It’s still a lovely setting. Seriously, though, if you rent during the off season (November-​April) the price is half of what it would be normally, but granted, it could be terrible weather.