Tented Reception Area

Because all of our friends and family were traveling for our wedding, we wanted a welcoming, joy-filled space that would allow them to stay for the whole weekend. Friendly Crossways gave us this and so much more.

Our group landed on Friday and didn't leave until Sunday. So many of our favorite memories happened outside of "official wedding" times - s'mores by the campfire, ping pong in the basement, board games until 3am, friends from different groups lounging on the front porch over breakfast. Friendly Crossways had the perfect amount of room, giving everyone plenty of room to explore while being feeling cozy. The outdoor space in particular was absolutely gorgeous, and perfect for everything from photos to frisbees.

As for the wedding itself, Mary Helan and Keith are incredible planners. They were super supportive, and amazingly fast on email. Whenever we came to them with "unique" ideas, their first thoughts were always "well how can we make this happen here?" They are super familiar with the flow of events and spaces, and have great advice for how to make things fit. They independently checked in with all the vendors the week before the wedding and made sure everything was thought of along the way.

Our wedding felt like a big operation to us - a Tea Ceremony and pre-wedding dinner with 70 people; friends cooking breakfast for 45 people; an outdoor wedding with 95 people. Most of the beds were full for the whole weekend. But the staff at FC made it look like a breeze, and made it feel like a breeze to us. We cannot thank or recommend them enough. Big or small, busy or relaxed, formal or chill - this team can make anything happen.

Oh, and the food was incredible.

One of our out-of-town friends loved the wedding so much, he booked FC as a hostel for the whole rest of the week. Another one of our friends raved about his first "sleepaway camp" wedding, and proposed having one here every year. If those aren't recommendations, we don't know what are.

We wanted a place to relax with our loved ones for a whole weekend, not just one evening, and Friendly Crossways was perfect for that. It was amazing to wake up the morning of our wedding already surrounded by our friends, making us breakfast! The food was delicious, the house and grounds are beautiful, and the Friendly Crossways team is warm and caring. Some advice if you have a summer wedding (ours was early July): some of the upstairs sleeping space can get very hot, and be careful about the bonfire -- the biting bugs are NOT playing around over there.

I spent 7 nights at The Friendly Crossways while attending the Walden Woods Project Institute and I had a peaceful experience. The rooms are clean, great staff, excellent WiFi connection, large and organized kitchen, natural environment and very secure. I will certainly be back! 🙂

Thank you, Friendly Crossways Retreat Center.🙏🙏🙏

We had an amazing wedding weekend at Friendly Crossways. The setting is absolutely stunning. The forest, fields, and spacious grounds are beautiful. The inn is unique, charming, and elegant. We can’t stress enough how meaningful and special it was to have so much time and space to host our family and close friends at the inn. Our actual wedding was spectacular but we were most pleasantly surprised by the quieter moments of playing cards late in the evening, toasting marshmallows, and just talking and building new relationships across our families. You can get married just about anywhere but at Friendly Crossways you’re given the chance to live out your values of putting relationships first. Beyond just the format of having this wonderful space for the whole weekend, the service, attention, and care that Mary Helan, Keith, and their staff put into their weddings is professional and personal. They are authentic, helpful, laidback while still attentive, and creative. Mary Helan’s pies and the food from their catering company was the best food I’ve ever had from a wedding caterer and the process of deciding on everything was seamless. Their recommended tent and rental company is also amazing and easy to work with. We really have no complaints, big or small. We’d do it all over again the same way in a heartbeat. Thank you so much for making our wedding so memorable!

Crazy lady that runs the place kept winking at me. Other than that the place is ok