Catering and Dining
“Garden to table” may seem like a trendy term, but at the Longwood Gardens, it’s a concept the event and catering staff take very seriously. The team offers many menu options from which guests can select to fit each specific event, including breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, receptions, and snacks and light fare for meetings. From wild mushroom omelets and grilled portabella benedict available for brunch to seasonal specialties like 10-layer beet cake desserts and appetizers of local apple salad or locally sourced cheese plates featuring cheeses from Chester and Lancaster counties, the catering team specializes in creating garden-fresh spreads. Alcohol is available on-site.
Entertainment
It seems natural that the flora would take center stage at Longwood, and although there’s no competing with the famous blue poppies and the Thousand Bloom Mum, featuring more than 1,515 blooms on a single plant, this venue has a lot to offer meeting guests. The Founder’s and Terracotta rooms both come equipped with audiovisual capabilities, including a projector and a screen, a podium and a microphone, making it possible to host a high-tech event in the gardens. Before or after meetings, guests can stroll more than 400 acres of gorgeous gardens, take in a piano or organ concert in the grand ballroom or go on a behind-thescenes tour.
Customized Extras
Although the gardens don’t host weddings, wedding receptions, bar and bat mitzvahs, or proms — so as not to impede on the other guests’ experience — they do open the garden gates for all sorts of other events such as bridal and baby showers, anniversaries, retreats and meetings, and specialize in serving as a backdrop for many memorable photo shoots. The gardens make the perfect setting for an afternoon bridal portrait photography session, and many families choose to book a photographer to follow them around the gardens for the day to get some stunning shots amongst the scenery.
Spotlight on Longwood Gardens
Location: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Type of Venue: Off-site; garden
Size: 50 to 200
Nearby Accommodations: Hilton Garden Inn
Contact Info:
610-388-1000
www.longwoodgardens.org
