We are thrilled to announce that our own caterer, Woodland Catering, is going to host its first farm-to-table dinner here at Bradstreet on Sunday, August 25, 2024! The menu will feature traditional New England recipes and spotlights local farms and ingredients. Menu specifics will be revealed closer to the event when Woodland selects the freshest in-season ingredients from our farm and other local farms. We'll be serving Mill River Winery wines to complement the menu.

Enjoy an interactive farm-to-table experience with the BONS award winning chefs at Woodland Catering! You can buy your tickets here. We are so excited for this one!

G&D met at a bar – she was the singer in a band. And that’s why this amazing couple ended the night with a custom song from D to G based on the Shania Twang song, “Man! I Feel Like a Women!” substituting in her new last name for Woman. This day was a blast from beginning to end, with a fabulous group of family and friends. G was dedicated to making it a perfect day for his new bride, and he succeeded. Thanks for making us a part of your love story, G&D! Come back and see us!
 
Vendor team:
Photography: Callan Photo Wedding Photography
Videography: Precision Films
Catering: Woodland Catering
Desserts: The Angry Donut
Event Management:  CAtCH Events
Rentals: PEAK Event Services
Ceremony Harpist: Alex Raspe
Entertainment: DJ Nate
Bar items: Kappy’s On Call
Floral: Beach Plum Flower Shop
Hair & Makeup: Entyre Makeovers
Officiant: Anna Bacal

This was such a fun group and a great night! B&Z were grinning ear to ear all day long! They chose a beautiful, elegant fall palette that was perfect for the season, right down to the mini white pumpkins on the tables. And for their entrance, B&Z threw t-shirts into the crowd! Loved celebrating this couple with their wonderful family and friends! Thanks for making us a part of your love story, B&Z!

Vendor team:
Photography: Chris Ashton Photography
Videography: Salt & Pine Films
Catering: Woodland Catering
Bar items: Kappy's On Call
Event management: CAtCH Events
Floral: Beach Plum Flower Shop
Entertainment: Meritage Entertainment
Photobooth: Hipstr Photobooth
Hair: Odessa Weddings
Makeup: Courtney Martins Makeup
Desserts: Three Sweet Peas Bakery Cafe
Transportation: North Suburban Transportation & Michael’s Limousine

N&G did not let a little rain ruin their good time! We set up a beautiful indoor ceremony, and the weather cleared enough for some great photos all around the estate! We loved the florals for this wedding - lots of simple greens, whites and blue hydrangeas to pick up the blues in the bridesmaids dresses. The dog treat bar was a hit with guests, and the mobile bar served up both drinks and late-night snacks - perfection!
Thanks for letting us be a part of your love story, N&G! Come back and see us!

Vendor team:
Photographer: Jen Araya Photography
Catering: Woodland Catering
Floral: Beach Plum Flower Shop
Event management: CAtCH Events
Rentals: PEAK Event Services
Bar items: Kappy's On Call
Mobile bar: Young, Wild & Free
Dessert: Topsfield Bake Shop
Entertainment: White Label Wedding DJs
Hair: The Artists Hair & Makeup
Makeup: Shadowbox Salon
Transportation: Salter Transportation

The ​Barn at Bradstreet Farm announced today that its public events season kicks off in May with its first farm-to-table dinner of the year and a folk concert with Grammy-nominated musician Reed Foehl.
 
“We meet people all the time who say, ‘I would love to see the property but haven’t been invited to a wedding!’” said Michael Sabatini, who with his wife Michelle Faulkner owns the Barn at Bradstreet Farm. “These public events are a great opportunity for our local neighbors to visit our North Shore hidden gem.”
 
For the second year, the Barn at Bradstreet Farm is collaborating with The Farmers Dinner to bring a farm-to-table dinner series to Boston’s North Shore. Three farm-to-table events are planned for 2024:

• Sunday, May 26
• Sunday, Sept 15
• Sunday, Oct 20

 
Ingredients for each event are sourced from Bradstreet Farm and other local farms, and each menu is different and customized to the season. Tickets are available at https://www.thefarmersdinner.com.
 
In addition, the Barn at Bradstreet Farm is hosting its first concert, featuring local Grammy-nominated Folk/Americana artist Reed Foehl, on Friday, May 31. Tickets can be purchased here.
 
Other public events will be added throughout the year. To inquire about holding an event at the Barn at Bradstreet Farm, reach out to [email protected].

​The 2024 New England wedding season is almost upon us, and we’ve been deluged with questions from couples about food trends for this year. For answers, we went right to the top, to Ryan Costigan, Chef/Owner of Woodland Catering, winner of North Shore Magazine’s BONS Readers’ Choice ‘Best Wedding Caterer’ for 2023 & 2024.
 
Ryan is keeping an eye on these four wedding reception food trends for 2024:
 
Late night food
“We’re seeing a lot of clients add late-night food, a couple of hours after dinner, during the dancing and party part of the night,” says Ryan. “We’re doing a lot of upscale bar food, like fries, sliders, flatbreads, pretzels and wings.” He’s also fielding many requests for late-night grazing tables, usually consisting of charcuterie, cheese, vegetables and dips. (The Bradstreet team’s personal favorite: Woodland Catering’s late night mac-and-cheese bar with toppings like buffalo chicken!)
 
Farm-to-table beyond the center of the plate
For many people, when they think farm-to-table, they’re thinking mostly of the center of the plate – the main protein, like chicken breast or salmon. “More recently, we have many clients who want to ensure that their whole plate is locally sourced,” Ryan says. “Woodland Catering has always operated this way – we’re focused on farm-to-table – and it’s great that so many more couples are recognizing that this approach leads to much fresher ingredients and an overall heightened culinary experience for guests. We’re often picking up ingredients from Bradstreet Farm and other local farms the day of your event, and you’ll see those incorporated into every part of the menu, from cocktail hour through dessert. We’re fortunate to have an abundance of great local produce in our area, so we can tailor menus to the season.”
 
Grazing tables
“Grazing tables are the next evolution of the charcuterie trend,” according to Ryan. “They allow for an amalgamation of different stationary hors d’oeuvres, platters and displays.” In addition to charcuterie and cheese, grazing tables can incorporate fresh vegetables, breads, local honey, fruit and anything else the client desires.
 
“Most often, we’re seeing requests for grazing tables for cocktail hour,” says Ryan. “But we also have a few events this year where clients have opted to go cocktail style instead of doing a full sit-down dinner, and they are asking us to do themed grazing stations with food available throughout the night.”
 
Mushrooms!
Ryan is seeing big demand for mushrooms in 2024. “Mushrooms are so versatile,” he says, “and make a great substitute for meat.” It’s possible to source many types of mushrooms here in New England including shiitake, king oysters, and other wild varieties that are available seasonally.
 
We hope this helps with menu planning for your own event!

Congratulations, you’re engaged and planning your wedding!! You probably already know that the first vendor you select will be your venue. All your other vendor decisions flow from that because you can’t book your other vendors until you have a wedding date. Here are things to know before you start touring wedding venues.
 
Most engaged couples reach out to 8-10 venues to gather information, and then tour 2-4 before making a decision. Sometimes they tour just one, because when they get there, they know it’s The One! This happens to us often at the Barn at Bradstreet Farm.
 
Before you spend time investigating or touring venues, there’s some information you need to gather:
 
The year and season you prefer for your wedding. This is the first question prospective venues will ask you. The more flexible you are, the more availability you’ll find. Many venues book 12-24 months in advance. If you’re looking to book within 12 months, you’ll need to be flexible. Saturdays tend to sell out first – if you’re OK with a Friday or Sunday (which – bonus! – are often less expensive), let the venues know.
 
Approximately how many people you’re inviting. You really need to do a list to get a rough count. This is important because all venues have a maximum capacity, and some even have a minimum. If you book a venue with a max capacity of 100, and then realize later that you have 150, you’ll be in trouble. Conversely, many venues have food & beverage minimums of 100 or more (meaning, you’ll pay for 100 even if you have fewer guests) – if you think you’ll have fewer than 100 guests, look for venues with low or no minimums.
 
What style you’re looking for. Do you want a hotel ballroom, a beach, a vineyard, a museum, a rustic barn? Scour photos online to help determine your aesthetic.
 
What kind of experience you’re looking for. Are you a DIY couple, or looking for more of a concierge experience, with a venue team that can help you bring it all together and run your day to reduce your stress?
 
Your approximate budget. The venue is often the biggest expense for a wedding, or #2 after catering. You need to have a realistic sense of what your total budget is going to be and screen out the ones you know you can’t afford. There is no sense in touring venues that you know you can’t book – you’ll be setting yourself up for disappointment.
 
Send any other questions you have to [email protected], and we’re happy to answer them! Happy venue hunting!

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal wrote about the rising cost of weddings. Data for the piece was sourced from Zola and The Knot. The national average of $35,000 is likely a bit lower than what couples would typically spend in areas with a higher cost of living – including New England, where budgets of $45,000-60,000 are more common.
 
An expert quoted in the article recommended one big cost savings tip that we’ve shared with many couples over the years – the best way to reduce the overall cost of your wedding is to reduce the guest list. This one move impacts the cost of so many things – including catering, bar and floral. If you’re renting tables, chairs and linens (we include them in our rental, but many venues don’t), reducing your guest count will cut those costs as well. Having a smaller wedding party can also save you money on dresses/tuxes, wedding party gifts, and hair & makeup, if you're helping to pick up the tab for those items.
 
This is all money that go into important things like the venue (which after all is the only thing everyone will remember five years from now) and photography/videography (the only lasting evidence of your day!).
 
So, when you’re making up your guest list, keep this in mind!

We loved everything about this wedding! L&K were beaming all day - even when we had to move the ceremony inside due to rain. Their officiant (a friend) was hilarious and had everyone laughing (and happy crying) throughout the ceremony. The sand ceremony - combining sand from favorite beaches of everyone in the family - was so moving, and featured sand imported from the beach in Italy where L's sweet mom met L's dad... we could go on and on! Every time we see a Miller Lite, we still think of K. We felt honored to be a part of this day! L&K, thank you so much for letting us be part of your love story! 

Vendor team:
Photographer: The Family Farmer Creative
Videographer: Picture This Wedding
Event management: CAtCH Events
Caterer: Woodland Catering
Bar items: Kappy's OnCall
Florist: Beach Plum Flower Shop
Rentals: PEAK Event Services
Desserts: Crumbl Cookies
Entertainment: Meritage Entertainment
Makeup: Kristin Kincaid Salon
Hair: Lacey Aiello
Accommodations: Essex Street Inn

If your wedding is in 2024, you’re probably getting serious about planning! We’ll be sending out a full onboarding package to Bradstreet’s 2024 couples later this month, with all sorts of templates and great information. In the meantime, here’s a primer on a crucial part of your wedding day – your timeline!
 
Here at Bradstreet, your event manager will begin working with you months before your wedding and will prepare a timeline for you. In this blog post, we provide a sample timeline to get you thinking about the details of your own day.
 
At the Barn at Bradstreet Farm, couples pick their own ceremony time – we only host one event per day, so the whole day is yours! While we see some ceremonies as early as noon, most couples pick 4.30pm. So, we’ve designed this sample with a 4.30pm ceremony in mind.
 
The first step in developing your timeline is determining your ceremony time. Your photographer may want to weigh in here – most photographers prefer to have the ceremony at least 90 minutes before sunset, but some prefer two hours. In the summer, 4.30pm is most common. Later in the fall, we see 4pm and even 3.30pm ceremonies because sunset is earlier.
 
Another variable is whether you’re doing a first look - if you are, you can get a lot of photography done before your ceremony, giving you more time to enjoy cocktail hour. Most – but not all – Bradstreet couples do a first look.
 
This sample timeline assumes a 4.30pm ceremony and a first look:
 
10am: Your event manager will get you checked in to the dressing suites! Anyone participating in Hair and Makeup (HMU) services generally comes right at 10am. Don’t forget the mimosas!
10.15am: Your event team begins setting up décor inside the Barn.
12pm: The other half of the wedding party checks into the dressing suites – those who just need to change.
12.30pm: Lunch arrives for the wedding party.
12.30pm: Photographer arrives.
1pm: Woodland Catering arrives and starts setup.
1.30pm: Beach Plum Flower Shop arrives and begins setup.
2pm: HMU team departs.
2pm: DJ arrives and begins setup.
2pm: First look!
2.30-3.30pm: Family photos
3.45pm: Wedding party back to suites.
4pm: DJ starts background music for guest arrival.
4pm: Guests start to arrive, are directed to ceremony area by Bradstreet team.
4.25pm: Bradstreet team brings wedding party to Barn to line up for ceremony.
4.30pm: Ceremony time!
5-6pm: Cocktail hour.
6pm: Move guests into Barn for dinner.
6.10-6.30pm: Introduce wedding party, first dance and family dances, toasts.
6.30pm: Dinner begins.
7.30pm: Dance floor opens! (could be later depending on the size of the dinner group)
9.30pm: Transportation arrives
10pm: End of the best night ever!
 
There are a lot of variables here – but this is a good skeleton to use. Happy planning!