A little over a year ago, several of our exclusive catering venues were selected for sets for the filming of Little Women, including The Bradley Estate (pictured below), The Crane Estate, and Fruitlands Museum. Click here to see a map of filming locations throughout Massachusetts!

Webber Restaurant Group is pleased to announce a partnership with longtime friend, brewer, and software entrepreneur, John Collins, to open a state-of-the-art brewery with a full service restaurant on the Essex Causeway.

Great Marsh Brewing Company is slated to open in the fall of 2019 and will showcase a custom-built, 30-hectoliter German-engineered brewing facility from BrauKon GmbH. The location boasts a taproom, outdoor beer garden, and full service restaurant with a large viewing area on the second floor for guests to view and engage with the brewing process. The 15,000 square foot facility is situated directly on the causeway in historic downtown Essex with stunning views of the Essex River and the Great Marsh.

“We are very excited to partner with John on this one-of-a-kind project,” said Webber Restaurant Group co-owner Josh Webber. “For the past year we have been collaborating on the design of the building which has resulted in a truly unique brewery and restaurant destination. All of our personalities shine through in this project, with some highly advanced beer science happening alongside great food and drink in a fun and casual atmosphere. We are all looking forward to becoming part of the Essex community and have already started planning ways to give back to various causes in the area, including Great Marsh conservation efforts.”

John Collins added, “I’m very much looking forward to transitioning from a semi-automated (some might say ‘fanatical’) home brewer to fully-automated production scale brewing utilizing the latest in brew house technology. I’ve been contemplating and preparing for this next level for quite some time, having made just about every style of beer there is. Between my engineering background, meticulous nature, and inventive/collaborative style, I’m excited at the opportunity of introducing both familiar and unfamiliar beer styles while simultaneously soliciting feedback, ideas and suggestions from the community at large. Someone famous once said (or should’ve said) ‘There’s no better judge of taste than one’s own taste buds, so commit to discovering and delivering what people want.’ Words to live by. Through hard work and dedication to the craft, I’m hoping that Great Marsh Brewing Company will become a welcome addition to the North Shore. Bringing the Webbers on board early has resulted in some great collaboration, and I’m confident we’ve developed both a unique and enticing addition to the thriving New England craft brewing landscape.”

We are always thrilled to see our clients take a few moments to share their experience with us.  See below for a sampling of recent reviews from some of our happy newlyweds!

My husband and I got married at the Bradley Estate in September. Ever since we first met with the Fireside Catering coodinator, Tim Holmes, we knew this was the place for us. Not only are the ground beautiful and well kept, but Tim was there every step of the way from our first meeting, food tasting, pre wedding planning meeting and even our wedding day. Tim was so helpful, assisting the men with their boutineres, making sure the girls were comfortable and even making a run to the store for us that day before he left. We cannot say enough good things about this place and our day. Everyone from the staff was so helpful and the day ran smoothly. I highly recommend this place if you are looking for and outdoor wedding, you won’t regret it!

Working with Maura from FireSide Caterjng in conjunction with the Estate was such an incredible experience! I CANNOT say enough about how lovely, hilarious, patient, communicative, and capable she was. She handles family meditation with grace, made sure our wedding in The Vegetable Garden and reception in The Barn were exactly what we hoped for. Maura and her staff were impeccably organized and flexible and created a special set up just for our event. Later, during the reception Maura was on call and when some distant relatives expressed homophobia she was ready to help us stay enjoying our wedding and even to remove them if we requested. Late night emails, over the top event outlines, familial disagreement, Maura can handle it all with grace, tact, and humor. Our venue was incredibly beautiful and magical and Maura was seriously the most outstanding cross between fairy god mother, family therapist, life coach, and Sarah Silverman. Cranes was my dream venue, the vegetarian meals and apps were delicious, having a server dedicated solely to myself and my wife made our dining experience perfect, and Maura was truly truly truly more than I could have ever asked for in a coordinator. I just might go into events because I admire her so much :)

We are so glad that we chose Fruitlands as our wedding venue. I cannot say enough positive things about our experience. First the location. Fruitlands is beautiful. We had an outdoor wedding ceremony in their field and it was stunning. Even if it had rained, though, we were really happy with the rain plan, and knew that it would be beautiful regardless. They have great space for getting ready and the indoor tent was perfect for the reception. Second, the staff. Tim, the on-site coordinator, is fantastic. He immediately puts you at ease and responds quickly to email. His guidance was invaluable and he made the entire planning process smooth and painless (for real!). He was very helpful on the day-of and knew exactly what was happening when. The rest of the staff were also incredibly helpful and polite. Third, the food. It was really delicious, and we’ve received many compliments on it since the wedding. I had been a bit nervous about choosing an inclusive package but it really was fantastic. You have plenty of options to customize the menu and work within whatever budget you want. Fourth – convenience and pricing. As I mentioned before, Tim was invaluable at making the wedding planning process as painless as possible. Having our ceremony and reception at one location kept logistics and travel time to a minimum. Our planning process was simpler and less stressful than some of our friends. We also found Fruitlands to be an excellent value. We had a very reasonable budget, but the wedding looked so elegant and so beautiful that you never would have guessed. If you are in the Boston area and looking for an amazing venue without the crazy Boston prices, this is a great choice!!

OMG We got married on 9/16/2017 and it was the best and most beautiful day of our lives!!! Amy is SO helpful and professional and just has the best personality ever! Throughout the whole process she was responsive, helpful and answered all my (annoying) questions. Amy was super organized and after we said “I DO” on the gorgeous lawn she greeted us with champagne (how perfect!). The staff throughout the day was also super kind, and helpful, we had no problems what so ever. People have been talking non stop about how beautiful the venue is and how much fun they had. And it was just the perfect place for us! A lot of our friends and family have said it was the best wedding they have been to. looking over the water during cocktail hour was amazing, having so many different spots for beautiful pictures was a must for me and it was just a DREAM! The whole day was so easy, we had the venue to ourselves the entire day, you didnt have to share with another wedding or event (very important to me) and it was just beautiful! I cannot get over how perfect this venue was for us! Also – the food is AMAZING, I have a lot of “opinionated” friends when it comes to food and they LOVED it. You get to completely customize the menu, they have so many options! If you want your wedding day to be seamless, beautiful, stress free, fun and just perfect – BOOK MORAINE FARM!! Thank you Amy and team!! We can’t wait to go to a restaurant that serves fireside catering food and I really just want to go back to Moraine farm every year ! XOXOX The Torde’s

Fireside catered our wedding and the food was the best I’ve had at a wedding. The appetizers were bite size (which allowed me to eat them in my dress). Guests were fighting about which entree was better and even the vegetarians seemed happy. We had cannoli’s and bread pudding for dessert! We even had a soup course! Jessica was a saint going back and forth helping arrange the linens until all the details were perfect. Highly recommend