Alyson’s Orchard

We had our wedding at Alyson’s this past summer and it proved to be the perfect venue for us. What we loved about it:
1. Have you seen the pictures? It’s gorgeous! The property has several beautiful spots where you can choose to have your ceremony. We opted for Sarma’s Pond, which made a stunning backdrop to our photos. Guests arrived at the main hall and got to take a tractor ride (kind of like a hay ride but with benches and no hay) through the orchard down to the ceremony site. The main reception hall also has a picturesque pond surrounded by weeping willows.
2. The reception hall itself is beautiful. Its windows fill the room with natural light and offers great views of the orchard. Ample space. We had 165 guests and still had plenty of room for a dance floor, live band, buffet and gift tables, etc. The space doesn’t need much decorating — it’s already so pretty. AC was clutch for us as it was 90 degrees on our wedding day.
3. You get the entire venue all to yourself and there’s on-​site housing. They let us come in on Friday at noon, giving us plenty of time to set everything up for the rehearsal dinner and wedding. We paid extra to keep the Rochambeau Lodge for Sunday as well, which allowed us to host a brunch in the lodge the morning after for all of the guests staying on-​site.
4. There is plenty of free parking and the location is a short drive from Keene where there are plenty of reasonably-​priced hotels and restaurants.
5. Since it’s a more secluded location, you can have your band play until midnight. This was a major selling point for us as most venues require music to end by 10pm.
6. Alyson’s is kid-​friendly. There’s fruit-​picking, a huge jungle gym, and paddle boats to take out on the property’s ponds. My nephews had a blast.
7. You can choose to work with any vendor you would like, with the exception of caterers, for which you can choose from a list of 15 excellent choices. They are incredibly flexible at Alyson’s and we loved being able to make the wedding truly our own.
8. The event coordinator, Fran, is amazing. Hands-​down the most helpful, kind, experienced, and reliable coordinator a couple could ask for. Responsive to our every needs and made sure that everything went absolutely perfectly the day of. Her services are included in the venue rental and I can’t stress enough how instrumental she was to making everything go exactly as planned. My husband and I didn’t have to worry about anything on our wedding day. We met with Fran several times before the day of the wedding to communicate our vision for the event. She had wonderful suggestions, was responsive to our every inquiry, and went above and beyond to make the day memorable for all the right reasons!
We truly had our dream wedding at Alyson’s and highly recommend it to anyone looking to have a breathtakingly beautiful event!

We had our wedding at Alyson’s Orchard last September, and I can not say enough positive things about them! The orchard provided a stunning background for our event. There are multiple ceremony sites, we chose the Outlook on the hill but Sarma’s Pond view is also beautiful. The Orchard Room reception area provided plenty of space for our 165 guests. The patio attached to the Orchard Room was great for cocktail hour, and anyone who wanted some fresh air throughout the evening.
The true shining star of this company though is Fran, the event coordinator. She helped us every step of the way! She is such a warm, caring, and competent person we had total trust in her advice and attention to detail (and this coming from a bit of a control freak!) She organized and accommodated every request we threw at her, and guided us on the things we were unsure of. She single handedly made our entire wedding experience more enjoyable! THANK YOU FRAN!
I highly recommend to anyone looking for the destination or wedding weekend experience look at Alyson’s Orchard. We rented all three of the cottages attached to the orchard for our weekend, and had a catered BBQ reception with live acoustic music on the back patio of the farm house. It was an ideal way to have our entire family and wedding party stay on site with us, and be able to spend quality time with many of our guest before the main event.
We now returning to visit the orchard each fall to enjoy picking apples and peaches. (Their peaches are to die for!) Their little farm stand also stocks some yummy jams and other items worth checking out.

Every year my boyfriend and I make a day of walking around Alyson’s, picking apples and taking our annual alyson’s photo at a certain spot, across from the pond over looking route 10. Well this will be our last year because while walking to the spot we like to take our photo at the guy that was a tractor driver for a wedding that was going on decided to yell at us from across the pond to «go, get away» multiple times while waving his hands and pointing) He was very rude and it was embarrassing that he chose to yell at rather then come up to us and ask us nicely to leave that side of the orchard for another 10 minutes (I should also mention when we were walking by the wedding was over and everyone was leaving the area). In the future if there are areas of limits the person selling the bags for picking should tell the customer or there should be a sign that says area closed. Other then our experience with the angry man we like Alyson’s, but as two customer service employees I can’t see past treating customers like that!

Stopped here as a break from my long drive home, and I’m glad I did. As others mentioned once you travel up the long drive, the view is gorgeous, the orchards are well maintained, and the owners (though I didn’t actually meet anyone) seem caring and sweet.
Raspberry and blueberry picking were in season, which means that the farm stand wasn’t officially open yet. However, there were clear directions about how and where to pick as well as how to pay. It’s rare to see a honor system these days, and it made me feel really nice.
I am holding out my last star because I would’ve liked to see the farm stand. One of the reasons I stopped was to pick up other produce as well. The PYO was great, as were the views — including a lovely giraffe statue, so I definitely did not leave disappointed.
There’s also a small playground for the children.

This weekend we took a trip to Walpole NH to do some apple picking for our second time at Alyson’s Orchard. This apple orchard is an incredible place to pick apples as well as enjoy their amazing views.
This orchard has to be one of our favorites for a few different reasons. The first is that it has an incredible selection of apples. The second reason is that the staff here is incredible and they always have a ton of events during the weekend. By the time we left their grounds we had picked some apples, bought some pumpkins, shopped for bakery items and listened to a band playing.
In the end we had a blast and we will continue to come here every year to pick some incredible apples on some breathtaking grounds.

Stopped in farmstand to browse and buy but clerk was whisking around store putting things away — for instance the yummy looking cookies as we were actually perusing them. Close to closing time maybe although we didn’t realize it since it was still open. Either way, she seemed put out that we were there. Interesting shop if you don’t mind the rudeness.

If you ever need a place to go and relax, this is the place to do it. I have enjoyed my visits there, every time I go. I have never been there for the fruit picking seasons, I am hoping to go there this year. But I love the views and the peacefulness of the whole property. You can tell they all take pride in the Orchard, and the people who come to visit.

My husband and I were married here this past October and it was literally a fairytale. The Orchard Room sits perched a top the hill overlooking the acres of apple trees. The back deck overlooks a beautiful pond and more trees. Fran, her husband Max (a.k.a. «Max Pyro» — does the best fireworks show this side of the Connecticut River!), and their staff are kind, competent, patient, and just altogether wonderful. Fran offered me nuggets of valuable information through the entire process and made it a painless experience to plan my wedding. They offer on-​site lodging by way of a converted farmhouse and a converted barn/​lodge. Both are just beautiful. It is definitely a place to visit (even if just to hit up the awesome farm stand full of delectable treats).

This is a special place. Not only is the picking (apples, peaches, blueberries, raspberries according to the season) easy and fun, but the view is spectacular. The horseshoe pits, swings for kids, all in all a family place worth the stop and visit.