Chebeague Island Inn Reviews

We hosted our wedding at the Chebeague Island Inn and they absolutely knocked it out of the park on all fronts! First of all, the scenery doesn't get any more Maine than that. Waterfront views on an island with a very quaint, charming inn (none of that stuffy super-fancy stuff - totally not our style.) The best part was that you do not have to travel far to get to the island. Though you are so close to Portland, you'd never know it based on how tucked away the location feels. The rooms at the inn are also so sweet! Secondly, the food was amazing. All of our guests commented on the generous portions on their plates and the delicious flavors. We were extremely pleased ourselves - from the passed apps to the cheese station to the dinner. Lastly, but certainly not least, Caitlyn (their Sales + Catering Manager) is a superhero angel!!!! She was incredible to work with. She was extremely responsive over email (usually responding same day, even on weekends.) She was extremely detail-oriented, asking us every little question beforehand to make sure nothing went undecided before we arrived on the island. She was generous with her time and served as the point person at the inn for all of our other vendors (which is saying a lot, seeing as everyone had to take a boat to get there and had questions about how to do so.) More than anything, Caitlyn fought to make sure we had the day she promised us. Whether that meant getting on a ladder to hang 10 strands of twinkle lights or fending off some inn staff who were trying to place flower boxes right where the ceremony aisle was supposed to be, she was truly our champion. Also, Caitlyn never bothered us with any questions - she made sure it was taken care of without having to involve me or my husband. We really appreciated that. If you are considering having a wedding here, don't hesitate - call Caitlyn to set up a conversation. If you feel up for the island logistics, it is well worth it.

It is one week ago today that we experienced the most magical vow renewal event at the Chebeague Island Inn! This would have never happened if it wasn't for Caitlyn, Glen, Matt, and Jess at the Inn. Every detail, every morsel of food, to the timing and atmosphere was simply superb!! The rooms are beautifully quaint and cozy. The views were magnificent. And, ohhhh the sunset!!! The precision in all the details was key because it was a surprise kept for a very long time. I can not express in words how grateful we are. Our weekend could not have been more perfect! We are still talking about it and how your staff made us feel like family. They really went above and beyond my expectations!! And did I mention the views!!??

Our daughter's wedding at The Chebeague Island Inn was more than I had hoped for. It was elegant, but, at the same time, so intimate and easygoing. All of our guests had such a great time. Two months later, we are still getting rave reviews! The staff went the extra mile with every detail. I would definitely recommend staying at the inn also. What an experience!

Lynne Brennan Pitt

My wife and I were married at Chebeague Island Inn in September 2013 and could not have asked for a better venue. The staff at the Inn went above and beyond during our wedding weekend and were willing to help out where necessary. The Inn itself is amazing, it sits on top of a hill overlooking the bay, there is a fantastic great room with a fireplace, nice little bar area, and a deck where you can sit and watch the sunset. The Inn also added a fire-pit which we took full advantage of. All of our guests really enjoyed their time at the Inn and on the Island, we couldn't have asked for a better venue.

Jared and Lauren

This is a very "a la carte" spot. They provide the food/drink and the Inn/Land, but you have to bring everything else in (including your guests). The logistics can be somewhat complicated, but Caitlin, the Inn's event planner, helps you with the details. We did not hire a "day of" coordinator, but if you're not the super organized type, definitely a must.

The venue is absolutely beautiful, it's really fun to have all the rooms in the inn (although yes, other people can come eat at the restaurant, but we didn't mind that much) and the food is amazing, not your typical "warming drawer" wedding food. Every plate of scallops and steak was grilled to order right before it was served to our 150 guests. Beforehand, we designed the evenings menu's with the Inn's chef, so we really were able to make it our own.

The cons were that things were a little disorganized here and there, in terms of serving food, and billing rooms for items, the majority of the staff are a bunch of high school/college kids who definitely are not serving experts, but everyone was very polite and accommodating. And of course, bringing everything in from the tent to the flowers was a little hard in terms of logistics.

Caitlin was amazing throughout the process and nothing fell through the cracks on our wedding day. Sometimes she was slow to respond, but we always got an answer.

Just one last thing to keep in mind - it's hard to find places on the island for guests to stay and the inn only has 21 rooms, so most people will have to stay off island. AND, they told us getting late night water taxis for guests would be easy, it is not. Basically for anyone not staying on the island, they will need to leave via boat around 10:30pm at the latest due to laws on the mainland.

The Chebeague Island Inn is an absolutely perfect setting for a wedding! Unfortunately they had some turnover in their staff in the year leading up to my wedding and they were not very responsive or professional. That being said, the weekend of the actual wedding they could not have been more accommodating. Everything turned out great and the staff bent over backwards to make sure of it.

Our experience with Chebeague was extremely disappointing. We first reached out to CII fall 2022 to reserve the Inn for our date. Originally, we were awestruck with how perfect it would be to have our wedding here after receiving the original brochure. Everything seemed perfect, located right in Casco Bay, a beautiful Inn and grounds right on the water, AND the most affordable prices in the area for waterfront venues. According to the brochure, for reference, you could get a high-end, customized entrée for $95-$120 per guest. So, not bad. With this, we jumped on reserving our date. We were told by the person we were working with however that the Inn was going through a "management update", and that it would take a while for them to put us through the formal process of getting the date locked in (ie, signing a formal contract before sending in the original $5000 deposit). They recommended that we in the meantime just send them the $5000 and that we would lock in specifics later. They sent us an address to mail our check, and we promptly mailed.

A few weeks go by without hearing anything from event coordinator we are working with, so naturally, my fiancé and I start to get nervous about potentially losing the $5000 in the mail. A few days later, our check shows up in our mailbox, returned to us by a LAW FIRM that is at the address the event coordinator told us to send our $5000 check! So, they essentially had us send them a large check to the WRONG ADDRESS! We promptly emailed them regarding this, issuing our concern. Their response: "Oops! Try this address" Like what?! So after google earthing this address and making sure it was the right one, we re-sent the check. A week goes by, we hear nothing, another week goes by, we hear nothing. We email them again, asking if they received our deposit. Their response: "I don't know! I'll try to look for it at some point".............................Finally three days later, our event coordinater emails us back and tells us she found our check. Dear god.

Months go by and we hear no updates from our event coordinator. We schedule a meeting with her to figure out next steps, where we ask if there is a contract, etc. to sign since that had not been discussed prior. Her response "Oh you want to move forward with the contract now, Okay." *clicks pen*. No sort of direction whatsoever.

We finally got the contract, and our hearts sank. There was way more to this than they had originally let on in the brochure or any other previous encounters, and they had already told us to send them in the deposit. Everything ended up being significantly more money than was let on. First off, LOT'S of fees: a 3% "production fee", and a 20% service charge, on top of 8% state sales tax. There was also a $14,000 labor charge on our contract, to pay for the chefs, servors, and managers. NOTE: this is on top of the $100 per guest entree, and all the other fees for the apps, grazing stations, deserts, alcohol, etc. We were starting to wonder where all this money was going??? There's no way the food itself was that much? We had asked them about what the fees were being used for in addition to the original prices in the brochure multiple times, and they couldn't give us straight answers. Something shady was going on for sure.

Another issue we had: the contract had a ton of constraints. To name a few, you are required to go through their expensive AF caterer, you are required to fill the 22 room Inn for two nights, no pets in the Inn (which was big for us since our dog is our ringbearer), and everything has to be done by 10 due to the island noise regulations.

What really put the nail in the coffin for us was the fact that they wouldn't put the room rates for our date on the contract, until we asked them to before signing. They said they were gracious enough to lock in the 2023 rates for our contract, but these were all still $500 a night. To fill the Inn for two nights, it would have cost us $16,000. Which is completely insensible for those traveling from out of town that are in the wedding party, close family, etc.. We definitely felt like they were trying to rip us off by that point.

All in all, between JUST the food, alcohol, and accomodations for two nights at the Inn for a 175 guest wedding, that alone would have cost us almost $90,000 if we were to move forward with CII. This did not include the tent they required us to rent for our event and all of the other event rentals that come with that. It just didn't make sense for us, and we are now having the wedding of our dreams for $40,000 less at a different venue.

Keep looking folks, because this ain't it.

I wish I didn't have to write this review but I want to warn other couples before booking. This is a beautiful venue but the management completely ruined the entire experience for my husband and I. I'll list my top concerns below.

1. the Inn Management changed multiple times throughout our planning process and the lack of consideration and assurance from the Inn was horrible. There was no transfer of information so we essentially had to start from step 1 with the new management.
2. The Inn had never done a lobster bake for 120 guests before and did not communicate this to us throughout the entire process. We learned this after our wedding. They served some of our guests RAW lobster and barely batted an eye at it once confronted with this. My wedding planner and her staff were bussing tables, serving tables, serving drinks, and assisting the event staff the entire wedding.
3. Under 36 hours before the wedding the Inn informed us that the wine (FROM THEIR MENU) and the beer we had requested, wasn't available.
4. The actual accommodations are not up to par with their price tag. The grass outside of the Inn (where the wedding tents are placed) are not well kept given the amount of weddings hosted at the Inn. There was so much dirt they had to put brown needles down to cover this up which really stuck out in pictures. The rooms had luggage scuff marks all over the wall and the bathrooms were not properly cleaned.
5. The day of the wedding, we were informed the food and beverage coordinator would not be on site. This clearly caused a lot of issues for the staff who were at the Inn and left the whole wedding disorganized. The young staff (who are not to blame) were left with little to no direction. Luckily our wedding planner stepped in to help.
6. Lastly, it felt like we had to reinvent the wheel to plan this wedding. There should be more guidance and instructions from the Inn but we felt we were given very little info to help organize how to get guests to the Island, how to deal with vendors on the island, etc.

Overall, if you are choosing to plan a wedding at Chebeague Island Inn - hire a wedding planner, have a small or micro wedding, and keep incredibly detailed notes to help make up for their lack of communication and record keeping.