Venue Search #5: Alamoosook Lakeside Inn in Orland, ME

After we were done at The Pilgrim's Inn in Deer Isle, Katelyn and I drove back inland to see a venue recommended by a friend of mine from college, the Alamoosook Lakeside Inn in Orland, Maine.  To my surprise, the venue isn't located very far from our current hometown of Blue Hill.  In fact, I pass the turn to go to this venue every Tuesday and Thursday on my commute between the apartment and work in Bangor.  While we found a sign on the door saying that the inn was closed for the day when we arrived, Katelyn and I took the opportunity to look around the grounds a little bit and see what kind of interest we might have in the venue.

Obviously, it's a little difficult to judge exactly what the Alamoosook Lakeside Inn could potentially offer Katelyn and me for our wedding venue needs, since there was nobody present to show us around or answer any questions.  My first impression upon driving down the road to get to the venue was that it was very reminiscent of any lakeside gravel road to any lakeside cabin area.  There are personal lakeside properties along the road, including one directly next to the inn, which raises potential privacy issues (although maybe that's me being a little groom-zilla-esque).

The inn itself is fairly standard in appearance; there is a main area which serves as the lodging and then divergent sides that house the dining room areas.  Though we were not able to go in and see for ourselves, the website promises the capacity to host a wedding party of our size if we were to choose to use this venue.

Though it's difficult to say this because I wasn't really holding out any high expectations for the venue, the word that comes to mind as I sit down and write this entry is "disappointing".  Based on the venue's website, I expected it to have a little bit more to offer.  Instead, the venue is essentially just like any other waterfront campsite in Maine, and that's where one of the major issues comes into play.

If Katelyn and I wanted to have a small-to-medium-sized lakeside cabin wedding, we would want to have it at a place that held some sort of personal meaning for us.  A friend's cabin, a cabin we went to together while dating, so on and so forth.  It's difficult to even consider spending money on a venue like this when so many of our needs would not be met upon viewing the venue in person.  We don't have a quote on how many people we could potentially house here, but the size of the venue rules out a large amount and the remoteness of the venue rules out ease of accessibility.

The Alamoosook Lakeside Inn is likely a great wedding venue if you have a particular scale in mind that lends itself well to the venue.  For the sake of what Katelyn and I are planning, however, in terms of number of guests and requirements of the venue, this location just isn't suited to us.

More information and photographs of the Alamoosook Lakeside Inn can be found at the venue's website, http://www.alamoosooklakesideinn.com/. The Alamoosook Lakeside Inn is located two hours and thirty-five minutes from Portland, two hours and fifteen minutes from Lewiston, and about forty-five minutes from Bangor.