Brown’s Orchards family farm smoothes out financial problems with the wedding venue
Mary Brown, President of Brown’s Orchards & Farm Market, contemplates a new wedding venue with the aim of redressing the financial troubles of agriculture.
Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record
Overlooking the rolling green summer hills painted with a timeless orchard, Mary Brown spoke of a new wedding venue that she hopes will diversify the family farm.
With its rustic outdoor ceremony space and a large white tent for serving dinner, it is nestled in the orchards, away from the hustle and bustle of the farmers’ market.
Couples can tie the knot under a handcrafted wooden arch with the apple and peach trees as a backdrop. Up to 150 guests can sit on tree stump benches.
Enjoy a drink in the rustic bar and mingle at wine barrel tables with hors d’oeuvres.
Brown’s Orchards and Farm Markets in Loganville has served as a destination for buying fruits, vegetables, baked goods, flowers, and gifts for decades.
It now operates weddings and events to save York County’s treasure – for the community as well as future generations of the family.
Presenting the beauty of the farm
It has been three years since Mary Brown’s husband, Dave, died suddenly, and the mother of two young sons became president of the farm and ran the orchards and farm shop in southern York County.
Dave’s parents, Stan and Nona Brown, died before him within seven months. His brother Scott died of cancer in 2005.
Mary and Dave Brown moved home in 2006 to help their parents run the multigenerational farm, which attracts people from across the mid-Atlantic. Their goal was to figure out how to save it by making sure they have opportunities to make up for losses.
Agriculture can be fickle, explained Mary.
“You have to have the perfect weather. You have to have the perfect team. You just have to have a lot of God’s blessings to make it go your way,” she said.
She and Dave believed that a wedding venue was good for Brown’s longevity. It would take advantage of the farm’s beauty and provide another source of income in case it wasn’t a good farming year.
“So many people have said that they only come here to sit in our parking lot, it’s so beautiful,” she said of the area, which is on a hill overlooking the lush landscape. “For me it really speaks to how it gives people hope and it makes people feel good. So the weddings and other events here couldn’t be more perfect.”
Her husband had envisioned holding weddings on the farm. One place he was considering was a barn on their nearby farm, which you can choose yourself, along Yellow Church Road in Springfield Township.
However, Mary Brown learned that it could not because the property was being preserved by the York County Agricultural Land Preservation Board and the York County Farms and Natural Lands Trust.
Instead, she sought approval from the district to build a wedding venue near the farmers’ market, which is along the Susquehanna Trail. Conservation restrictions limited it to an area of one hectare. The crews laid a concrete slab for the tent floor, expanded the parking lot and built toilets.
Further improvements are planned.
Brown would like to set up a pavilion opposite the bar area to encourage guests to socialize. She intends to plant cherry trees in 2023 to further embed herself in the venue.
The wedding site is a simple concept, but one that couples are looking for.
“It’s like having your wedding in your garden,” she said. “Most of us don’t have that kind of backyard.”
Sale of the self-select farm
The Brown family suffered tremendous losses in 2018 – not just personally but also in agriculture.
It was the wettest year on record, and the harvest was dire. It showed how fragile the balance of business can be, said Mary Brown.
The following year the farm produced a gangbuster crop, but the revenues remained dire. They dug into the details and found that the farm had grown too much.
She also had to figure out how to manage the business debt left over from previous years.
“My goal was to keep it going so my kids can decide whether to pass it on to the next generation,” she said. “I wouldn’t leave her in a place where I found myself.”
Brown, who has a degree in business administration and law, has looked at every aspect of the business: what and how much it has grown, the store’s hours of operation, the number of employees.
She found the hundreds of acres were too many to manage. She launched the pick-your-own farm – a duplicate property – two years ago in hopes of finding someone to keep it running.
The Strathmeyer family, known for their Christmas trees, will do so under a new name: Orchard Valley Farm.
The parties reached an agreement in June.
For Mary Brown, the sale was a relief. It helped pay off some of the company’s debts.
More: Brown’s Orchard is a venue that has been under construction for years and paves the way for wedding venues
More: A grieving widow becomes president of Browns Orchards: “This pain will always be”
More: Browns suffers another loss: “Dave was just a gentle soul”
Brown operations manager Matt Reed has been with the family business for six years. The former chemical plant manager started in the café and held various functions. He began working closely with Stan and Dave Brown on process improvement.
Mary Brown asked him to step in and help her in the family after she died. You have been looking for sources of income to diversify the business.
It wasn’t easy for Brown, he said. She had to make many tough decisions about the future of the company. But she tackled the problems head on.
“I just have to take off my hat,” he said. “I don’t know a lot of people who would have made it through. A lot of them would probably have thrown in the towel and said, ‘I’ll just sell it.'”
But she has brought her late husband’s love for the business he grew up in and her children to the fore and is determined to make it work, Reed said.
He is looking forward to autumn with all the sweet fruits, the weddings and the planned school tours.
Last fall was tricky because of COVID and he hopes more customers will come through the doors this season to see what the store has to offer.
“It’s fun to be here in the fall,” he said.
Business rolled with the beats during the coronavirus pandemic, Mary Brown said. Employees brought groceries to the cars for free.
The cafe, a local favorite, has remained closed since the pandemic. Brown’s remodeled the kitchen and dining room, Reed said.
Given the uncertainty about changing guidelines with COVID-19 and the difficulty of finding staff, the cafe plans to reopen in the spring. Meanwhile the market remains open.
Brown’s Orchards still owns about 111 acres of farmland that will be enough to supply the store with fruit and cider. The business is more manageable and the changes have made employees happier, Brown said.
It gave them a new focus and business is doing better now.
“My experience over the past three years is that the best we can do is stay true to ourselves and what we do and grow the best fruit that can be found in York County,” she said.
Weddings from start to finish
Across the field from the wedding venue is the home of the late Earl and Margaret Brown, founders of the orchard business.
After renovations, it now serves as an Appley-Ever-After wedding house, which includes a bridal suite and a room for the groom. Couples can get ready before the big event and spend time with their party.
A hay cart can transport them to the place of the ceremony.
Brown’s Orchards recently hosted a wedding open day to showcase its new venue and plans to offer another in the fall.
The venue has already hosted weddings.
Mary Brown said she cried when she saw the first one, which happened last fall during the coronavirus pandemic. She knew all the planning and work that had gone into the long-awaited expansion of the business. It couldn’t be more perfect.
Weddings can range from elegant to casual. Prices range from $ 6,500 for a Saturday affair to $ 2,695 for a Sunday brunch package.
“We can hold your wedding from start to finish,” said Brown. “We have the favors; we have the food; we have the flowers. We have staff that can occupy your bar.
“It’s just all here.”
Brown said she just wanted to be a good mom to her sons Scott and Sean, who are into football, soccer, and baseball.
Every day their boys ask about their day.
She tells them what is happening with the business. They are proud of their papa and grandpa.
“They really love this. They just don’t love the fact that it came with a lot of heartache and stress at first, but now the stress is subsiding,” she said. “That’s what we can do and we can do it really, really well and we will do it.”
Open house for weddings
Brown’s Orchards is hosting an open house for couples this fall to see what the store has to offer.
It will take place on Sunday, October 3rd, from 12 noon to 2 pm.
