Today we’d like to introduce you to Allory And Jessica Melhorn.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My name is Allory Melhorn and I am the fourth-generation co-owner of Melhorn Manor with my wife, Jessica Melhorn. The farm on which Melhorn Manor is located has been in my family for a little over 100 years, dating back to 1919, when the property was originally owned by my Great Grandfather, Christian Arthur Melhorn. The Melhorns are deeply rooted in Mount Joy and have played a very large role in shaping the town into what it is today!
I was born and raised right here in Mount Joy, PA by my father, John Melhorn, and mother, Sandra Melhorn. I went to Kraybill Mennonite School for K-8 then graduated from Lancaster Mennonite High School (LMH) in 2009. After graduating from LMH, I went to Universal Technical Institute (UTI) in Exton, PA. Then finally Graduated from UTI’s Phoenix, Arizona location with a degree in Diesel Technology specializing in Cummins Diesel Engines in 2011. After graduating from UTI, I was the shop manager for my father and mother at their poultry hauling company, Melhorn Sales, Service and Trucking Company.
In December of 2013 my father passed away. Little did I know, this would be the beginning of the creation of Melhorn Manor. I met Jess in 2014 and we got engaged in December 2016. We purchased the property, soon to be known as Melhorn Manor, from my mother in the Spring of 2017. After performing ten months of renovations to the property, Jess and I were the first couple to get married at Melhorn Manor on September 30, 2017!
Being raised in a family of business owners, it has always been a dream of mine to go into business myself and I am so thankful for the opportunity! During the weekdays you can find me meeting new couples and giving tours of the property, handling social media posts and marketing for our business, overseeing projects around the venue, and traveling to local businesses to pick up and return rental items for weekend events. On wedding and event days, you can find me overseeing each event to create a stress-free, seamless experience. I have such a huge passion for helping others and planning their special day! It brings me so much joy to watch others enjoy our property of which I have many great memories growing up.
My name is Jessica Melhorn. My husband, Allory Melhorn, and I are the co-owners of Melhorn Manor. One day back in August 2016, Allory (my boyfriend at the time), asked if I wanted to own my own wedding venue. I looked at him in shock and disbelief that he wanted to own and operate a wedding venue, but in one short year, this dream became our reality! Allory proposed to me on December 17, 2016. We started our business and renovated the property in the Spring and Summer of 2017, and then opened our doors on September 30, 2017, our wedding day!
I was born in Ithaca, New York, while my father was finishing his graduate degree at Cornell University. My family moved back to Pennsylvania, and I grew up in the Reading area, graduating from Wilson High School in 2004. I played soccer and volleyball while in school and you could always find me at our home football games and men’s volleyball games cheering on the Bulldogs! After high school, I attended Millersville University and received my dual Elementary and Special Education teaching degree, graduating in 2009. Since I was 17 years old, I have also worked in the service industry as a server and bartender; you can still find me behind the bar at Melhorn Manor for weddings and events! I have also taught in elementary and special education classrooms for than a decade.
I made the very difficult decision to stop teaching after having our son, Miles Melhorn, in August 2020. Miles is such a joy and blessing in our lives and fulfilled my #1 dream of becoming a mother. When Miles was one and a half, I went back to teaching special education for a year before we welcomed our sweet baby girl, Shelby, into our family in April 2023. I have been home with our two children for the past three years helping to run Melhorn Manor while being a stay at home Mom. Miles and Shelby make our hearts so full, and we couldn’t be more excited to watch them grow and learn the ins and outs of the business world in wedding and event industry!
I absolutely love helping and blessing others any chance I can get! I personally meet with all our couples six months and one month out from their special day for two very detailed planning meetings to help coordinate and answer any questions they have. I love getting to know our couples and helping them plan one of the biggest days of their lives while easing the stress along the way. I also orchestrate all ceremony rehearsals and can be found coordinating and assisting wherever needed on wedding days to ensure all details go exactly as planned. I do everything I can to ensure everyone’s special day is perfect, stress-free, and full of love!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As many business owners can relate, there have definitely been some ups and downs along our journey.
When we first started our business, Jessica and I (Allory) were very young, I was 26 and Jess was 30. It was a bit daunting getting all of the permits we needed to start our business, plus completing the renovations and acquiring the investment needed to fund the project. All in all, that took about a year to get all of the permits approved and complete the renovations needed to open the venue.
Everything went very smoothly for the first two and a half years until COVID came along and literally rocked the entire wedding and event industry. There was a lot of uncertainty, sleepless nights and learning curves navigating through those times (all while Jess was expecting with our first child). We thankfully made it through the COVID era pretty well and definitely marked that as a learning experience.
Post COVID, things have been relatively smooth, with just having to navigate through some economic downturns, but so far we have been blessed to figure out every curveball that has come our way! We have been very blessed and have so much to be thankful for!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Melhorn Manor?
Our venue, located in Mount Joy Pennsylvania, is called Melhorn Manor. We are a premier wedding and event venue. We specialize in luxury weddings, corporate events, galas, fundraisers, birthday parties, baby showers, and any other special event clients ask us to hold!
What sets us apart from others in our industry is the care Jess and I provide to our customers and services that we offer already included in our wedding packages. Being a family-owned and operated business, we offer a level of care and attention to each customer that is hard to match with a corporate-owned venue due to our names being attached to our business and being part of every wedding and event held at Melhorn Manor. In fact, in our reviews that we receive from our couples, almost all of them specifically say how amazing they we treated and how great the planning process and wedding day was because of how Jess, I, and our staff handled everything. Our assistant coordinators are comprised of past Melhorn Manor brides and grooms and even a few of their parents. That is something I have never heard of at other venues and speaks volumes as to who we are here at Melhorn Manor!
I think the thing we are most proud of, brand-wise, is the fact that our property has been in our family for so long and we’re known for the level of care each couple and customer receives here.
It is important for our readers to know that our wedding package pricing is all-inclusive of everything we have to offer here at our venue. Things like, full and partial wedding coordination, our spacious bridal suite and groom suite, over 125-item decor list, several arbors, all of our tables and chairs, a 14-hour property rental, custom-made bars, yard games, fire pit, and exclusive use of all of our venue spaces. We do not have “add-ons” or upcharges!
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Allory-
At a young age, I was always into sports, playing outside and playing with anything with an engine. I also made friends pretty easily and really enjoyed spending time with them. I played baseball pretty much my whole childhood and teenage years. I made my high school varsity baseball team as a freshman. In addition to baseball, I also played lacrosse my junior and senior of high school. I have always had a passion for cars and trucks as well and I started my vehicle collection as soon as I could start driving.
Jessica-
I have always been very outgoing and upbeat. I am a very positive person who almost always has a smile on my face. I grew up in a large family with five brothers and I was the only girl. I, too, was largely into sports. I played soccer from 3rd through 9th grade, one year of field hockey in 8th grade, and volleyball from my freshman year of high school through my freshman year of college where I was named “Rookie of the Year ” in the Fall of 2004! I also make friends very easily and I am what some would describe as “the life of the party”. In addition, I have always had a huge passion for spending time with family, friends and helping everyone around me anyway that I can.
Pricing:
- Off Season Wedding Pricing, $5,000-$8,200
- Peak Season Wedding Pricing- $6,500-$9,700
- Prime Season Wedding Pricing- $7,500-$10,700
Contact Info:
- Website: https://melhornmanor.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melhornmanor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelhornManor/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@melhornmanor
