Wylder Hotel Tilghman Island Reviews

There used to be a way for other pros to "Endorse" each other on WeddingWire...However, as that button in longer accessible... I wanted to at the very least leave a few kind words here.

What a very special location! After working in the wedding industry for over 30 years and performing for well over 3,000 weddings…I can tell you that there is no place else quite like the Wylder. Our team members perform there regularly and it’s ALWAYS outstanding.

If you are especially searching for a waterfront backdrop…your pictures are going to be extraordinary here. There are so many perfect places for amazing pics on this property, as it’s so well maintained. There are a few cute little nooks here and there on property for romantic pics of just the two of you…but also some much larger areas that will look incredible for shots with your entire wedding party. The team members take a ton of pride in the look of the Wylder and it always shows indoors and out.

The team members that I am referring to are all around great folks, from the coordinators to the wait staff, bartenders, kitchen staff and everything in between. On our end It always feels like we are working with family friends…and I’m certain that your guests will feel this way also. They are always smiling and always eager to please. While many employees at other businesses “just go through the motions”….this crew makes you feel like you are their top priority. The wedding industry in general has a huge turn over in staffing on a regular basis…not at the Wylder. It’s always the same smiling faces who know what they are doing and how to help guests have an incredible time. The tenure of the teams members speaks volumes.

Additionally, I wanted to mention The food…but it almost speaks for itself. Folks literally come from all over the area to eat at this venue during the week. This is not a part time catering facility for weekends only…the Wylder has a full kitchen crew running daily for guests staying on property and locals who stop in regularly for meals. Huge menu, always hot, always fresh and always delicious. You will not be disappointed.

To be fair….Tilghman Island is a little off the beaten path…which to most… is part of the charm. You feel like you are truly someplace special. That being said…. One of the absolute best parts about the Wylder is that you and your guests can stay on property. Many wedding guests have shared that the accommodations are fantastic. In fact, most of the weddings that we perform here have guests that are staying on property and tell us how nice their stay has been. Though the property has been renovated and has all the modern updates and amenities….it still has that character and charm like a location in one of those Hallmark Movies that takes place in a historic town. 

The Wylder has such a great reputation in the Wedding Industry and in the community as well. Be sure to check them out. You will be happy that you did.

We couldn't have asked for anything more for our wedding weekend. The Wylder was the perfect destination for us and all of our guests. The team is incredible. The coordinator Alyssa was exceptional and willing to take as much as we needed off our plate for planning and execution. Every single guest at our wedding told us how much they enjoyed being in this location and that the Wylder staff went above and beyond. We will be spending MANY more memories there and we cannot wait!

If you are looking for a beautiful, classic Chesapeake Bay venue on the water with the most kind and helpful staff, THIS is your place. My husband and I were married here on November 19, 2022, with about 60 guests in attendance. We had our rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony and reception, and Sunday morning brunch at the Wylder. We cannot say enough about the positive experience we had with Wylder, particularly due to Alyssa Gunderson (Wedding and Event Coordinator) and her team. From the time we toured the venue until we said goodbye the day after our wedding, Alyssa was attentive, caring, thoughtful, and fun throughout the entire wedding process. She not only made sure our guests were accommodated throughout the wedding process, she particularly made sure my husband and I were taken care of from start to finish. Before the big day, so many people told my husband and I that we wouldn’t get to enjoy our cocktail hour because everything just goes by so fast - but that was not the case for us. I specifically remember walking into the reception area after the ceremony and was immediately greeted by Alyssa, who said “You all did great – what can I get you to drink?” We even had our own plate of hors d'oeuvres that only my husband and I were allowed to touch (not even my mother-in-law who paid for the entire wedding!) while we finished photos with the photographers during the cocktail hour. The Wylder is very accommodating to the food items you want for your wedding weekend (we even had a late-night french fry bar during the reception!) and works with you every step of the way to make sure your wedding details are exactly the way that you want. Charles, the head wait staff, was absolutely incredible at making sure my husband and I were taken care of throughout the night. We did not get a chance to use the free bikes, paddle boards, kayaks, canoes, etc. that Wylder allows for guests because it was cold the weekend we were there, but we can’t wait to go back during the summer to enjoy the pool and these great accommodations! THANK YOU to the Wylder Team for making everything smooth and painless – we honestly cannot have imagined a better, more perfect place to get married.

We had the best wedding at Wylder! We couldn’t have asked for a better day. Alyssa was perfect to work with, she is so knowledgeable and so very friendly! Both of our families couldn’t stop talking about how fantastic the food turned out. Everything from our appetizers to our main dinner, everything was AMAZING! The guest rooms were just what we needed and the suites are very spacious. 10/10 recommended having your wedding at Wylder and working with Alyssa and her Team!

Everything about the Wylder was exactly what we were looking for when it came to our wedding. The staff, the food, the view, everything was perfect. Alyssa, the planner, was so attentive and helpful. I highly recommend getting the Widows Walk Suite for your getting ready room for anyone using hairspray. I also recommend reserving all of the bungalows so that everyone can spend time on the porch together. I have food allergies and they went above and beyond to accommodate me. We had a band, and it fit perfectly - but we had 14 round tables with the dance floor and it was a little tight for me; 12 would have been a perfect amount without having to move any tables. Anymore than 12 and I would consider moving tables out of the way to dance or having a long table against the wall by the bar (we had the band in the corner by the entrance with the windows). Also, all of the hotels on the island and St.Michaels for the most part have a two-night minimum (which is why we made it a "destination" wedding) - so be sure to let guests know. Our extended families enjoyed the Knapps Narrows Inn which is very close by. Overall - The Wylder is the best. I definitely want to check out their other locations. Thank you Wylder Tilghman Island!!

My husband and I had a brunch wedding on a Sunday in November- it was fantastic. This time of year on Tilghman Island is beautiful and Wylder did not disappoint. We had a noon ceremony followed by a wonderfully prepared brunch. Working with Wylders team was so fun and they were willing to do whatever was needed to help us pull off a brunch wedding. I highly recommend Wylder and a brunch wedding!

I photographed my first wedding at Wylder Hotel in June and the venue couldn't have run things more perfectly! The food was on point and the schedule ran seamlessly. Plus you have the most beautiful waterfront view you could ask for. I would highly recommend this venue!

Can’t say enough about Kristin the coordinator, Chef Liz, and Wylder Hotel in general. They created a relaxed atmosphere for all our guests for the entire weekend. The crab feast rehearsal dinner was gorgeously decorated on the outdoor crab deck and everyone raved about the old bay corn, crabs and fried chicken for weeks. The lawn was filled with games and water sports for anyone to enjoy, and the bungalows were the perfect spot to get ready and still feel connected to the guests traveling from far away. The ceremony on the lawn gave those amazing water views while still feeling relaxed and intimate. Cocktail hour was a hit with lawn games, bonfire and raw bar. The reception went smoothly and I never had to worry about anything except having a great time with my husband, family and friends.
Brunch in Ticklers was a hit the next morning with buffet of your meal choices.
All my friends and family talk about wanting to repeat this weekend over and over, and my husband and I already plan to come to Wylder every year for our anniversary!
#thebeachesgetwylder

Photo credit: Katherine Elizabeth Photography
@katherineelizabethphoto

Kristen is wonderful to work with! A great Wedding Venue!

The entire Wylder staff was amazing and really helped me as a wedding planner to provide my couple with a relaxing wedding weekend! We hosted rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, welcome party, entire wedding day, and farewell brunch at the hotel over the course of three days and the Wylder team was on top of it all! We had a lot of details going on over the course of the weekend and Kristin and her staff helped me tremendously in making sure each and every one of those was taken care of. I can't wait to see this venue grow and become one of the top wedding locations around!

We could not have been happier with our wedding at Wylder! Kristin was simply amazing in all aspects. We planned our wedding remotely due to being military and stationed on the west coast. She was flexible in her communications with our time zone difference, and was always ready with a suggestion when I was having a hard time making a decision. She truly went above and beyond with all the little and big stuff, from helping us in everything from budgeting, to choosing table settings, to indoor/outdoor setup, putting guest gifts in everyones rooms, and hooking us up with local businesses! She also went above and beyond to work with us on catering our buffet dinner and personalized cupcakes! She worked with us to keep the bar open post-reception and also offered smores and bites for our guests when everyone was sitting around the fire which was wonderful. And as a surprise we had champagne waiting for us in our room when we arrived.

Overall the location is gorgeous, provides a natural background for pictures, and is remote enough that we and our guests felt like the only ones there.

We got so many compliments from our friends and family on the little things Wylder provided - bikes to cruise around the island, delicious breakfast options, and knowledgeable staff. We could not have picked a better place for our ceremony - thank you again to Kristin and the entire Wylder staff for working so generously to make our day perfect.

My husband and I went here for a short honeymoon. I really enjoyed the relaxation and quaintness of it. The rooms were clean, and nicely decorated. The food was fantastic and drinks were great. They have a couple fire pits, salt water pool, bikes and other things to keep you occupied. I give this place a 5 and hope others will follow and try it out for a weekend.

If you are looking for a custom experience, waterfront views, and a weekend getaway for your guests then Wylder is the best choice for you! The food is excellent and service is top notch!

We got married at Wylder Hotel on 10.10.20 and it could not have been any more amazing! Planning a wedding during Covid can be tricky, but Kristin was very accommodating and flexible as our plans changed from a wedding of over 120ppl to 60ppl.  Kristin made sure we had the best day we could have asked for regardless of changes we had to make for safety purposes.  From the second we got there, Kristin and her team made sure we were all so well taken care off.  The location and views cannot be matched, it is truly a slice of heaven! Kristin and her assistant were GREAT to work with and made sure that everything was in order on Friday for the rehearsal dinner and on Saturday for the wedding.  It was really fun to do the rehearsal dinner at the Ticklers Crab Shack & lawn, it gave everyone a chance to mingle in a beautiful (and Covid safe) setting! On Saturday, I did not have to worry about a thing besides getting ready and enjoying the day, Kristin coordinated so well with all the vendors and everything ran SO beautifully. Also- compliments to the chef! The food is absolutely incredible, we had so many people tell us it was the best meal they've ever had at a wedding and I totally agree! We were blown away.
The only small issue we ran into along the way was communication prior to the wedding during the planning phase; but after talking to the staff about this I do not foresee this as an issue for future events as they have a newly established and experienced event staff in place to handle all inquires and logistics!
That being said- I would HIGHLY recommend the Wylder Hotel for your wedding and an unforgettable experience!

I feel that our biggest mistake in planning our wedding was trusting Wylder as our venue and accommodation for the weekend. I really loved the concept of the buyout of the hotel, which we did for our September 2023 wedding there. I wanted an upscale coastal tented wedding but at a venue with more approachable hotel room prices than Inn at Perry cabin, for example, so that all of our friends could stay on site. Unfortunately, the experience that we had was that Wylder had lots of rules - despite the property being “ours for the weekend” as they originally told us - from not being able to turn up the music at our indoor after-party, to guests having to dump out the champagne they got at check-in as they walked to the outdoor crab shack because they were “separate businesses”.

I also found that Wylder was not well organized nor particularly open to providing a customized experience for their weddings. They changed pricing and rules multiple times for basic things like wine service, increasing their quote to $20 per guest on top of the open bar package cost, just to have servers pour the wine (which was only ~$10-$13 per bottle) for guests during the dinner reception. We argued that this pricing didn't make any sense and ultimately were charged $15pp. They also gave many different numbers regarding the max seating capacity of their ballroom, which was our rain backup plan - again, something that you would hope that a wedding venue would have very much pre-determined but they did not. We had SO many mess ups by reception staff as our guests tried to book rooms for our weekend, and the rooms felt very overpriced for the accommodation they provided, which lacked basic staffing and maintenance (see photos outside of our ~$700 per night bridal suite).

Ultimately, my biggest complaint was that the attitude from the staff was that having a wedding weekend there was an annoyance and burden, even though we paid Wylder alone over $100K for the venue fee, rooms, and food & beverage (not including any of the tent rentals, band, florals, linens, etc.). We had rain during our wedding weekend and yet the only complaint that I received from any guests was that various staff had been rude to them, and I felt this negativity as the bride as well. Alyssa, our main coordinator, was helpful and responsive, but I think she is limited by some of the rules that Wylder has put in place. The F&B manager and chef also tried to be accommodating and the food at the wedding was actually good for wedding food. However, the General Manager gave us huge attitude throughout the planning process, was specifically rude to me and my husband during our wedding weekend, and she clearly lacked very basic attention to detail when responding to our questions or requests.

Our experience at Wylder was that requesting anything outside of their canned wedding brochure was met with resistance and an overpriced estimate on what it would take to deliver it, and I feel we could have put our money to much better use elsewhere. I sent an email to the owner of Wylder to let him know of our experience with staff, but the response received was just “thanks for your feedback” so I did not feel that they took our feedback seriously nor as an opportunity for improvement.. For anyone considering Wylder as their event venue, I’m happy to answer additional questions and share my experience, feel free to email me at jennycrlinder@gmail.com!

I feel compelled to share my horrible experience of booking my wedding at Wylder for August 2024.

Initially drawn to the venue's charm, location, and potential, our excitement quickly turned to dismay as we discovered the severe neglect and substandard conditions during our subsequent visits. Despite a seemingly receptive management team, our concerns about the rundown state of the facilities, poor service, and lackluster food quality were met with excuses rather than solutions.

In peak season, the property displayed visible signs of wear and tear, including rotting wood on railings, chipped exterior paint, and a pervasive mildew/musty smell in overnight rooms. These issues, coupled with the noticeable inconsistencies in interior paint and bathrooms with broken hand dryers and unlatching stalls, highlighted a blatant lack of maintenance and care. (We visited multiple times over a 6-month period, and none of these issues were addressed in that time frame).

Our concerns regarding the food quality were also met with excuses and assurances of customization, but the initial disappointment left us questioning the integrity of their commitment to excellence.
For a venue with room rates comparable to a five-star hotel, we expected better.

Management's attempt to justify the condition by attributing it to a previous event fell short of providing reassurance. If a venue cannot recover promptly and present its best foot forward for regular lunch service after a wedding, it raises serious doubts about its ability to host full-buyout multi-day wedding weekends.

In light of these issues, and the deplorable reviews we've seen from other guests, we decided that we could not subject our family/friends to these conditions, at these prices, just to celebrate our wedding. To confirm, we did not cancel our contract due to a change of heart. However, it was due to the deteriorated condition of the property from the time we signed our contract, that nearly a year away from our wedding (341 days), we cancelled our contract and requested a full refund of our non-refundable deposit, which we believe was a reasonable request given the circumstances.

Management's response only deepened our disappointment. The GM and CEO seemed ill-equipped at handling customer complaints and their default response was that to say that we were the problem. However, I think the myriad of echoed complaints and responses we’ve seen online would seem to confirm the opposite.

Wylder refused to refund our deposit claiming, “There is simply no way to mitigate damages at this point” even though they had done little to no effort in relation to our booked event, they had 11.5 months to rebook another wedding in their peak season at an even higher rate or open the hotel and restaurant for normal business. However, even if they did rebook another buyout wedding for the same weekend (resulting in no loss of revenue) they still refused to refund our original deposit, allowing them to further profit. Their lack of concern for customer satisfaction halted any further discussion as they were not willing to work with us to seek a solution that would have benefited both parties.

Our experience with Wylder has been nothing short of disheartening, and we feel compelled to share this cautionary tale. We hope our experience serves as a warning to others and encourage others to stay away from Wylder as your wedding venue.