Dyment's Glen Drummond Farm — Attraction in Hamilton

A very honest review of Dyment’s Glen Drummond Farm:

We got married at Glen Drummond Farm in May of 2022. We don’t necessarily regret having our wedding here, but we think it’s important that people know the facts before signing the contract.

PROS: Beautiful: the peak ceremony site is especially gorgeous and the venue is just as beautiful, if not more so, than it appears in photos Quality food: after the tasting, our expectations were low. But we were pleasantly surprised on the day of! Unique: we loved the fact that a wagon took the guests to and from the ceremony site (and along the edge of the escarpment, what a beautiful view). There were also lawn games and a fire pit for the end of the night. Multiple guests commented on how cool the venue was and said that they felt like they were at a music festival

CONS: Sooo many rules: Some of the rules were made apparent to us before signing. Such as shots are not allowed and hard liquor must be served with non-alcoholic mix. However, there were many rules that were sprung on us after the fact. For example, drinks cannot have more than 1oz of alcohol. This made choosing signature cocktails very difficult, and we were not able to have the signature cocktails that we desired. Another rule that was not told to us before signing was you are not allowed to play music with swear words in it (you have to play the clean versions). These are just a few examples. Overall, the rules made us feel more like a burden than valued guests. It was very apparent that they cared more about liability than pleasing their clients. We were very much treated like children rather than adults who were paying 10s of thousands of dollars for their services. The DJ: They require that you use Ruby Entertainment for your DJ services. Initially we were pleased with this, we had decided to have karaoke during the wedding and Ruby Entertainment has experience with this. However, on the day of, the music was a mess. Wrong songs were played and queues were missed for the walk up songs during the speeches and the first dance. Then, for the dancing/karaoke part of the evening, the karaoke machine stopped working after just 4 songs (we paid extra for this and were not offered a discount/reimbursement). There were long periods of time where the DJ was nowhere to be seen. One of the songs even played twice in a row. Requests that guests were making were ignored (or he wasn’t there to receive them). The transitions were horrible. The DJ played quite a few songs that weren’t on the playlist we provided him and weren’t well received by guests. One of our guests went up to the abandoned DJ booth to change the song twice. The DJ threw a fit and shut down the party early. The groom was able to fix the situation by agreeing to kick the guest out. Although we do not condone our guest’s behaviour, this would not have happened if the DJ was doing his job and was present in his booth. The DJ was our biggest disappointment on our wedding day.

It is a shame because there are so many positives about this venue. We hope that, by seeing this, the venue will change some of its rules and potentially hire a different DJ company. In the meantime, we would just recommend bringing up these concerns before booking, and potentially having them adjust their contract to exclude some of these rules and potentially allow you to bring in...

My Fiancé contacted Glen Drummond at the beginning of September asking for Saturday dates available next July and August. Understandably they were all booked. That completely makes sense asking only 10-11 months away.

Three weeks later my Fiancé emailed them back to ask about Sunday's, in which we got a response saying that there was one cancellation and there is a Saturday available now. My Fiancé got very excited as we have been to a wedding at this venue, and it was very nice. so right away we said hey give us a quote and we want that Saturday. at that point they respond and explained that "Our 2023 Saturday Summer packages have now changed since we have last spoke and it's a 150-guest minimum." 150-guest minimums on Saturdays are not shocking, a lot of venues have it in place, but let me explain

Here's why you're getting a one-star review. You magically changed your Saturday packages for next year the moment you had ONE Saturday available. Three weeks prior when we originally contacted you, there was no bother or attempt on your side to update or change your 2023 Saturday package, because who cares on your end when you are already booked for 2023. All of a sudden you get one Saturday back because of a cancellation and then you set your standards higher, clearly exposing a competitive market of Saturday Summer weddings.

at the end of the day, you're a business and can more or less do whatever you want. But your Sales tactics are miserable and slightly embarrassing as a company. If you had any customer service or sales knowledge here's a couple of things I would consider:

Before offering your cancelled Saturday, explain that your package has "Coincidentally" changed in a three-week period at the same time you had a Saturday cancellation, to avoid hyping someone's hopes of getting married at your venue, then shooting them in the foot saying "oh no we increased our guest minimum on the only Saturday available for next year" Similar to the previous one, prior to offering the Saturday that originally wasn't available, ask us how many guests we are considering to be able to manage expectations of potential customers Read the room. We already emailed you asking about Saturdays, then we asked you about Sundays. This is clear sign that our expectations have shifted, and we are content with getting married at your venue on a Sunday. Alternatively, you once again threw out the Saturday without considering any repercussions

You had our business locked in for a Sunday, but now because of your lack of customer service and not caring about your customers, you have lost our business entirely. We have also told family, friends, neighbors and Coworkers about slimy sales tactics. But congrats, I heard there is a couple that has that date on hold and I am sure that you will get that 150-guest count. You guys keep taking advantage of a competitive industry, you'll continue to be very well respected in...

We attended a wedding here in late May, and unfortunately, the experience was disappointing. I'm going to focus on what didn't go well, raving reviews are plenty. The scenery at the farm is beautiful and it has its charm. Unfortunately, it was very cold towards the evening for May (~6 - 7°C ), and although space heaters were possibly available, they were never used. Most guests were freezing, which completely killed the mood or an otherwise promising wedding — especially later in the evening on the dance floor in an open area.

Dinner was minimal: basically only one large dish, not plated, and served on large communal platters that guests had to serve themselves. It came cold, and the whole setup of leaning over a large table full of glasses to get the food was a good recipe to break the many glasses and spill the wine bottles. For the desert we had to line up, and some guests who went late, did not get it. The wedding cake was small, it wasn’t shared with guests, instead some almost inedible cupcakes were provided for self serve. The bar had odd rules — drinks were only served if they were cocktails or had ice, which felt unnecessarily restrictive, especially on such a cold night.

Guests who came by shuttle from Hamilton were stuck until 1 a.m in the cold with no indoor space to wait, as there is no public transportation available except perhaps calling a taxi or Uber.

Overall, the venue offered a minimal service and seemed completely unprepared for cooler weather. Might work better on a warm summer day, as some other reviews mentioned, and some people may enjoy the less comfy, rustic environment, but I wouldn’t recommend it for cool weather.

Update: While I understand the owner's response and justification that the rating reflects the combined experience, I believe that the review may have value to others as it is aimed to provide readers with information and help them adjust accordingly in the light of the conditions provided. For example, driving their own car to the venue, choosing appropriate clothing for chilly days and given the size of the tables (large), choose individual serving instead of sharing large platters.

Also, it has to be noted that the bar rules are unusual to prevent guests getting non-cocktail alcoholic drinks.

I agree that the combination of local conditions and cold weather contributed to the discomfort and final evaluation, while a warmer day would have given us a more comfortable experience. I am glad to hear that the groom and the bride were happy with the outcome. In the end this is all...