The Grand Ivory — Attraction in Farmersville

June 7th, 2018

The Grand Ivory was a very nice venue but some things didn’t go our way due to weather and rain showers near by which cause the power to go out for a total of 4.5 hours of the 12 we had for the day. There was no back up generator or secondary source of power to have in case of a situation like this. No personnel on staff with the venue was there the day of when the power went off to assist with an alarm that was going off for 45 minutes inside the barn. Finally we were able to contact someone and get “walked through” how to turn the high pitched alarm off. This all started around 4pm before our ceremony was getting ready to begin with all 85 guests arriving wondering what is going on. So the show must go on and the rain held up a little around 6pm (still no power since 4.) so thankfully, our DJ having a plan Incase power went out... plugged his speakers up to his car, ran an extension cord from his car battery to the chapel so we could have music to walk down the isle. He pretty much saved our day by going out of his way to do such a thing for us. So we continue on and finish the ceremony and go to the barn after the ceremony and the Dj moves his car to the barn to continue running his speakers and music from his car. We start eating dinner around 6:30-6:45 and the lights and power finally come on! After almost 3 hours of hectic confusion with no answers from anybody on what to do things finally worked out. So we eat and the night begins and start dancing and around 8:30 after having power back for an hour and a half, the power goes back off... it’s dark now. No bathroom lights or anything....Thankfully the DJ rigs his music back up to his car to continue the fun dancing and with the candle lights on the tables, that was all we had to work with. The power was off the rest of the night past 11 o’clock and our parents were cleaning up our belongings in complete darkness after our grand exit. All in all it was let down. I understand it is a new venue and there are kinks to be worked out but come on... have a generator on site or get one brought out to the venue if something like that happens. We had 85 guests all standing around wondering what the deal is with an alarm and no power in the buildings or restrooms. It’s just disappointing to have your day go like that and again I get that nobody has control over weather, but there could have been an employee with the grand ivory or someone to help assist with the facility operations when things happen. Again, beautiful venue and layout, but poorly prepared for such a...

This venue is an absolute dream! From the first time I toured it, I fell in love and knew right away that this was where I wanted to get married at. The property itself is immaculate. You have the arches where you can get some incredible pictures at, the barn where you can host the reception, the open-air chapel for the ceremony, and the bride and groom cottages where you can get ready at. For the day of, there is even a golf cart that is used to shuttle guests from the parking area to the chapel. Parker and Jessica were the gems, they really helped make my wedding so perfect and I will forever be grateful for them.

I do wish they offered a point of contact or a phone number from the get-go. I had to communicate via email until even after I booked the venue and had to ask for a point of contact or a phone number. Furthermore, we did not receive adequate rehearsal time. Since our wedding was on a Saturday, our rehearsal time was supposed to be that preceding Friday. When I reached out to the Grand Ivory to get my rehearsal time booked for Friday, they let me know that they had booked a wedding for that Friday. I’m still confused why they failed to email or call me as soon as that happened. Their solution was to have my rehearsal during that week, either Wednesday or Thursday. Unfortunately, every single person of my wedding party (except for two) did not live in DFW and the ones that did had work so that was not even plausible. After some haggling via email, Parker was able to give me 20 minutes the morning of the wedding for my rehearsal. I am so thankful that he did that for me, BUT, management has to think of a better solution.

At the end of the day, I got to marry my best friend at the most beautiful venue and that's all...

Went to a wedding. Way out there location. Nice ceremony, nice scenery & houses. Reception location is good sz. Chuy's did an awesome job with the food. Decorated nice. Now let me say what needs to be improved, from a guest view point. The parking lot is gravel. They say on the website a golf cart is used to bring guests to & from. The golf cart was there- but was never used. It is a LONG walk to the venue. And I (& most women) were wearing heels. Never been here, didn't know if my husband could've dropped me off or not at the front. So, we just walked. Shoes were dirty after that & gravel isn't stable for heels. The area for the service is open on the sides, nice breeze. But I really felt bad for the wedding party the sun was right on them & it was hot this weekend. I can't imagine how hot that is during summer months. It is Texas after all. Fans would've helped them. So keep your ceremony short. Had to wait outside the venue for reception for cocktail hour. No shade, sun blaring. Roll down shades would've been great & fans. Inside the reception, again people had the sun in there faces at the tables. Tinting the windows & doors will fix that. Highly recommend that be done. And afterwards, had to walk in the dark to the parking lot. Needs to be lit up. Especially if the golf cart is not being used. I have no idea how much this place charged. But you shouldn't advertise a golf cart for use, if you do not use it. Just glad there wasn't any elderly or handicapped people. But there is a gravel circle to drop someone off. So if you go here. Get dropped off. Won't help the person...