Highgrove Estate — Attraction in Fuquay-Varina

Brides beware.

This venue is absolutely gorgeous and the food and cocktails are amazing, but the people running it lack a moral compass (and you will be nickled and dimed for ev-ery-thing).

All I can say is be thankful you were not an early 2020 bride-to-be. When the venue cancelled our wedding, they gave us the choice to have either a Monday or Thursday wedding in the fall, yet, they were going to charge us the same rate as our original weekend date during the regular season.

When we tried to move our wedding to the spring of 2021, as Covid was still raging, they said that those dates were for new clients only. We were devastated as we had remained loyal to them, even with the weekday wedding relegation. I had to email them from a different address pretending to be someone brand new to find out when the open spring dates were. And there were so many.

When I reached out to them from my normal email address and told them of my newfound knowledge, they flatly told me again that those were not for us but new customers only. My husband and I were LIVID. We were living through an unprecedented pandemic, not simply flip-flopping on when we wanted to get married. They were merciless and so rude.

Thankfully, it came to light that our signed contract with them stated we were allowed to change our wedding date to one within 365 days of the original day, as long as we put down another deposit (which was absolutely ridiculous considering it was an act of God that got our wedding cancelled in the first place). They begrudgingly had to accept it, but by that time I had already been crying and crying as to how this venue had treated an incredibly loyal couple. Their original perkiness was such a facade—they only cared about the fact they had to follow the contract.

For any potential brides looking at this venue, make sure you read all the fine print; do not let them fool you that they actually care about you and your big day, you are a dollar sign; do not expect any enthusiasm from your wedding planner, as ours seemed very checked out during the whole process; and make SURE they package up and give you any extra food at the end of your wedding that guests who cancelled last minute would’ve eaten.

They told us they would, but that didn’t happen. When we called them the next day about it, they gave us a hard time. We stood firm on it, because that is money WE spent, and they finally agreed to it, but we had to drive almost 2 hours round-trip just to pick it all up. They should have just given it to us the night of like they said they would. Even the day after the wedding they were still being sketchy and rude.

I thought I was over everything, as this was 2+ years ago, but my blood is boiling yet again writing this long...

We cannot say enough good things about our experience at Highgrove Estate! We had our wedding here in August 2025 and it was the most perfect day, hugely due to the venue. Our guests raved about the excellent service, the kind staff, delicious food and the general beauty of the venue. We absolutely loved that it was a pretty all-inclusive venue to include food, bar, linens, cake, etc. as there are not many venues that offer that in the area.

Communication-- Since booking the year before, all invoices, menus/price lists, and other details were clearly communicated in our portal (Releventful) where we had an open line of communication with all staff and vendors. It was nice to have one place to find all information provided by the venue. While we only virtually met with our day of coordinator once, we were able to message at any time and receive prompt responses. Angela was able to message vendors directly as well, taking that off my plate during the wedding weekend.

Food-- we chose an entree not provided at the tasting and it turned out absolutely delicious! The presentation was great as well. The cocktail h'our devours were delicious and guests loved the fry bar we added! We were grateful to be able to add a second bar for a pretty reasonable price. Angela, our coordinator, made sure we were given appetizers and drinks during cocktail hour up in the suite while we were away from guests and also packed us up food to go at the end of the night. The krispy kreme flambe was amazing and we were so excited to share with guests!

Cake-- the fact that cake is included in all tier packages is wonderful! It made the process very easy. We picked a chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream and chocolate ganache and it was delicious! We upgraded to get a design on our cake and it could not have been more perfect-- it was beautiful!

Decor/ambience-- Highgrove provides most of the decor and furniture that would be needed for a wedding (cocktail hour seating, tables, couches, bars, etc.) which was great! We added minimal decor because we felt the venue was beautiful enough on its own. The string light ceiling inside the ballroom is stunning and the back patio for cocktail hour/ceremony is beautiful. Inside, the suites and the living room areas are beautifully furnished.

It could not have been a more perfect space for our wedding and we cannot thank the Highgrove staff enough for welcoming our guests and making it a magical day! It was so nice to be hands off and not worry about anything the weekend of the wedding. We trusted them and their vision completely and they did...

Dear Highgrove Estate and Highgrove cakes staff,

What can I say about a venue that does it all... Everything was seamless from start to finish. Our guests were so well taken care of and you made everyone in our wedding party feel so special. I planned my own wedding, which I truly feel was only possible with the coordination of the Highgrove staff.

You attended to every detail, and made it so easy on us. You were the reason we were able to soak in all of those special moments and just be present. The day went by so quickly but we did have a little time to slow down and enjoy it. That would not have been possible without you.

None of the vendors ever asked us for a thing, and I know it was a direct reflection of the efforts that you all put in.

A special thank you to Angela, wedding coordinator extraordinaire. You are so kind, patient, and understanding. You helped us to avoid a hair and makeup mishap on the day of the wedding. I am forever grateful to you. Everything worked out because you gave me the time and the tools to take care of it. Thank you for having someone wait with me before I went down the aisle, I was a bit too frazzled to read her name tag, but I ran into her several times throughout the night. She was lovely and personable, and I felt comforted by her presence. (Update, I found out later that this was Diane. Thank you Diane!)

To the restaurant staff: what and incredible meal! My new husband cleaned his plate and though I was too nervous to do so, I did get a taste of everything. It was hot, fresh, and delicious. Even the vegan chauffeur for the Rolls Royce said it was amazing. One of my guests thanked me for the spaghetti squash (a special meal prepared outside of the normal menu) and said it was tasty as well.

To the baker: wow, what a cake! Not only was it timelessly beautiful, it was hands down the best cake I have ever had. I know you have heard this many times because cakes like yours deserve to be complimented regularly, but I wanted to reiterate. I think every cake I have from here on out will be compared to our wedding cake, and there is no contest.

There were likely too many behind the scenes things that happened for us to know about that so many people contributed to. It was the best day of my life. We are also happy to share any pictures from Rachel for you to use. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you all. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart.

Warm...