Separk Mansion — Attraction in Gastonia

Our experience with Separk was beyond words. I dragged my fiancé to 10+ venues around the Charlotte area without finding one that checked all the boxes, but the second we stepped foot into Separk we knew it was perfect. First of all, it's simply stunning with a gorgeous flow of outdoor and indoor spaces, and a rain plan that we would've been perfectly happy with had the weather not cooperated. The old-timey Italian ballroom complete with stunning chandeliers, a beautiful staircase, and the black and white tile room allowed us to envision a reception that wouldn't require too much decor. We also loved the getting ready suites upstairs and of course the outdoor gardens. What really sold us on Separk, though, were the amazing coordinators. These girls are so professional, knowledgeable, and kind, and we felt certain we were in good hands.

We chose the all-inclusive package which was great for us because it meant that cake, catering, bar, linens, centerpieces, etc were all taken care of. It also meant we had 2 months of planning included. For a type-A bride like me, it was a little hard to wait until 2 months out to start the planning meetings but Separk is a well-oiled machine and none of the planning felt rushed. We were on our own to lock down our other vendors, but Separk provided some great recommendations that we used.

One great thing that Separk does is a "grand tasting" twice a year for all their couples who have weddings in the coming months. This allowed us to test out the caterer, meet some vendors and other couples, and experience being a guest in our own venue. We were slightly disappointed in the food itself on the day of the tasting because it was cold, but the problem was resolved and we were able to have a second tasting later on, including one with a second caterer that Separk set up so we could have multiple options. The food ended up being great on the day-of!

The planning process was also great. We worked with Christine who patiently answered all of my questions and follow-up emails quickly and with kindness. They truly think of everything and helped build out the full-day timeline. I believe we had 3 meetings total and it was plenty of time to work through all of the little details. I appreciated that they had experience doing things like a cookie table (I'm from Pittsburgh and it was important to me to have one!), and were willing to do what it would take to bring our vision to life, including opening the French doors during our reception to have an indoor/outdoor feel which we loved. We felt confident that everything would be perfect.

A few days before the wedding, Christine let us know that she had gotten sick and that Caylea would be filling in as our day-of coordinator. This last-minute change was unexpected but Christine reassured me she had gone over everything with Caylea and things would go smoothly. Caylea kindly got on the phone with me for an hour as we talked through all the details and small things I had brought up to Christine through the planning process. As promised, Christine had given Caylea the complete run-down and no detail was left unmentioned. I felt so calm going into Saturday knowing that this change would not affect my day.

Everything about our wedding could not have been nicer. I gasped when I saw how beautifully everything had been set up and Caylea did a great job moving things along throughout the day and into the night. If anything went wrong, I certainly didn't notice! Our schedule ran a little behind (our fault) but Caylea worked with our DJ to rearrange some events in the timeline and things still flowed seamlessly. I also had a fashion emergency at the end of the night where my dress came un-bustled but Caylea sprang into action and pinned my dress back into place. Then, they kindly let us go past our end-time so that I could have one last fun dance with everyone before the send-off.

Huge thank you to everyone at Separk, especially Christine and Caylea, for giving us the wedding of our dreams. We truly could not have had a...

There is no doubt that Separk Mansion is a picturesque place to get married. We fell in love with the venue and all of the beautiful spaces it offered (ballroom, gardens, veranda, bridal suite). Our wedding in May 2022 was a wonderful, fairy tale, magical day. However, the planning process with the team at Separk was not ideal. When we first booked with Caylea, things started out pretty smoothly. Later on as our wedding day approached, we were assigned to the new wedding coordinator who did not have any experience with wedding coordinating at all. Despite several planning meetings and emails where every single detail was discussed multiple times, many details on our wedding day were not carried out to plan. Some details were carried through correctly like centerpieces and personal decor, but despite all 3 coordinators being present on our wedding day, simple things that we requested and had confirmed with our coordinator were not carried out. Special dietary meals that we paid for were not brought out to guests, our DJ was not greeted and helped upon his arrival, our timeline of the day did not flow unless we or our bridal party spoke up, the Separk and catering staff did not wear masks as we had requested and had been told would definitely happen, coordinators began packing up our wedding decor very early during the reception while in view of guests, our car was brought around front WAY too early, among other important details that were not seen to fruition. Also, during the rehearsal and on the wedding day, our coordinator was arguing with bridal party members about lining up and the timing of walking out.

The other part of this process that was frustrating was how we noticed that Separk would increase prices on our invoice without informing us. There were a few occasions where Separk did not hold true to our contract and became unprofessional at times, making us (the clients who are already paying thousands of dollars) feel guilty and bad about asking for them to simply hold up their end of the contract. To top it all off, when my parents received their refunded $500 security deposit in the mail after the wedding, the name was written out completely wrong (Separk was unable to copy a name properly from an email). Thankfully my dad was able to still deposit it, but when I called Shannon to let her know of the error, I remained professional while she had an attitude, did not apologize, and hung up on me. Overall, we attribute having a lovely wedding day to our friends, family, bridal party, and vendors, as well as the stunning spaces and views at Separk Mansion. The vendors we used for flowers, photography, cake, videography, and DJ were incredible and contributed to our enjoyment of our wedding day.

Even though I would not recommend it, if you choose to have your wedding at Separk I highly suggest you keep close tabs on your invoices, paperwork, and details from the coordinator. Read everything closely and be very clear on what you want and expect. Even though we did that and were very clear, our experience was not great. They use the term "all inclusive," yet that is rather misleading so ask questions. We hope that the Separk team increases their professionalism and chooses to serve future couples with respect, kindness, and positive...

Beautiful, amazing, elegant, luxurious, tasteful, fantastic, were just a few of the words I kept hearing our guests use to describe Separk this past Saturday night for our daughter's wedding reception.

When we first met with the owner, Shannon, a year ago, we had no idea our event would turn out so perfect. She carefully explained the entire process and the documents that we signed were very thorough and left nothing undefined. She was very easy to communicate with when we had questions. The best thing she did for us was suggest one of her day of coordinators (DOC).

It was truly a delight to work with our DOC Brittanie as well as Holly and their other staff members. We were a little different in that we were having our ceremony at a church 25 miles away, so we were not on site the day of to finalize all of the tiny details. Brittanie called ALL vendors at least twice to insure they knew what to do, when to do it, and where to do it.

We took to SUV loads of decorations and props over the day before and reviewed with Brittanie approximately where we would like it placed. We were a little worried that it wouldn't be just like we wanted but we were so wrong. She text us pictures on our way over and they were perfect. When we arrived it was as if our daughter had been transported into the dream she had had on many occasions.

The best part about working with Separk and their staff was that my wife and I got to enjoy the event. We let Brittanie worry about what was going on behind the scenes and we spent time with our guests and enjoying the night. We had an absolute blast and would not change a single thing if we were doing it again this weekend.

My friends know that I am one to try and pinch pennies, but for this event we hired the best caterer, the best florist, the best photographer, the best baker, and we had the event at the best location in the Charlotte area. I spent way too much money and blew the budget that I swore we would keep, but we created so many good memories this past weekend it was all worth it! You only get one opportunity to do your daughters wedding right, and Separk helped us surpass our...