Tudor House at Mason's Cove — Attraction in New Franklin

Beautiful Venue – Nightmare Ownership

The Tudor House is a stunning venue, but the ownership behind it is a nightmare. We paid a premium for a Sunday on a holiday weekend, believing our event would go until 10:00 PM, as stated in the contract. Only 6 months before the wedding, we found out it actually had to end at 9:00 PM, with last call at 8:45 PM. This was never clearly explained up front, the contract is worded in a misleading way. When addressed, the owner Tim wasn’t accommodating in the slightest.

Communication was horrible. They never answer their phone (go ahead and try — I encourage you). It felt intentional, as if they were avoiding communication to control the narrative and create ambiguity that benefited them. They frequently changed policies mid-planning. They also discouraged us from using outside vendors and pushed their “preferred” ones — because they get a kickback.

To make matters worse, a few guests overheard negative comments from staff about my culture and our traditions. It was disappointing and, frankly, inappropriate. Despite how beautiful our wedding was, they never posted a single photo on their social media — which felt telling of their biases (take it as you will).

They also offered me a deal to use rental chairs left over from the wedding before mine essentially double-dipping after the previous bride had already paid for them. That was one of many red flags. They’re constantly looking for ways to nickel and dime couples even if it means profiting off the bride before you.

Then came the refund fiasco. We were promised a $650 refund for the unused boat rental, which we canceled due to weather — per their recommendation. A friend took us out on their personal boat instead. Still, we never saw the refund. Instead, they added bogus charges to wipe it out, including: • $650 vendor overtime fee — even though vendors left by 11:10 PM and the contract only allows $300/hour after a 10-minute grace period.

• $250 “excessive cleaning” fee — over a wrapper and a mouthpiece, with no photo evidence or report provided.

We were supposed to receive $1,150 back (boat + deposit), and instead got $350. The rest was kept through surprise charges that violated their own terms. It’s clear they saw the refund owed and invented charges to keep it. They also never stated anywhere we couldn't have a co2 machine with our DJ only mention about cold sparks. The day of the wedding they didn't let our DJ set up what we had paid for & took a loss on that.

I will say — Monica and Sophia were amazing. They’re kind, hardworking women under very poor leadership. The owner constantly blames the city for all the restrictions(cop out), but on our wedding day we met another bride at a dock across the lake who said she had the exact same issues — surprise charges, vendor drama, and all the above. This is a pattern.

The lack of transparency, bait-and-switch tactics, and the way they gaslight you into thinking it’s your fault is unacceptable.

If you’re considering booking this venue, don’t let the beauty blind you. The venue is gorgeous, no doubt. But the ownership will take advantage of you if you’re not careful — and by the time you realize it, it"ll be too late to back out.

I hate writing reviews like this, but I’d feel unethical not to. I’d bet money the owner Tim will respond with something defensive or dismissive — just like he always does. It’s never about accountability or improving the client experience. It’s about protecting his reputation and deflecting blame.

Update: As expected, the owner responded w/ false claims to try & paint me as the issue. That only highlights his lack of leadership & professionalism. The "well-respected planner” I later fired, go ahead & Google Elegant Events by Maria, & read the reviews. As for my vendors, they were amazing to work with. A wedding should be the most special day of your life, & your venue should be the last of your worries. Future couples, feel free to reach out to me directly. I’m happy to...

Just got married here and its every bit as beautiful as the pictures! Unfortunately, the experience of dealing with the management was an absolute nightmare. Some of the worst customer service I have ever received in my life. I was a very low key bride, and was looking to do things as easily and stress free as possible, and this vendor made the months leading up to my wedding and the day of my wedding very painful. Fortunately, all my other vendors were fabulous, and saved the day, but I really wanted to get this review out there, because I genuinely do not want any other brides experiencing what I did.

This venue offers ZERO assistance, and ZERO onsite support the day of. In our initial meeting they even told us that we needed to bring our own trash bags for the trash cans... If you are planning on getting married here, hire a wedding planner, and a catering company that are willing to move your chairs from the ceremony site to the reception site for you. They offer NOTHING. and the manager, Cherie, takes great pleasure in telling you everything they don't offer by the way... thank God for Sully's rentals.

They nickle and dime you to death. Every single time I called Cherie, I got off the phone in tears. On one occasion, I asked if we could just store our decorations in the basement (which btw is where the men get ready, its DISGUSTING and Dingy, and smells. My photographer refused to even go down there) and she responded "Nope! You didnt pay for extra hours on another day, so you are not allowed to be on the property. She literally was going to charge me to drop off 3 boxes and store them in the molded basement.... again, hire a wedding planner and a good caterer.

She rented out my venue the night before my wedding so we had no rehearsal. The day of, we were all scrambling to figure out where to go

She rented out my venue the very next day (Sunday) where they proceeded to use every single drop of my rentals. My tent, air conditioners, place settings, linens, everything. She claims every wedding party had to pay for the tent which means, well over 5,000 dollars that weekend in JUST tent rentals.... I'm pretty sure there was a very dishonest deal made for Sunday. I would have been more than happy to share all my rentals with another wedding party that weekend, but then the price should have been split down the middle. When I went for my final walk through, she informed me that I didn't pay for extra hours in the morning.... THATS CORRECT, I didn't get my venue for the whole day, i got it for just the hours of my event. I had to pay an extra $500 dollars the week of my wedding for a venue I had already paid $5,000 dollars for.

On the day of my wedding my wedding planner called her three times, because we didn't know where electric was, there was a HORNETS nest next to my tables, and we didnt know how to hookup the air-conditioners. She also texted her.... Cherie called her back 15 minutes before my ceremony started at 3:30 PM (5 hours later). Obviously we had to go out and BUY EPI pens because we had people who were allergic.

There is no lighting on the outside property after dark, and a few of my guests fell on the hill.

No one wanted to use the disgusting port o'potties that are placed next to a giant trash bin, so the line for the inside bathroom was 30 minutes long all night. BTW this is 5,000 dollar venue with port o potties.... enough said.

There is no air-conditioning and you are not allowed to open the windows in the bridal suite so our faces were melting off, and my makeup artist had to keep applying.

I could keep going but I think you get the point. The worst part was this... This venue ruined a lot of the beauty and magic of my wedding day. I have pretty thick skin, and her abrasive and rude attitude made me cry multiple times. The last thing I want is some poor, young bride getting taken advantage of. Go to a hotel, find a wedding planner, and call it a day! This place is pretty, but...

This is going to be a long one, but I feel like I owe it to future couples to share our full experience with Tudor House so they can make an informed decision.

My wife works as a Sales and Event Manager at a 2,000-capacity venue, has a degree in Hospitality and Event Management, and comes from a family in the event rental business. She knows this industry inside and out, and we both went into Tudor House with realistic expectations and a lot of respect for the venue. Unfortunately, our experience was frustrating from start to finish.

When we toured, the owner spoke about upgrades coming to the property: a new event center, an updated ceremony space, and more rooms in the house. We were told specifically that the exterior of the event center would be finished by our wedding and that the additional rooms would be available. These upgrades were part of what made us book—but none of them were done by the time of our wedding.

Our contract stated our rental was from 10am to 11pm, with no extra fees mentioned. We later found out that 11pm wasn’t actually the end time, but when vendors had to be off-site, meaning music and bar service had to end earlier. On top of that, we were charged $150/hour for time we thought was included. This was technically in fine print, but never clearly explained upfront.

We were also told we’d have access to a seasonal wedding guide with inventory, vendor lists, and planning help. We asked multiple times but were told to wait until a new version came out. We didn’t receive it until four months before our wedding—well after most planning was finalized—and it contained information we should’ve had much earlier.

Our deposit refund, supposed to be returned within 30 days, took 46 and only came after multiple follow-ups.

Rentals were another headache. Because of my wife’s industry connections, we planned to handle rentals ourselves. After building our order, we were told certain items weren’t allowed and that all orders required venue approval—something never mentioned before. When bad weather meant we needed tent walls, we weren’t allowed to work directly with the vendor (who we personally knew and who actually owned the tent) and instead had to go through Tudor House, paying full price without access to the discount we normally could’ve received.

On the wedding day, things we paid for simply didn’t happen—like the lawn games included in our package. We were refunded, but it was still a letdown.

Access to the space was also unnecessarily limited. Only two meetings were included in our rental: the intro and final walkthrough. Any additional visits—even though we had already paid for the venue—cost extra. Staff also showed up late to two of our three meetings. For my wife, who manages events herself, this was especially shocking. She’ll meet with clients as often as needed at no charge.

Payments were disorganized as well. Our “final payment” was due six months before the wedding, which is unusual. Even then, it didn’t include our add-ons or extra hours, so we had to make more payments later. A true final payment should be closer to the wedding and cover everything at once.

When we shared all of these concerns with the owner, the response we received was: “I’m not sure what issues you still feel need resolved. I feel like we have taken a lot of time to answer each concern in great detail.” No apology, no accountability, and no attempt to make anything right.

What makes this experience so disappointing isn’t just the fine print in the contract—it’s how often the owner’s words directly contradicted what was in writing, creating false expectations. And when those contradictions caused problems, we were met with indifference.

The Tudor House is beautiful, but beauty isn’t enough. Professionalism, transparency, and genuine care matter so much more—especially on your wedding day. We regret booking here, and I strongly encourage other couples to proceed...