Venue 5126 — Attraction in Oswego Township

We got married here in June and the main reason I chose this venue is because of the sunset and how stunning the location and barn is. However, we had a lot of issues. Looking back, I don't necessarily regret having my wedding here BUT there are a lot of venues to choose from and the staff here made it unenjoyable. We booked our wedding almost 2 years out and in the meantime, their "updates" have become tackier than before.

They added their branding to their white barn, extremely large, which was upsetting because we signed for the place when it was plain. They added an LED sign above the bar as well with their logo. They said they couldn't remove it either. Yes, because for my wedding I want your branding all over. Thirdly, we complained about the gravel lot in front of the doors. We booked this venue about 2 years out and the weekend AFTER our wedding, they changed the gravel to brick. This just proved that they did not listen to us nor tried to do this before our wedding when it was something we requested. Mind you, our wedding was in the middle of the summer (end of June, beginning of July) so it made no sense why they chose to upgrade it then. They don't communicate these changes. Again, with the branding, I was never notified I just saw they added these tacky updates one day on Instagram. They changed their pizza oven truck entirely a week before our wedding as well. The DJ we booked with them was unavailable a month before and they went with a whole new company. Again, no communication to your current brides but let's post it on Instagram. Also, would recommend NOT going with their DJ as this DJ was horrible and we got a full refund due to complaints. MyChef is their catering partner for food. While our initial taste test was good, our day of wedding food was horrible. Many guests complained to us afterwards about how inedible the food was. I got the chicken and had to send it back for salmon because I couldn't handle how salty it was. We didn't get any refund for this. The team at venue 5126 needs work. I personally think they lack some emotion when it comes to your big day. To them, this is their business but to brides, it is a once in a lifetime moment. We had many issues with them from the start. They are not very open to ANY new ideas. Their response is typically "this is how we do it so it will be done this way." They messed up my entrance walking down the aisle when we explained several times at what point to open the door. They rushed me to the door and I didn't even have a moment to breathe before they opened it. This is the most special moment and unfortunately it did not go as planned because of them. The florist does a good job but you really just need to trust her because she won't take much into consideration or have conversations with you. I found it very difficult to describe what I was looking for and she seemed frustrated when we asked questions. Overall, it's very hard to do things even slightly differently than what they always do and they made it very difficult. For the amount of money you pay, this should not the be the case As said in another review, you don't get the bridal suite until 1pm or so, so you must book it hours in advance. Not to mention, the money you are paying to book this space is still going on with tours! Yea, they have tours going on in the house on your wedding day.

This is a very beautiful property, but management needs major work. They seem to care more about the checks they are cashing than their couples. There was a lot of other issues but honestly, this review is long enough as is. So just be aware if you are booking here, you will likely need to do everything by their book. If you want more flexibility and a better experience with management, I would probably...

I had my wedding at this venue in August and I truly wanted to take a few weeks before I left this review because I know the impact of such things and wanted to share my experience with a clear head. I would first like to say, the staff was amazing - my issue lies with the specifics of the venue itself.

First, trust me when I say - find your own DJ, do not use the one they recommend. I should have known better, but thought nothing of it because they said everyone loves him. I should have known when we had our first call with him, 1 week before our wedding, to select songs for the reception. I specifically requested newer pop and country music because I knew the people attending the wedding were aged younger. Let’s just say, the only songs that were played were for 50 year olds. I had so many people coming up to me complaining about the music and saying that when they went up to request something else, that he literally told them no. No one danced. It was awful.

Secondly, when you pay a shit ton of money for a venue you expect to have the venue all day. It’s terrible that you have to pay $50 extra per hour to get ready there before 1:30 pm - WHEN YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE WALKING DOWN THE AISLE AT 4:00. My fiancé had to get ready somewhere else because he and the groomsmen weren’t allowed to be there until 1:30. Thank god my photographer was amazing (we picked her out ourselves), but she ended up driving to my house to take pictures of the men getting ready. Let me remind you - they market the Coop as a place for men to get ready. Also, it’s a crock a shit that they still conduct meetings and walk throughs for other couples on that day as well. I get it’s a business, but your wedding day is supposed to be intimate, not a fair for other people to waltz around in.

Furthermore, the landscape of the venue changed literally one week before our wedding. At this time we were still undecided if we wanted an outside wedding or an inside wedding; however, we were ultimately pushed to do an inside wedding because the venue decided to build a permanent tent on the ceremony spot outside. They didn’t send an email to booked weddings, letting them know that this was something that was going to happen, everyone found out literally from a post on Instagram. As a bride, when you book a venue, you have a specific idea of what you want your wedding to look like, let me just say, this tent looks like it belongs in a county fair. I was so upset I was literally trying to find a way out of our contract A WEEK BEFORE OUR WEDDING.

Continuing from the idea of what you want your wedding to look like, the backdrop of our ceremony was nothing like I asked the florist to do. I wanted all greenery on the cross ( I will post pictures of what I wanted and picture of what I got) and what I got was nothing like what I wanted. Like literally nothing.

Finally, my wedding pictures are not for your marketing gain. They are for me, my husband and family. I understand in the contract it states that they can ask our photographers for some of the pictures, but limit your use to one post. I paid for the pictures, you did not. If you’d like to continue using them, I can send you an invoice.

Please do more research for other venues before you book this one. I promise you, there is something else that is cheaper, more accommodating and intimate out there. Food was...

I really hate long reviews, so I'll sum it up first, and if you want to read what happened, be my guest! DON'T go around 5:30, go closer to 7:00. The drinks were terrible and watered down. The app we had would have been better if they didn't use cheap store bought gauc...it was so gross! I liked the chips just fine, my friend didn't. Terrible service. I've never had an issue with a restaurant with so many wait staff before. Usually it's because there's not enough staff. I gave two stars because the views are incredible, and the music was great. It was a beautiful place, sad we had such an awful experience.

We showed up around 5:15-5:30. It was so packed there was nowhere to sit. A ton of wait staff running around, no shortage on that. I saw 4 or 5 people gathered around a lamp pole with their dinner plates balancing on the ledge that held the pole. After about 15 mins, we found a dirty table that was pushed up to another dirty table. My friend and I didn't care, at least we could sit and order. Two other ladies grabbed the other table. It took at least 10 mins before the waitress acknowledged us. She took our order (2 drinks and an the gauc & chips app) at the same time she took the other couples' order. This is the part that REALLY got to me. We waited over 45 mins before getting our drinks. We were sitting right by the bar and she kept passing us, saying I'm sorry, it'll be right out. The other ladies got their drinks and kept saying how messed up this all was and why we never received ours. I could see a couple of drinks sitting at wait staff side of the bar that looked like they could be ours. I finally walked up to the bar to order myself, but then saw her on the other side. When I went over, she was super flustered, which I can understand because she's so busy, and said omg, I'm so sorry... it'll be out soon. I also mentioned to her that we never received our gauc & chips. She says to me, "Did you even order food?" I'm like 😳😳😳 My drink (which was their $12 house special) was so watered down it was barely pink. I looked at other people's drinks that were the same and theirs were dark pink. By the time we got our food, it was almost an hour and 15 mins later.... It couldn't be more obvious this waitress could care less about us.

In total, we spent over 2 hrs there, and if it wasn't out in the boonies, we would've left and gone somewhere else. Good thing they had good views/music, and my friend and I had a lot...