The Madison — Attraction in Riverside Township

It's so tough to write a review when so much went so well but so much also went so wrong. Booking The Madison for our wedding day was our first vendor booked. Meeting with Thomas and communicating with The Madison up until about 5 months pre wedding was a delight. Thomas is the best BUT he may over promise his same service across his team, which can not be matched.

Leading up to our wedding day we had to ensure everything was properly written down, Thomas talks a mile a minute which for some may be great but for others it may cause for confusion. So notes and following up to confirm via email will be your best friend. The Madison also doesn't give much leeway to their management team to make decisions so many of your questions will get lost in communications because if Thomas can't say yes, he may pass it off to Jessica, who may pass it off to ownership. Normally by the time it reaches that status, the answer is NO. Which happened to be an answer we found we were hitting quite often.

NOW let's discuss food. Our initial food tasting was not great, the food was very poor and service the same. We did email The Madison that evening with our concerns, and were shocked to hear from them that they heard the exact opposite from others. We were invited back for a 2nd tasting. The food was MUCH better this time, but we couldn't help but feel due to our opinions that they would make sure this 2nd tasting would be ideal. Our disappointment this time around is that we were not approached until we were about to leave from Thomas. Not to mention we were also never approached by the Chef. Seems like a small ask. Unfortunately the food they day of wound up meeting our initial expectations, dry chicken, flavorless food and poor service. Really ruined our "perfect day"

About a monthish before the wedding we handled most of our details via email due to some back and forth we just wanted to make sure everything was properly documented. As the date grew closer we had a few regrets but one of the top regrets was booking The Madison. We were heartbroken pre wedding just knowing the day would not be absolute perfection. In addition, other vendors we worked with made commentary that they will not work with The Madison again as they made it difficult and not easy.

Of course details like rain were out of our control but I can tell you Thomas, his team and our outside vendors did everything they could in regards to our rain plan. We did hear from our guests that they felt a bit rushed when first getting into the venue, employees yelling at them to come into the ceremony space when they were waiting for a family member or friend to get out of the bathroom. DID NOT LOVE THAT.

When it came time to getting ready our if you want to call it "maitre d" was no where to be found. I went upstairs multiple times for different items, as did my girls. The Madison had her and her assistant working on tasks for the evening rather than aiding to our needs. We also wound up relocating the food in the girls room the guys room our selves because again the staff was no where to be found.

On to my biggest frustration, let's talk cleanliness! The venue is filled with dust and the floors outside of the main areas are not cleaned. The day prior I dusted the lights in the bathroom and specifically requested to Thomas that these forgotten places be cleaned. This wound up not getting done. The day of I was also turned off with the flooring in the bridal suite. I am expected to put my wedding gown on in this space?

At the end of the night The Madison packed up our decorations, going home we found we had more to clean up. Melted wax left in candle sticks, votives and hurricanes. Along with the blown out candle left behind with very little left to the candle. Would it have been much of an ask to remove the candle to avoid the mess?

I will tell you The Madison should be so grateful to have Thomas there as well as Bishoy, however if it weren't for these two this venue would fail at all events and wedding. Please consider your guests experience...

The people you hire make a difference! This is going to be a longer review because I cannot express how different and amazing of an experience we had with The Madison. There were three things that mattered when we went to visit a venue: the place looked nice, the food was good, and the people were people who would have your back if anything went wrong. The Madison is gorgeous, the food is incredible, and Jessica, Kailey, and Thomas are exactly who you want for your wedding! We got so many compliments during and after our reception! Once we restarted our wedding planning (thank you Covid), we were planning on having a less than 100-person wedding. Many places told us they couldn’t accommodate such a small wedding because we wouldn’t meet their “minimum amount spent.” Other places that still let us visit had managers that were rude or inconsiderate. They also did not seem to care if Covid could again interrupt it. Then I spoke with Jessica. Everything was a confident “Yes, we can accommodate that” or “don’t worry, we have plans in place.” She made me feel important even with a small wedding and was always quick to respond. When we went to tour the Madison, we met with Kailey. She was so great! She was warm and funny and made us feel welcome. She answered all our questions quickly. I was already impressed with how beautiful the place was when she showed us the Décor closet that housed many things that we could use without having to purchase or pay a rental fee! We had gone in thinking that The Madison might have been a little out of our budget but the fact that they could save us so much money in décor alone helped. Kailey continued to have great communication after meeting us and made us feel confident that we were making the right decision. Also, she made some of the signs for our reception and they were so cute! A few months before the wedding, we started talking with Thomas about the food and coordination. He even walked me through how the ceremony should go even though we were having it elsewhere! Thomas is so incredibly helpful! He has great recommendations, is quick to come up with solutions, extremely reassuring, and very accessible. When we had some issues with our final guest count, he helped me to relax and figure it out. He made sure we were going to be thrilled with our food, that everything would look nice, and be exactly how we wanted it. I never once felt pressured to do something one way or like I would have to compromise on anything. Thomas met with me two days before when I dropped off our things and carefully went over it with a list to not only make sure we had it all, but so he would know exactly what went back home with us. On the actual day of, Thomas set out food and drinks for us to have some alone time before joining the party. He handled any issues that came up, including with my veil and bustle, and our cake topper falling over (which was actually pretty funny). EVERYONE told us how kind and entertaining he was and they were impressed by how he kept things moving without being pushy. He really made sure everything would be perfect. Thomas even made us some to-go boxes from our late-night cravings bar! Lastly, the Madison itself is absolutely beautiful. It’s clean and everything is well maintained, especially the little waterfall area. The menu was so customized to our tastes and everyone enjoyed their meals! If you’re thinking about the Madison, DO IT! It is worth every single...

Our wedding day at The Madison in Riverside, NJ was truly beautiful. The venue looked stunning, everything ran smoothly, and we received so many compliments from our guests on how delicious the food was and how lovely the space looked. The staff on the day of the wedding were super friendly and helpful, even going out of their way to accommodate a couple of special photo requests—like opening the Wine Cellar gates for our wedding portraits. Those small touches made the day feel seamless and special, and we’re very grateful for that. However, there were also challenges. One staff member was initially unfriendly toward my brothers and my dad until she realized they were immediate family, which was disappointing to witness. We originally booked The Madison largely because of their event coordinator, Thomas. From our first meeting, he was warm, organized, and genuinely invested in making our day special. His professionalism—and his assurance that by booking the Wine Cellar we would have sole use of the venue on our wedding day—was a major reason we chose The Madison. Unfortunately, Thomas left partway through our planning process, and we were reassigned to two other coordinators. By the time we were working with our third coordinator, the venue had transitioned to new ownership. Each transition meant re-explaining our vision, re-sharing details, and reconfirming decisions we had already made. Some of the promises Thomas had made to us were no longer honored under the new owners, which caused confusion and stress in the final weeks leading up to the wedding. The biggest shock came the morning of our wedding. We arrived expecting to have the venue to ourselves, only to discover that the space had been rented out for a baby shower on the same day. We had no prior warning—our first notice was seeing the other event in full swing when we arrived. It was awkward and stressful to be greeted by baby-shower guests asking who we were. When my mom asked about it, she was told they “hoped” the baby shower would be finished by 3:00 p.m. She understandably replied, “What do you mean hope? My daughter’s wedding starts at 4:30.” That moment was incredibly unprofessional and disheartening on what should have been a calm and joyful morning. To try to make up for the broken promises and the stress of the coordinator changes, the venue offered us both a donut wall and a complimentary breakfast stand on the wedding day. While we appreciated the gestures, they didn’t fully make up for the stress we endured. I was also a bit disappointed in the Wine Cellar breakfast selection itself—I had expected a full continental breakfast, but it was just bagels, pastries, and parfaits. Another downside was the vendor restriction: couples are required to use the venue’s contracted bakery, Sweet T’s Bake Shop. Our wedding cake unfortunately had a strong chemical taste and odor (especially the cookies-and-cream tier), which many guests noticed. In the end, our wedding day was still gorgeous and memorable thanks to our loved ones and the accommodating day-of staff, but the overall planning experience fell short of what we hoped for when we booked with Thomas. For couples considering The Madison: the venue itself is beautiful, the food was very well-received, and most of the staff were wonderful to work with—but I highly recommend confirming every promise in writing, especially regarding exclusive use of the venue and...