The First Lady of Suffolk — Attraction in Suffolk

Brides PLEASE read!! Heed these tidbits!! VENUE: At my booking I was told, crystal glasses, fine china, those red streamer things wrapped up in the chandler were left over from Christmas, the lawn would be landscaped, fresh paint on the deck, etc., so I booked with this in mind. I found out that those streamer "could not be removed", they gave out plastic solo cups to my guests for their wine!!!!! Plastic cups!!! The nerve, lol. Thankfully, it was rectified after some words. The lawn was done, but weeds were already taking over by Aug 2nd. The porch was painted, but not sanded, so it’s a thick coat of bumpy paint. The patio chairs are peeling, & guests got white paint chips on clothing. Upon arrival for rehearsal some sewage spill happened near the gazebo in the parking lot, it smelled awful, luckily, I spoke up and it was hosed down. I added 2 extra hrs to my event time, so glad I did, she was adament that I wouldn’t need it, ha! I needed it! The $ I saved booking here thinking I had a great deal, was made up by hiring an outside decorator. DECORATIONS: Please hire your own decorator! It will make the world of difference, I'm so glad I did! I visited a few times throughout the year just to gather ideas & each time I found something new that I was unhappy with. They do not iron their tablecloths or chair covers & it looks a hot wrinkled mess with a wrinkled thrown together bow sash on the back, I asked could they be ironed and was told they do NOT iron. The table chargers provided were scratched, scuffed & had huge black squares in the middle of some of them, which I saw during their setup at one of my impromptu visits. I ended up ordering chivari chairs, and my decorator/coordinator brought in tablecloths, napkins & a few other details, which really made the venue pop. Again, it’s a beautiful venue just in need of some Major TLC! They can be accommodating but you have to press hard for what you want, like a table on the stage, they wanted me to get married with a table behind me on stage, uh No. I had to fight and fight to get it removed & it was removed. They wanted me to get married reception style with tables already set up, again big NO! It was $300 for the room flip; I was happy to oblige. FOOD: Terrible!! We had garlic rotisserie chicken (hard & dry), corn (basic), herb roasted potatoes (hard as bricks, they were literally uneatable, everyone complained about them), I paid extra ($0.90pp) to upgrade to tender crisp string beans (they were soggy and cold), I also upgraded to wild-caught Salmon ($3.90pp), It was spectacular! Best item! Fresh bread was also good. The Hors d’oeuvres: the meatballs were great, & I upgraded to a shrimp searing station, I didn’t get any, they closed it down, not even an hour had passed, & me, the bride asked the attendant & was told no. RUDE! I paid $3.90 extra per person for what? I feel a time limit should have been expressed to me up front, if that were the case so I could have made sure at least the bride and groom got some. However, I was told it tasted spectacular! All of the food was put away rather early in the night approx. an hr after dinner began. I wanted more, and we were not allowed to take any, so I thought it would be nice to be out for a while. Yes, I understand health codes, etc. but still. PROFESSIONALISM: It was extremely hard to maintain contact during my 18mos that I booked out. I could barely make payments. No one ever answered the phone or emails, & when they did it was days later at 8-9pm wanting payment. Jen the manager, was constantly was telling me about Mickie, the owners, medical status & all that was going on in his life, & I was just like that’s none of my business & sort of unethical. Another thing that unnerved me a bit was Jen’s strong input on everything our tastes were total opposite! Also, she kept walking around during my reception, & people were asking me who she was. I would have preferred her stay in the back, I’m sorry to sound so offensive, but bridezilla here. She was limping around on her cane just all in the mix & clearly...

I recently attended a wedding held at this location. The building is aged but still beautiful inside for and event. What detracts from the desirability of this location, besides the lack of lawn maintenance, the missing handles for bathroom sinks, and no running water in the upstairs areas that the wedding party uses for getting ready, is the Manager/Wedding coordinator and her family/employees. Jen is very unprofessional and likes to have things her way. She even tried to change the grooms wedding song. She charged the bride and groom for a menu that was supposed to be $30/plate meals. What she served was more akin to $5/plate. The roast beef carving station was not provided, the food was not labeled, the shrimp and grits had shrimp that was so small you almost didn't know they were in the dish. The asparagus contained reedy stalks that anyone who eats asparagus regularly, as the groom does, knows should be trimmed off prior to cooking. This made the asparagus practically inedible. The herbed chicken was served as boneless skinless chicken thighs which were so small and undercooked, no one could truly enjoy it. I could go on about the small amount of and inedible food, but I must include information about how she charges $500 to have an open bar, not bad right? But let me add that you have to provide your own liquor for this open bar and then the "bar tender"/her son does not want to serve proper drinks and he will try to water the liquor down. At the end of the night there were still 6 bottles of high end liquor unopened as her had hoped to be able to keep them. Jen insists that she must prepare the food, she was allowed and the entire venue/ food/liquor etc. was paid for prior to the date of the event, this amounted to thousands of dollars by the way, yet at the end of the evening when most guest had left she approached the bride saying that there were more guest present than what was paid for. Thankfully the maid of honor and another bridesmaid were thinking quickly enough to have the wedding photographers take pictures of the tables were guests were seated and therefore obtained proof that Jen could not refute. Once her son informed her that we had proof she then changed her tune stating " I can't charge you all this amount, $416 mind you, because its just too much" When the bride and groom have already paid thousands of dollars for their special day, she had the audacity to try to STEAL more. How pathetic she and her family are for stooping so low. So for trying to STEAL a measly $416 to add to the hefty sum she had already been paid, she will no longer receive any business from that wedding party, their family or friends. I really hope her little scam was worth it. I warn you to be ware and be prepared IF you choose this venue. I would...

I celebrated my 60th Birthday Party, Jen did not show up till after the celebration, so none of the special events that was discuss before hand was conveyed to the staff such as the spot lighting upon entrance, the food was horrible,but on top of that we had the Salisbury steak, it look like a Walmart special, it was cut in half, who serve someone a steak burger cut in half and when the guest ask for the other half staff told them they could not get the other half, till the second go around, I remind you this is a formal affair with Tuxedo & Evening Gowns, who want to get back up with Gowns & Tuxedo own, one of the staff slip and fell drop and broke the sparking cider another staff caught other tray of food right before it hit the ground, and was commencing to serve the tray of food to the guest, I remind you that the glass just broke beside the tray of food, we had to stop them from serving the food. With a guest of 70, my wife check the plates before arrival, and she found over 20 chip plates who keep that many chip plates which is a health violation around in there establishment, if we would not have took the plates off the table they would have serve our guest with the chip plates the list of bad things that went wrong is to long for me to keep writing, but here the kicker my party was October the 30th we met with Jen a few weeks after to address all of our concerns and to see rather we would ever use this place again for any of our upcoming event, Jen was not apologetic of our concerns, but render excuses, and voice that we were just coming to her to receive a partial refund, in speaking with her, she assume that she get enough positive reviews that the negative reviews, does not matter, so just some other things to check out if you look at the reviews before deciding which we did not, we mention to her that the carpet is beyond cleaning, it need changing, my daughter got stuck in the bathroom with the broken door knob, Jen wants to control your events rather than listen to you, so be watchful. and if you still choose Venue so let it be known that you have been warn. I would not hold another event at this venue for free. without Major over...