Graham Banquet Center — Attraction in Woodhull Township

My best friend recently got married here and let me start by saying: the venue is admittedly beautiful and my best friend put such time and dedication into making a really gorgeous and special event and the space really worked well for the theme and aesthetic. The person who runs seems very unprofessional, though. When I first arrived, one of the other bridesmaids confided in me that no one could find the day of coordinator, which is extra frustrating because on the day of the wedding there are so many moving parts and inevitably last minute questions. The first time I saw Heather, the owner of the venue, she was snapping at an employee in front of myself and four other guests. Any time I see someone snap at an employee I am immediately leery of them because it indicates a lack of respect for employees and when it happens in front of customers or guests I find it extra distasteful because it is rude to the employee and to the witnesses and unprofessional. At that particular moment, Heather had recently hurt herself, so I could be understanding because that is a situation where someone might act unlike themselves. However, after she and the employee left, the other bridesmaids confided in me that they had witnessed similar interactions between Heather and employees, Heather and the Bride, and Heather and other bridal party members. This was confirmed for me later when I found out Heather had snapped at my wife when they were getting their dinner, making my wife, the server, and a nearby table all uncomfortable. I also overheard another guest confiding in someone that she had been scolded by Heather for trying to walk in a certain area. I was so appalled by all of this because it was an unnecessary tension to an otherwise lovely event and I know that if I had heard anyone using the tone Heather was using with staff and guests at my wedding it would have distressed me, and I hated the thought that this could be causing my friend additional stress on her special day. An added, seemingly unnecessary stress, was that the venue locks the bridal sweet 1 hour after the ceremony, despite the fact that the venue is still being used. This meant that after the ceremony, when the bridal party was taking photos and guests were having their cocktail hour, some people had to go clear out the rooms or else their belongings could be locked in and "lost" to the venue. The one other issue I had was in regards to the food. Three of the bridesmaids, including myself, were vegetarians and my friend was really conscious about making sure we had something to eat and checking that the vegetarian option was something we could have. On the day of, they had three vegetarian plates at the bar but that wasn't communicated to us until after we all had plates of the three vegetarian sides. When it was announced, we just got the plates to eat as another part of our dinner. The three sides we had were delicious, and I know meat eaters indicated that the other parts of the regular meal were good too. The vegetarian specific dish, though, was terribly bland. It was like they decided that people with dietary restrictions didn't deserve the same quality food as everyone else. My recommendation if you are a vegetarian there is just skip the special vegetarian food and just eat the sides. It was a very beautiful venue though, I just wish the owner behaved in a way that was more respectful to her clients, their guests, and her employees.

An update: I had misinformation in an earlier post regarding the mother of the bride being directed to clean out the area before their booking was over. I am sorry for that misrepresentation. As a note to the owner, no one should be held responsible for their guests speaking about their experiences. My friend is not responsible for my...

Let me start by saying this place has potential to be a very nice venue. I think the banquet hall is by far the best part, with the outside of the building, the chapel, and the parking lot leaving a lot to be desired. We chose to provide our own caterers, and bartenders and both did a phenomenal job. If you have a wedding with less than 200 people, this venue might be for you, but if you are assured the banquet hall can hold 300+ and the Chapel 250, think again. My initial impression of Heather was pretty good, although I was concerned about capacity, she assured me that there was plenty of room. Wrong.... period. The second time we met with Heather for a brief tour of the facility (after the check had cleared) it was very apparent to me that her gracious and helpful attitude had completely changed. When I asked about prep stations, my problem. When I asked about refrigeration, my problem. When my wife asked politely to see the chapels progress, so we could show our parents, a very rude "no, I told you it's not done yet". I was ready to cancel and ask for our money back but my now wife, said no because we were to close to our day and everything had been sent out. After the second meeting I think Heather sensed our dismay and made it a point to be very helpful with everything my wife needed and that is why this review is 2 stars and not 1. Fast forward to rehearsal, and the actual wedding day itself. Not one single time in multiple encounters with Heather, did she greet me, or say anything to me at all for that matter. Any questions I had again were given short answers or none at all. The Chapel is still missing trim pieces which would make for much nicer photos. The grooms quarters has patched in drywall with unfinished seams and 2 different colors of random paint. The outside of the building (that we were told would be landscaped and cleaned up) hasn't changed and hasn't seen a power washer in 10 years. I was scolded for there being a table outside under entry way approach when I had no idea who moved it to begin with. And last but not least, by 10 o'clock, Heather was going from table to table cleaning up and dumping full and half full drinks into a bucket (I doubt this would've been the case had we purchased the bar from them). I had multiple people ask who she was throughout the night and express to me how rude she was. So long story short, if you have less than 200 people, like soso pictures in a not quite finished chapel, like getting treated poorly (if your the groom), and like carrying your drink with you everywhere you go for fear of it getting dumped while your in the bathroom or dancing, this might be...

Let me start by saying the venue itself is beautiful, However the owner Heather was absolutely horrible, rude, unprofessional. As the latest review Kat made which was the same wedding I attended this past Friday which was all true, I'll add some other things that happed. For starters after Heather read Kats review she decided to call my sister in law on here honeymoon and demanded to speak to the Bride about the negative review that a her bridesmaid left. Like really she should have never have done that. 2nd I have a 2 and 4 year old that are very picky eaters as some anyone with kids would understand. I brought them Dyno nuggets cause I knew they wouldn't eat the food that they had. I asked one of the workers for Ketchup cause I forgot some at home. She went to ask owner (Heather) and she came out to me and said, "We will have kids plates served once food is served. We do not allow outside food." I asked her are here tenders dyno tenders she said no. I said well I am just trying to feed my kids and they will not eat your tenders. And she had an attitude. I hear a lot of horrible things from my wife who was the Maid of Honor that two much to get into but the point is this review Is for all the future brides out there looking for the perfect remember able wedding of your dreams, this place you do not want to book. You will get no help from owner there was a planner which was very late to rehearsal which was no help.

P.S Not to mention you sign a contract and Heather like to breach the contract for example in the contract my sister in law had the venue till 12 am and at 9 30 quarter to 10 pm Heather was out there demanding people to clean up while her staff was rearranging tables because she had a wedding the next day. Like forreal that is not my sister in law s problem. She had it till 12 Heather can stay late and set up after. If Heather cannot handle that then maybe she is in wrong business and should not be doing what she is doing. She should find another occupation where she does not deal with clients or customers or family members of the clients. I have been to a lot of wedding venues and this place was by far the worst and I feel bad for here employees and the clients she has had and any future she will have. She was very rude to her employees and likes to embarrass them in...