Tall Oaks East — Hotel in Kirtland

We recently had our daughter’s wedding and reception at Tall Oaks. The venue itself is a beautiful place for a wedding. However, the entrance is hard to see from the road and GPS takes you through a Dollar General parking lot. To our knowledge, Tall Oaks is the most expensive local venue. That’s OK but naturally raises expectations. At the price, you should expect a positive experience from day one. One big frustration was when they raised food prices by 14% and added a new $1K planning fee weeks AFTER we signed the contract. We were able to reject the new fee because the contract did not allow it, but other clients likely paid it—not a good way to do business. It’s also worth noting that they do not provide full event planning. They ask questions / make suggestions, but most planning / vendor coordination is performed by the client. The most negative experience was their poor and, at times, unpleasant communication. We would have to repeatedly ask them to address the same points in the planning process. We would ask questions and then not hear back for days, weeks, or at all. They would provide options we would use to make event decisions only to have them retract the options. Example—they gave us several floor plans. After we spent hours on seating plans, they told us the plan they provided could not be executed. We submitted a second plan—same answer! Finally, they said there was only one possible plan and we needed to use that one. Oddly, they never offered an explanation or apology, and were, if anything, unpleasant about it. Related, their current GM made us feel like we were walking on eggshells and would send responses that were curt, impatient, and even arguably rude. It was unsettling as we were heading into one of the biggest events of our lives. Their written policies were inconsistent. We had an elderly guest who would not be able to use the stairs to the 2nd floor for cocktails. Tall Oaks had provided their “Handicap Accessible” description stating they had elevator access to the 2nd floor. However, prior to the event, we were told that guests were not allowed on the elevator! Another example was their alcohol policy. One document states that all alcohol is BYOB (and this is actually how it works). But the policy they require you to sign dictates “no BYOB” because it is illegal in OH. These are just examples of inconsistencies which raise doubts in your mind. There was also a lot of turnover. We went through 3 GMs and several coordinators in 9 months. This likely contributed to the poor communication. The next to last coordinator was pleasant but disappeared with 3 weeks to go. We asked several times what happened but never received an answer, so I assume she also left. All this said, the wedding was a success. The place looked great and everything ran on time. The food was very good (other than an unexpected, odd sauce on the chicken), and it was served efficiently and accurately. The servers were friendly and seemed to genuinely care about the event. We did have two significant issues on the big day. First, they did not execute the floor plan correctly. They seated the groom’s family with the bride’s guests and vice versa. Second, they approached the bridal party almost immediately after the ceremony asking that they empty the dressing rooms. This was not agreed ahead of time and should have happened later. But overall, we were pleasantly surprised with how well the day went. We had entered the day with concern based on the poor and unpleasant communication leading up to the event. In summary, the wedding itself went well and we appreciate that it was a fun event, but working with the Tall Oaks staff leading up to the wedding was stressful and unpleasant, and we often did not feel respected or valued as a client. There were points where consideration was given to trying to move the wedding elsewhere, but it is very difficult to move a wedding late in the process because the other desirable venues are taken. This left us with times of regret and concern—and we should not have had to...

We had our wedding here earlier this year. We had a great day and the inside of the barn is awesome, but it was not exactly the wedding we thought it would be. Planning our wedding here was way more stressful and confusing than it should have been.

We were told in September 2020 the carriage house would be done for our event. We were going to have our wedding party stay here since all but two of the are from out of state. They are denying that we were ever told this, but… we were. By multiple people. The carriage house was not only incomplete, but the outside was not even fully sided, so looked half like a construction site with Tyvek plastic all over. This was a big draw to this venue for us and our out of town wedding party. Also, the grass had not grown in yet, so this was definitely not the beautiful grounds we were told we would have for our photos. I spent the weekend before my wedding driving around trying to find an alternate site nearby for photos when we realized the grass would not be grown in as we were told. Also unfortunate because we were planning to have yard games at our wedding but were not able to step into the yard. I was also so looking forward to the “lovers lane” we were told about, and also told just 2 months before our wedding that it would be done by June. It was not. I feel they were just telling us what we wanted to hear to keep us happy.

For our tasting, we were invited to a tasting event in December. We planned a trip to Ohio around this event. We were informed about a week away from the event that it was no longer happening. They did end up accommodating our request for a private tasting the weekend the tasting was supposed to be after we told them it was the only time we had planned to be in town before the wedding. However, the chef ended up changing between our tasting and wedding.

We went through a few different workers as we planned our event, and were told our day of person was changed the week of our wedding. Because our other one left. This was very stressful as we went through all the planning with someone else, although everything that day did come out very nicely thanks to Taylor.

We opted for the BYOB option. When we did so, there was no mention of a per person fee to do so. The menu then changed, after we had already signed our contract, and a per person fee for byob was added. They did end up giving us a discount on this price, but it was not something we even budgeted for in the first place as we were planning to bring all of our own beverages including mixers.

I do not feel we got what we paid for, as the big reason we chose this venue was for all the outdoor space and the carriage house. I am so glad we did not decide to do our ceremony here like we originally considered, because the outside was nowhere near ready for that, and the large stained glass window that was supposed to be inside was later taken out of the plans. The barn is very pretty, and I think the outside will be too when it is complete, but they should not have booked weddings for spring/early summer 2021 if they...

A Disappointing and Deeply Unprofessional Experience at Tall Oaks

Unfortunately, we cannot recommend Tall Oaks to any couple looking for a respectful, accommodating, or professional venue. What should have been a joyful and memorable occasion was instead marred by a string of unacceptable behaviors and poor management choices from this family-owned business.

From the outset, communication with Melissa and Emily was difficult, inconsistent, and often unprofessional. Emails went unanswered, questions were met with defensiveness, and basic requests were routinely shut down with vague or arbitrary reasoning. Rather than feeling supported, we often felt like an inconvenience.

One of the most troubling aspects was a pricing change after our contract was signed, with no connection to inflation or market rates. This felt like a classic bait-and-switch, and when we raised concerns, we were met with stonewalling—particularly from Emily.

On the day itself, the lack of professionalism extended to our guests, who were rudely treated. Guests were yelled at for requesting water before the ceremony, and others were snapped at and told to be quiet and move during cocktail hour. This type of treatment is not only inhospitable—it’s downright disrespectful.

The venue also restricted our florist and photographers, creating unnecessary stress and hindering their ability to do their jobs. After the ceremony, photographers were told they could not shoot inside despite having access as part of our contracted agreement.

To make matters worse, teardown began before our midnight end time, cutting the celebration short and violating the terms of our agreement.

But perhaps most alarming of all was the venue’s complete disregard for documented food allergies. Guests with celiac disease were served gluten and then told to “just pick it off” or “don’t eat it.” This behavior isn’t just careless—it’s dangerous and offensive. Food was average at best and visually unappealing.

Sadly, we have no positive feedback to share. What Tall Oaks lacks in charm, they make up for in restriction, rudeness, and a stunning lack of professionalism. We sincerely hope others can avoid the stress and disappointment we endured. This venue simply does not meet even the most basic...