Monticello (Dining, Event and Residential Center) — Local services in Longview

Beautiful venue — horrible management and staff

The Monticello might look like a dream wedding venue, but the management and staff completely ruined my experience. I would never recommend this place to any bride.

Right before I was about to walk down the aisle, the manager’s daughter (who was bartending that night but not even working our wedding) came storming into the room we were told we could wait in before the ceremony. She started yelling at me and my bridal party to get all our belongings out immediately — even though this room was approved by the venue for us to use. I told her I’d find someone to help, but instead she started grabbing our purses, wallets, phones, car keys, and drinks and piling them up while my bridal party was already walking down the aisle. I asked her to please wait until after the ceremony, but she ignored me and kept going. I was shaking and nearly in tears right before walking down. It was humiliating and so stressful in what should have been a calm, special moment.

To make things worse, later that same woman accused our food vendors of stealing from her — when they had actually just loaned her a bowl. She was loud, rude, and completely out of line the entire evening.

The manager (her mother) was not any better. She had told us we could use the space for our rehearsal anytime on Friday, then later changed her mind and said 6 p.m. was too late. On the night of the wedding, even though our contract clearly said we had the venue until midnight, she started forcing everyone out by 9:30 p.m. and was rude about it.

The Monticello itself is beautiful, but the way we were treated by both the manager and her daughter was absolutely unacceptable. Their behavior caused unnecessary stress and nearly ruined what should have been the happiest day of my life.

For anyone considering this venue, please know that the manager’s daughter — the same one who yelled at me and disrupted my wedding — also owns the coffee shop inside The Monticello. After seeing how she treats people, I will never give that business my support either.

It’s such a shame that such a pretty location is run by people who act this way toward paying customers. I truly hope future couples don’t have to go through...

Our experience was awful. The waitress could not keep our orders straight (we were a group of 10 ladies). The restaurant could not make half of the drinks as the bar was out of the liquor required to make them. The strawberry margarita was not blended (I was never given an option if I wanted blended or on the rocks). It also tasted like lemonade and not a drink. The food was salty (halibut with dill sauce). A little less sauce would have made it much better. A friend's soup was very salty as well. The fondue was very...

Whelp, another kid UNfriendly place in Longview. Me & my toddler tried to chat with someone about their event space and we weren't allowed in the door. An extremely rude woman said "no" while we were trying to enter. Not interested in explaining to her why we were there, as we will find another place to host our event. It is a pretty building, but guess we will never know...