Bride here! The venue is lovely. The setting is beautiful, simple, and rustic. The outdoor space is ideal for the ceremony we wanted, surrounded by trees. I’m sure the photos are going to turn out beautifully. The event room is spacious even with the bar, keg fridge, and sound room for the plug-and-play sound system. There’s the option of having an outdoor bar as well as the indoor bar. We were able to decorate as we wanted, and the bridal party was able to get ready on-site and the owner was flexible with our itinerary.
That being said, that is the good part of the review; here are the things that I believe every couple should know before booking this venue for a wedding:
• I had a difficult time getting the venue owner to respond to ME specifically, although she was able to reply to my husband rather quickly. This made some things a little difficult from a planning standpoint. This was both over the phone and via email.
• The owner was not dressed professionally on the day of; far too casual for a wedding, even if it was outdoor, rustic, with the reception held in a refurbished barn.
• The owner brought her young children to the venue. They were on scooters, or riding bikes in the venue parking lot when our guests began to arrive. This was a liability and safety issue. The owner was given the itinerary two weeks in advance and knew the timing of things.
o We had to have someone request that she take her children elsewhere while vehicles were arriving, instead of yelling at our guests to watch for her children.
• We were promised a parking attendant, but we did not get that. Instead, my guests were greeted by a flustered owner that shouted at several of our guests about where they could not park, without being directed anywhere else.
o There was an incident in which the venue owner went up to my aunt’s car, banged on her window and loudly told her she could not park by the tree line, which is close to the walking path to the gazebo. My aunt is not in good health and cannot walk without assistance. She was not directed to a handicap parking stall, just berated for parking too close to the path.
• The on-site get-ready area is upstairs, away from the event space and that was really nice. Unfortunately, the restrooms are also located upstairs, in the same area where the bridal party was dressing. This caused a little bit of chaos as we took up much of the upstairs when prepping for the big day.
o We tried to get a few minutes of rest after the ceremony, before the reception, and we had so many guests filing up the stairs, accidentally greeting us before our formal entrance.
• Wi-Fi, is it included? I’m not sure. We had to ask the owner several times for the password to the Wi-Fi and the owner only put it in my phone and would not tell the rest of the wedding party what it was despite being asked by several people.
• The sound system is great in theory, as we did not want to pay for a DJ. Unfortunately, the mics kept going out, the volume was difficult to adjust, and the only instructions were labeled as “Do not touch”.
o We recommend bringing your own device, downloading your playlists in advance as we were not able to use the Wi-Fi, and we also recommend doing a MAJOR sound check beforehand.
o The sound system does not reach the gazebo, so if you are looking to have music at the ceremony, please bring your own speaker!
• The security was a little strange. It felt like someone was lurking rather than patrolling the venue.
o While I am aware of the restrooms being upstairs (with all the bridal party’s personal items), it did feel like the security guard was following people upstairs. It made some of my guests and family feel uncomfortable.
o He was doing his job, and there were no incidents or altercations. It was just a weird vibe in the middle of the reception.
Reviews were few and far between for this location. This was our experience there and I’ve read good things, but I don’t think I’ve read an honest review of the place. Two stars...
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