Wrightsville Manor — Local services in Wilmington

This review is long overdue but needs to be left. I was supposed to get married in October and had arranged this the year before when Covid-19 wasn’t even a thought. Fast forward to a few months prior to our wedding day, I want to say it was August 2020 when we reached out to them. I spoke with Chrissy and Erin about canceling our wedding due to Covid and keep in mind we did sign a contract and in that contract it states the only time you can get a refund is if an “act of god” occurs. Last time I checked, Covid-19 was indeed that. Not one person foresaw this happening.

Chrissy said our only option was to reschedule it and was absolutely adamant that we were not going to have a chance at getting our money back. Her reason? Because other people were affected too and she was sooo busy rescheduling them that she didn’t think it was fair that we were asking for our money back, I mean, Why on earth would my wife and I want to reschedule our wedding? People pick specific dates for a reason.

We ended up rescheduling to another date that we knew we weren't going to fulfil due to the fact that we needed to buy some time while we were talking to our lawyer about suing. Our lawyer pushed us to do so but warned that it could cost us quite a bit of money and that also, they could counter sue for breach of contract and sure enough, we found another couple who went through something similar and ended up losing their case because they counter sued. It’s appalling and absolutely disgusting how money hungry they are.

In my case, I’m immunocompromised so there was no chance of ever trying to have a wedding in the middle of a pandemic. Again, Chrissy wasn’t having it. We were simply trying to recoup our deposit back that we needed for rent due to loss of work! It’s too bad I can’t give them zero stars because they absolutely ruined our experience with planning a wedding there.

To conclude, I wish I would’ve sued, regardless if I would’ve had won or not, at least they would’ve had to pay their lawyers to fight the case as well.

0/10 due to lack of compassion and being money hungry in the middle of pandemic.

I almost forgot, If you guys try to dispute this review I’ll go back and add photos of our email conversation for proof!

**Attached two different emails. One was to my friend and one to myself. The problem here? Lies. Wrightsville manor lied to us about which dates were available to reschedule our wedding to. The first emails were sent to my friend to see which dates were available, notice in October they told him all Thursdays are available, but when I got to Email, there are none. Funny isn’t it. The emails were sent one day...

Funny enough, I originally found Wrightsville Manor as I saw a picture on a bridal store's Instagram with the venue in the background and thought it was so gorgeous, clicked on the location and saw that it would be near where my now husband was moving for work! I was dead set on this venue once I saw it online - so much so that I booked our wedding here sight unseen, but all of the other vendors and surrounding businesses raved about Wrightsville Manor, and Erin, the venue director, was so nice, responsive, and accommodating that I knew it would be amazing. And let me tell you, our wedding was AMAZING! My husband and I had the best day ever. First off, Erin with Wrightsville Manor knows everything about the property to guide you in what you need for your day, provides a fullll list of recommended vendors for everything, and makes it so easy and organized to work with them. The whole venue is also just so classic and elegant that it is so fun to design your wedding as almost everything will go well with the venue! They provide the bar/alcohol for the event, which also made planning easier, and our guests said the bartenders were so nice and amazing! There is also a beautiful on-site bridal suite with a private bathroom that was perfect for my bridal party to get ready in. Next, Wrightsville Manor feels like it is 3 properties in one. From the Oak Lawn, to the Fountain Lawn, to the interior space, it all feels like a different experience, yet you get to utilize them all for your day. And, that makes for so many STUNNING picture opportunities - we have so many amazing couples portraits throughout the property from the lobby chandelier, to the patio with the large windows & doors, to the bridal suite door to the oak trees!! Almost every single guest told us that was the nicest wedding venue they had been to and that they were just so in love with our wedding. Lastly, it is in a great location to where it is local enough to so many fun places for out-of-town guests to enjoy, but tucked away for it to feel like such a private event. We are SO happy we chose Wrightsville Manor for our venue - it was the...

My fiancée and I had paid for a wedding at Wrightsville Manor for July 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic escalated and things were getting very grim and uncertain, we went to Erin St. Ledger Lea (the venue director) and eventually Chrissy Sweyer (the owner), hoping to postpone our wedding to July 2021. We thought we were being proactive and respectful by reaching out in April 2020. After a month of pleading and nearly begging, it was clear Wrightsville Manor could care less about the safety and concerns of their guests. They would only ever give us two options: voluntarily cancel and forfeit all the money we had already paid, or wait until they would let us postpone which they could never give us a definitive date for. Ms Sweyer at one point commented “sometime in the middle of June”. How can you properly postpone a wedding 3 weeks away? How do you be respectful when telling your family and friends so they can make plans? How do you coordinate with all the vendors? We asked Ms Sweyer these questions hoping to reach an agreement but she never replied back to them.

In the end our hands we tied and we were forced to cancel just before the remaining payments and bar package were due. They will likely respond saying they were sad to see us cancel and it was our choice we cancelled, trying to save face. We never heard back from them with a formal cancellation or response. Later on, I saw the NC Attorney General Josh Stein wanted to hear from consumers having issues with businesses during the pandemic and when I made a complaint, Wrightsville Manor hired a lawyer to respond on their behalf who actually threatened us: “In fact, Wrightsville Manor could bring their own action for breach of contract under the Services Agreement against the complainants”. This shows how truly callous Wrightsville Manor and their staff are. There are far nicer places in Wilmington for a wedding venue, places which have history to them and aren’t simply designed for weddings and only weddings, some of which have owners who are actually in the love business, unlike the staff at...