Common House — Restaurant in Charlottesville

10/12/21 Response to your response:

The amount of $4500 was mentioned at the beginning and I was stating that it wasn’t clearly stated to us about all the extra charges. On top of that, adding an additional $1800 a few days before the wedding even though it wasn’t ever on the invoice.

Secondly, I’ve tried to call and speak to someone about my review (as requested) 3 times in the past week and haven’t reached anyone.

Next, I never said there weren’t any food covers, I said it was surprising that we had to request that. For the price of the food, it was crazy to us that food covers weren’t automatically given and there were no heaters. So if we wouldn’t have asked, food normally just sits out on a platter in the sun for hours. We ran out of food for the last hour, the only thing we had left was broccoli and squash. You were speaking to the mother of the bride about putting aside a plate for the bride and groom and after we got back from pictures to eat it, a server had thrown them away.

And lastly, the guests that checked in at 6:54 did NOT stay downstairs until 7pm. They came up and had a drink on our tab!

ORIGINAL REVIEW First and foremost, our wedding at the Common House was absolutely stunning and the spaces they offer are picture perfect. Madison was absolutely wonderful to work with. The reason this review is getting a 3/5 is due to several issues we ran into the day of our wedding. This is just a heads up to brides considering the Common House for their event.

1.) When we originally found Common House for our reception venue, we were quoted $4500 for 3 hours of rental space, food, and alcohol. It was never mentioned to us that appetizers and desserts were not included in that. After the small details that weren’t included, we spent around $7500 for the 3 hour event. To be completely honest, if the event were to be exactly what we asked for, the money wouldn’t have been an issue.

2.) 3-4 days before the big day, after contracts were already signed and payments were complete, I received a text message from the wedding coordinator saying I still owed another $1800 for the rental fee and they “forgot to add it to the original invoice” but they’ve added it now. After already paying $3000+ over what we were quoted, I was shocked to hear we still owed another $1800 and confused as to why it was just being brought up now. They decided last minute to waive that fee, thankfully.

3.) Food. This was a big one. When we met with our wedding coordinator, we told her we would have 59 people attending the wedding reception. She said their chef prepares enough food for 1.5 servings per person. Not even an hour into the food, there were 7-9 people (including the bride and groom) that had not eaten, and the food was completely out. It was also incredibly disappointing to pay what we did and run out, have to ask for food covers to keep bugs away, and have no heaters to keep it warm. After about 5 minutes of the food being outside, it was freezing cold.

4.) Alcohol Issue/Tips The alcohol package we received included rum, tequila, vodka, bourbon, and scotch (it’s even printed on the sign that was placed for guests at the bar) One of our guests walked up to the bar and requested a scotch drink and was denied and told that wasn’t available for us. Thankfully my mother stepped in and demanded it. On top of the scotch issue, Common House charged a service fee (tips for the servers of $1097.80) and the bartenders still placed a tip jar on the bar which we found extremely tacky.

5.) Lastly, our event was from 4pm-7pm, and at 6:54pm three guests that were not from our wedding came up and got drinks and hung out. I do understand that at 7pm, the space was now open to the public, but the staff could have been polite enough to let us have the full time and not have strangers with us the last few minutes of our event.

Overall, i’m thrilled the pictures were amazing and guests had a great time, but for an almost $8000 3 hour event, it was...

My (new) wife and I just had our reception at Common House and it was INCREDIBLE! From the very first meeting to clearing out at the end of the night, Common House was absolutely incredible in every respect and I HIGHLY suggest taking a look at them if you're interested in hosting a wedding reception, or any similar gathering!

To start, Shannon Kontalonis (the Director of Private Events) was an absolute delight. She was always highly organized, super kind, and incredibly helpful. She was always available for any questions and details, and made sure that every random small detail we wanted, like a special plate of pigs in a blanket for my father, came to be exactly as we had hoped for. She even stopped by to say hi when we had brunch there on her day off! And, very importantly, she was attentive to our guests dietary needs and made sure that everything was well handled and prepared so that all of our guests could enjoy themselves.

Then, the night itself! Common House is an incredible, beautiful space. We rented the whole club for a Sunday and it was really amazing. It's a truly unique and lovely venue. Dalton was the manager on duty, and did an excellent job making sure everything ran perfectly on the day of. We had cocktail hour on the second floor, which has tons of excellent seating, and then dinner on the first floor (Vinegar Hall), which was perfect for our 70 guest reception. And the dinner, wow! It was absolutely delicious, and all our guests raved about how good it was! Common House also rolled with a non-standard table arrangement we wanted without any issues at all. Then it was back upstairs for dancing, where they have a great little dance floor with the perfect setup area for a DJ, and the aforementioned great seating for guests to relax when not dancing! Then lastly they have a gorgeous roof area, which was perfect for guests looking for a quiet place to chill and talk. Truly incredible and unique, and more than one guest told me they thought it was "the perfect venue"!

And to add to all of this, I have to say that Common House was also one of the most affordable venues out of the dozen we looked at in the area! For a Sunday wedding, to be specific. Seriously, it was the second lowest venue fee of all the places we visited, and was only about $200 above the cheapest! Add to that the very reasonable food and beverage minimum (which we handily met with dinner alone) and the fact that the in-house kitchen was very affordable, especially given the incredible food and excellent bartending, this is truly an amazing deal on top of being an incredible venue with fantastic staff.

Overall, I can confidently say that going with Common House was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. I highly, highly recommend looking into them for your event, especially if it's on a Sunday! To Shannon, Dalton, and the whole staff there, thank...

I want to start by saying that the entire staff of the Common House throughout the process of our wedding planning was a dream! Although I am about to go out of my way to highlight the ones that really made our day special - it is important for me to emphasize that the level of service at the Common House in Charlottesville is unparalleled regardless of which staff you encounter on any day. I’d also like to point out at this moment that WE ARE NOT MEMBERS OF THE COMMON HOUSE (although after this experience we are very much going to become members soon!!).

Shannon (the director of private events) from the first inquiry email, to the day of our event, was there to answer any question - big or small. Her patience on back-and-forth email conversations as well as the attention to detail in getting every seating chart & menu change up to the last moment - Shannon was a god send to have at my side.

The day of our wedding, Julie was the manager on duty and she was the perfect amount of out-of-sight yet always-around-the-corner to help with any need; from a simple glass of water, to making sure everything ran flawlessly. She was supported by the bartenders Alex and Elerie who were warm, kind, and always attentive to ensuring guests enjoyed the evening. Servers Jack, Audrey and Nikkie had our dinner service handled like true professionals with every table brimming with food & full glasses! The kitchen truly shined as Laura Fonner + Ben Geddis produced a meal to a level that none of us were expecting. All night people raved about the food both before dinner apps, during, and after dinner snacks. Each bite was a unique twist on a filling favorite and the quality could not have been higher! Our main meal was mouth watering and the presentation (even as family-style) felt upscale and worthy of the formal wedding setting. Desert we opted for 4 different kinds of full size dessert portions instead of a wedding cake and our guests LOVED the ability to choose. Many guests tasted them all and couldn’t decide on a favorite since each was balanced so perfectly.

I could go on forever about the amazing staff & event space at the Common House in Charlottesville. Thank you all for making our special day more special than we could have imagined