Stokesay Castle & The Knight's Pub — Restaurant in Lower Alsace Township

[EDIT: thank you for response & apology, however i've called & left 2 messages for Holly at her direct extension: 10/31 & 11/7 and have not received return phone call. Not impressed with the follow through.] I want to preface this review with the fact that the food was outstanding & the majority of the staff were phenomenal - special callout to the Chef, Sherry & 19yr old Michelle on the serving staff who went out of their way to make our day special. HOWEVER, Michele the coordinator is an absolute nightmare & did zilch to help with my wedding. Leading up to our wedding the previous coordinator, Alexis was fantastic!. We felt the day would go smoothly, had no concerns until 2.5 weeks before when Alexis resigned/handed the planning over to Michele. I went to pay my final bill/review the details of the wedding; Michele took my payment &said "youre all set! see you in 2 weeks!" - Im like NO lets review everything so I know you are on top of everything so there are no hiccups. She seemed impatient during the hour we walked through everything but assured me all was good & confirmed that she would arrive between 11-11:30 the day of the event - confirmed someone would be there at 9am so i could drop off stuff before my hair appointment. (we had our rehearsal there the night before the wedding, she confirmed these details again!) Day of - 9am i arrive, the doors are Locked! I had to run around the building twice trying to get someones attention to open the door. Inside, the previous nights event was not cleaned up - the ceremony garden was not set - chairs everywhere stacked all over the place, I asked will the tables be set/room ready for me when i come back between 11:30-noon? They assured me yes, Michele should be here at 11 & everything should be good. Well i got back a little late 12:20pm, again the door was LOCKED! Once inside, room/ceremony garden look exactly as they had at 9am, no one has seen Michele. I had to beg/plead to get the tables moved into the room so i could set our guestbook, decorations, etc; by the time that was even started it was 15 minutes before my groom was set to arrive at 1:30pm. Michele still MIA. Lunch scheduled for 12:30 still not served. Ceremony garden - still not touched. Our cheese tray/bellinis arrive shortly, i begin my makeup inbetween checking on the room and garden. At 2pm my photographer arrives, im not even close to being done with my makeup. God Bless my photographer, as she ran around helping organize things and coordinating - TOTALLY NOT HER JOB! By now, I am flipping out that nothing is happening with the ceremony garden, at 2:30 i look out the windows to see my in-laws trying to organize the chairs. At 2:45 Michele strolls in says everything looks great - how are you? I tell her I'm way behind, fill her in on the previous hours of the day and ask when our ceremony garden will be set since guests will be arriving in 15 minutes. She states oh theyre already working on it, see the chairs are stacked. Im like - its been that way since 9AM! Fix it now please! 3:05 arrives & wraps for lunch finally served, no movement oustide- so my MOH runs out in her Robe with my Mother in law to tell them what to do, and then they remove all but 24 chairs - i have 36 guests coming, i see guests milling about - so we have to tell them again to fix. I dont get in my dress until 3:40, ceremony starts at 4, im running around in a panic - the next time i see Michele is at 4pm as she's cueing everyone to walk down the aisle. That is the last time I saw her that day. Luckily my photographer and DJ were phenomenal and ran the show from there. The only other hiccup which i didnt know about until after my honeymoon, is that they served us another events CAKE!!!! I paid extra money to upgrade to the most delicious combination of Lemon and Pink Champagne with whipped cream and strawberries for our bottom tier of the cake and my guests were served VANILLA CAKE - WHAT THE HELL!?! Bottom line - if you are going to have an event here, hire an outside coordinator. BRIDES BEWARE! Stokesay - Michele...

Stokesay Castle is truly a dream venue, not just because of its breathtaking scenery, but because of its incredible staff. When we first toured the venue the manager, Luis, welcomed us like family. He took the time to explain all the packages available and even adjusted his recommendations to match our guest count, and never pushed us toward anything we didn’t need. He also shared helpful budget-friendly tips to make our day even more special and affordable. When we returned a second time for a renovation event, Luis remembered us instantly, greeting us with a big hug and even gave a personal tour, which expressed how much the staff genuinely care about their guests. Later, we had the pleasure of working with the new director, Dara, who went above and beyond to guide us through every step of the wedding-planning process. Whether it was through phone calls, emails, or in-person meetings, she made sure we had everything we needed. She was very polite and informative and always had a smile on her face. On our wedding day her, and other very helpful staff, she checked in with us multiple times throughout the day to ensure every detail went smooth and perfect. When talking about the food—all we have to say is it was absolutely phenomenal. Stokesay Castle’s menu offered a variety of delicious options, and while we had to narrow down our wedding-day menu, we also got to sample the rest at our rehearsal dinner the night before. Everything we tried was outstanding. The castle building itself is the perfect blend of modern elegance as well as old-time medieval appeal. It has stunning scenery, a beautiful outdoor ceremony area, and spacious getting-ready rooms for both bride and groom. The gorgeous grand ballroom comfortably accommodated our 112 guests with room to spare, and it was everything we envisioned. Each time we visited Stokesay Castle we fell in love with it all over again—and that’s when we knew it was the...

We cannot speak highly enough about Stokesay, their entire team, and, most importantly, Hannah Kufro, our Wedding Coordinator that we worked with! My wife and I signed our venue contract one-year to the date ahead of our big day, with a different coordinator, one who ultimately ended up transitioning to a different organization just a week before our tasting was scheduled. For a couple planning a wedding, especially so close to their big day, this would normally have been an incredibly stressful change to hear about, however, we were expeditiously contacted by Hannah and met her days later at our tasting – immediately after meeting her we knew we were in great hands, and we both agree that our initial impression was spot on. Hannah’s attention to detail, flexibility, and knowledge have continued to impress ourselves, our parents, and our guests who experienced a phenomenal wedding just this past weekend. She not only hit the ground running with our event, but confirmed several details and was able to work with us to ensure our wedding day was as perfect as possible.

While I have personally sent messages to several friends I know who are engaged and looking for venues, I wanted to share this note here for those couples looking for venues – Stokesay should 100% be on your list; the charm, history, venue, and staff will all make your big day as perfect as you could ever dream of – if anything, just go check it out – once you see this in person you’ll see exactly what we are talking about.

With deepest gratitude, Blake and...