Castle Hill Cider

r reception. We initially worked with Evelyn, who was nice but wasn't the most responsive. We ended up working with Laura Blair, who was great and easy to communicate with! Laura also has experience in event//wedding planning, so we felt confident knowing that she would be our main point of contact for our wedding day at Castle Hill. We were lucky enough to have our cocktail hour outside so our guests could enjoy the breathtaking views. As well, the barn was air-conditioned which made it comfortable for a summer wedding. The barn itself is fairly bare, but it allows you to decorate to your liking. As well, they have a big stage that was perfect for our band. We used much of the cider as part of our signature cocktails, which our guests raved about! Overall we had a wonderful experience with Castle Hill Cider!

to respond to emails and was so accommodating with any questions or requests that we had throughout planning. It was also great to have a nice space to get ready in before the wedding. The bridal suite is large, with two big couches, several chairs, and even a deck outside, it comfortably fit myself and the 10 other people who were there while we were getting ready. Being in Virginia, where it can be hot and humid, it was nice to not have to travel to the venue after hair and makeup to do pictures. We were so excited to get married outside in Linden Grove leading up to our wedding, however, the impending storm made that not possible. But, the indoor option for a ceremony site is beautiful as well, and everything worked out extremely well. The barn space is large, which made it very easy for us to move our cocktail hour mostly inside and still have plenty of room to comfortably fit tables for our 140 guests, as well as lots of extra space. The fact that the rain plan for this venue was great made us feel at ease throughout wedding prep, and really came in handy when we ended up with some rain on our wedding day. The only thing keeping me from a 5-star review is that it got very hot in the barn throughout the night (we were married in late May) despite having the air conditioning on. Our guests, and myself, still danced the night away and everyone said it was amazing, but a little better climate control would have been nice.

y the lake, our reception inside, and did our photos in the grove - and our photos of the whole evening are wonderful. I cannot imagine having our wedding anywhere else. Castle Hill is pricey (you have to bring in extra lighting and most rentals [though I believe they recently purchased chairs and tables]) but it's beautiful if you're looking for that rustic-glam feel! We knew as soon as we walked into Castle Hill that it was the right place - hopefully you have that feeling, too!

guests would not stop commenting on how beautiful and perfect the location was. If you are on a budget, we would recommend booking on a Friday as we did. There are both outside and inside options for ceremonies, with the reception hall being absolutely perfect. The cider is delicious and your guests will consume more of it than you think! This venue has countless options and possibilities to make it your dream wedding!!

, white picket fences, and rolling hills are gorgeous, especially on a sunny day. However, our visit was quite tarnished thanks to Evelyn, the events manager. I have never met a more unprofessional event manager in my entire life. The first thing that came out of her mouth was a reminder that YES, it was a barn, and YES, the barn had bugs so NO, we should not be surprised if we see spiders or beetles, despite the fact that they spray for bugs every year. We weren't expecting it to be bug free as we are no strangers to the wondrous Virginia wildlife but we thought that was really unnecessary. She was also very VERY adamant that we have guests that can handle their alcohol and hire buses to schlep our guests from reception to hotels. We assured her that yes, we would be providing safe transport to and from the reception for our guests but it was like she didn't even hear us. She had absolutely no information ready for us (all the other venues we visited provided us with a folder with very helpful information such as preferred caterers, services provided by the venue, etc etc) and she gave us what seemed like a very rushed tour of the place. Afterwards, she promised to email us with all the information we requested. Instead of sending us the information in PDF format as intended, she sent the bride a one sentence email: "Any questions?". During our tasting, Evelyn hung around and interrupted the staff several times as they were telling us about the ciders. My advice to the cidery: hire a new event manager, they lost our business based on her alone. Other comments about the venue itself: the barn is huge, great reception space. There are only two single stall bathrooms downstairs and the mirrors in those bathrooms are only usable for people over 6ft tall. Would recommend getting supplemental bathrooms if you choose to have your wedding here. On the other hand - ALL of the ciders were delicious! We bought a few bottles of the Big Pippin, loved it. The staff was extremely knowledgeable and friendly, would definitely go back to do a tasting or purchase a bottle of cider.

of the barn is hideous with light wood walls and concrete floors, but I was willing to move past that. Evelyn met us and showed us around the property. Despite absolutely no talk of budget, she seemed to have decided that we were unworthy of her time. She quickly flew through the venue and repeatedly made mention of how expensive things would be for us (although our wedding would have 50 people, tops). It's great when you feel like someone is looking out for you, but she did it in such a condescending way. Then, as soon as her next appointment arrived (which, by the way, included a bride and her doting parents), she ran over to the them and gave them all the time in the world. Following the tour, I asked Evelyn to send me some more information, which she promised she would do. I got no response. Over and over, I tried to get the information to no avail. Finally, I fibbed and casually told her in an email that our budget was in the 75k-100k range. BOY, was she QUICK to respond then!! She was suddenly up my butt about everything, but it was too little, too late. I don't appreciate being judged in any way, especially when my budget isn't really something you can judge by looking at me. I'm sad because the place is beautiful on the outside, but so glad I won't have to work with Evelyn. She seems like a nightmare.

is venue for my husband and I was that in addition to the gorgeous outdoor ceremony locations, the backup plan for rain (the spacious barn loft) is an amazing Plan B. This is hard to find with outdoor weddings, and the loft is so pretty. It rained the morning of our wedding and it ended up clearing up for the outdoor ceremony, but if it hadn't I would have loved the loft ceremony as well and it kept the morning very stress free for me! You can't go wrong with this venue! It is important to know that when you choose this venue, you are literally only paying for the space, meaning that all other services including catering, rentals, labor, etc. all have to be contracted out additionally. Castle Hill Cider is worth it despite this!

ng there!

, white barn - we had our wedding in the loft of the barn with the reception downstairs. The staff is friendly, but we worked quite a bit with the Events Coordinator and didn't have a great experience with her. We always felt like we were a burden to her, so it kind of tainted our engagement. But on wedding day, we couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous set-up. This is the place for a fairytale wedding.

our wedding venue was! Pros: -The staff at Castle Hill was very kind and accommodating to our wedding party and my family. -The location is BREATHTAKING! -The venue is large enough to have different 'areas' for every part of a wedding celebration. For example, we had our ceremony in the Linden Grove, the cocktail hour on the Front Lawn and our reception in the Barn. -The venue is a blank slate. You can really make the space whatever you want it to be. Cons: The venue is a blank slate. So, you need to order all kitchen accessories, tables, etc. If I hadn't had a partial wedding coordinator, I would have been completely lost! Please check out this venue!!! You won't regret it!

date. She was very helpful when, down the road, we were met with circumstances that caused us to change our wedding date. Soon, our big day was upon us, we had planned to marry in the linden grove, but this was totally up to the weather. Luckily, Castle Hill has a beautiful rain alternative. Everything worked out with the weather and any normal wedding date bumps were navigated smoothly by my wedding planner, Cody with Amore Events by Cody, Evelyn and her staff. My husband and I had seen many venues in Charlottesville, and Castle Hill seems to have the best space for a nice reception flow. The grounds are always well kept, to the point of perfection. For anyone considering Castle Hill, I would suggest hiring an outside planner, this is because all vendors must be hired in, including rentals (tables, linens, etc) Castle Hill is truly picturesque, our quests were in awe during our entire event.

in the distance. It was so lush and green and dazzled in rich sunlight. Driving onto the Castle Hill Cider grounds I was only further charmed by similar beautiful surroundings. Castle Hill Cider's barn is aesthetically breath-taking, with a space for reception (and ceremony, if you so choose, or if it rains) that is clean, charmingly rustic, and perfectly structured to hold bridal and grooms parties getting ready, and wedding guests dining and dancing into the evening. We chose to hold our ceremony outside in the linden tree grove on the property. It was the right choice-- every moment of the ceremony is sweetly held in my memory-- it was so idyllic! There was a breeze, a rustle of the trees, and everything was so green. No other buildings could be seen for miles and miles. It felt very serene and private and natural. Our guests similarly could not say enough how much they loved the venue. Looking back, I don't think we would have chosen any other location (and we looked at many!). It was exactly what we wanted aesthetically and functionally. The ONLY thing we would change would be that we would hire an OUTSIDE wedding planner to help us coordinate more of the details and other vendors. Castle Hill Cider includes almost NOTHING in their hefty price other than the location itself. The events coordinator is a lovely person but extremely unhelpful and disorganized (this would not affect the wedding if you had someone else helping you!). All said and done, we managed (albeit with a lot of stress in coordinating everything!) and it was gorgeous!

ut nothing- no chairs, no kitchen, etc.

I first stepped foot on the grounds. However, that love affair didn't continue during the planning process. The specifics would be overwhelming to relay, but I can't emphasize enough how EXTREMELY difficult it was to get in contact with Evelyn leading up to my wedding. I never felt like my wedding was anything worth CHC's time or effort and often my e-mails seemed to get forgotten. It would often take a week or more to hear back about my questions (something I didn't experience with ANY of my other vendors), and phone contact was out of the question as her voicemail was always full. My parents and I had a bad taste going into the big day to begin with, and the morning of, it was proven to us why we were feeling disgusted with the service we had received. Due to a major storm the evening before, CHC had absolutely NO power on my wedding day. What made it worse was that neither me OR my parents were notified the morning of that there was no power. Less than an hour before my entire bridal party and I were going to head over, I was told about the situation by my mother-in-law. She had lost power at her own house nearby and had just decided on a whim to check with CHC about their own power situation. They told her instead of the bride who was scheduled to spend the entire day on-site! Not only that, but they still never followed up with us about it after she had been in contact with them. They seemed to leave the dirty work on her. Luckily things came together and port-a-potties were brought in for my guests and a few small fans and generators (only enough for a string of lights and the DJ, but I was fine with it). The wedding itself went off without a hitch, and besides it being extremely hot, I was very satisfied with the event itself. However, I still can't get over how unbelievable disorganized Wendy seemed and how unimportant I felt to their business.

r, is very nice and really makes you feel welcome. Because you have to bring in a lot of the vendors, I would recommend hiring a wedding planner to help with organizing all of that. Castle Hill was the perfect place for us and I'm so glad we chose it!

ul in planning the wedding from DC. We generally had a good experience prior to our wedding and on the day of. [The only negative thing pre-wedding was that we were pressured to buy and use their cider, which our contract did not suggest or require because it was not available when we contracted the venue. We did not buy or use because we did not like, but didn't like getting asked about it several times.] The wedding was fabulous. This is a wonderful venue that you can do a lot with. It did rain on our wedding day, so we moved the ceremony to the loft and it was just wonderful. We are so happy we had it there, really, the ceremony was better in the loft than outside -- so beautiful, intimate, and gorgeous in the pictures! [Although Terrance had to hide in the catering tent while I went across the catwalk to the office just before the wedding, so there are some kinks to be worked out with the loft ceremony.] Sadly, after the wedding was not a good experience. The venue was required to return our deposit 48 hours after the event. When we hadn't heard anything or received a check in over 2 weeks from our wedding date, we emailed. They then responded that there had been almost $400 in grass damage and $200 for a burn on a table. Although it had rained, their pictures of the "grass damage" where almost identical to the pictures I had of the SAME GRASS on two other visits to the property (one of which was a few hours before a different wedding). The $200 on the table damage is likely from a different wedding. I sincerely regret that I did not photograph the space before and after the wedding. Sadly, I could not prove that the "damage" was not done on a different date -- although there was never any object that could have burned the table anywhere near any of the tables. At the end of the day, they agreed to just take $300 from us. We just didn't want to fight it any more, so we let it go. We never heard what the $300 was taken for of the alleged claims. At the end of the day, The pre-wedding and wedding experience was wonderful, just expect them to take $300-$600 of your deposit for no good reason.

ately, they were closed! We thought we would be forced to take in the beautiful sights around the cidery and leave empty-handed. Luckily, we were spotted and they opened the doors just for us. We felt very welcomed even thought we were probably making them work on their day off. It's a new cidery but it's catching on quickly. They let us know that they are selling out of pretty much everything. But, our choices were not simply limited to "Bottom of the barrel". We had a few toasting ciders to choose from. They were unique and refreshing. We wound up going up with a mixed case at a great value and our guests loved it at our reception. What a way to bring Virginia home!