Mother of the bride here. I want to start by saying the wedding was a blast and the venue came together just in the nick of time for the ceremony. The photos are gorgeous and the property looks amazing in them.
Some good things to know:
We pa...id an additional fee to arrive at the venue two hours early to unload/prep and start hair/ make up. Upon arrival at 10 AM, the venue was filthy and two tours were conducted between 10 and noon. We were told by Rebecca, the venue representative, that contractually, they were allowed to have tours during our allotted time. It was disruptive and I am posting so you are aware that paying extra does not mean you have the venue to yourselves.
The farm was filthy from the wedding the night before. Thankfully the two prep rooms and bathrooms were in decent shape. Specifics: the front porch was dirty, the rug and runners to the ceremony area are old, dirty and corners turned up which presents a legit tripping hazard as we were making many trips in and out with supplies. The back porch was full of mud. The ceremony area had dead rose petals and garbage strewn about and the front stage was not set up per our instructions. The 'night crew' was scheduled to arrive at 2 PM to begin cleaning, which they did. So, pictures were accompanied by leaf blowers, vacuuming, furniture moving and cleaning crew in and out. It would be extremely helpful if the 'night crew' actually came at night rather than two hours before the ceremony.
As previously mentioned, a woman named Rebecca was there when we arrived at 10. She was not 'our coordinator' and appeared to be there selling to the two tours. She told us Sam was our event contact and she was scheduled to arrive at noon. Rebecca answered a few questions for us and then went to the office and shut the door. Sam did arrive at noon, only to leave again and re-appear at 130. Sam was helpful, but we needed her around at noon, not 130. We would have been in big trouble had we not had a wonderful friend that coordinated everything for us and communicated with Sam about what was needed. We were available at noon to discuss pertinent details, not at 130, 2.5 hours before the ceremony.
Heads up on the bathroom situation: the bathrooms have two stalls total, two entry doors- inside and outside to the courtyard ceremony area, and additional side doors that lead to the bride and groom prep rooms. It was really bad when all the guests arrived and needed to use the bathrooms. Needless to say, quite a few got a peak at the wedding party early. Once the reception starts, all guests need to walk directly in back of the table set up in front of it. It's a very tight fit and disruptive (we were seated at this table). There simply are not enough bathrooms for 100 people. They definitely need to figure out additional guest bathrooms.
In summary:
-No tours should take place when you've paid for the time- so write this into your contract. We heard repeatedly from Rebecca, 'it's in your contract', which is not helpful.
-If you reserve the venue early, write into your contract that your specific venue rep will be present the entire time.
-The venue should be deep cleaned overnight and a simple touch up done the day of.
-More bathrooms are needed stat. I would even consider renting port a pottys, which is discouraging, considering what we pay to be there.
I hope this helps you plan your special day!