I want to start this off by saying the place would get 4 stars, maybe 5, because it is beautiful- but the rest was lacking.
We had to attend a meeting with their design studio to decide on the flowers and decor for the reception because our we...dding was held at a nearby church. They said they wanted too make it all a cohesive event and incorporate the same flowers at the reception as the ceremony. That sounded wonderful, but never happened. We had light pink garden roses and ranunculus, light green hydrangeas, yellow spray roses, and aster. The flowers at the reception were sunflowers, white hydrangeas, and yellow roses. There was no pink. Since we had to attend a meeting about these flowers I felt like they wasted our time and money. Maybe they wanted to use the same flowers for the wedding after ours and this was a compromise between the two?
At the same meeting they said they would package our flowers up to be taken home, but when my mom asked about that at the reception they seemed put out and told us they don't box them up. If you do get married or have your reception here, be prepared to carry your flowers out and make sure they will in fact box them up. My family members were dressed nicely and were trying not to get their clothing messed up while taking the flowers to the car, I don't want other people to have to worry about that.
They also don't help carry anything out; table assignment chart, left over favors, card box, gifts, table numbers, cake, food. Warn whoever will be taking care of that for you because they will need to make multiple trips. Also, the driveway is gravel which messed up some ladies' heels, so have your guests keep that in mind.
Now, food. The food was so great! I was very happy with everything that we ate. At the same time my family owned a restaurant and I was very disappointed with the front of house behavior. The people working the event were not friendly and not kind to the guests, we have heard that from several people who were reluctant to tell us because they didn't want to upset us. They did not check to see if anyone needed anything, didn't smile, and did not have the pleasant demeanor you should have in a service industry. My mom asked them to please box up our extra slices of cake and they said they don't do that, so she asked again and they said fine. The cake we had paid for and had to pay a cutting fee for, was definitely ours and we wanted to take it home. I opened the box to find a bunch of slices just tossed in a box, I guess they were angry to have to do that. Ask for your cake.
In the contract it says any food that is out can't be taken home. We had 12 people not show up, so I know all of the food we bought didn't make it out. My mom asked them to box up what was in the back and they once again they said they don't do that, they throw it all away. No restaurant in America does that. Throwing away that much food is a real moral problem with so many hungry and starving people. If in fact we can't take home the food we bought, it shouldn't be going in a dumpster.
My day of planner was pleasant when dealing with me but not nice to my mom, who had very small requests considering we had bought all of these things and simply wanted to take what we bought home. She also let someone take one of my table numbers and stand home.
Carrie, the event planner, was very nice and good to work with, she made it an easy process. We needed a few reserved spots up front and she made that happen.