We chose Four Oaks because the grounds provided the rustic charm we wanted, the pricing was within our desired budget, and we were sold at our consultation on the idea of all we have to do is show up on our wedding day, as our coordinator (Laura) would ensure all details were attended to. While the first two items remained true, the last was at best questionable. Meetings: Set yourself a reminder - there is no confirmation call, email, nothing, which I would expect from such a high-touch industry. It also would have been good to have some sort of meeting agenda to prepare from to be more efficient – but I guess that defeats the purpose of why they charge for additional consultation hours outside the 3 meetings! Coordinator: There were many things we were told each time we met with Laura that later, she’d change and say she never said. For a while, she wasnt sure if she would be working on our wedding day! She ended up disappearing after 8pm at our reception - another coordinator finally stepped in during our exit at 10pm. Things really went south in the last 2 minutes of our final meeting, 2 weeks before the big day. As we were leaving Laura said she’d forgotten one minor detail and advised us of a wedding the morning after ours that had been scheduled for 2 years and that they’d be rehearsing ON SITE at 4:30pm the day of our wedding (our ceremony starts at 6pm). When we objected - because we’d be taking photos, decorations getting set up, family/friends arriving - an email from Randy, the owner, advised us that the time at the venue PRIOR to our ceremony start time was “only given as a courtesy” and that “they can do what they would like on the property until that time”. I presented page 1 of our contract where it clearly states our lease begins at 2pm on the day of; Randy still insisted the other party would hold their rehearsal on the premises as we prepared for our wedding. We were told we would find it minimally invasive and there was nothing we could do. This couldn t be more untrue as we watched their rehearsal party (20+ people) disturb our decorations and tables, and they repeatedly walked THROUGH our photos with not so much as an apology. Not once did an employee of Four Oaks intervene. Furthermore, our plan for inclimate weather was to move all activities into the Carriage House. Much to our surprise, as we arrived for our rehearsal on Thursday evening, tents were set up over the tables. There wasn’t a single phone call or email to ask if we wanted this or if we were willing to pay for the tents. Randy and Laura refused to take the tents down at our request several times, before begrudgingly offering to remove them. So as not to make our situation more uncomfortable with them, we agreed to allow the tents and were charged the full amount for them. Music: They are able to hook an iPhone to the speaker system to play music, which saved us money on a DJ we didn’t need for our small wedding. We were told to also bring a charger so the phone won’t die during our event. Around 8:45, the music stopped, because no one plugged the charger in! We sat in silence for a few minutes, then had to go find a staff member to assist, as they were all in the kitchen chatting, unaware what was happening at their event outside. Food: was ok. FYI food tastings are NOT included and cost $30-35/pp.
Cake: Our guests had to cut cake themselves. Guests were unable to have cake because the venue ran out of cake plates, and no staff was around to help.