Historic Tuckahoe

We recently held our wedding at Historic Tuckahoe, and it was absolutely perfect in every way! From the moment we first toured the venue, we were struck by its stunning beauty and elegance. The grounds are impeccably maintained, with lush gardens and breathtaking views that made for incredible photo opportunities. The staff at Historic Tuckahoe went above and beyond to ensure that our special day was flawless. They were incredibly accommodating and attentive to every detail, from the initial planning stages to the day of the event. Our coordinator, Holt, was a true professional and made the entire process seamless and stress-free.

Beautiful location, grounds & gardens! It also has really neat historical significance that makes it an interesting spot for guests to explore on the wedding day. We recently had our wedding at TP in late June. Every time I pulled up to Tuckahoe prior to that day (to bury the bourbon & multiple times during the week of) I was struck by the natural beauty- there are horses, ducks, sheep, etc all on property. They even have a full-time gardener Holt who was super helpful with letting us use her floral fridge (we did out own flower arrangements) and helping cut some greens for the property to use the in the arrangements. Lyndee was our on-site contact and wedding planner- she was extremely helpful throughout the entire process and a very calm personality which was helpful to me on the wedding weekend! She is very knowledgeable about Tuckahoe events and answered all of my questions in a timely manner throughout my 6 months of engagement. We got ready in the house and had it open during cocktail hour which some of the guests really enjoyed being able to see the inside of Thomas jefferson’s Childhood home. One thing we knew going into the wedding was that the grounds are expansive and required our guests to do a bit of walking which most people did not mind but something to keep in mind if you have a lot of older guests invited. They do have a golf cart and driver for a small fee if needed. It is also an a la carte venue, meaning very little provided other than the site itself (and the stables which was very helpful to store all of our decor, etc. in the week leading up to the wedding day!). You have to bring in rentals, bathrooms (if over 100 guests), etc etc. BUT the gardens are so beautiful during much of the year its not necessary to go overkill with florals. We were aware of all this and ready for the risk of rain but if this is something that would stress you out as a bride I would recommend booking a location that has an indoor option. Overall a great experience and Tuckahoe will always hold a special place in my heart!

We chose Tuckahoe Plantation, because it was so gorgeous, and unique. It’s located so far from the road that you get total quiet (except for the occasional train). It offered a beautiful flow of ceremony to cocktail hour to reception, with things for guests to explore and enjoy in between. We chose it happily, and we opted for a coordinator provided by Tuckahoe Plantation. The coordinator was very knowledgeable of Tuckahoe, and was helpful during the planning process, but execution wasn’t great on the wedding day in our opnion. The event began late, not due to me or anyone in the wedding party getting ready, but because the reception area wasn’t set up in time. This is unfortunate when everyone is ready on time, and we have the venue for a limited amount of time. The reception took a long time to set up, even with several of our guests helping to set up. We had a welcome station that was supposed to be set up in the garden area on the steps just above the ceremony area. We were supposed to have drinks stationed there, and our greeters were telling guests to expect it there. It wasn’t set up, and there were empty tables there. I mapped this out with our coordinator at our site visit, and she was working directly with the caterer. I don’t know where the miscommunication occurred, but that was supposed to attract guests to get programs, lavender to throw. Instead, my nephews had to set out programs on each seat and hand out the lavender, because no one had seen or gotten any of these things. And, there were items there that were supposed to be in the reception area. They were moved to the reception later on at my request. We also bought about two dozen shepherd’s hooks, lanterns and candles, standalone candles and a bubble machine, which were all supposed to be set out for reception decoration. None of this was set up. Because these things were not used, the cigar area that we set up for guests wasn’t really lit at all, and anything away from our lighted tent wasn’t lit. Lastly, we paid for a fire pit through Tuckahoe to be lit and managed by their staff. It wasn’t lit until I had to ask a wedding guest for help to find the coordinator and see if we could light it, because I couldn’t find her, and had no way of getting in touch. We faced other issues that are to be expected on a wedding day, but nothing major. But there were many things that were avoidable, and characteristic of a lack of coordination rather than expected mishaps. Overall, we put a lot of thought into each detail, spent a good deal of time planning, and paid a significant amount of money for all of these elements, and we didn’t get them. So, while we liked the venue, our experience on the day as it wore on was us wondering, “oh, will that work?”, “did we actually get that set up?”, “did people know about that?”, which is not what we wanted after a year of planning, a lot of discussions, and money spent. I contacted aTuckahoe about my experience and they apologized, but offered no concrete explanations behind why this happened or how they planned to prevent this in the future. I've noticed that wedding rates for next year have dropped. I don't know the reason behind it, but this means that I paid more than future brides for this experience.