Loray Mill Event Hall

a laugh! 2020 has been a heard year but Loray mill staff have made my fiancé and I feel like top priority! We can’t wait to tie the knot in 2021 and have the dream wedding we have been waiting so long for at this amazing venue with fantastic people! Caleb and Byron you are wedding fairy godmothers!

s venue is absolutely gorgeous and has picture perfect places, as well as an amazing caterer and options for beverages! I highly recommend Loray Mill as the place for your wedding!

rdinator cause it’ll be so smooth. Since the catering is owned by the same man it was so easy to make sure everyone was in agreement on how everything should go. Kim has been very helpful with the catering by making sure we received copies of everything. When we had to be postponed due to COVID they have been extremely flexible and helpful every step of the way. Caleb there is always super responsive every day even if you text or call 100 times. Definitely a great group there and a very gorgeous venue! We look forward to our special day a week from Sunday!

with this venue, it was absolutely breathtaking, and it was affordable when we looked at the pricing packages that they included. There are several different options to choose from as far as packages are considered to ensure that it fits in everyone’s wedding budget. I truly loved that there was a place for the bridal team to get ready and that the newlyweds were able to stay in the suite the night of their wedding (included in all packages when we booked the venue). I also loved the wedding coordinator at the venue, she was very honest and stuck to her word. Everything was great until I received word that the event coordinator was accepting a new position. I would set up meetings periodically to check in with the venue and see what would be needed at that specific time...each time I would email someone there was a new person in charge of the event planning..all in all, in 9 months, we went through 6 event coordinators leading up to our wedding day….this was extremely frustrating as I would have to go back and explain to each person my vision for my day, and verify all was taken care of. It became so much of a joke with this place and how the business can’t keep anyone that my family and I had a bet on how many people would quit before our wedding day. It became really interesting when it was 2 WEEKS before my wedding and I was informed (by me calling and calling and calling because no one emails back) that there was yet another event coordinator that would now take over my wedding. The phone conversation did not last long as she left me in tears when she told me 2 WEEKS before my wedding that my file had me misplaced….so everything in my file was suddenly gone. Essentially, my wedding vision disappeared. At that point I decided it was best to get off the phone because I now had to scramble two weeks before my wedding to figure out what all they needed AGAIN so that my wedding day would be as smooth as possible. My now husband quickly became involved and asked for a refund for the venue and just like that the company found our file ONE week before my wedding. And the girl that I previously talked about had already quit and now I am dealing with another new person ONE WEEK BEFORE MY WEDDING. So, now I am having to go over everything……..again. It was just an extremely unfortunate experience as it is not something that a bride should have to stress about. I felt uneasy most of my wedding planning experience because of the event staff. Meanwhile, I never received a phone call, text, or email from the owner Byron to apologize for what was happening or to even give me an explanation. He simply wanted my money initially (he is apparently known to make a lot of promises so that couples will choose his venue and then not communicate such with his staff leading to so many other issues). Once he received the money for the venue, I never heard from him again. Overall, it was an extremely stressful time and not needed in the slightest. Don’t be fooled by the beautiful pictures, the event staff is not worth the hassle, pick another place that you can actually trust.

nue this past Sunday, and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I would never have another event or ever do business with anyone from this facility again. They promised so many things, then completely changed this the day of our reception, which completely blinded side me, my wife, and our families. When we arrived the day of the reception, the main event hall was completely dirty and had several puddles of water that leaked from the air conditioner. The back room that is attached to the main event hall was filled with rocks and cleaning equipment. Which the staff refused to clean, so I was forced to do it myself. The incorrect color chairs were put out at each table. The entire hall smelled awful and was extremely dirty. Stains, tape and marks all over the floor. The newly hired event coordinator Todd and the owner assured us that they would help us in any way we needed. Unfortunately, the day of the reception it was the complete opposite. There was nobody available to greet the vendors that were delivering items for the reception. I had to go downstairs and guide some of the vendors instead of getting ready for my own reception. There was nobody available to tell guest the location of the event hall, even though Todd assured us there would be. Todd also promised to cut our wedding cake, which was written in the contract, but left the venue and did not response to any phone calls. Additionally, there were zero trash cans or trash bags in the hall so my father in law was forced to leave our reception to buy trash bags instead of enjoying the even that we paid for with his family. So, my wife called Todd, and politely asked him where we could throw away the trash. I overheard him being very disrespectful to heard, and being dismissive of her question. So, I picked up the phone to try to explain to him that I did not appreciate how disorganized, and how poorly they handled our event after making so many promises. If you do not want to provide a service for someone, do not offer it. Be upfront and honest, so that people know what to expect the day of their wedding. This is something that this company failed at spectacularly. The full length of this review along with pictures is posted on https://www.weddingwire.com/biz/homesteads-events-loray-mill-gastonia/45bb73aea622eff2.html. Todd had also called the police and verbally attacked my wife.

everything turned out perfectly. I wouldn’t have had a single thing go differently.

ginally chose the venue because you could choose your own caterer but after the buyout, it was not the case. I gave Homesteads (the caterer) a chance and was impressed with the food but it was a headache constantly trying to get everything right. It was very difficult to try to get anyone to respond to emails/phone calls. If you have someone who can deal with all of this headache for you, I'd say go ahead because it is a beautiful venue. Otherwise, I'd find somewhere else.

y-out, the whole planning process was a mess. They did not want to originally honor our contract, luckily I hired a wedding planner who was able to negotiate with them, and in the long run we did have to pay extra. Loray Mill Event Hall (owned and operated by Homestead Events) requires you to use their own catering services. Under our original contract, we could use whichever catering service we wanted to, however with the buy-out they did not honor this. So we had to pay an extra fee per person because we had already booked a catering company (before this buy-out) and we were not using them. Then throughout the process, I would receive numerous calls from their employees when they were supposed to be contacting my planner, and it was always the same questions.... it was like no one was on the same page/talking with each other nor writing any of the conversations down. I received numerous phone calls about us needing to schedule a tasting session for the food when I kept telling them I had outside catering, and this was also in the new contract. During the final walkthrough, the on-site coordinator kept telling me I did not have this or that included in the rental/contract, when in fact I did (linens, tables, apartments, etc). Once again, my planner saved me and it all worked out in my favor. My biggest concern came Sunday morning after the wedding... we accidentally left a few items in one of the apartments we had rented out (my husband's medicine and a steamer I had just received as a gift, plus a good bit of food) and we know exactly where we had left them, yet they would not let us look for it on Monday morning. They are also really bad about not returning voicemails. In all though, the day of the wedding went amazing. If anything went wrong, I was not aware of it. If you choose this venue, I highly suggest hiring a wedding planner as I felt pressured a couple of times by the employees/owner to agree to stuff that contradicted our contract. The venue itself is beautiful and we had so many compliments from our guests. In all, it was worth it... however just be prepared because the employees there really need to get more organized and on the same page. I am so glad that we decided to use Loray Mill, the apartments to get ready in were perfect and exactly what we needed, and our wedding day was completely stress free. Honestly, the look of the venue is worth 5 stars, however the stress leading up to the wedding day was very hard for me and the lack of support we received when trying to look for our lost items was what made me give them 3 stars. As well as the disorganization.

d us to really trust the folks at Loray. Ultimately, it was all for naught. The room was not set up as promised despite us meeting and drawing up several room layouts. Our appetizers were placed in a location where no one could see them and when my mother arrived, the guests did not even know they were there to eat. No one from the venue directed them to partake. We asked for two high-chairs but received only one. There is a required caterer (run by the same folks) at this location and they were completely unprepared. Dinner was almost an hour late and there were not even plates on the tables by the time guests began arriving. There were several issues with the bar as well. I could continue and may come back at a later time to do so. The bottom line is, Loray is a GORGEOUS venue because of the qualities of the building itself. The building itself earned 1 star....But don't be fooled into booking here by the curb appeal like we were. Too much false advertisement and too many broken promises.