Slate & Cypress

Slate and Cypress is BEAUTIFUL. And the day itself was a wonderful experience. My goal with this review is to help other families minimize stress if they plan a wedding there. My daughter's wedding was on 10/14/23 with 225 guests. Our initial meeting with the owner, Andrew, went well. He was very personable. Even the meeting held mid-August went okay. The decision made at that meeting was 30 tables inside and the buffet possibly located in a small room off the main hall. Andrew needed to speak with the caterer first. No problem . Our coordinator, the caterer, and Andrew met in September, a month before the wedding. Andrew decided the food had to go outside under the covered area. Okay, not ideal but workable. Then, Andrew suddenly announced, "Absolutely no more than 25 tables inside." He was worried about wear and tear. Wait. What happened to our agreement? You advertise you can accommodate 250 people. Now, you can’t? After a couple of tense discussions, Andrew reluctantly agreed to 30 tables inside. All that stress for nothing. Our contract stated Slate and Cypress had the sole right to move the wedding indoors due to weather. Fine. But it doesn’t say WHEN they can decide. We assumed the decision would be made Saturday morning, since it was a 5:00 ceremony. But right before the 9:00 Friday morning rehearsal, Andrew announced the wedding would be inside. What? A "chance" of showers (no high winds, lightning, or heavy rain) was forecasted for Saturday morning, then the odds decreased throughout the day. The bride was stressed. No one expected Andrew to call it 32 hours beforehand. We would have understood if things looked bad Saturday morning. After more tense conversations, Andrew finally agreed to make the call Saturday. The weather ended up being fine. We figured out why Andrew was so tense. It would just be him and his wife setting up all the chairs. They were the entire "staff". (His wife, Olga, was very helpful and sweet.) We assumed a venue that accommodates 250 people had help. Even our coordinator had 3 people, and I had my own “staff” of friends helping to set up. I'll give Andrew props for allowing us an extra 30 minutes to break down the event. However, if he had a staff, that wouldn't have been needed. The contract stated “no confetti,” but part of the wedding party did shoot off some confetti twice. We had NO idea that was their plan. We cleaned it up and apologized. My son played guitar as the guests were being seated. We also thought he could casually play an unplugged acoustic guitar outside for part of the reception. That worried Andrew. “He’s a vendor. He needs proof of insurance.” Seriously? He is the bride’s brother and a guest. Andrew finally agreed but said, “As long as people don’t start singing along”. That wasn’t the plan, but what?? If he has neighbors that are bothered by a strumming guitar at 9 pm, then he picked the wrong location for a venue (Slate and Cypress sits on five acres.) Andrew told one of our vendors that our wedding coordinator was “useless”. How unprofessional. Andrew recommended her to us! We loved her! He has since hired an in-house wedding coordinator. I’m sure he’ll be much happier that way. We are pleased with how things turned out. But there was MUCH unneeded stress before the wedding day. If you’re willing to chance it, make sure it's clear when Andrew can call inclement weather and how many tables are allowed inside. Plus, for bigger weddings, he needs a staff!

It’s hard to describe what will be one of the most memorable events in our lives. My daughter had the wedding of her dreams at Slate & Cypress. Andrew and Olya made every effort to accommodate us in every way to make it the most special day for them. They were always quick to respond, making communication simple. All aspects of the contract were clearly explained, and the timeline / due dates were easy to follow. We held our reception in the stunning, tastefully designed winery inspired venue hall. The hall was large enough to accommodate our 150 guests, the DJ and dance floor, the dinner buffet and the bar area. For their ceremony, they were married outside on part of the 5 acres there. We used the old heritage tobacco barn to host their cocktail hour and it was a perfect place to have guests wait while having appetizers and cocktails. Our friends and family have raved for weeks about how incredible everything was, saying it was the perfect mix of class and unpretentiousness. I cannot recommend this venue, Andrew & Olya, enough. A million thanks to Andrew and Olya for giving us an unbelievable day, and memories we will cherish for a lifetime.

Our venue could not have been better for our destination wedding. The gorgeous grounds and private location made our ceremony and reception feel intimate without being cramped. We loved the chickens running around (which Andrew offered to coop)! Andrew and Olya catered to so many of our needs by helping us find vendors as we were not local. They provided a fun, romantic playlist for cocktail hour, and took care of all our seating needs for the ceremony and reception (as I forgot to think about high chair for my own kid). I truly had one of the best nights of my life at the venue and couldn't possibly say enough good things about the place. Between the beautiful fountain, outdoor smokeless firepits, fruit trees, rustic patio area, and elegant reception hall, there was something that everyone one of guests enjoyed. So much Love to Andrew and Olya who helped make my wedding perfect!

While Slate and Cypress is a beautiful venue dealing with the owners is not worth the hassle. Andrew caused so much unnecessary stress during the planning process. Our wedding was the weekend hurricane Ian came through and I understand that was completely out of everyone’s control and this review is not about that. It’s based on things that happened in the months and weeks leading up to the wedding. One of the biggest issues we had arose for us renting a stage and dance floor. He thought we didn’t need one and tried to get us to remove it several times. When we were making our rain plan he used fire code as the reason. I understand fire code and want everyone to be safe and would never want any rules broken. Our planner worked tirelessly coming up with a plan where extra people came in to flip the room after the ceremony and not one exit would be blocked and there would be plenty of room for everyone. Answer was still no unless you get rid of the stage. Same for ending time which my daughter discussed with Andrew prior to signing the contract. It did state in the contract that everything had to be done by 11:00 so she discussed with him ending at 10:30 prior to signing the contract and he said it wouldn’t be a problem. Fast forward a month before the wedding and suddenly we have to end everything at 9:45-10:00 to be completely out by 11:00. We were told that if we went even a minute over we would be charged half the rental fee. What was the reason? The stage and dance floor of course. If we got rid of it we could end at our original time of 10:30. We had planned this wedding for over a year based off the conversation my daughter had in the beginning prior to signing the contract only to have it change a month before. It’s our fault for not getting it written into the contract but we trusted what he said. There were many other things that happened during the planning that he changed his mind on last minute that were unnecessary and caused unnecessary stress. If you choose this venue please know exactly what you want before you sign anything and discuss and have them added in the contract from the get go. Better yet just steer clear.