The Bowden Events & Weddings

or our 300+ guests, with the chapel and ballroom conveniently located on the same property. The grounds are stunning and provide beautiful photo opportunities throughout, and the food was outstanding. The chef was wonderful to work with and accommodated multiple dietary needs, allowing us to offer four different entrée selections for our guests. Unfortunately, what fell short for us was the planning experience and customer service. Planning a wedding of this size naturally involves a lot of moving parts, but throughout the process it often felt like we were responsible for catching and correcting details ourselves. We repeatedly found ourselves following up on items that had already been discussed, correcting banquet event orders, and confirming details that we believed had already been finalized. At one point before the wedding, I even shared with the team that I was worried something important would be missed. Unfortunately, several things were. Despite discussing and following up in writing about hosting drinks during cocktail hour before transitioning to a cash bar, that request was missed and guests were charged for drinks during cocktail hour. While the venue later acknowledged that the request had been overlooked during the planning process, it was disappointing because it could have been corrected before the wedding. We also experienced other communication issues, including the omission of the groom's suite food from our BEO, confusion regarding seating chart instructions after we had already submitted our guest information, and multiple revisions to event documents that still required corrections. After the wedding, my husband spent over two hours searching for his keys after being told there was "no way" they were still in the groom's suite because it had already been cleaned. The next day, the keys were found exactly where he had originally asked someone to check. Our anniversary cake topper was also misplaced after the event and was only located after we contacted the venue. There were also several accounts from our guests that the wait staff were not pleasant. While we did not personally experience this, I felt it important to note as a reflection of the entire experience. None of these issues alone would have defined our experience. Collectively, however, they created a pattern where we never felt confident that the details were fully under control without our own continued oversight. For me, the biggest disappointment wasn't that mistakes happened—mistakes are inevitable with an event of this size—it was that the service recovery and ownership often didn't match the caliber of the venue itself. To The Bowden's credit, after I shared my feedback, leadership reviewed our feedback and offered to share with the team. I appreciated that effort and their willingness to review our concerns. Ultimately, our wedding day was beautiful, our guests had an amazing time, and I will always cherish the memories we made there. My hope in sharing this review is simply that future couples receive a planning experience that is as exceptional as the venue itself.