First and foremost, the following is solely based upon our experience at the estate. That being said, I hope that it serves as a cautionary tale for anyone who is potentially considering hosting their wedding or any other event here.
Do not b...e fooled by the beauty of the Estate, which I can assure you is entirely wasted on its current management. We had our wedding here on October 29, 2016 as well as spending the entire weekend there, and from the moment we stepped foot onto the estate, we and those of our friends and family staying in the house (~25 people) felt more like unwelcome house guests than well-paying customers.
We spent over $13,000 to host our wedding weekend here, not including what we spend on outside vendors, decorations, etc. and I can say that even if it were free, I would still have flabbergasted by Melanie and her staff's lack of hospitality and disregard for customer service.
Throughout our entire wedding reception, the only time that they checked in with us was Melanie getting into a disruptive and unprofessional verbal altercation with one of our bridesmaids at our sweetheart table over the money dance "shots", after the money dance had just concluded, and we were in the process of taking them away. Other than that, the staff, save the outside vendors, were no where to be found. Our DJ was fantastic, as were the caterers, and did more throughout the night than the owners of the estate. If you have the extra money to hire a wedding planner, I urge you to do so if you are set on having your wedding here. The staff at the estate will only cause you grief.
It is one thing to have things that aren't how you expected, but it is quite another to not have things how you were promised by someone providing you a premium service. And again, it is quite another to not have your concerns addressed at all. Melanie chose to ignore all of our concerns throughout our stay.
I can only imagine that she had her $13,000+ in the bank, so it didn't bother her how our experience was. My only solace is to write this review in the hope that those reading it avoid the same mistakes we did.
From the water not working intermittently throughout our stay, including when the bridesmaids were attempting to get ready, to them scooping ketchup, whipped cream, and other condiments back into their container after they had sat out for communal consumption, to their overall and complete lack of hospitality during our stay, we are entirely dissatisfied with our choice to have what should've been the happiest day of our lives at the Grand Estate at Hidden Acres.
I have sent a detailed e-mail to the owner, Melanie, to which she has yet to respond. We did nothing to hide our dissatisfaction with our experience, and when I spoke with Melanie upon check-out, all she could manage was a non-apology in the form of "I'm sorry you feel that way", completely avoiding all culpability in the situation.
Melanie,
As I mentioned in my e-mail, I hope that you recognize the emotional distress and hardship that this has caused us by ruining what should've been the most memorable day of our lifetime. Since you chose not to address our concerns throughout our stay at your property, and with the e-mail I sent you 4 days ago, we are giving you yet another opportunity to do so now, but simply an apology is too little too late at this point. Please do something to try to make this right.