The Philander Chase Knox Estate

I want to start off by saying I had the best day ever. Many of our guests said they also had the most fun at a wedding. However, I think if we held our reception at any place, that would hold the same impression since it really had to do with the music. We had a generally easy process planning with a sweet woman named Andrea (who since quit). Since this is a seasonal venue, you can only see it during open months, but we got engaged in the fall/planned in winter, so we booked based off of photos (I don't recommend). We liked the location and saw nice professional photos but I was slightly taken back by what I saw during our first tour (after we paid deposit). The dance floor was coming apart and outdated, the carpet around the entire reception deck was stained, old and dirty, and the bar came straight out of a an old 70s VFW. Our parents looked at us like we were nuts. Many photos we saw we realized much later that people had rented several things to make the tent look nicer. We were very close to canceling the wedding and eating our deposit but we couldn't find any open venues elsewhere for the date we wanted. For 25K+ I was expecting more updates (there's a difference between vintage/rustic and just outdated). You have to pay extra (and i mean EXTRA $$$$) for table linens, to change the cushion color etc. Behind every corner is an upcharge. That being said, the food was incredible – everyone loved everything they got and for that I am thankful! I imagine that's the bulk of the money–quality food and ingredients. I really enjoyed the personalized tasting night too! We had a day of coordinator who was a no BS kind of girl (which normally I'm all for), but also made a lot of my bridal party and family feel uncomfortable starting immediately at rehearsal by yelling at everyone for parking where they did (no one told us where to park in the first place). Secondly, we were told the bridal suite would have "crudités" for our 14+ bridal party members but it was literally 5 celery sticks and some tomatoes and ranch. Thirdly, I paid an extra $120 on top of the package deal for our cake from the Master’s Baker for premium fillings and flavors. We were dancing all night and knew our cake was sitting at our sweetheart table waiting for us and we were so excited to try them all! For whatever reason, the dessert table was cleaned up SO incredibly quickly and they THREW AWAY our 4 tier cake and we didn’t get a single slice (mind you, our slices were packed up in to-go containers). When I was asking the coordinator where the cake went she first apologized that a server threw it away. She then lied right to my face and said “the entire cake was eaten by the guests” A 4 tier cake. Eaten by everyone, right. I asked several of my guests if they had cake and none of them even saw the dessert was out. I talked to just 4 whole people who had a slice of cake. Mind you, I brought takeout containers that they could have easily packed with cake. That really rubbed me the wrong way – the cake was a total waste of money. The last thing that really set me over the edge was the breakdown. I had arranged several times with the coordinator that the card box and gifts were to be given to my husband’s father when we leave. She had asked about this again in our final meeting. We had a trailer that we were told we could keep there and the team would safely put all our decor into at the end of the night. This was great because I assumed we’d be putting it away. I wish that were the case now. I am on my way out the door asking all the staff where the cards were and no one knew. Thousands of dollars completely unaccounted for and no one cared. I assumed my mother had taken it (she was asleep at the hotel) so I tried not to panic. The next morning I find out she has no idea where it is. We go to pick up the trailer the next day and it is in there – unlocked, available to the public to just steal! The staff who packed that trailer were irresponsible, reckless and careless. Several items of ours were damaged from them throwing stuff in there, and I had 5 metal black lanterns I rented – which the staff decided to stuff an alcohol soaked tablecloth with, completely dissolving the metal finish forcing me to have to pay out of pocket for all 7 lanterns ($45 each!) due to the damage. It was the most chaotic packing I had ever seen. If I knew what I know now, I would have completely packed the whole thing myself (but that’s what we paid them to do). All in all, I would not recommend this venue in terms of the value, but it was a beautiful area and the staff were nice to us and accommodating–there were just moments where I felt different. If it were priced around 10K or less I’d book it–but for over 25K there are several beautiful venues in the area that will not cause as many headaches and have more modern touches. If you have no budget and can add all the bells and whistles then it's great!