About this vendor
There’s no place more beautiful for your wedding than the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club. The lush surroundings of the Inn offer a timeless setting for weddings and special events. Whether you envision quaint and charming ceremony overlooking our championship golf course or a formal reception in a breathtaking ballroom, our wedding venues cater to celebrations both intimate and grand.
Amenities + details
Ceremony Area
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
On-Site Accommodations
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Covered Outdoors Space
Dressing Room
Liability Insurance
Settings
- Ballroom
- Hotel
- Restaurant
- Tented
Venue Service Offerings
- Bar & Drinks
- Cakes & Desserts
- Food & Catering
- Planning
- Rentals & Equipment
- Service Staff
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
3.9
out of 5.07 reviews
They are extremely difficult to get in contact with. It took three separate emails to multiple people just to get someone to attempt to book a tour with us. The tour was also very ...
underwhelming with not enough information given (where cocktail hour would be, venue fee, whats not included/is included). After already telling them we had stayed at the hotel before, they proceeded to give us a tour of one of the rooms that was the exact room we had stayed in already. We were very disappointed as this had been our initial venue plan. With it being as expensive as it is, they should be more professional.
My husband and I had our wedding reception at the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club (WaDuke for short) on 3/8/2015 and worked with Beth Pendergrass. Beth did a phenomenal job taking ...
my vision of a sparkly princess-worthy reception into a reality! From the first meeting with Beth, I knew I had found the perfect reception venue for our Duke wedding ! The WaDuke's reception package took the stress out of planning the reception! Beth helped us figure out the timeline for the reception, as well as linens, chairs, food, lighting, food, and even in reserving a room for the night!
The reception package gave us the option of a 5 course plated dinner, a buffet, or food stations, and we are so happy that we chose the stations! We got to pick three different stations, we chose a carving station, a mixed grill station, and a shrimp and grits station, and everyone at the reception loved the food! We also got a choice of linens and Chivari chairs and chair cushions, and I was able to put together the navy and pink princess look I envisioned! It was well worth the price!
I also really appreciated how easy Beth made it to make sure everything and everyone was at the right place at the right time! Before the wedding day, we dropped off our favors, pictures, table numbers, etc. with Beth and she took care of setting everything up for us! She and the catering staff also made sure to get the guests in the President's ballroom on time for the bridal party's entrance and, working with the DJ, kept everything running on schedule! She also arranged for the wedding gifts to be sent to our honeymoon suite for safekeeping while we danced and socialized in the ballroom! The catering staff was also very amazing and were very efficient in clearing away empty plates and glasses, manning the food stations and passing hors d'ouvres, and evening ensuring that my husband and I could eat some of the food while mingling with guests!
Overall, Beth and her staff at WaDuke kept the reception organized, fun, and beautiful without adding stress to the wedding planning! Beth was really a wonderful person to work with and really surpassed what I had envisioned for the reception!
Thanks so much for everything, Beth, and James and I will see you next time we're at WaDuke! :)
The Washington Duke Inn is the premiere location for a reception in Durham. Their team of event coordinators made sure our reception was absolutely perfect, and their wedding packa...
ge was very reasonable, considering the high level of quality we received. An absolutely stunning venue!
Great venue, especially if you have guests coming from out of town
too big, too expencive, not what we are looking for. not for us.
Even when the venue is amazing we were a little disappointed with the service. Our wedding was very small and we had a little hard time trying to accommodate our needs with the eve...
nt planner. Unfortunately in the groom's dinner plate he found a vegetable sticker. Our in-laws wanted to surprise us with a wine bottle in our suite during the evening which we never got.
The waiters were wonderful, and the rest of the food was very good.
Overall, my husband and I were extremely pleased with how the event came off: a beautiful setting on the terrace and in the Ambassador Ballroom, delicious food, and excellent, prof...
essional service at the event.
However, the pre-event planning process was less than desirable:
- The catering manager made several errors in the planning process. She mixed up the date for our food tasting, which forced us to rearrange meetings with other vendors when we only had a few days left in town (she never acknowledged that she had made the error and instead assumed I had gotten it wrong; when I checked our email exchanges, I had the correct date).
- In general, I felt that the Catering Manager was always trying to add on extra expenses to our event. While she would not prod when I politely declined, I consistently had to ask "how much this cost," etc., rather than being presented with that information up front.
- Several errors were made in the initial bills. The price for beverages was higher than quoted; similarly, extra, incorrect service fees were added (this was corrected once I called it to her attention; however, I felt like I had to scrutinize all invoices to ensure no added fees).
- When the ceremony ran longer than expected by 20 minutes, the Catering manager would not flex the schedule. She insisted that we cut out photography time (which had originally been 1 hr) to 30-40 minutes in order to start the banquet on time. I requested that we just push the dinner back by 15-20 minutes; that way, we could take our photos, and also our guests could enjoy the full hour of the appetizer + beverage station. She did not do this, and repeatedly hassled myself and the groom to return to the ballroom. All and all, it was a very uncomfortable and irritating experience that could have marred an otherwise wonderful day.
Contact
3001 Cameron Blvd., Durham, NC
Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club