This is a very difficult review to make as everything leading up to our wedding day seem to be going off without a hitch until it wasn't.
To begin with the positive and what this... venue is doing right:
-Partner Vendors: Great people to work with! Went above our expectation's and offered to make up for any mishaps that occurred on the big day (Jenny Layne - we didn't even notice the missing parfaits until you brought it up, thank you for making it right). All our guests loved the catering and the portions were just right for our very hungry friends and family. Flowers and signs were beautiful and the vendor really worked with us to capture what was important to us and what was not. Photography and music were just the best! Both vendors saved the wedding in so many ways and made sure our day stayed special.
-Venue: Gorgeous European inspired estate! It was a little snug with 80+ people, the place should really advertised that this location can fit more like 60 people comfortably. Hadn't known this, maybe we would have gone with another Walters estate location. (Not a big deal but wish the staff was more straightforward about this).
Staff (Prep Work/Leading Up To The Wedding): Communication was a little slow and we felt that all of the due dates for venue selection was rushed. It was a little difficult to get a hold of the planner. This could just be the wedding pile up stress but it would have been nice to spread out the timeline a little to account for delays from the staffs end. Overall, we felt attended to and the price transparency right off the bat was appreciated. The only hiccup we had here was that we were told a breakfast buffet was included with our overnight stay but it was not. This threw off the morning after the wedding.
Day of Wedding Venue Staff (Here's the not so great part): Leading up to the wedding day, we were constantly reminded that we would have a day of wedding coordinator. We even had discussions with our long term planning coordinator about additional touches that would be needed (e.g. tables, religious set up, etc.). Come our wedding day, its chaos. All our vendors set up everything spectacularly but everything that was supposed to be taken care of by the DOWC is not anywhere to be seen, much like here at this wedding. My bridesmaids, photographer, DJ had to help with setting up welcome tables, putting wedding favors on chairs, etc. (re-organizing people for sitting in the wrong seats, you name it and it didn't get done). My bridesmaid even found the wedding coordinator hiding out in the kitchen. While I understand wedding's can be chaotic, if there's an overwhelming amount of work for the day of the wedding, maybe the venue should hire two people or have more senior employees be the DOWC. One other thing I must mention and agree with other reviewers is the cake situation. So half a cake just disappears? While I'm more than happy share with all the hardworking staff, its disappointing to have hear staff taking a huge amount of leftover cake. Wedding cakes are not cheap and I would have like that my guests enjoyed an additional piece or taken leftovers. We opted for 4 tier cake that could easily feed 150 people and had a guest list half the size. My spouse and I really tried to enjoy our day but it was an ongoing battle with the DOWC to have everything pulled off. I'm so grateful to the amazing vendors that helped us get through it. 6 months later and happily married but the whole ordeal still bothers me.