suehen's reviews

A Country Location site is very picturesque --definitely an appropriate & beautiful setting for Your Special Day. However, the owners seem to have a difficult time realizing that it is indeed Your Special Day -- and needlessly contribute to the stress of dealing with all the little details.
In dealing with Marilyn and making any requests -- I always felt as if we were in some way "inconveniencing" her. They are unrealistic in their view that you could setup for a wedding in 1 hour. You can "purchase" additional time @ $200 per hour -- and I must acknowledge & thank her for allowing us in about an hour early with no extra charge. She was adament that they (her "staff")used the several hours prior to your designated start time to "set-up". Yet, 15 minutes before our scheduled ceremony start the chairs for our guests still were not in place--after repeated requests-so that we could complete the decorating. (Therefore we didn't have enough time to line the aisle with the ribbon/tulle swags before guests started to arrive at 2:10 for a 2:30 ceremony). Other things were not in place, as requested on the layout she required 2 weeks in advance. One of the biggest issues(for me) was inserting themselves into our celebration. As we were setting the food into bowls, etc during "set-up" she continued to walk-thru the kitchen & freely help herself to nuts, candy, truffles, etc. Later on she went up to the caterer wanting to know if it was time to eat. I found out after the event that her, her husband(Forrest), son, son-in-law & 2 granddaughters went through the buffet line, availed themselves of the wine & beer and while guests were taking pictures, dancing, etc -- her granddaughters were in the bouncy house we had rented, requests were made of the photographer to take personal pictures, etc. Unfortunately, Marilyn & Forrests' lines between personal & business are blurred. They rented the grounds to us for a specific reason, with specific guidelines. I can understand the need to have on-site representative; but they need to be unobtrusive & removed. Nowhere in the contract did it mention I was required to include & feed 6 members from their family! There were several other incidents that occured which I believe were handled poorly -- including a chair that literally broke apart underneath one of the guests. I consider myself a reasonable business person and do not believe I was demanding, inappropriate or rude in any of my requests or my expectation of their behavior. However, I cannot in good conscience recommend A Country Location --- mainly because they are difficult to deal with and you are made to feel -- not like it is Your Special Day and they want to help make it as such; but rather that you are a dollar sign and there is really nothing special about you!