Lakeside Inn

My wedding at Lakeside Inn was fantastic. I love historical buildings and this one is located in such a beautiful setting. We went with a vintage theme and my photographer captured it perfectly. Lisa Morgan is the events manager there and she did a great job and was always available. I also hired her as my personal wedding coordinator. That was such a big help as she kept everyone organized in all the wedding chaos! Everything went off without a hitch! Even the weather cooperated for us. The food was amazing and the service impeccable. If you like history, vintage buildings, beautiful scenery and the quaint charm of stepping back in time then I highly recommend choosing Lakeside Inn in Mt. Dora as your venue.

Lisa was wonderful. The food was good - not amazing, but good. The service was excellent. My husband and I are still talking about how responsive (but unobtrusive) the waitstaff was during the reception. I would highly recommend the Lakeside Inn (and Lisa). We married under the oaks by the lake and it was beautiful. I was a bit worried that the boat rental place nearby would take away from the setting, but it ended up being perfect.

Chef John Carter at Lakeside did an absolutely amazing job with the food. Everyone commented on how delicious the food was at both the rehearsal dinner and the reception. We thoroughly enjoyed it as well. The service staff working at both the rehearsal dinner and the reception did a wonderful job of being attentive to the needs of our guests as well. We had multiple guests comment about what a great job they did. My only complaints on Lakeside are in regards to the chaos involving multiple changes in Sales and Catering Managers. We booked in January 2009 with Betty who we both adored, a few months later there was a new person. The new person, Barbara, was not at all a good match for us. She did not see or agree with our vision and that was when we hired Kristy (our D.O.C)(separate from Lakeside Inn). Barbara left not long after being hired (and we heard many horrible reviews on her). They then hired Lisa Hunt Aide which we found out about in June. We met with her and were okay with the change but still very content with our decision to hire Kristy. In October, I went to contact Lisa only to find out that she was gone and there was yet another new person. We met with the new person Lisa E. Morgan and went over things yet again. The new Lisa updated our contracts; although some confusion was involved and there was a bit of back and forth. Up until the 2 weeks before our wedding the new Lisa was really great about keeping in touch with us. The 2 weeks before the wedding she was a bit MIA and the weekend of the wedding I only recall seeing Lisa twice, both times on the day actual day of the wedding. (once while she was showing the venue to another couple the day of the wedding as I was in the Bridal suite getting ready and once right after the ceremony). I wish she had been a bit more visual that weekend but up until the 2 weeks before she was great. We assume that because she offers D.O.C separately through Lakeside and since we did not hire her for this that is why she was MIA…? We had 12 rooms booked at Lakeside. We were under the assumption (and we now know this was incorrect) that the room “block” was all in the same area (hence the reason for setting up a block). When family went to check in on Thursday we found that of the 12 rooms 3 were in different buildings from the rest of the family. They were able to move 1 to the building where the family was staying and the family staying in the other room did not care so that was worked out. The last person was not family and did not care. We had earned 2 free nights due to how many rooms we had booked so we were using those nights Thursday and Friday(I stayed Thursday with my mom and sister and my husband stayed Friday with my son and my brother). When I checked in on Thursday I was given the keys to the bridal suite, walked over to the room, and there were bags in the room…i.e. someone else was already staying there. The woman at the desk was livid. (Not so much at me…but just in general and she basically took it out on us). She was very apologetic after she calmed down. It was a mishap on their behalf and they were in the process of notifying those guests so that they could give us the bridal suite. In the meantime, they gave us another room (which was an upgrade). The next night we were able to keep that room and still were able to have the bridal suite for getting ready the day of the wedding. Fast forward to 11:45am the day of the wedding. We were in the bridal suite preparing to leave for the salon and the front desk called.(we had just called them regarding the power going out in the room so they could reset the breaker) They notified us that someone was checking into the room at 3pm and asked if we were checking out soon! Needless to say an emergency call was made to my husband to get that fixed since our hair and makeup was scheduled to end at 3pm so we could return to the room to get ready for our 530 ceremony! (This is a point where it would have been nice to hear from Lisa that things were being taken care of…or even an apology)Thankfully in the end it was fixed but as soon as the ceremony ended my bridesmaids had to move everything from that room to my parent’s room so Lakeside could take the room back. They did give us a third night in the other room for free, which we passed on to family, to make up for all of the chaos. Family did enjoy their stay so all in all I suppose it wasn’t so bad. The one complaint from family was that the hot water took a while to get hot for showers and at times there was NO hot water.Overall Lakeside is an amazing backdrop for a wedding. I am so glad that the weather cleared in time for our wedding to still be held outdoors and despite the issues I would recommend Lakeside Inn...but would recommend either hiring Lisa or hiring a separate Day Of. The food is amazing, the location is perfect for photos, but realistically they need to get their act together.

It is a shame that such a lovely location has so many issues with keeping their employees. Since we contracted the venue for our wedding 8 months in advance, we went through 4 event/catering manager changes which meant starting over and over again with wedding coordination and planning. Hopefully the person who they have now will stay for a long time. Lisa was very understanding and helpful and thanks to her we pulled it off.

Let me couch my review first of all by saying that the Lakeside Inn went through 3 wedding coordinators from the time I signed my contract in December of 2008 to the time of my wedding in August of 2009. That being said, things went pretty smoothly, considering the change of hands. I just got a little frantic due to some lack of communication in the middle months. But the venue is absolutely beautiful, the food was all great and everything that was stated to be provided was. The wedding coordinator was NOT on hand on the date of the wedding and provided no assistance in coordinating the ceremony or reception itself so if you are thinking that is included, don't. I had a friend help me out with this, and she was INVALUABLE. For example, when we cut the cake, the food servers had all mysteriously disappeared so there was nobody there to serve cake to the guests. My friend had to go track them down! That and a little bit of a disappointment with the hotel rooms (the front desk told my mom she had to check out by 11am on the day of the wedding so she was trying to find somewhere to put all her things while I was getting ready, even though I had pre-arranged for late check outs at 2pm for everyone! They finally agreed that I had arranged this and all was well) -and several family members, including my husband's parents, had only cold water for their showers and the front desk was less than apologetic for this (and apparently couldn't fix it). It IS an old hotel and I guess that has its quirks inherent in the old "charm." But the wedding itself was beautiful and the food was great. I would recommend it (going into it with realistic expectations).

I am so glad a friend of mine suggested The Lakeside Inn in Mt Dora, Florida. It is perfect for our needs. We are getting married in the Tea Garden and having the reception in the grand lobby. The fees for the space is very reasonable, they have several options for ceremonies and receptions, and the service has been fantastic. Betty the Inn's coordinator is awesome!! She has gone out of her way to make sure that we are getting exactly what we want. She returns my emails promptly and answers all my questions. There is no music curfew or restrictions on the volume level which I love. It is all inclusive,they do not allow outside caterers or alcohol, but again the prices are very reasonable. Also if you are the type of Bride that doesn't want to share the spotlight be aware that there can be more than one celebration going on at a time. But Betty and her staff are great at making sure your times flow as to not interrupt each others day. We are having over 50 out of town guests, so this is perfect because there are more then enough rooms for all of us, even the locals that want to make a weekend of it.

Incredible venue! Beautiful site and incredible staff. Betty was amazing to work with.

I absolutely loved The Lakeside Inn...beautiful grounds, great service, good food. The hotel is a little run-down & could be beautiful! But the major problem was I booked the "Great Lawn", $1000 for the dirt, and spent thousands getting it ready (tent, chairs, stage, etc the whole thing). No one told me they had booked a wedding that ended when mine was going to start just across a small sidewalk right outside the room I was getting ready in! Needless to say, it was awakward & uncomfortable, and I coudnl't get my photos taken because there was a wedding right ouside my door that I didn't want to intrerrupt! So that was totally unprofessional & ruined my overall good impression of the Lakeside Inn.Would reccomend as long as you MAKE SURE threre are no events that conflict with yours. Dont' take their word for it, make them be very specific!