Hello WNY brides! I wanted to share my terrible experience with Hurd Orchards in Holley, NY to prevent the terrible service I have received from this venue! When I was on the hunt for a location for our Summer 2014 wedding. All other location I looked into (Glenn Iris, Bully Hill Winery, The Rabbit Room) got back to me right away...Hurd Orchards took almost 3 weeks to respond to my inquiry and only did so after I called numerous times and eventually spoke to the owner directly. I found out the owners step daughter, Molly Machamer, was the wedding coordinator and all planning/questions regarding the wedding would go directly through her. Turns out she lives in NC, not WNY. Although it initially worried me that she was in another state I figured I would still plan it there since I loved the venue so much. I inquired about a date that she told me would be available so like any normal bride I wanted to lock it in before anyone else did. She told me she would get back to me with the deposit contract ($2500) in a few days. After FOUR WEEKS I wrote to her again asking to please follow up with me since it is now 10 months of planning I would be given and other people were waiting on my deposits which I could not give without 100% commitment from Hurd Orchards (such as my photographer, DJ, etc). She still did not write back for another 4 weeks!!! My photographer told me she had never heard of anyone doing that to a bride, especially one who is so interested in locking in the date. Till this day Molly Machamer has not gotten back to me. Not only am I not having the wedding there (if she is this terrible at communicating prior to the wedding I cannot trust she will bet here during the important planning process) but all other places are completely booked and because I was waiting on their response I am now forced to delay my wedding two years
The one email she did send me during this nightmare process was to (and I quote exactly) to give me her "unsolicited advice" to calm down, not worry that most brides plan weddings in a few months and that her lack of response was normal. I know 3 people who got married this year, all of which told me they planned EVERYTHING a year in advance which even The Knot website recommends every bride to do. Overall I am left completely disillusioned by the planning process and my fiance and I are shocked at how terribly we have been treated. To any future bride planning the most important day of you life, PLEASE AVOID THIS VENUE AT ALL COST! I have countless emails proving everything I just wrote. My only regret is that I did not listen to my instinct and lock in another location when she first wrote back (which that in it self took weeks of hounding). I am never one to write negative reviews but I had to share my experience with all local brides.