Venue input: Edgefield

csnell22

Newly engaged and just starting to plan.  I'm considering venues and am particularly interested in Edgefield or McMenamins in general.  Any experience, thoughts, advice??  Thanks!

mayflymanitou

Edgefield (and most all McMenamins properties) are extremely popular and fairly budget friendly.  You really can't go wrong with any of them!

jennylee753

From a guest perspective, I did not enjoy Edgefield.

*Went there the night before the wedding - staff was rude (everywhere not just one place) and slow.  Food not anything amazing.  Ordered a white russian from the bar, got vodka and milk.
*At the wedding we had to pay for our own drinks.  Drinks were cheaper at one of the bars outside the wedding.  A bit wrong in my mind.
*One bartender at wedding - VERY SLOW.
*Blackberry Hall - a very awkward set up.  Tables very close together, I was constantly scooting in and out to let people through.  The bar was at one end and dance floor at another.  I could never see anything going on down on the dance floor.
*Parking was a nightmare.
*A concert could be scheduled for the same day as your wedding, beware.
*No signage directing to wedding, I had to call someone to figure out where to go.

Just my person opinions.  I feel like you can get a MUCH nicer wedding another place.  Maybe a different McMenamin's property?  It is a cool place but overpriced and the staff need a bit more training in customer service.

tiffgriffin7

I am getting married at the Grand Lodge later this year and so far things have been going well. They do have a lot of options for every budget for food and drinks. You can provide drinks for your guest but you have to use their food and alcohol.

They have been very helpful with planning and a lot of our guests are staying there as well. I think if you like McMenamins in general you would like to have your wedding there. Some people just don't really like the McMenamins style, I do which is why we went with it but it definitely isn't super fancy.

Thanks JennyLee for putting up your experience though, I will make sure we have enough bartenders now!

JenA

They do a great job with the weddings. Recommend it! But they are very popular, book early.

Atomic_Redhead

I just booked for the Kennedy School McMenamins, but I thought about Edgefield as well.  These are the reasons I ruled out Edgefield:
-More expensive
-Hard to get to (especially in winter, which is when I'm having my wedding)
-Rough pathways (especially for elderly people) it's quite a hike to Blackberry Hall
-European bathrooms (meaning multiple guests share bathrooms, and I knew many of my family members wouldn't be keen on that)
-The event planner had a very annoying voice. I know that's a shallow reason, but it sounded like she had just inhaled helium.

I love McMenamins and their properties were first to come to mind.  I adore the Kennedy School, which is a great location too.  I like the fact that it's all one nice bundle:
-Food
-Tables/Chairs
-Service
-Dishes/Flatware
-A/V options
-10 to 10 room time
-Room blocks available

Everyone at Kennedy School has been very helpful and while I've just started my experience, I see it being fairly smooth sailing.

PDXPhotoGrl

I love my wedding at the Edgefield. I have pictures and reviews in my bio (link in my signature at the bottom of this post). It ended up being relatively affordable and I feel like we got a lot for our money. My guests LOVED it and still rave about it, especially the out of towners that had never seen a place like it before. I really loved that everybody could stay there afterwards.

Mrs2DUCKSinLOVE

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_oregon_venue-input-edgefield?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:119Discussion:9245fc60-16e1-4812-bef5-743ee7e5fb63Post:de205936-4b5c-4ec3-9e20-7fcfe5898b94">Re: Venue input: Edgefield</a>:
[QUOTE]From a guest perspective, I did not enjoy Edgefield. *Went there the night before the wedding - staff was rude (everywhere not just one place) and slow.  Food not anything amazing.  Ordered a white russian from the bar, got vodka and milk. *At the wedding we had to pay for our own drinks.  Drinks were cheaper at one of the bars outside the wedding.  A bit wrong in my mind. *One bartender at wedding - VERY SLOW. *Blackberry Hall - a very awkward set up.  Tables very close together, I was constantly scooting in and out to let people through.  The bar was at one end and dance floor at another.  I could never see anything going on down on the dance floor. *Parking was a nightmare. *A concert could be scheduled for the same day as your wedding, beware. *No signage directing to wedding, I had to call someone to figure out where to go. Just my person opinions.  I feel like you can get a MUCH nicer wedding another place.  Maybe a different McMenamin's property?  It is a cool place but overpriced and the staff need a bit more training in customer service.
Posted by jennylee753[/QUOTE]

These problems are obviosuly unavoidable (staffing rude, concert double schedule, food etc). But it could have been the bride/groom's fault as well. 

They set the tab on the bar, so if it no-host (awkward/rude), then it was their decision.
One bartender- b&g's decsion to only hire one
Lack of signage - signs are allowed, but b&g did not do them
Too many guests - b&g, cut the list or get a bigger venue

Sorry you had a bad experince, but the wedding's I;ve planned or attended at McMens have always been wonderful.

hippie1

Getting married this July at Edgefield and So Excited!!  Our wedding day is a weekday so cheaper all around and We are renting the administrator's house and having our ceremony and reception at the yard of the house. We've been there many times and service might be a little slow, but again, why would you want to be in a hurry when at this beautiful place? The world isn't always filled with nice people, so if you do get a grumpy person....kill 'em with happiness! As for the concert part, we are gambling on this one.....and having our own two bluegrass bands play (friends of ours). But we looked at last years concert dates and according to that we are in the clear! I love to cook and eat good food and I think the food there was very good, Black Rabbit is where we had our engagement dinner....the steak and ahi....we've had it everytime we go back. Fresh too....how many places out there use food from their own garden? For the drinking part.....beer, beer, beer.......Ruby, is my fav......why try anything else? McMenamins is a unique places.......everything all around is pretty cool......and we are having all of our guest coming from out of town as far as the east coast and inbetween......nothing like it anywhere.....its like a down to earth adult disneyland