Any Ashley Manor brides?

[Deleted User]

Hey everyone,

I've been combing this board looking for any reviews of Ashley Manor or The Castle at Ashley Manor but I'm wasn't able to find much, so my apologies if there is already a discussion started.  My fiance and I toured both facilities on Saturday and really liked what we saw, particularly at Ashley Manor. Laura gave us a tour of the place and was very nice and helpful when it came to answering our questions.

Yesterday I was about 98% ready to commit and reserve our date, but I tend to second guess my instincts at the last minute, especially since we have not visited a lot of venues in person. (I have, however, done lots of online researching and obtained a bunch of price lists).  I'm nervous about booking my venue, and then finding out that the staff is awful or that the provided amenities aren't as good as they appeared to be.  However, I've also been told that fall wedding dates book very fast in AZ, so I'm feeling extremely pressured to book like......now. 

So far my experience with the staff has been very nice, and I really like the venue and everything that is offered in the all-inclusive packages.  I was just wondering if anyone is getting married at either Ashley Manor or The Castle, and if they could share what their experience has been/was like?

kb5432

A friend of mine got married at Ashley Manor about 2-3 years ago.  She said they were great to work with.  I couldn't tell you what, if anything, is different now than before...but everything looked beautiful on their wedding day.

LyndseylovesHugh

I have been to events at Ashley Manor (both the main part and the castle) and they were all great.  I was not on the planning side of it, but the actual events were wonderful!

nicleep

Ditto PP.  I have been to a few events there and everything was gorgeous and lovely.  But I don't know anything about the staff or working with them etc. 

twoitalians

I'm getting married at Ashley Manor in January and so far everything with them has been great. The staff was a little hard to get a hold of at first, but lately we haven't had a problem at all. They say they respond to email faster, but if you call the Manor and don't reach anyone, you can call the Castle and someone there will be able to help you.

Also, their on-site caterer has amazing food. I was a little worried at first, but it doesn't taste like catered buffet food.

ibstephi

I went to a wedding there a few years ago and the girl who ran the place flirted all night with one of the groomsmen ! It was kind of tacky and also they did not have enough tables and chairs for the guest count ! The girl did not seem like a good coordinator ! 

The bride I knew was kind of unhappy also - Oh I remember also it was freezing in the place and the coordinator could not be found !  I think she wished she would have hired a outside day of person ! 

Dr.Acosta

I am getting married at Ashley Manor.  The only concern I have seen or ran across in doing reviews was that sometimes they are hard to get hold off and sometimes they have problems with their email.  But besides this, my experience has been good. 

I have gone to the tastings and worked with Nancy Ray (for the cake).  We did our last tastings this past week and found what we are looking for and Nancy was fun to work with in selecting our choices for our cake.

The dj has been extremely good about working with us for our first dance-he mixed a special version for us (doing something little different) and we are working with Collings Photography who is on Ashley's list of vendors.  He is great to work with and if you go and read any of his reviews, they are fabulous.  After meeting Jeff and his wife, I am so glad we went with them.

The girls at Ashley have been very flexible and easy to work with overall.  I think what also may make a difference is the package you get with them.  We have one of the higher packages so some of things that may be extra are included in our package.  You also have nearby hotels (they provide shuttle ride to the place) which is working out great for our out of town guests. 

Overalll we have been happy.  After looking around for some time for a venue, this place fit our budget, we could bring our own liquor in (which brings down the cost significantly compared to other places we were looking at) and we could do the ceremony and the reception at the place.

When doing the reviews for this place, I always check the date (sometimes there are some older reviews out there) and I think the coordinators there have changed in last few years.  Since we signed our contract early this year, an additional person has been hired.

Good luck making your decision

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! We decided to book with Ashley Manor! After comparing to some of the other venues similar to it, it was the best fit for our budget. We've also opted to go with their all-inclusive package, so it's a huge relief to know that they'll take be doing a lot of the legwork for us.

smshly616

We got married at Ashley Manor (the gardens) in May 2008 and LOVED it. We did the sunset package or something like that, but it was wonderful, all the vendors were great and we didn't have to worry about a thing. Actually I miss being able to go there because it's so beautiful!