Vendor Reviews

VTPiPhiVT

Hey girls, I got married on September 26th at Grey Rock mansion and I used these knot reviews a lot during my planning so I wanted to return the favor:DJ- TK entertainment- A+  Everything about TK I loved...he was a great dj, felt the crowd well, was easy to work with and had a great price.  I highly recommend him to anyone!Flowers- Heavenly Flowers by Teri- A+++++ My flowers were the best part of the wedding and I am not a big flower person!  Working with Teri was wonderful from day one, I changed my mind and she didn't mind one bit!  She took my ideas and made them come to life and I couldn't have imagined anything more or better.Hilton Pikesville- C -They were a pain to work with starting from Day 1 with not returning calls, following up on what the promised and the list is endless.  In the end they did come through and give us free coffee for our breakfast on Sunday to make up for all the hassle they caused, but I would have rather not gone through 18 months of headache for free coffee.Cake- Artistic Desserts- A- The cake was just like the picture I picked out and tasted delicious.  I got a lot of compliments on it.Photography- Positive Images by Bill Rettberg -A- so far.  I haven't seen the photos yet but he was easy to work with, got everyone in line and got things moving quickly.  His wife worked with him for the wedding and she was fantastic.  Both are very personable and easy to work with!Videography- Innovavideo Shawn- I haven't seen the video yet but he's been great to work with, great price, offers his customers a lot...you even get to edit the video which I haven't seen with any other videographer.Rehersal Dinner- Harryman House- A+ The food was delicious, the service was amazing and the venue is so quaint and homey feeling.  Sara was great to work with and everything went so smoothly.Reception site- Grey Rock Mansion- C- I did not have a great experience at Grey Rock Mansion.  Austin, the coordinator is wonderful to work with and is great in the preperations however we had a major issue with the ownership of Grey Rock.  When we visited the mansion and signed our contract last year to use grey rock as our venue, they had an open air tent outside which is the only thing I wanted for my wedding...an outside wedding and a tent reception. Less than a month from our wedding on my LAST appointment, they tell me that there is no longer an open air tent and it is a tent with "permenant" sides.  However the tent sides are not permenant and can come off, but the owner refuses to take them off. The customer service of the owner is non existant...he told my mom that if he wanted to paint the entire venue pink he could and he has no responsibility to tell his brides about the changes they are making...so i would be VERY VERY CAUTIOUS using this venue as the owner does not have any customer service.  The day of coordinators were very disorganized and were not what we were promised.  The one organizer got in an argument with my husband that the bridal party wasn't lined up correctly...she didn't have the sheet i printed out for her and was causing problems. Finally, this is a little thing but the top layer of our cake , which we were told was going to be wrapped and put in a box for us, was put in tin foil and stacked along with other things in a bag, as a result being smashed.  When I called the next day to ask about a missing camera and the cake, I was told, if you wanted it in a box then you should have brought a box...hence the reason I asked what I needed.  I know it's little but just rude.  I just feel like we didn't get what we were promised and the whole thing about the tent sides was a nightmare I didn't need less than a month from our wedding and then have the guy get in rude arguments with my parents that were paying thousands of dollars to be there.Other then Grey Rock, the rest of the weekend was amazing!

cmmesq

I am really sorry to hear about your experience at Grey Rock-that kind of treatment is unacceptable. I'm glad you were able to enjoy the weekend despite all of that unpleasantness. And....the Pikesville Hilton.....we've talked about that nightmare before. I'm glad they tried to make up for it. My wedding is next weekend and I'm kind of nervous.

meghann1046

I wonder if Grey Rock changed owners? We were married there a year ago and everything was perfect. If that is how it is now, that is a shame. It is such a beautiful venue. I'm sorry they put you through that.

rands09

First, congratulations, and thank you so very much for your vendor reviews! I have to tell you - you saved me from Grey Rock! You may not remember me, but you posted a thread about a week or so prior to your wedding explaining the issue with the tent and GR mangement. I responded that I was seriously considering Grey Rock (at that point, we were just waiting for the contract to come in), and you advised me to get any promises of service from them in writing. Well...as it turned out, I already had a few doubts, but your post really got me to thinking. So I called back (I was working with Austin also) to double check. Of main concern to me was the almost "rushed" feel of the sechedule. With only 4 and a half hours from start to finish, I was worried that my experience would be rushed. Also, as they did not have a Saturday evening available during the period that I wanted to get married in, we chose a Sunday, albeit with reservations. When I expressed concern about the really short event time I was told that I could purchase addional time to the tune of $400 per hour. Only, for a Sunday event, with a lot of OOT guests, I didnt' want to have the reception end too late; and the only other option would have been to have it begin early in the afternoon, which wasn't the feel that we were going for...and finally, we would only be allowed on the premises one hour prior to the ceremony to get ready, and even then, we'd be confined to that one room. So yes, we also would have needed to pay to get dressed at the Pikesville Hilton, and then have to pack up to go finish at GR, which seemed like a bit much to me...Long story short - once the contract arrived in the mail, my Fiance and I couldn't bring ourselves to sign it. I just had too many reservations, and I didn't feel like I was planning the wedding of my dreams. So, I contacted Austin and told her that while we appreciated her help and kindness, in the end, we didn't think that Grey Rock was going to be for us, and that we would keep looking to find a venue that really fit what we needed, and that felt right. Her response? In short, that she doubted that we would find what we were looking for timewise in any venue, and that maybe we should look at Martins or a VFW type hall for our event. Really???Not to knock those types of venues (because every type of venue can be special, if that is what a couple wants), but I had clearly mentioned to her during our meetings that the feel we were going for was that of an old, elegant mansion with an aura of glamour - which is why we were looking at GR to begin with!....So for her to suggest a Martins to us felt almost like a backhanded insult.But man, am I glad that we followed our guts! We are now very pleased with our venue - and yes - it "feels" just right! And now I do feel like I'm planning my dream wedding! Our ceremony and reception will be at Antrim 1844 Country House Hotel, which gives us, among many, many other things (included in the cost):A gorgeous, complimentary bridal suite, available to my party at 12:30pm on the day of the wedding, regardless of what time the ceremony begins (for us, that will be 4pm)...and yes, we were able to get it on a Saturday!5 and 1/2 hour event, without our having to pay an addition $400 for that extra hourFood that is reknown for its excellenceA full service, dedicated event planner and coordinator...not just someone to "set up" and "take down" the tables! And he is fabulous :-)I could go on....but suffice it say, this board has been very useful to me as I plan my wedding. I love the reviews, and find the advice invaluable. And (sorry for the long message!) finally - girls, go with your gut!!!! If it doesn't feel right, don't do it. I'm not saying GR was terribly awful...they just weren't for us. Thank you for really making me look at them harder!www.antrim1844.com

MrsRegis2B

Wow! Can I just say that we were seriously considering booking Grey Rock for our Oct 2010 wedding ceremony and reception. I am having reservations now. We still wanted to look at other places, but we are feeling rushed since we really want to get married in the Fall. I guess it's 50/50 regardless of where you chose to get married, but I am SO glad to get some other critiques other than Wedding Wire ratings before we sign our contract. May I ask how many people were invited to your wedding?

VTPiPhiVT

We had 200 people there...it was tight in the tent (since the sides don't come up anymore) but it was ok....most people danced and it was a packed dance floor but not too packed where you couldn't move.  if you want to email me we can talk further or I can answer any questions you might have!lindsey dot leisher at gmail dot com