Brookside Farm . Louisville , Ohio . A Must Read

mj1982ohio · March 2012

Ok, let me first say Brookside Farm is an expensive, but very nice venue ....
i am not trying to discolor this venue for anyone at all , its just there are some things you might want to know before checking out the venue... kind of an inside scoop !

it is a picturesque setting ....

there is rolling hills , a stream , an old farm house , 6000 sq ft barn for the reception, very nice bathrooms, lookout tower ontop of the barn . very scenic .

It will accommodate 300 people, which is great for me and my fiancé’s 200 guests, with enough room to have the ceremony indoors if the weather is nasty.

The barn is nice , they’re putting a bunch of work into it. They just installed a new bar area, new lighting, security system , smoke alarms, handicap ramps, a patio to be built later this year , and so on .

The farm costs $3500 to rent on a Saturday and $2800 on a Friday or Sunday .

It’s completely booked up on every single Saturday from now until November 2013 .

While it’s a nice place (much larger and nicer than Botzum) , their price is quite high for what your getting (botzum is $2500 but has many hidden charges and a deposit) .

If you can get a hold of Crystal Brook Farm in Bainbridge it was only $1800 a year ago.
It’s wonderful. Not as rustic as Brookside, but more chic . But a relative had a wedding there so we couldn’t copy them

Brookside rents the chairs for $2.50 a chair and 5' round tables for $8 . That’s a good price and they have them onsite so that makes it convenient .

Anyways, I wanted to tell you about the place if you were planning on booking , and I know information is somewhat scarce about the farm on the net.

Now , for some hidden issues we werent told up front . . .

the farm house is $300 extra to rent, but that’s to sleep in overnight.

We assumed the bride would be able to use it for a few hours before the ceremony and that’s included in the steep $3500 price tag , but it’s not.They still charge you.

When you rent Brookside for the day , you get it from 9am until 1am . That’s a long time !

but , there’s some fine print . . . alcohol must stop by 10pm , music by 10:30pm , everyone gone by 11-12am, and clean up time from 12am until 1am .

After me and my fiancé were told about the 10pm liquor rule our hearts sunk. We wanted the ceremony outside at 3 , cocktail hour with a bonfire etc at 4pm, dinner at 5 and dancing from 6-11 . This would be a 7 hour window that someone could have a cocktail... quite common in some halls I have been to where they serve till even midnight .

We were told you’re only allowed a 4 hour window at most for pouring alcohol .

Now , don’t get me wrong , we are all in our late 20s and early 30s and still like to drink and dance and have a good time, but anytime I have been to a reception where the alcohol stops at 10pm , it’s seems like the parts isnt ready to be over.

People end up leaving the reception and meeting up at the bar or the hotel to hang out more since that 4 hour time you have to dance and mingle flies by !

We were under the assumption that when we had it to 1am, it meant 1am.

Most of the liability is with the rentees too .

We were going to have a security guard (required) , professional bartenders(required), a shuttle looping back and forth all night to the holiday inn 10 minutes awayetc .... But it didn’t matter, these were their rules.

We were then told that they would bend a little to 10:30pm- an extra 30minutes-but there were to be no shots the whole night .

Again, I don’t know about you , but if someone in the wedding party has to sneak a quick shot to celebrate with me during a reception... this isn’t the place for me .

Weddings are supposed to be responsible fun, not full of restrictions.

Im not here to bash the farm in any way , it’s just it would have been nice to know these rules and restrictions before driving 2 hours to check the place out , getting our hopes up, and then being bummed out about things we should have been told over the phone .

My suggestion to the owners would be to have a contract in a PDF form to send anyone who is interested so they know these things up front .

Our hearts were broken . But we’ll find our venue , we know it’s out there....

I hope this helps someone out

Here is the link to Brookside Farms.

www.morethanjustafarm.com

jmn9ua · March 2012

MJ , thanks for the information ! i visited this farm 2 weeks ago and they never told me about the regulations on alcohol . im glad you posted this as i am having a friday wedding and we wouldnt start dinner/cocktails until about 7 , and that would only give us 3 hours of open bar ! yikes . well thanks for the post.

mj1982ohio · March 2012

JMN ,
no problem . glad i could help !

yes , having it there on a friday would really put a damper on time to dance and chat with friends .

also, keep in mind you will have to fight the horrible traffic in akron right about during rush hour if you are from the cleveland area like me .

its about 25 minutes south of akron so you go right through downtown on route 8 .

jmn9ua · March 2012

i didnt even think about the timing of hitting traffic in Akron , good point .
i think we are going to check wedding places closer to us instead.

having to start the reception late on a friday would already shorten the night, i dont need the farm doing that for me .
thanks again and good luck in your search ~ !

kmn0305 · April 2012

I am having my wedding here in August 2013.. they told me all of these rules... They also said that these are rules that they have to say. They made it clear that is drinks are still served till 11 it isnt going to be a problem. It is a liability issue that they have to say to cover their butts. As long as people arent crazy and damaging anything they will be fine with you extending it an hour. I was upset when I heard about the alcohol time too but they put my mind at ease about the situation

mj1982ohio · April 2012

KMN0305,

congrats on your engagement .
as for them putting your mind at ease , im glad to hear that .

with me , however , they did not .
there are 3 contacts there : John , Bob and Wayne .
i talked with John and Bob, but primarily John .

when we requested to have alcohol till 11pm , he said we couldnt as 10 was the cutoff .
after a 20 minute discussion about how we are not 21 year olds, well have 2 security officers, and 4 off duty cops attending the wedding , he said he would talk it over with the other owners (Bob and Wayne) and we would meet with him the following day .

we then met with John and was told he talked to Bob and they were willing to extend it to 10:30 but you cannot have any shots throughtout the night .

we then understood if it took a round-table owners meeting to extend it to 30 minutes , we got worried we might have 3 owners chaperoning our reception with a careful eye . . . and we didnt want to deal with that .

when we were told this we respectfully told him we will look elsewhere . He then said , "Well , this is not to say you cant go sneak behind the barn and do a shot with your friends in privacy, but we just dont want that happening where others can see" . when we heard that , that was it for us.

we are all responsible adults. and realize 99% of the liability is on us , not them . now , if they had a liquor license to lose , or neighbors within earshot to anger, i would understand. we also were planning on purchasing liability insurance which through our insurance was $350 for the day .

i am glad you have worked it out with them . If what you say is 100% true, i would suspect you are either older than me (32) and werent stereotyped, or you talked primarily to a different owner and not John (i suspect the latter) .

Whatever the case may be , i would make a phone call just to be sure. the last thing you want if for something unexpected to come up right in the middle of the reception . they said they like to hang out during the wedding reception, and i just didnt want an owner giving me the evil eye if i was tipsy .

to each his own i guess.
we talked to Maureen at Botzum farm and -whiles its not as big as Brookside - it is much more rustic of a barn and nice meadows , hills , etc . oh , and its $1000 cheaper

. its just not as extravagant as Brookside (bathrooms dont have granite counters, it only supports 180 people inside, etc.

we talked to her about alcohol rules and she said the only rule is stop the alcohol 1 hour before your purchased time is up ($2500 for 8 hours, $250 for every hour after) .
so if we went with Botzum , we can do our 3-12am and end the alcohol at 11pm and pay for an extra hour for cleanup and take down (total of $2750).

so ... ceremony at 3:30 , cocktail time/cornhole from 4-5:30 , dinner at 5:30, and were good to go!

any other input le tme know . thanks

denisedddd · May 2012

lvlady louisville, ohio

Last summer our daughter and her fiance went to Brookside Farm in Louisville and fell in love with the uniqueness of the venu. Because she is our only daughter we were thinking with our hearts and not our heads. The three male owners met with us and couldnt have been more cordial. They appeared to be so helpful. That couldnt be farther from the truth. At the time we didnt realize how difficult it would be to have a wedding at a place where there is NOTHING, I mean not even a kitchen to have your cateerers prepare food. You had to bring in everything from dishes, forks, spoons, tableclothes, even extension cords!! Once you have given them your money, that's all you get. They show you the beautiful meadow where you can get married which is a half mile from the reception barn. They offer you a golf cart to transport your guests. 175 people being transported two at a time..REALLY....? We had to hire 1 party bus and 2 shuttles. One month before the wedding we met with an owner. Our contract read that we could go in sometime the day before the wedding. He blatently said we could not. I kept saying that it was in the contract. We also reminded him that if it rained or it was too cold we were told we could have the wedding inside and it would be set up like a church. He said he would only allow 30 chairs put up and everyone else could stand, he continued, "that's how they do it now!" When I got upset he said.."You must be inviting royalty if they cant carry their own chairs!" We had to pay for someone to put up the chairs, that was not included. Initially we wanted the wedding outside, that was $300 additional because it was one of the owners property. When we changed the outside site to another spot outside, I asked if we still had to pay and we were told yes, "part of the farm." When we asked why we had to stop serving liquor at 10pm, they said the neighbors complained. The only neighbors are the three men who live there and own the barn. As MOB I was brought to tears from their inexperience of running venues for wedding and the rudeness we experienced. Our daughter's wedding was beautiful and perfect. It was because of the extensive work we had to do, and being surrounded by wonderful friends and family. Without Stephanie Condric from Skyland Pines assisting as our wedding planner, along with their amazing food and service, we couldnt have done it.

denisedddd · May 2012

The only reason people book it is because it is a different venue than your typical places in Stark County. It appears to be beautiful but think long and hard about how much work you will have bringing everything to this place. They need a wedding planner badly who will lessen the stress of the bride and her family by doing all the things other places do.At this point they only add a tremendous amount of stress on it what should be a pleasant time of your life.We would never reccomend this place after what they put us through.

n Response to <a href="http://forums.weddings.com/Sites/Weddings/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_ohio-cleveland_brookside-farm-louisville-ohio-a-must-read?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:110Discussion:6df377cf-d02d-47a3-8bfd-3ddbe47d1ee5Post:84fa3a5d-0fba-417b-ada9-21a2352756ac">Re: Brookside Farm . Louisville , Ohio . A Must Read</a>:
[QUOTE]My wedding is at Brookside, October 2012. I have to say I have known John, Bob and Wayne for years and they are WONDERFUL people. You have to remember they have only been open to the public for two years now. They are learning as they go. When I booked my wedding there wasn't any of these rules involved however since they have become so busy with wedding every weekend they have had some issues with some people. They are only trying to protect not only you, but there business as well. The alcohol rule is because they state liquor license made them do this because of being in the city limits. Not often will you find a venue that keeps improving and putting their time and money back into the venue. I agree with the farm house I think that they should include some sort of a suite or something for the bridal party to get ready in. However, this may be something they do improve and make in the future. I just have to say after about 1.5 of looking at different venues.. even though the price is a little high YOU CAN NOT COMPARE to any other location. The whole purpose of these message boards is to get true and accurate information out to other brides out there. But the fact of the matter is, this is a beautiful facility and the people are wonderful and they are there to make your day AMAZING. If Brookside wasn't the best they wouldn't have a waiting list of a year and half just to have a Saturday wedding there. Everyone has their own opinions but I just can't sit here and not say anything regarding this post.
Posted by ohiostate0606[/QUOTE]

ohiostate0606 · May 2012

We have everything already planed for our wedding in October. We are on budget for $12,000 total with everything. Our photographers are amazing, Willow Tree Photography, our caterer Rocco with Old Carolina BBQ, our flowers and candy bar by Nikki's Perfect Petal Design, Friend of the family doing our cake, bartenders 3 people that are family friends who are bartenders, music/dj by cipranio productions, linens/decorations I have three family friends who are going to come in and decorate and help tear down after the wedding. You just have to organize and have everything taken care of WAY before the wedding date, if you wanted some place that offered a wedding planner than you shoudn't have booked with Brookside. This isn't something they offer and I knew that before booking my wedding there. I plan a lot of parties myself during different jobs and parties for family members so I DO have knowledge on the work that goes into a party or wedding. I knew and WANTED to take on the responsibility of putting together my OWN RUSTIC type wedding but of course have people in place during that day to make everything happen. IT is possible to have an AMAZING wedding at Brookside but you do have to be willing to put the time and effort into your wedding. I hope your wedding is amazing and your special day can be memorable for you, everyone deserves happiness on their wedding day.

ShannonMichaelMyers · June 2012

We attended a wedding in 2011 at Brookside and fell in love with it. Although those alcohol rules may be talked about, we danced and drank until midnight!

My wedding is booked for Aug, 2013 at Brookside Farms. I was told about the alcohol as well. And I paid the price for a Saturday wedding. The venue costs more than we wanted to pay for sure, HOWEVER, we looked at SO many barns in the area, and NOTHING compares.

The only problem I am having right now, is that ALL of my guests will be driving an hour or more to Brookside for our wedding, and the hotels in the area WILL NOT book me a block of rooms because it is Hall of Fame weekend. I am VERY upset about this.

Also, GOOD LUCK getting a hold of Crystal Brook Farms, and 2 months later when they MAYBE call you back, it won't be very nice.

vmdeering1 · July 2012

Did any of you do a rehearsal before your wedding??

sclions33 · July 2012

I am a little sad to hear the bad comments about Brookside. I have my date set there for Sept 2013. They have hired a woman to take care of more of the wedding things. The three men were cordial and very professional. But..they are men. The woman hired to work with brides and weddings is from the area. She will help with making sure everything gets coordinated well.

Yes, you do need a security guard. We said we would have two off duty police officers there (family), and they said fine. They just needed us to say we had security (liability). They have been in the works of hiring their own bartender too, problem solved.

We talked about having the indoor wedding as well, in case of weather. We were never told we could only have "x" many of chairs, although this was presented to us as an option. We actually turned down the idea. The bar is being added, the floors redone, and another buliding built for indoor weddings as well. Before you say yes or no to the venue check it out. There are a lot of changes happening and they are all very recent.

cchaughey · December 2012

We're booked at Brookside in May 2013, and absolutely love it. I never had a problem with the rules about alcohol, but just FYI when we were signing our contract, they said we could keep the bar open until 11, and they were still flexible after that. It wasn't even our idea; Wayne suggested it.

They're good guys, and they're ready and willing to work with you on everything.

marissa_anne · March 2013

I do agree with the previous reviewers that it's what you put into it that affects the overall outcome. Our wedding last summer was gorgeous, but it was because of the extensive planning/decor/moving/work we did. The venue provides the bare bones and that's it.

Let me say that I can count on one hand the times I've written a negative review about anything in my life. We brought pews for our outdoor ceremony (okay'd in the contract) and they were actually talking about buying them off of us, or at least storing them/ charging other brides for their use in the 'chapel' building while they thought about it. It was a good deal for Brookside regardless. Long story short my dad had to scramble to get the moving company back to the farm and load pews during.my.reception because of a general lack of communication between the owners (our main contact wasn't there that Sat. and another couldn't get confirmation from him). Get every piece of negotiation in writing with them.

Also, remove everything from the venue the same evening as your wedding. We came back for one more load before our rental period was up in the AM (assured the barn would be closed off and untouched--we were the last people there the night before) and one of the owners was sorry to say he had given some of our alcohol away because he thought 'we were done in there.' This included a couple bottles of Moet. Nice.

Brookside Farm . Louisville , Ohio . A Must Read

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