I am not one to be negative or share negative experiences, especially about a place that I've been going to with my family for years. It's a fall tradition to go and pick out some apples and pumpkins from this orchard to take home for apple pies and funny faces.
That being said, I got married last weekend in Bellville, OH and knew that this orchard would be a beautiful place to take pictures. I've called three times over the last year to check and see if this was a place that we could come and take pictures at. The first call was about a year ago. I spoke with a woman who said, "oh absolutely! We get that all the time! You might have to pay a fee, but just have someone pop in and let us know you're here- you should be all set!" The second time was about six months ago and again, I was told absolutely, be prepared to pay a small fee, but just let us know you're here. The final call was placed on Wednesday before the wedding, on the 18th to make sure it was still okay. Again, I was told to come on up and have someone in the party let the front office know we were there. My photographer even drove up from Columbus that Wednesday to scope out the orchard and ensure our attendance was permitted. Again, all was a go for Saturday.
I arrived at the orchard with my wedding party and photographers. I got off the bus first with my two sisters and brother and was greeted by the owner, Barbara Zaugg Joudrey. She came running up and asked us what on earth we thought we were doing. I said, "I'm sorry and I gave her my name, saying I called about us coming up to take pictures here and we were told it was 'okay'." She said, "It absolutely is not okay. Who did you speak with?? A manager? The owner?" I said, "No ma'am, I spoke with whoever answered the phones." She then said, "Well you should have asked to speak with the owner. This is not okay." My sister then cut in, saying, "We apologize but we thought the staff would be informed of the policies." To that, my sister got a short "uh-huh." I told her I'd called three times over the last year and she said, "This is our busiest time of the year." I said, "Of course, your orchard is gorgeous..." but was cut off with a hand snapped up to my face and a "No, I don't need that. I don't need to hear that right now."
She stormed around the corner to be greeted by my photographer. I'm not sure what magic my incredible photographer pulled, but we were given the "okay" to take photos after paying a $25 fee.
We were permitted to take the photos and I know they will be gorgeous because the orchard has truly breath-taking views, but unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it.
One of my bridesmaids used the bathroom before we left and ran into the owner, who said, "I'm sorry if I made this an unpleasant experience for you, but you did the same for us."
Never before have I ever had such a nasty and negative experience with someone. I'm not pulling the, "She was nasty to me on my wedding day" card, because that wasn't the problem. The problem was that she was incredibly rude and there was no reason for it. If it is against the policy for wedding parties to take photos, that's fine and we have no problem with that. All she had to do was say, "I'm sorry, my employees were misinformed. We do not allow wedding parties to take photos here." I don't even need a friendly smile! That's all that needed to be said and we would have gotten on the bus and been on our way. Not only was she nasty to me, she was nasty to my sister as well as my bridesmaid, for no reason at all. We did not get nasty, we were not rude, and we did not mistreat the orchard in any way, shape or form.
Mrs. Zaugg Joudrey and her orchard may not need our business. Anyone who knows the orchard knows they are very busy this time of year. But myself, my family, and any acquaintances we have will no longer be stepping foot on her orchard because of how terribly we were treated. This orchard has always been one of fun family memories. Sadly, that won't be the last memory we have. read more