The food is top rate. The venue and ball room is beautiful. They have a lot of lights for the DJ…read morepre installed but you have to pay extra to use them. Same with a tailgate tent for the dj for outside. We paid for wine service and only after asking for it did they do half our tables. The rooms are old and the main manor smells like it. The main room in the stables had no cold water in the kitchen sink and the ice maker didn't work. You can lotion your body 12 Times but there was no soap to wash your hands. The wedding and reception was well run and we had to switch to inside. The coordinator told us grandparents won't be escorted to seats but they set the grooms but not the brides! Really. The coordinator made no effort to find the parents before the cake cutting or the last dance. Or even the exit. And there were three we told would be everywhere. The front entrance looked like a horse pasture with dead grass and weeds. We were told that would be replaced. Nope. Pathetic first impression. The communication was terrible. Only after aggressive attempts at contact do they reply. The wedding coordinator was very helpful and necessary. The "sales girl" treated us like unwelcome guests the day of the wedding saying nothing as she walked by and was snarky when she did talk to my wife. They tried to extort a rehearsal dinner fee for the entire wedding guest amount when less then 40% were coming to the rehearsal. You pay for the weekend and they want money to let you eat after the rehearsal. The owners just seem to be looking for a payday. Nice location good food great place to have a wedding. Be careful with the staff and service. The staff changed about 3 times from booking. They give you a wrong WiFi code then go radio silent to get correct one. They knew our experience had been less than happy yet they make no effort at a last impression other than another bad one.

The grounds where the inn resides are beautiful. You need to keep your eyes open for the driveway…read moreup to the inn because you can miss it, especially at night. The sign is not lit at night so you have to make sure you are not only paying attention to the road but also looking out for the drive. We had our GPS guiding us and we still missed it. The inn is a 10-bedroom home that has been converted into a hotel/inn. We arrived while the staff was out but we were able to contact them by phone and get access to the inn. The staff is very friendly and helpful. We were given a friendly tour of the home and a nice glass of wine. A little bit about the inn. It was built in the 1850s and served as a hospital during the Civil War. There are horse stables nearby and plenty of outdoor places to sit and enjoy the scenery. A Civil War hospital? I had the same thoughts that are going through your head right now. I get into the inhabitants of the estate a little later. We stayed in the Fox and the Grape, a private room with it's own private entrance which what I gather is a converted basement. It is a very large room, beautifully decorated, a large bathroom and a small kitchen including a small range if you get the urge to cook something. We arrived on a cold night. We quickly realized we had no thermostat to control in the room thusly had to ask the manager to turn on the heat. He kindly obliged but I will warn you, it gets quite warm and it is a bit noisy. There is no television in the room so you'll have to entertain yourselves like sharing sweet nothings with your loved one, talking about your feelings and sharing your deepest darkest secrets. We did have problem with flies. No telling why but I think we killed about 10 the 1st night. We did bring up the fly problem to the manager the next morning and he promptly sent out an exterminator. Unfortunately, we did find a few more flies the 2nd night but not quite as many as the first. Also, we had an interesting experience with the hot water. It seems if they are running a wash in another part of the inn you will first get hot water in the shower that quickly turns ice cold. I did learn that the inn is allegedly inhabited by 4 ghosts. I say allegedly because we did not have any experiences but there are accounts over the years of others that have. One ghost is of a woman possibly a nurse that whispers in mens ears. Another that dances in the halls outside of the rooms. One ghost stays in the Burgundy Room and likes to leave an impression in the bed and the last ghost apparently doesn't like Christmas trees and has been known to knock them over. They will be going through a renovation soon in 2021 and will shut down during that time. We did see the pictures of the planned renovation and it looks to be quite the upgrade but without losing it's charm. Overall, we had a decent stay at the Black Horse Inn.

Very nice location, clean, and quite helpful staff! Wedding was beautiful and the accommodations…read morewere top notch.

Called and canceled my appointments. Ruined my friends birthday! Not happy at all although they…read morewere polite.

From the beginning, my husband and I knew we wanted to hire a day-of wedding coordinator to handle…read moreall the details, and (most importantly) any crisis that may arise. Given that we have both worked in events professionally, we know the kinds of things that can go wrong, and also the amount of work that goes on in the background to throw a great party - wedding or otherwise. We had to make the argument with our parents to not just assign these responsibilities to a relative instead of hiring a professional. It wasn't until the wedding day that they realized just how invaluable it was for us to have Katie there to support us and essentially run the show. In the words of my mother, "You were a God-send -- we would have been screwed without you there." After working for years for other companies managing events, Katie recently broke off to start her own wedding planning company, Pure Whimsy Events, so her prices are really reasonable. She also goes above and beyond for her clients, which is what we were told from an acquaintance who had hired her for their wedding in Fall 2013. Katie helped us keep everything organized and on time in the planning process, and referred several vendors to us including the transportation (which was much less expensive than others we'd looked into). While trying to keep everything straight and organized, I started feeling like I was losing my mind - but Katie was there to keep my head on straight (and in turn, my husband's). She reviewed contracts for us and called out anything that might seem abnormal. She created a detailed timeline for the day-of, was on time for ALL of our meetings (either one-on-one or with vendors), and of course made sure we had everything we needed throughout our wedding day - even offering to buy me coffee in the morning Unfortunately, she ran into several snags throughout the day but she still kept a smile on her face and got the job done. She even managed to get us an Uber car (the planned getaway car for us), which was really difficult on our wedding night considering it was the same night as the White House Correspondent's Dinner, and Uber was providing the transportation for them. Katie is sweet, enthusiastic, meticulously organized and hard working. It doesn't matter how simple your wedding is, I would suggest hiring Katie to help keep you sanity throughout the process and also so you don't have to worry about anything on the wedding day except enjoying it. She also knows when to crack the whip with vendors to make sure they deliver on their promises, which is not always easy to do. Thank you, Katie, for making the process that much easier and our wedding day so stress-free (for us)! PS. Her emergency kit is worth its weight in gold. There were things in there we didn't realize we needed until we did!

Katie far exceeded any expectations my wife and I could have imagined for a wedding planner. From…read morethe first meeting with her, it was clear that Katie was organized, experienced, and passionate about making sure our wedding went exactly how we envisioned it. Over the course of our roughly 18-month engagement, Katie could not have been more attentive to our needs. She laid out the schedule (managed through basecamp) for both our tasks and hers, and was always quick to respond to our questions. I would say one of her biggest strengths was in helping us fill in the gaps in our vision for the big day and knowing which questions to ask vendors and ourselves when it came to design preferences. She even made sure to reach out when it looked like we were starting to fall behind on our tasks, which we certainly needed. She always had stellar recommendations for vendors but never pressured us to actually take her recommendation. We learned quickly that when Katie recommends someone, they're probably the right fit for the job :) While I can't sing Katie's praises enough for her guidance in planning the wedding, she was unbelievable on the day-of. When we needed to resort to the rain plan- every bride's worst fear- Katie coordinated all the necessary changes with our vendors and made sure that set-up flowed smoothly. We have since had a few guests that thought the rain plan was our original plan all along! Of all the choices that went into planning our wedding, hiring Katie was the best decision we made, period. You will not regret it!

Best place for true Gluten free dining. This quaint bar, offers comfortable private atmosphere…read more-hidden away from the public traffic. The cigars and drinks are grand finale at the end of an excellent meal.

Excellent cigar lounge! Tyler was the bartender and provided exceptional service ! I was in on a…read moreSunday to watch football and enjoy a cigar. They have a few selections from Tobaccology, that includes a few Olivas, some Montecristos, and Liga Pivata. They have 8 barrel chairs, 3 high tops and a 6 person bar. Fully stocked and you can get food from Denim and Pearls.

Seems like they're on Groupon all the time. Our horseback ride started about 1.5hours late. I…read morewasn't happy about this at all. Not simply because he was running late, but because the house (castle/waiting room/party room) was absolutely filthy. I was really taken aback by a business looking like this, even if it's a business that works w/ animals. When we got there, the owner and assistant were on a ride w/ another group. Then the group we were supposed to be riding with were an hour late, so we had to wait for them. It was just annoying, although Steven (owner) was friendly. When we walked into the empty house it looked like a construction space, a hen was walking around the inside and I even saw it poop IN THE KITCHEN! Things finally turned around when I hopped on Sherman (my white horse w/ black spots). He was a greedy little thing and ate up all the grass but he was a great horse. Steven immediately put ppl on the horses and taught us while we were riding. He was a straight to it teacher and I liked that. He definitely knows what he's doing when it comes to animals. He took a bunch of pictures and videos and sent them to everyone in the group. I'm thankful to have such awesome pictures that didn't cost us extra. I'm giving 4 stars despite the filth because Steven was friendly, welcoming, and I enjoyed the experience. Tip: -don't eat there if germs bug u -don't arrive early, there's no point -yes, you're in the right spot, even though it looks a little funky on the outside

It's funny this guy is trying to say we never went when we did - I'd love to see what evidence he…read morehas considering during our entire time there he never once asked for our names or checked that we even had a reservation. He also never redeemed our Groupon. He has repeatedly messaged me and begged me to remove this review and has even reported it to Yelp to try to get it removed. Not only do I stand by my review but this Steven Strasburg owner has proved himself to not only be completely unprofessional but also desperate and dishonest. My advice: TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY for your business instead of accusing people of posting fake reviews or saying "it must've been another place". This is the ONLY time where an owner has not only not apologized but tried to say I'm posting for the wrong Castle Strasburg. How many Castle Strasburg horseriding places are there in Midland, VA? SHAME ON YOU!

A perfectly nice hotel. They've got all the standard amenities (gym, pool, business center). They…read moreserve warm cookies in the afternoon, which is a nice touch. They also have a made-to-order pancakes prepared by a machine. The rooms were nice and the bathroom clean.

Great hotel. Staff are wonderful. Really nice rooms. They allow dogs and pick up after the dog…read moreowners who are too lazy to pick up after their own dogs. The staff shouldn't have to do that but after experiencing another hotel where there were no clean grassy areas we truly appreciate this hotel. I wish I had gotten there front desk staff's name but we checked in January 4th and she was working the second shift. She is wonderful. Very kind and warm.

Working with Karen on my wedding in October of 2022 was a DREAM come true! My venue of the Omni…read moreHomestead Resort in Hot Springs VA. Karen did an incredible job seamlessly meshing the decor and space with my vision. Speaking of vision- Karen is absolutely WONDERFUL and took my vision (that I struggled to describe in words) and brought it life! Karen was extremely thoughtful in her design and communication. Karen helped me create the wedding of my dream, even encouraging me to lean into my love of color, emphasizing how your wedding is a reflection of YOU and your partner. Karen did such a fabulous job that our wedding was actually chosen of the Virginia Living Wedding edition in Feb 2024. I cannot recommend Karen and her suggested vendors enough!!

My fiancé and I had a very disappointing experience working with Karen Duckett Events…read more When we first hired Karen in late 2022, there were immediate red flags that I ignored, thinking that maybe we started planning too early or that I'm an over-communicator.  However, as time went on, working with her only became more difficult.   Her partial planning package offered three in-person meetings, with unlimited communication via text/email/calls. But when I did reach out to her with questions, my messages could sit for weeks without a reply. It seemed as if they were going into a black hole. She even forgot about the date and time of one of our early meetings. There were other problems.  Two months passed without her sending us the design/mood board she was to prepare based on a Pinterest board I had submitted (at her request).  She changed her cell phone number without letting us know via her website, an email, or a text; we ran across the new phone number in an Instagram story.  And she sent us budget advice without looking back to see what our budget actually was; her advice assumed a budget that was $20k off the actual amount. After a month passed without her responding at all to my Pinterest board, I decided to reach out to some of Karen's other customers to find out if my concerns were justified or if I was just not accustomed to how wedding planners work.  My concerns were validated by the first former customer I spoke to.  We then decided to terminate our contract. While we regret having chosen Karen as our wedding planner, we are fortunate to have terminated the relationship far enough out from the wedding date to choose someone new.  In the process of canceling, we also found out that Karen has been removed from the list of wedding planners that our venue recommends. I hope this review helps others avoid what we went through.  So far, Karen has been the most stressful part of our wedding planning experience. We initially ended our contract amicably, with Karen agreeing to refund $1,200 (half our retainer) if she could fill our wedding weekend with new clients.  She would still keep $1,200, which we felt was more than adequate for the minimal services she had provided.  Later, Karen walked back our agreement, based on a contract provision that says the retainer is non-refundable (as if she hadn't breached the contract herself). We now believe it was well worth the $2,400 we lost to end the frustrating and stressful experience of planning a wedding with Karen.  After working with our new planner for two months, we know we made the right decision.