I have a lot of positive and negative things to say about this venue. I had my wedding here in April.
First, the dates are scarce. They are so popular, there's a good chance your date won't be available but it's worth giving it a try. The walk around of the venue was fun and pleasant. A la carte is how they handle their menu but in the end, I would've done better with an inclusive menu selection. I ran into trouble with 'minimums' and whatnot, so be advised. The food is delicious. Don't worry about that.
The venue truly is beautiful however it is small. The trees are the selling point. They have great service and are very attentive however If you're a frugal person and want to get the most out of each dollar, I'd suggest you really consider double-checking everything you're paying for here and if it's worth it for your budget.
The Addison makes a lot of money on their fees. They charge a room rental fee, a ceremony fee (if you have it there), bartender fees, cake cutting fees (if you get any type of cake, including cupcakes, that isn't from a preferred vendor but if you get it through them, it's $12 a person, you do the math) on top of a 23% gratuity. Be assured that in fees alone, a typical wedding will be spending at least 3k only in fees and gratuity will most likely be double that.
You have to abide by their timeline. They are trained to sell, sell, sell and believe me that when I asked to speak to a manager about a discrepancy on my contract, my coordinator would not even give me a name. While my coordinator was cordial and polite and she stayed on top of everything, i still had a hard time getting past her to the manager which eventually I didn't because we came to an agreement on the discrepancy of verbiage. Really, really fight for your contract. My two family members who had weddings here had the same coordinator and were given great deals, discounts and whatnot. While we negotiated stuff on our contract, I'm a firm believer that everything is negotiable. We were told certain fees could not be waived on our contract, but we later found out those fees were waived for our family members. So - negotiate!
They book multiple events at a time. If you're a bride who likes to be hands on, most likely this isn't the place for you. They will often book events the morning of your wedding, which means your vendors can't come until two hours prior to your wedding. This scared me. That includes the bride for photos. Two hours. Isn't that insane? How do you expect a florist to set up in two hours, especially if there's a lot of detail? The good thing is that no one booked before me, and they even allowed my florist to come in the night before and do all the light decorations I wanted in the ballroom. It gave him plenty of time for details!
if you want extra time on the premises, you have to pay because you can't walk around unaccompanied by an employee for liability reason. They will also book another wedding or event in another ballroom at the same time as yours. However we didn't run into a problem with the other party, you just have to share the space. Ask as many questions as possible, even ridiculous ones and don't assume. They won't tell you things if you don't ask.
Please also be advised that they are next to a train which means there is a chance that your ceremony will be blasted by a loud train. Be aware and double check with them regarding the times. I found out through my florist. Why wouldn't my coordinator tell me this? Although thank God NO train passed during my ceremony.
We had a 180 person wedding and the dance floor was tiny. I truly don't think either of their ballrooms should host more than a 150 person wedding. I would advise budget-tight brides to go with a nice hotel nearby and use their ballroom instead. We used the mizner ballroom which is beautiful first look, but it does have low ceiling and no special decor.
You're paying the Addison thousands of dollars and they don't even include a champagne toast. Most places do include that in their wedding packages. If I'm not mistaken, it's $7-9 per glass. They were nice to give me and my husband champagne for our toast, but no one else.
There's were some things they forgot to do for us - like putting a lighter or for the unity candle and making sure our marriage certificate was signed (we were assured that we wouldn't have to worry about it, but after my honeymoon-I definitely did have to worry.)
The Addison takes pride in being professional and they are. They definitely know what they're doing. Just take a good look at what you're paying, and compare to other places nearby. read more