Twin Gables is no doubt a beautiful venue, but if I could do my wedding all over again, I would definitely go someplace else. As an extremely organized and detail oriented person, the lack of definitive rules and communication from the owners was extremely difficult to deal with.
My fiancé and I chose this venue bc it was newer, which meant there weren't preferred vendors yet, and because their bar policies were pretty relaxed. 6 weeks before my wedding, all of this changed. We were informed BY EMAIL that we needed to use a particular vendor for the bar. That vendor quoted us a bottom dollar price of $6,000. Mind you, this meant we had to come up with this money in about 30 days though we'd budgeted for half that. Our only other option was to get additional licensing and insurance for the bartender we'd already hired for the event.
Thankfully, who we hired was a friend, and she was willing to do the additional courses and purchase the additional insurance to abide by the owners' rules, but i truly don't know what we would've done if she'd refused. It was totally unfair for the owners to institute new rules and require my fiancé and I to abide by new policies that were not outlined in the contract we originally signed back in September 2020.
Furthermore, the owners informed me about 2 weeks before our big day that no candles were allowed, though we had a previous conversation when we toured that they weren't strictly enforcing that rule. You can even see in their Instagram photos that other brides were allowed to use candles, sparklers, and even fireworks on their wedding days. I had already bought all the candles I needed, and then had to turn around and buy flameless LED candles that simply looked tacky. When I emailed the owner to ask about the changes and beg to let me use the real candles I'd already purchased (I even offered to buy glass to enclose the flames) she responded with "it's an insurance thing". This really upset me, as other brides were given privileges I wasn't, even though we paid for the same venue and had our weddings just weeks apart.
The owners also up-charge you for practically every additional decoration at the venue besides the barn and pergola itself. For example, the venue does not allow you to bring your own wine barrels to the event center, which means you inevitably have to rent their barrels. This is an obvious way for them to make more money off of you, as these barrels are an add on and aren't included in your rental price which ranges between $4,000 and $6,000 as it is. The same goes for baskets for bread and the fireplace outside. It also went for the air conditioning. We had to pay an additional $500.00 for it, despite the fact that the duct work hadn't been run and it didn't keep the venue much cooler than the air temperature outside. The owners told us if it didn't work well, we'd get a partial refund. One was never offered. The same goes for the arch's drapery. You have to rent the cloth and hang it yourself the day of the wedding. This took about and hour and a half and was a bit dangerous. I certainly did not feel comfortable with my mom, fiancé, and I climbing ladders nearly to the top rung to hang a cloth. If you have to pay to rent the cloth, it should be hung for you.
However, the most frustrating part for me was that little details were not paid attention to and communication was not clear and horribly lacking in some cases.
As a detail oriented person and huge planner, I read our contract numerous times, and even took a copy to the event center the day i set up for the wedding. The cake, gift, and favor tables were not set up for us. I had specifically requested for them to be set up in an email AND in person on a final walk through of the venue I scheduled with the owners a week before our big day. Also, none of the plates or silverware were out on the tables. I eventually called the owners to find out why and was informed that we have to put out our own table settings and roll the silverware. THIS IS NOWHERE in the contract. I even re-read it on the spot to be sure.
Little things like this do add up and become exhausting. Planning a wedding and the actual day is stressful enough and the lack of clear communication and organization and willingness to help from these owners was really hard. I honestly look back at my day with a lot of regret and disappointment, and truly wish I could do everything all over again someplace different. read more
