TL:DR - Just do it. Ruth and Mike are amazing. The venue is gorgeous and the value is unbeatable…read more I cannot say enough positive things about Ruth/Mike and their venue. At literally 25% of the costs of the other venue we were looking at, you CANNOT do better than Ruth and Stone House. Not only do you get a great venue and day of coordinator in Ruth, you also get a DJ and a treasure trove of items to use on your big day like lanterns and garlands. Using her items vs. buying your own, helps alleviate some of the issues with finding homes for 50 black lanterns later. The venue itself is ABSOLUTELY gorgeous. Its great high ceilings and woodwork will make for a super unique venue that will make your day unforgettable. I cannot tell you how many people have told us how beautiful the venue was afterwards. We had a few special things we wanted to do for our guests like putting hand written name cards out at their seats and play a few jokes on our friends. We had asked volunteers to come help us do all of this, but Ruth and her staff was already on top of it and took care of everything and beyond. Ruth even helped our jokes by writing some Chinese on our seating chart. Ruth was super communicative throughout the entire process, making herself available both via email and texts, never taking longer than 24 hours to respond. We had our ceremony inside and her staff was able to flip the interior in no time, making the transition from ceremony to reception seamless. We literally cannot sing her praises enough.

Stone House Of St. Charles This place isn't worth it. Don't…read moreget me wrong the place is unquestionably beautiful. However, the owner Ruth overshadows that with her rudeness, condescension, pushiness, and interference. Stone House isn't cheap so you would think you would be able to have your wedding the way you want it. Not with Ruth around. A wedding day should be about the bride and groom. If you want it that way do not use Stone House. There are lots of venues that are just as pretty that don't come with an owner who is overbearing and tries to force you do what she think you should want vs what you as a couple actually want. My husband and I got married there a few weeks ago and I hardly know where to start so I'll go in order. First, you can only used one of her caterers and of the five only one will respond so it's not a stretch to figure out that they are friends. The food was so-so and the carterer was easy to work with so I can make my piece with that. Second, the bar BOOZE BROTHERS. You are required to use them and they are impossible to work with because of their lack of communication. I would be hazard to guess that the only reason they are in business is because of Stone House. Nobody would book them otherwise. Ruth's son runs Booze Brothers. The only way to reach them is to email mommy and after she or her husband reaches out to them, they will respond to an email. There was a required meeting with Ruth a few weeks before the wedding. I knew then that we were going to have a problem. She'd ask a question and before I could finish a sentence she'd interrupt and keep talking. I tried to tell her what we wanted and how we wanted things set-up and not only did she keep interrupting she argued with me that what we wanted wasn't a good idea. Just for context part of what I do is directing production shows which includes organizing local and national talent. I know how to put on an event. It only took about ten minutes for me to just sit back and let my husband talk. She tried to interrupt him also, but he just kept talking until she eventually, reluctantly agreed we could set up our wedding and reception the way we wanted. Ruth requires rehearsals to be the Thursday before the wedding at her designated time. So, good luck to anyone in your wedding party who is coming in from out of town. When we arrived, I began introducing people and then started from the beginning of the ceremony and intended to go in order until the end. Well, Ruth had no intention of letting that happen. She wanted to start in the middle and then circle around to get back to the beginning. Since our previous meeting, my husband and I had come up with a pretty nice way to honor my parents who had passed which meant it moved where some people sat. So, I was having to go around behind Ruth correcting her as she went. Ruth is a very loud woman and asked me if I wanted her to run the rehearsal or not. I told her I did not that I was perfectly cable of running a rehearsal. I had also told her this when we arrived. Evidently, it was a rhetorical question because she kept talking and directly people the way SHE wanted them to be. I was frustrated and tired of arguing with her so I sat down and watched with some amusement about the ludicrously as she stumbled through the most unorganized and confusing rehearsal, I had ever seen in almost 40 years. What resulted was a group 12 people leaving rehearsal without a clue as to what they were doing. So, I had to conduct 12 individual rehearsals on Friday and Saturday before my wedding started. Ruth also said they she would be running things the day of the wedding and her "team" would be giving instructions and orders. I put my foot down there and told her there would be no one ordering anyone around. The person running the wedding would by our DJ. As far as the DJ, it is included in her price. However, Ruth refuses to let you meet with him or her prior to the wedding. I would never agree to let someone in such an important role be selected without a meeting. That, in my opinion, is a recipe for disaster. So, my husband and I spend the money to hire our own DJ and it was money well spent. Despite the fact that Ruth made her life miserable for a week before the wedding and made digs at her the day of, she was professional and made sure that things went according to the plan my husband and I laid out. The day of the wedding, I gave my bridesmaids one job. Keep Ruth away from me. Unfortunately, her "team" wasn't much nicer than she was. The day went smoothly because our DJ did take over and my Husband's mother oversaw the set-up. Ruth sent her rules at least four or five times and they are all listed in the contract. We obeyed every rule no matter how small or stupid it was. However, Ruth violated her own contact. Her contract states that Stone House will get, set-up, and repack any items that are brought in exactly as they receive them. I packed every box carefully and labeled them. About 9