How true are venue ratings?

It's definitely pointless to look at FB reviews or reviews on their website or anywhere where the venue can delete, and control their reviews. I was recently at my friends wedding at La Belle in Florida, and it was the first time I've ever experienced such an unprofessional experience from any kind of business. First off, I'll start by saying the venue was absolutely beautiful! But that's about as nice as this review is going to get. I was a bridesmaid(so not sure how much the bride paid, but I'm guessing it was not cheap) so I was expecting a professional, but polite and enjoyable experience, but from the moment we arrived, all everyone was met with was rude hostility, making the day more stressful(minus a couple nice workers), as if we were forcing them to be there. We couldn't ask a question without being talked down to, so the opposite of helpful. We got scolded when some random people that were there for a tour, walked right into the bride/groom suite when we were getting ready because apparently keeping the outside gate closed was our responsibility(even though no one even told us that it needed to stay closed). When my sister showed up with the wedding cake, she went outside to ask where the cake was being displayed so she could put it down and finish decorating it, but they rudely told her she wasn't allowed outside(as if she's been there before and know where to go in the first place) and that she had to take the cake into the suite(which was a madhouse with like 20 people getting ready) and finish it there and they would bring it outside later(which didn't happen until the bride/groom was ready to cut the cake, so they didn't even have it displayed during the wedding/reception). Then, when the night ended, they were in such a rush to throw us out, instead of packing up the rest of the cake so they could take it home, they just threw the other half away...so that was a nice waste of money, not to mention neither I, nor the bride even had a chance to get a piece > They were also in such a hurry to get us to leave right at 10(or whenever it ended) they didn't even give the bridal party a chance to get our stuff out of the suite to put into our cars, they just threw everything in a trailer with no care for peoples personal belongings(which is also a good way to have things go missing, not to mention they wouldn't let us back into the suite to double check if they got everything, so yes, some things did go missing)... my Nintendo switch got thrown on the bottom(good way to break it, they're lucky they didn't) along with my tote bag the bride gave me as a bridesmaid present(which I know wasn't cheap), my friends stuff got ruined bc there was a plant with water just thrown on top of her things, they even decided it was a good idea to just throw the box with the bride/grooms top of the wedding cake in it because they just did not care. Luckily someone saw that as it was happening and took it off the pile before they could throw things on top of it. The thoughtfulness you expected to come with your big day, along with the price tag, was completely void. They couldn't even manage to put down a runner during the ceremony(knowing that it rained the night before)so we all got to walk down a muddy runway, to the point where one of my feet sunk in and I almost fell and then I had to stand up at the alter with a muddy ruined dress, and a muddy shoe and foot, not to mention it was a bit embarrassing tripping and almost falling on my face in the mud in front of everyone -_- then I had to go and try to wash some of the mud out of my dress, and I'm not sure if maybe they need to clean out their septic or what, but the instant you turn on the water it smells like sewage, so much you can smell it from outside with the door closed. So was not thrilled to have to walk around with my dress smelling like that all night... so, while everyone thoroughly enjoyed their night, we did not exactly enjoy our time or experience there

When I left that review on Google, instead of apologizing and trying to make it right, they blamed it on us, and everyone else and took 0 responsibility and then proceeded to delete my friends wedding post and pictures off of their FB so it looked like we were never even there, as well as threaten one of our guests and his small businesses bc he also left a bad review...some people in this industry are complete sharks, so just be careful, and I wish you a much better experience, which can't be hard to do lol, then we had.

Venue ratings will be depending on the couples overall service and experience given from their view. Its up to you to be cautious if there are lots of negative remarks and take a chance if you feel that isn't right of what is being said. There is a possibility of ownership change that the rating can vary from whom ran to who is currently in charge now. Amelia made a good point of something going wrong with a vendor timing or no response within a time frame.

The websites of the venues do help to know whether the venue your choosing is good or bad opposed to the venues without websites and hard to take in what we would want to read up beforehand.

Congrats!!!! and honestly i read ALL the review cuz i find some people complain about really stupid things or go crazy. i also check many different platforms as well. so look on weddingwire reviews, check fb reviews, check google reviews, check yelp reviews, check IG reviews. even reach out to people and ask them that way you have a better idea. but if they have 98 amazing reviews and 5 bad ones i wouldnt worry.

WOOO congratulations on your engagement!

Thankfully Wedding Wire has a ton of venues on here to select from. First we decided on the type of venue we wanted - golf course, restaurant, ballroom etc. before doing anything. Personally, I filtered on lowest and recent reviews because that's where my thought process went first. I wanted to see what people were complaining about and usually it was regarding personnel over the venue itself. For most places that we looked at, the negative comments were the same and you could see the trends there.

I think that when you are reading the reviews, you have to keep in mind that

1. no place is going to be perfect .. things come up all the time

2. someone will always have something negative to say about everything

3. Read the longer positive reviews - it's very easy to say 1 or 2 words but if someone takes the time to write a paragraph, they have great things to say

4. Seeing the venue in person and speaking to a rep from that facility is still the best option, reviews are subjective and can't always be reliable

We are getting married at Ancaster Mill and although their rating is high, there are still some negative reviews and we took those into consideration but they didn't stand out enough for us not book it and we were blown away when we went there in person.

Good luck finding your perfect venue!

Firstly, Congratulations on your Engagement!
When it comes to looking at Venues & reviews, I would read recent ones only (Just because older ones may be reflecting an employer or employee that may no longer be there) I would also call and ask A LOT of questions, bring up your concerns and worries and even call the venue out on the reviews asking what happened ect.
I think if you bring up your concerns and worries they will do everything in their power to make sure it doesn't happen to you.

Good Luck on your Venue Hunt!

Congratulations on your engagement.

If you're having trouble narrowing it down, I would first choose the type of venue: banquet hall, hotel, golf course/resort, restaurant, rustic (ie barn or cottage) etc. And once you have an idea of type, figure out a party size. Banquet halls can likely accommodate the most while restaurants are probably best for intimate affairs. Prioritize what you like: food vs scenery vs customization and choose from there.

With reviews, I look for consistency. If you see 100+ reviews but barely a handful of them are bad, then the couples probably had an axe to grind. And like Amelia said, if the bad reviews are from a reasonable time beforehand and all recent reviews have been consistently good, then I would take those old bad reviews with a grain of salt as the venue probably learned from their mistake. Take note on what the criticisms are and if they're factors for your event being a success, address those concerns at the site visit.

At the end of the day, reviews are subjective and you should never book a venue solely on the reviews here. Take a site visit if you're living in the same area as where you'll be marrying and if not, at least get on a phone call to talk to a person in charge and get a feel of the people who will be handling your event. When you do decide to commit to a venue or vendor, it should be based on your experiences and engagement. One of the venues on our search has a really high rating with no negative reviews in regards to their wedding but at the site visit, the salesperson had mistaken us for another couple that they double booked and proceeded to cough into her hands during the whole meeting and offering to shake our hands at the end - and this was before covid was in the news!!! Needless to say, we didn't book with them.

Congratulations on your engagement!


For me I check the dates of the bad vs good reviews. If they are a few years ago and no recent bad reviews I figure the vendor made mistakes and has learned from them. But if the negative reviews are more recent I would be far more cautious. Also sometimes the bad reviews can all be for the same thing, and it gives you the opportunity to discuss that with the vendor early on (like if someone was upset about the time it took a photographer to get their photos back you can address that and ask to have a deadline put right into your contract). It costs nothing but time to reach out and see how you get along with a vendor, so don't be afraid to make a few calls or emails if you're uncertain.