The Founders Inn and Spa Reviews

The Founders Inn was the most spectacular place to host our wedding! It offered the perfect setting for our guests to enjoy a weekend away with us, creating so many opportunities to spend quality time together. The grounds are absolutely breathtaking, the food was delicious, and the staff went above and beyond to help with every detail to make our day truly special. We couldn’t have imagined a more beautiful or accommodating venue for our celebration!

We chose the Founders Inn for a number of reasons, the entire grounds are beautiful- great for photo ops, the all inclusive pricing made planning stress free, the food and the attendants were top notch, and something our guests will be talking about for years!

The Founders Inn took very good care of my husband and I. Our wedding was absolutely amazing thanks to them. They did a great job caring for us and keeping in contact with us. They worked with us depending on what ideas we wanted to do - giant cupcakes instead of the cake slices lol hehe. The staff was very informative and very nice showing us around and helping us narrow down a decision. Thank the Lord the weather held up because the outside gardens were THE PLACE to have the ceremony. They set up everything perfectly with our coordinators. For the price, it was well worth it.

I would highly recommend this place for a nice affordable wedding. You'll feel like royalty for the day heehee. Just be aware of the ducks on the grounds...they have opinions. :)

From the moment we arrived for a tour, to the moment we walked down the aisle, we were treated with such respect and the highest level of professionalism.

The staff made our small ceremony an experience we will NEVER forget. Around every corner was a helping hand and smiling face ready to support where necessary.

Our family and friends have yet to stop commenting on the amazing cuisine and great customer service in the Swan Terrace, and of course, the beautiful garden venue.

If you are looking for the best place to host your event in Virginia Beach with a modern yet historic vibe, you found it! I am a professional DJ and I work a few wedding events here every year as well as birthday parties and military events and already have some lined up for next year. Before this year is over, I wanted to take the time and share with all review readers how grateful I am for the opportunity to be able to collaborate with such a great venue and the talented team that makes magic happen every time I am there. They communicate well with vendors, everything is always clean and looks amazing, and the layout options are awesome. I enjoy the uplighting that compliments your decor. The food is always on point. They surely go above and beyond for their clients to have the best time ever. Go see for yourself, book your event here!

Chris “DJ Karizma” August | DJ Karizma Entertainment LLC | www.karizma.bz

Nice experience , everything was beautiful what a beautiful wedding venue !

The Founders Inn took a lot of the stress off our plate by offering the venue space for both ceremony and reception, include catering as well as the cake and off accommodations. It is an absolutely beautiful venue and we couldn’t be happier with our choice!

Myself and Mosquito Cove team member MC Shelia T visited Founder's Inn for a site survey before a Vow Renewal Event scheduled for the 26th of November 2020. The Founder's Inn staff was so charming, informative, helpful and cheerful that we decided to stay overnight. Dinner was great and the buffet the next day was wonderful. When we returned for the ceremony and celebration, our three-man team decided to stay over again. We loved the friendly and extremely helpful attitude of the entire staff. I loved working and staying at Founder's Inn!

The Founder's Inn and Spa was the dream location for our intimate wedding. Before we agreed to book the Founder's Inn we were blown away by the grounds and the beauty of the ceremony location and Fireplace Lobby. From start to finish the staff at the Founder's Inn. Even during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, they were flexible, gracious and responsive. When we started planning the wedding under normal circumstances, every detail was taken care of and anticipated. Their all-inclusive made our wedding planning so much easier than we had imagined. We highly recommend them.

I just got married on Jan 4th and Founders was our "home base" for the entire wedding weekend...and it was PERFECT. I had a great wedding coordinator at Founders named Christine and she was extremely professional and easy to work with. Almost half of our 80 guests stayed at the hotel for the 'wedding weekend' and the rooms were beautiful and the staff was wonderful. (My bridal party and I also used the Flowering Almond Spa services and they were excellent!) The holiday decorations made the hotel even more stunning and the Swan Terrace restaurant was the perfect place for our "small-ish" reception. And the food was SO GOOD (especially the crab stuffed sole - wow). Founders also provided a wonderful bridal dressing room (where a lot of my out of town family and friends hung out on the wedding morning!) and brought in a tray of appetizers and champagne for us after the ceremony. At least 20 of us gathered for brunch on Sunday morning back in Swan Terrace - and it was again fun, with great food and excellent staff! I will always have a very fond place in my heart for Founders and see us definitely returning there for anniversaries! I would highly, highly recommend having your wedding and/or reception at Founders!! Jennifer T., Fredericksburg, VA

From the moment we walked on the grounds of Founders Inn, we were blown away by the hospitality of the staff. Every inch of the grounds is a beautiful location for a wedding and reception. The venue had a range of packages to fit exactly what we were looking for! It was amazing and much less stressful planning a wedding at the Founders Inn because they provided nearly everything we needed: venues for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception (with included rain backup locations that were equally beautiful) food, alcohol, cake, tables, chairs, linens, and more! Brittany Duarte was so friendly and knowledgeable from our first tour and beyond. She was also quick with communication and always answered all our questions thoroughly. When we got closer to our wedding, we met Emily Anuszek who worked closely with us for all the small details. Emily was also an excellent communicator and so professional. She collaborated with us and each of our vendors to make our wedding day perfect! We couldn’t have picked a better venue and we are forever thankful to the entire staff of the Founders Inn for such a memorable wedding day.

I had the most beautiful wedding over the weekend. The venue was absolutely gorgeous! They had their lights in the bushes for Christmas time which created the perfect background for pictures as well as a beautiful scenery outside the swan terrace windows which Is where I had my reception. The food was AMAZING! Serving staff were so nice and made sure we had everything we wanted. The night of our wedding we got a complimentary wedding night hotel room which had a fireplace going and snacks and champaign waiting for us. I loved how this venue included the catering. This made things easier for me when planning since I was planning alone while my husband was deployed. For the price, you get an amazing wedding. So glad I chose this place!

When looking for a venue my husband and I wanted a place that wouldn’t break the bank however had the expensive look we wanted. That’s exactly what the founders in gave us. The staff was very professional and were timely in responding to all questions and concerns we had. Not to mention the food was absolutely AMAZING! Our guests were raving about the food for days later. If we were to do it all again would definitely pick the founders inn without a doubt. Highly recommend!

Absolutely, love the venue and the service. So much so that we booked our wedding here!

The Founders Inn was definitely the perfect venue for my wedding. From booking to planning to the wedding itself, the staff was professional and helpful each step of the way. Brittany and Chloe were both fantastic to work with, and always responsive to any questions I had. The wedding turned out amazing and I’m so glad I chose the Founders Inn! I would highly recommend it to anyone for any event!

The founders Inn was the best place to have a wedding or any event. The staff from the beginning to the end was above excellent. They are professional with warm hospitality, they are very accommodating and just good people! The place is gorgeous and has a warm feeling. All members of the staff Brittany, Chloe, and the staff who worked during my wedding were attentive, friendly and just good people. I will recommend them to anyone, thank you all so much for making my wedding day one of the best days of my life!

I had the immense pleasure of working with Brittany and Casey for all of my wedding-day plans, and I have to say, they completely knew what they were doing. From (literally) last-minute additions to the guest list, to booking more rooms than expected, to having the perfect setup for the big day, I could not have imagined a more knowledgeable or professional staff. They thought of the things I'd never even begin to think about, and took care of them before I thought to worry. The venue itself was gorgeous -- we had a small wedding, so it was held in the fireplace room just outside the lobby. It was completely transformed when I walked down the aisle, and the outdoor cocktail reception was perfectly staged. The reception and dinner were phenomenal, and everything went better than I could have ever hoped. If I could give the venue and its amazing staff a 10/10, I absolutely would.

The Founders Inn and Spa was the perfect location for our wedding! We wanted our wedding to be somewhere meaningful to us, obviously beautiful, and somewhere that made it easy to conduct all aspects of the wedding - ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, and especially lodging for our guests. The Founders Inn and Spa made all of that possible.

While the venue was certainly a beautiful location, the best part of having our wedding at the Founders Inn and Spa was the team that we worked with. We worked primarily with Casey Burnett and she was an absolute joy to work with. Her professionalism, organization, and attention to detail are some of her strongest traits and we were so fortunate to have been able to work with her. Throughout the entire process, Casey worked quickly and efficiently to answer any and every question we had. She was meticulous in her tracking, thoughtful in her delivery, and exhibited genuine care in ensuring that our wedding day went smoothly. We could not be happier to have had our wedding at the Founders Inn and Spa and could not have been more lucky to have worked with Casey - thank you for everything!

Andy and I were married on Friday, August 12. We also combined our family reunion during the week leading up to the wedding. We had our rehearsal dinner in the Hunt Room. We ABSOLUTELY LOVED working with Ann and Lydia throughout our wedding planning process. Lydia was actually getting married only a week after our wedding and she still seemed so focused on us and made us a priority. Even through all our changes, the big day was truly perfect. When Andy and I first walked through property at the Founders Inn and saw the English gardens, we just knew this was where we had to get married. The food was amazing and the space was exactly right for what we wanted and needed for our guests. There is not a better wedding venue in Virginia Beach.

We held our wedding at Founders Inn in July 2016. The grounds are gorgeous, the staff was amazing, and the services offered are top notch. Our big day was absolutely amazing. We had an indoor wedding in their beautiful atrium. The staff were on top of everything. The food was amazing, our cake was beautifully decorated, and the reception/ceremony site were clean and inviting.

We had a minor experience with our reception hall temperature not staying cool but they went above and beyond to find a solution to this. We have no hard feelings over this because certain things are beyond their control.

Our hotel accommodations for the evening made us feel like royalty. Gorgeous room and amazing service. They were on top of everything. We felt welcomed and appreciated from the very beginning.

We cannot thank Founders Inn and their staff enough as they made our biggest day amazing.

We loved having our wedding at the Founders Inn! I planned our wedding while going through nursing school, so the stress was incredible. And, of course, during the most important planning period (1 month out) my husband was underway, which is a fancy Navy word for out at sea. However, Ann and Brittany were both so understanding and accommodating about everything. We booked about 1 year in advance. The most important advice I can give is to book your venue at least 10 months prior to when you wish to get married, especially if you want to have it at Founders! The place is so incredible and books up very fast. Not a lot of brides get to say this, but I honestly felt like our wedding went perfectly! There is nothing I would have wanted to do differently or change about it. I think the key to having this feeling is to just let everyone do the jobs that you hired them to do and sit back and enjoy your big day! They are PROS at Founders and you can rest assured that they will handle every crisis without you ever knowing it even happened! :-)

Ann Smith has been amazing throughout the whole booking process. My groom to be lives out of state due to being in the Navy. Ann went out of her way to not only allow me to facetime during the initial tour of the property, but made sure we could book a time for a tour of the property and include him in all of the planning when he was home.

Founders Inn made things so simple for us!! They were very professional and handled everything on our wedding day!! No worries for us which makes a huge difference! The grounds are absolutely beautiful and I don't think we could have picked a better place to get married!

It doesn't get any better we had to reschedule and they were very accommodating! The venue was amazing and they were very attentive to us even just the two of us and the rooms and food were amazing!

So helpful, the wedding was one of the best I've ever been to!

The Founder's Inn and Spa is an elegant venue to have your ceremony and reception. My husband actually found this venue and when we first visited we both knew that this was the location for our special day. Everything was beautiful. The staff is very professional and they are concerned about every last detail of your wedding. Emily Anderson helped us to feel comfortable with them since we had a negative experience with a venue in Williamsburg. Brittany Duarte went above and beyond making sure that our vendors we used were set for the wedding day and gave us wonderful ideas to use in our wedding. She also offered several food alternatives for some of our family who were vegetarians. Brittany Bagley made sure on the wedding day that everything went smoothly and that we stayed calmed. The Chef that prepared the meals did an excellent job and everything was tasty. We could not have chosen a better venue and we are grateful and would recommend this venue to anyone getting married.

My husband and I could not have picked a more elegant, and beautiful venue for our wedding on May 17, 2015. Everything was just beautiful. The staff was awesome and caring. We had a negative experience with a Williamsburg venue and the staff that worked with us were angels. We first worked with Emily Anderson, she made sure everything was comfortable for us from our transition with a negative experience in Williamsburg. Brittany Duarte, came thru and was on-point and even gave us a wonderful suggestions we used for our wedding day . She made sure that we had food alternatives for our family who were vegetarians and was just very caring towards us. On the day of the wedding Brittany Bagel made sure I was

I cannot say enough wonderful things about this venue and their staff! We were given our own day of coordinator, Brittany, who was wonderful! She spent time getting to know us, listened to us, and guided us through the process so it was the perfect day! The food was incredible and the thing our guests commented on the most. We were impressed because we received our own private tasting with the head chef who came out with each meal to get our thoughts on the food-it was wonderful! We had a lot of out of town guests and the staff was able to accommodate everyone's needs from booking rooms, to shuttle transportation, to even making sure we were all in the same building! Family and friends loved their experience of VA mainly because of all the Founders Inn hospitality and assistance! The grounds are gorgeous and made for beautiful pictures. They know how to do weddings! They are professional, kind, and most of all FUN!! I would HIGHLY recommend this venue to anyone looking at a VA wedding! You will NOT be disappointed!!!

Haven't even had my wedding yet but I'm very impressed with the friendliness of the staff planning it. They have taken a lot of the stress away. I even got my officiant from them!

Excellent venue. Great food that everyone enjoyed even the picky ones. The pasta bar with the different pastas was excellent with the meat options. The cocktail hour before the reception had tasty hors d'oeuvres. The venue provided great wedding photograph opportunities (outdoor with the fountain and indoors with the fireplaces and Christmas decor). The honeymoon suite was nice with a fireplace and champagne and variety of fruits and cookies.

Very beautiful as a venue. I recommend.

The BEST of the BEST is the only way to describe the Founders Inn and Spa. The venue, the staff they are all amazing!!!!! From the moment that I met Emily Andersen and Ann Smith they made my life so easy! My wedding was a destination wedding, so at first I was very nervous to travel all the way to Norfolk, Va on blind faith, I am from New York so I know good quality reception halls, but when I finally showed up at the Founders Inn it well exceeded any of my expectations! It was the best venue to have my extravagant wedding!!!!! My wedding party consisted of 380 guest and 42 children, and the Founders Inn made sure to roll out the red carpet to make us feel welcomed. If you are looking for a fairytale venue to host an awesome wedding, you have to go to the Founders Inn and Spa. You will definitely not regret this awesome decision.

I would recommend this venue to anyone. It is absolutely beautiful, the service is amazing and the wedding coordinator is fantastic to work with. We had our ceremony outdoor at the lake, our cocktail hour at the atrium and our reception at the ballroom and it worked our fantastically. The photos turned out amazing and everyone ( guests/family/friends) all commented on the great service.
Margaret was particularly great to work with and I would highly recommend her.

This was an extremely, beautiful atmosphere for a wedding. The facility provided the perfect touch of class that the bride and groom hoped for.

Our wedding at Founders Inn was amazing. We were able to have our ceremony outside in the English Gardens which are gorgeous. The catering staff, especially Ann and Emily, we're fantastic to work with and did everything to make our wedding perfect. Our reception food was also amazing and all our guests mentioned how good it was. I highly recommend Founders for both wedding ceremonies and receptions.

If you are looking for a beautiful venue to get married, choose the Founders Inn! I felt like a princess, a complimentary massage, seeing our event on the TV screens, the beautiful setup. Worth every penny! Founders Inn can give you the perfect wedding in your budget...I was surprised at how much everything was, it was very affordable considering how elegant everything felt and looked. The weather was amazing, and everyone still compliments me on how amazing everything was. Spring/Summer or Fall/winter...choose The Founders Inn!!

I want to have another event just to be able to work with them again! They were wonderful in accommodating our needs because we had a brunch "reception" and they were kind enough to workout a customized package for us. They answered every single question we had and made sure we were getting what we wanted and some more. I was still hesitant on paying as much for one party (yes I'm that kind of bride) but when the day came I had no doubts I did the right thing with the right people! Their food was amazing, so was their service, and the people that helped us keep it all together throughout were so kind, helpful, and a pleasure to work with! To this day, I hear how amazing the food, service, staff, landscape, cake, basically everything was!
Oh! And their Spa is pretty amazing, I just got a massage though. Definitely consider this venue for your special day or ANY other event that needs amazing in it ;)

Amazing wedding thank you so much

Emily Andersen of Founders Inn coordinated everything wonderfully for our daughter's outdoor wedding and buffet reception! From the first time we met for planning up until the last moment we saw her at the reception, she never lost her beautiful smile and willingness to make both events amazing! She was an excellent listener, was patient, offered great advice, encouraged us to contact her regarding any concerns or questions we had, returned our calls and emails immediately, was respectful, was very happy to help, and, well, made our daughter's wishes come true for the fantastic wedding she had hoped for. After you go through the many months of planning and expenditure of all the vendors and visualize over and over how you, as parents, want this once in a lifetime gift from you to your daughter to be, it all ultimately comes down to just a few short hours when all the magic comes together so suddenly- and Ms. Andersen made sure it was magic. Thank you, Emily! So many guests commented about how wonderful you were that day! The bridesmaids loved you!

We were also very pleased with Brandon who assisted Emily to coordinate a flawless ceremony processional and recessional. We can not leave out the chef and kitchen staff who provided the most amazing entrees and sides! And the catering staff in the ballroom who were gracious and professional! And the on-site pastry chef who made a very beautiful tiered wedding cake! And all other staff who were behind the scenes working to help make everything come together for such a fantastic, memorable day!

Thank you to everyone at Founders!

Founders Inn was a beautiful place to have my Wedding! I am always shocked when I walk to because it is breath taking!

Founders Inn is the most elegant, affordable, and professional vendor in the area! The staff assisted us with a wedding that we could afford since they have so many packages that you can build up or down according to your budget. But you never lose quality or service and attention. The venue is beautiful, the staff is welcoming and helpful, and all together it makes for a wedding of your dreams. Our officiant, Michael Kuzma was well known within the Inn and is recommended because the staff and he have worked together so many times. It went off so smoothly and was simply perfect.

This was an venue I personally picked out and I'm so glad I did. We worked with Molly who was our coordinator and she was great! The Founders Inn entire staff certainly gave us five start treatment. They were truly phenomenal. Thank you for making this such a unforgettable occasion.

All I can say is the food was great! Lisa was the best! She returned my calls and emails even late in the evening and weekends.

The dream team - Lisa Aguilar and Chef Scott! I just can't say enough about the amazing team at Founders Inn! They made our day perfect. Let's start with Lisa - she's Wonder Woman! She met each and every request/demand that I had with a big gorgeous smile. I contacted her almost two years before our wedding day, and she kept in touch throughout the process to make sure we were taken care of. She's AMAZING! Lisa - I can't thank you enough!

Chef Scott can work miracles. I like all things southern, and my husband is a Baltimore native and rather PICKY about his crab cake. Chef was able to make the perfect menu for us that not only looked beautiful, it tasted amazing. The crab cake was awesome! And the shrimp and grits martini was my favorite! Thanks so much, Chef Scott.

Lastly, the entire staff at Founders went above and beyond for us and all of our guests. They passed out welcome bags to our guests, helped us fill Lisa's office with 3 carts worth of our wedding materials, made the room look beautiful, and even brought us breakfast in bed the next morning. All of our guests also raved about the beautiful grounds, the pool, the Swan Terrace, their rooms, EVERYTHING! This venue was just perfect for our wedding. Thank you again for everything!

Our wedding was held at Founders Inn on May 7, 2011. It was absolutely perfect. The staff was first class and I felt like a princess. We couldn't have asked for a better location and the food was the best ever. Thanks for making our day the most special day.....

I had a bumpy start with the Founders when they ended up changing event planners, but I am so happy that I came across Adrielle! She was truely one of the most stable people during this crazy process! I had scheduled our menu tasting and brought my mom, fiance, and friend along to join me! When I called Adrielle she was out due to being sick, but the day of, she crawled out of bed to show up to make sure we were taken care of. I had quite a few visits with Adrielle before our wedding and reception as well as after. I am very grateful for all she has done to make sure our wedding day was a special as it could be!

Booked them for my wedding and ceremony. I planned my wedding in a short period of time and they were so flexible. I was having a small wedding (50 people) and they worked with me as the number kept creeping up higher and higher. We ended up with 80 people! We had the ceremony in the Atrium and it was beautiful!! All of my guests enjoyed the food. The service was great! It is so nice. Lisa Aguiler is the best and really helped keep me on track. We had a pre-wedding meeting a week before the wedding and they really thought of EVERYTHING!! The caterer was the greatest!!

Be sure to get confirmation in writing of all wedding expectations from the facility providing services.

I am so glad I chose the Founders Inn for my wedding and reception. It was so beautiful! I was happy to have it outside in the gardens but would have been equally happy to have it in the beautiful Atruim as the backup! Ann and Lydia were so helpful and answered all of my questions. Lydia accommodated changes and helped so much. They went above and beyond. I was planning my wedding from GA and they were able to work around my schedule when I came in for the tastings and other planning items. The food for the reception was amazing. I would definitely recommend the founders in again.

We recently had our wedding ceremony and reception at the Founders Inn and it was AMAZING! Everything from the staff, to the food, to the facility itself was top-notch and excellent. I would highly recommend Founders Inn to anyone planning a wedding or event. The outdoor garden area was gorgeous for our ceremony and the banquet rooms inside look beautiful as well with everything set up. A special shout out goes to Ann Smith who helped us with our initial contract and Emily Andersen who was our planner all the way through - she was amazing to work with!

We loved having our wedding at the Founders Inn! The venue was beautiful and the options for rain (which we ended up having) were fantastic! We felt well taken care of and the facility is just beautiful. We chose the swan terrace for the reception and it is one of the most unique wedding reception venues I have ever seen! Raquel is a fantastic coordinator!

We are almost too sure this is our venue for our ceremony and reception. I was amazed at the professionism of our agent and how she was able to answer all our questions and pinpoint our concerns. Would highly recommend!!!!

Son and daughter-in-law were married there.
The gardens were (are!) absolutely gorgeous!
The food was outstanding-the chef made a note that I couldn’t have a certain item on the menu, and to my delight one of servers-came to me and gave me alternative!
They were there serving in any way the could and not being “in the way “
I highly recommend it for anyone!

Very informative staff and beautiful venue! You get your money's worth for sure.

My new husband and I spent our wedding night at the Founders Inn. We had a room with a fireplace and a King size bed.... the rooms are very clean and large, the grounds were beautifully decorated for Christmas.
Only complaint is they may want to rethink having the guest with pets in the same areas as the guest without..... dogs bark,,,, just saying....

We researched many, many venues when trying to settle on a place for the wedding. We read many positive and negative reviews about the Founder's Inn. However, I can say with zero hesitation that we have zero regrets about choosing the Founder's Inn.

We had our wedding close to home, but essentially our entire wedding was traveling to be with us. Choosing the FI allowed people to stay on property before and after the wedding. No driving home after our awesome evening! I was able to meet several times with the event coordinator (Shout outs to Margaret, Emily, and their whole team.) They were thoughtful, helpful,and honest. They host multiple wedding each weekend, but I always felt like their #1 bride.

The ceremony outside was absolutely beautiful. (We were definitely on a budget, but were able to skip decor outside as it is so naturally lovely.) They have an equally gorgeous rain-space, just in case. The service was astounding, the venue was always clean, helpful, and accommodating. (They even helped my mother get around in a wheelchair when she broke her ankle the night before the wedding. Not even kidding!) They have a state of the art spa, indoor/outdoor pool, and fireplaces abound. If you consider a wedding near the holidays- just wait until you see it! It truly felt like a vacation for everyone involved.

Finally, we are a month out and everyone is STILL raving about the food! We have enjoyed few meals this delicious- ever- and this was at a wedding. Our guests LOVED the food.

We never thought we could afford a place like the Founder's Inn; however, we did almost everything else ourselves, went wholesale on the flowers...we do not regret a single penny we spent at the Inn. Being able to crash after our magical night and enjoy breakfast with the family the next morning was irreplaceable. I hope your experience is as wonderful as ours was!

Our wedding was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful! We had roughly 100 guests and a bridal party of about 14. Our wedding coordinator at the Founders, Margret, was absolutely phenomenal! She was on top of everything and made sure my night went without a hitch. I am very pleased with my entire experience with the Founders!
Oh, and the food is AMAZING!!!

I worked with Margate for our wedding and she was great, very quick to respond and any last minute issues we had, she was able to fix. It rained on my big day but she made sure that our "plan B" was just as beautiful and guest are still talking about how gorgeous it all was. The only thing that was a little disappointing was that our chicken was dry.... other then that, AMAZING!!!!

Beautiful venue, great food and awesome staff. Thanks Emily and Ann for providing an exceptional service.

The garden is an awesome place to hold your ceremony.

My catering manager was very hands-on and committed throughout the entire planning process. She ensured that all my needs were met and was very flexible in setting up meetings. She kept us extremely informed on all updates; which we appreciated greatly. She worked seamlessly with our other vendors and orchestrated a beautiful ceremony and reception.

The food was delicious!!

We really enjoyed the location, and the staff was very helpful. What a wonderful day :).
Everyone had a great time!

We booked my daughter's wedding at the Founders Inn about a year in advance. We met with Adrielle, the catering manager, and felt very comfortable there from the beginning. The wedding ceremony was beautiful, the reception service and food was great! Several of our guest commented on how delicious all the food was. Adrielle did a great job at accommodating all of our requests. I attribute a lot of the success of our wedding to our wedding coordinator, Jennifer La Londe, from Jennifer La Londe Events. Jennifer was one of the names given to us by Adrielle per our request. Jennifer worked closely with Adrielle and it was a wonderful experience.

The Founder's Inn is such a beautiful place, and the staff make you feel welcome. They even have their own "Wedding Showcase Room" where you can gather ideas from to incorporate into your own wedding. I have not had my ceremony yet, but from what I have experienced so far, this is a wonderful place to have your wedding!

A little pricey but worth it if you can afford. By far the most flexible people due to my husband and I both being military. Very friendly and met all our needs. Highly recommend!

We recently attended a function at this venue and look forward to hosting our reception someday. The environment was enjoyable by many who attended the event.

The Founders Inn is probably one of the most beautiful places in the Hampton Roads area. The food was absolutely delicious! The wedding team are very professional and accomodating.

The garden/fountain area is beautiful and the ballroom is great with a little help from a lighting company and table decor- awesome venue. Food is amazing!

We had our wedding at The Founder Inn on 10/21/2023, and it was an amazing experience! The staff was wonderful to work with, both in the planning phase and on the day of the wedding. Christine was so helpful in helping us plan our dream day, and the catering staff was outstanding. Our wedding was everything we dreamed of!

The founders inn was the perfect choice for our winter wedding venue! The Christmas decorations on the grounds were beautiful and complimented the decor that we brought. The gardens were a stunning setting for our bridal party pictures and we got some beautiful pictures in front of the Giant Christmas tree! We had our reception in the swan terrace, and the food was to die for. Our waitress informed us that usually the bride doesn’t eat at the reception, but that was not the case for me. The staff was friendly and very helpful the night of our wedding!

There were only a couple things that could improve! Staff didn’t bring the bridal cart we ordered out while we were taking pictures, but this didn’t end up being an issue, as we finished with pictures before the cocktail hour was over. Lastly, the package we paid for had us set up with a honeymoon suite the night of the wedding, but the room was just a regular room. This was a little disappointing, but not a huge deal!

Overall, the founders inn gave me my dream wedding and I would recommend to anyone looking to have a Christmas wedding!

During our whole planning process, we worked with Brittany and Casey. They were easy to work with and everything was straightforward with them. At first, we only thought that you could only have a reception at the ballroom but you can actually have your reception at the Swan Terrace Grill (their restaurant inside the Founders Inn) as well. Since the ballroom was booked for the day of our wedding, Brittany gave us this option and I'm glad we ended up with it. We were going for a rustic theme and the Swan Terrace was perfect for keeping it intimate with our guests. They provide catering already and the food was amazing and our guests raved about it. Our wedding was in October and the lights outside the garden were already lit, which added a nice touch to the evening. Overall, everyone was professional, nothing went wrong. There was a small issue with the room booking for the guests but they were in the process of transitioning to Tapestry by the Hilton, nonetheless, it was fixed. If you need a venue that provides free parking, a variety of spaces, catering, guest rooms, a beautiful background for pictures and professionalism all in one, this is the place to book!

We love this venue very much. My husband and I were very thankful with the founders Inn team who provided assistance for making our wedding a memorable one! Just few things bothered us was our ceremony decorations were transferred to the reception room of the other wedding :( I only wished they just put it on the side if we didn't instructed them to transfer them to our reception.
Overall, in fairness to the service of the catering team during our reception, well taken care!

Charalese was wonderful (the manager)...

As a wedding ceremony and reception venue, Founders Inn was great! The grounds are stunning, especially in May when we had our wedding. We had a plated dinner, and the food (and the cake) was delicious! My husband is a chef, so food quality was definitely important to us! Casey was super helpful, always responded quickly to our questions, and communicated well with all of our vendors. When one vendor backed out last minute, Casey worked with our day-of coordinator to creatively come up with something that resolved the issue at no extra cost to us. The event staff (caterers and bartenders) were friendly, knowledgeable, and polite! We did, however, have just a few issues with the hotel aspect of things. We currently live in Connecticut and stayed at the hotel before and after the wedding. We knew we would have to move rooms the day of the wedding in order to go to the upgraded suite that was included with our wedding package. We were explicitly told that my husband could change rooms earlier in the day as our ceremony was at 4:00. Without going into all the details of it, there was a lot of confusion/lack of communication and my husband had to move to 2 different hotel rooms, one at 2:00 and one at 3:00, just one hour before the wedding. So unnecessarily stressful! Most of our guests also traveled and many chose to take advantage of the room block pricing. The rooms are pretty nice, definitely older. There are a lot of things to do as a guest there; sit in the gardens, walk around the grounds, go to the spa, pool, gym, etc. But for 3 different sets of our wedding guests, their rooms weren't ready and/or clean upon check-in. One guest needed sheets/blankets for the pullout couch, called the front desk and was told they would bring them by, but they never came. On the day of the wedding, we had our own bridal suite to use. It was spacious enough and worked well. However, we needed a chair without a high back for hair styling and it took about 30 to 45 minutes for the ch

The Founders Inn and Spa is a very nice venue! We had a very nice, small ceremony here. There are wonderful spots for photographs as the landscaping is very beautiful. The food is also delicious. We chose the elopement package which included brunch as an option. I really recommend the brunch! There is a great variety of food and it is so delicious! Our guests truly enjoyed every bite. Finally, the event managers are so nice and responsive to any questions or concerns! We were very pleased with everything.

The entire team at Founder’s Inn was simply fantastic! Everyone was committed to making our wedding simply perfect and thanks to their hard work and dedication it was. We had approximately 150 guests at our wedding and everyone was amazed at how fantastic our food was and how helpful the staff was. I didn’t hear a single negative experience from anyone.
There are a couple of areas that they could improve. Please do not take these as negatives, they are just advice and I would get married at Founders again in a heartbeat. However, I feel it is important for a review to include constructive criticism and accolades.
Most of the wedding packages come with accommodations for the bride and groom. We were so focused on the wedding that we forget to ask about our room for the night. It would be nice if the bride and groom were “automatically” checked into their rooms on the day of their wedding. The event coordinator could then just give them their room key. This would streamline the process a little bit better.
Also, some of our guests had a problem finding the “English Garden” when they asked for the location by that name. Some of the staff may need to be trained on the names of the locations, they probably just know it by a different name.

The founder's inn was a last minute decision for our Rehearsal dinner, and we are so glad we did it. We had a pig roast by the pool and our guests had a little swim before and after dinner. Almost everything we asked for Founder's inn bent over backwards to provide. We loved it.

The only downside was they ran out of red wine and three types of beer before the night was up. However, we were all having so much fun in the pool that we didn't much notice.

The wedding ceremony, cocktail hour & reception locations were all beautiful! My coordinator was wonderful, very helpful, very available via phone and email many, many times. The bridal preparation suite & service was fantastic. The special hotel rates for wedding guests was an exceptional value. I was extremely happy with how my youngest daughter's wedding, photographs, and reception went, and so was my daughter.

There were a few negatives. We had to choose between sweet or unsweet tea for guests and the bride chose all sweet tea. It turned out to be all unsweet tea. They did bring a carafe of sweet tea to each table - but nothing to pour it into, so we had full glasses of unsweet tea. We had requested the bar to be just outside the reception room, which I was told would be no problem, but when we entered the reception, the bar was right next to the DJ & the dance floor. And lastly, my daughter's custom-made, engraved wedding cake topper was lost by their staff. I have contacted them 3 times and even though it's been over 3 weeks since the wedding, I've still heard nothing from them.

So....overall it was beautiful, and "mostly" a great experience. Huge kudos to Melanie Bowman, our coordinator! :o)

Overall this place had some of the best photography places I have found in this area. The resopnsiveness was definetly a pain but as long as you stayed on toip of calling and emailing it wasnt too bad. The quality of the food and ease of the "package deals" they provide were perfect and stress free :-) Highly suggest this place. Note: Make your wedding date final at least 8 months in advance at this place!!!

I had Maria and Christine all the way leading up to my wedding and they were so nice. Founders Inn is so clean and the whole place is just set up so beautiful. We had our wedding ceremony at founders on December 6th and Christine was so joyful it was hard stressing about everything else when you have such a nice crew to have in your corner. The first time doing our consultation with Maria we knew Founders Inn was were we wanted to get married. I was so picky with other venues because where you get married at is a huge deal, the gardens at Founders Inn was perfect with the fountain in the background. Our pictures are so, so beautiful i’m so happy my husband and I picked Founders. Will forever be grateful.

Founders Inn and Spa was our venue for our December 1, 2018 wedding. We were married in the atrium with reception in their grand ballroom. They are known for their Christmas decor including the massive tree in the atrium..definitely a beautiful winter wonderland. The staff was attentive and thorough in their details from setting up ceremony and reception to the food service and guests’ rooms. I would definitely recommend them as a future site for another magical wedding experience.

I had a good experience with Founders. 90% of our guests were from out of state so it was a great location (near the airport) and we were able to have a beautiful outdoor ceremony and a reception in the same place. It minimized driving for everyone. Everyone raved about the food, the pool, the spa...it was great!
However, there was one big negative. We had under 100 people, so we had Emily as a sales rep. I hate to write something negative about her but she was not very responsive or professional. She flaked on my planner when she came to meet about the wedding, took a while to respond to me, and had a general air of "I don't care." She repeatedly told me at my rehearsal and wedding (while I was a ball of stress) that she was "so tired, I just want to go home and have a big drink" and complained to me about having to do her job whenever she was around me. I did not feel very confident in her abilities and if I did not have an amazing day of coordinator/planner, I would have freaked. Anne does weddings over 100 people and I've heard awesome things about her. Emily is also very young and maybe she will do better with more experience.

We had our ceremony in the scenic English gardens with the reception in the Swan Terrace restaurant. We loved having the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception all in the same location with the provided catering and cake. It was the perfect combination for an out of state couple. Our biggest issues were with communication, in that it was difficult in the beginning with determining who to contact and once we did get our contact the turn around time was longer than ideal, especially the closer we got to the wedding date. We had received the table diagram a week and a half before the wedding, which had us slightly panicked. It was just added stress that we didn't need. Overall it was still a beautiful day and venue despite the small annoyances.

This is a wonderful venue for a wedding. Breathtaking views, and it is so peaceful and serene. Catering was delicious. Although we ended up having 3 different sales managers working on our wedding my overall experience working with the Founder's Inn was a pleasant one. My wedding at the Founder's Inn was everything I could have ever wanted. My only dislike was feeling as though they booked my wedding too close to another, and feeling rushed to get to the reception and leave the ceremony location (formal gardens) and my planner and florist having to hurry up and take down. Even at our wedding rehearsal we had only one hour to rehearse and were rushed then because they had a wedding starting soon. My family did not appreciate this, especially since we had to put out alot of money to pay to have it there.

My parents were accused of eating ALL the food from the bridal cart during cocktail hour when they were outside with us.....how could TWO people eat enough hors d'oeuvres set for 16 people?? I did not like that no one was watching the cart to make sure the guests from the next wedding did not eat them. They did rectify the situation and served my bridal party a few hors d'oeuvres before they were introduced at the reception.

Overall I did enjoy this venue for my wedding but future brides please make sure you are adamant about having time to not feel rushed or that you have to hurry and go to reception because there is another wedding right after yours.

Ok, so I have very mixed feelings about my wedding at Founder's Inn. I loved the venue and the look of it. It really fit my fairytale wedding theme. However, the staff/planning process was frustrating at times. The planning staff was friendly when we had the opportunities to talk with them, especially early in the planning process; however, towards the end it became more difficult to get answers to questions that we had. There are two theories for this, one is marketing/strictly business, they wow you in the beginning and once you're "hooked" (contracts signed and deposits paid), they maybe don't try as hard. Second theory is that we began our planning in February and the wedding was in June, which is a peak time for weddings, so they just became more busy as the year went on and had less time to give individualized attention. I personally feel it is mostly theory two. Which leads to my next comment. They are OVERBOOKED and seemingly OVERWHELMED with the number of weddings they take on, specifically in the month of June. The staff who helped us during planning were great, Brittany and Ann, with the wedding coordination services were very professional and thorough, but on wedding day, some of the other general staff (front desk to be specific) were terrible, which unfortunately hindered some of the overall experience. As the bride, I arrived for my room check in the day before to find that my room was not ready. The next morning we were given inaccurate/confusing directions and an attitude from the front desk staff to find the room we were getting ready in. Then after the ceremony found that the room was left unlocked the entire time with ALL of our personal items in there (we were assured it would be locked). Overall, it was a positive experience; however, I feel that they need more staff to accommodate more weddings/people if they are going to commit their services to clients who are paying A LOT of money to have their big day there.

Overall, I was pleased with our experience(s) at Founders Inn. Both my husband's family and my family are from out of town, so we knew we needed to have the wedding at a hotel, however we didn't want a traditional hotel. We both instantly fell in love with Founders Inn while doing our tour, it's absolutely stunning - It has southern hospitality and charm written all over it. We received great service from the staff and our Conference Services Manager. If any problems did arise, the team was quick to fix them, which was great.

My husband and I were looking for a beautiful location that could host the ceremony and the reception all in one venue so we chose the Founder's Inn. We had about 150 guests and the ceremony was gorgeous. I would definitely recommend the ceremony spot at The Founder's Inn.

I did not want to hire a coordinator (as Founder's Inn was at the top of our budget) and had a friend be my day of coordinator, which if you are planing to do, I would definitely NOT recommend having your wedding here. The coordinators that work at the venue are very nice but they are definitely not there to help you plan out all the details.

I would not recommend having your reception here because our service was not what we were expecting for the cost. Our ceremony finished quicker than expected and the staff was not ready to serve our guests at cocktail hour. The bar service was therefore delayed, and my guests weren't happy. During the reception, we were supposed to have cookies and pastries served after our entrees and they never came out. The event coordinator did apologize and hand deliver them to our home afterward, which was very nice, but not enough considering we were expecting them to be served to all our guests. The bar service was terrible. I heard many complaints, even from my groom! They were serving warm beer out of pitchers and eventually "ran out" and could only serve bud light. Again, not what we paid for in our package.

Overall, it was a beautiful day and the food that was served was delicious, but to pay as much as we did and to receive less than superb service was very disappointing. If I could do it over I would not choose the Founders Inn. I would also suggest this to anyone that does not want to hire their own coordinator as well.

Overall, I was a little disappointed. It was often difficult to get somebody to call back, which became very frustrating. We got the diamond package, but did not receive everything that was supposed to be a part of that package. The grounds were pretty and the food was good. Some information was not handled in an appropriate manner, which resulted in problems in the middle of my reception. They are going through a change of management, so that might be part of the problem. Also, the cost to serve liquor is ridiculous ($7 per person to just serve, not even including cost of alcohol).

The venue and setting are beautiful for weddings. The staff promise things that they do not follow through with. We ordered pink champagne and that is not what was provided at the reception, and they refused to give us any monetary compensation for their error. The room for the bridal party to get ready in was not available, even though we booked the wedding a full 7 months ahead of time. The food was good and the reception service was good. The staff did not set up the chairs correctly to accomodate our family. The wedding coordination is poor. We did not see the coordinator at all on the wedding day. Would not recommend.

I originally booked the Founder's Inn because of their location and outside venue. After going through the contract I see that the prices quoted aren't what they seem...I later discovered that everything has a 22% service fee that is quoted in the fee until it's time for the contract signing...The food that was prepared for my reception was less than tasteful...A dog wouldn't even eat the meal...they made promises that they failed to delivered on. The cake has the wrong color and decor, the cake taste old and like it was done from a box and not from scratch really NASTY!!!!!.

On the contrary I must say that Melissa and Casey was very corporated and very nice. They tried their best to rectify everything as much as they could but the day was already ruined with a dinner thank God that I had an awsome DJ then ensure that we had a great time.

Also I had an overnight stay in the honeymoon suite and my God it was so horrible I was mortified. They only provided four chocolate covered strawberry nothing else with a stand up shower, it was so musty, it looks like from your grandma house and everything will just horrible ugly the room was dark and just plain old a dead. I spent the night there and move out in the morning to find something that was more suitable for my taste.

The outside venue is amazing I will not lie but that's the only thing I'll go back there for the outside I don't care for the inside or for the catering staff they were Beyond horrible the food was just so nasty not even a dog would want to eat that food

Let me start with the venue is beautiful but I hope nothing goes wrong or heaven forbids you have a difference of opinion on anything with their people because you will be 100% wrong and their people will be 100% right. I was told that my daughter's wedding started 10 - 15 minutes late and when I told the General Manager that it did not, maybe 2-3 minutes but not 10-15, she preceded to tell me that they have video cameras all over the premises and that they could pull the footage. Who does that? However, I told her that I welcomed it. She said because we started the wedding late our cocktail hour started late. She said her people were ready to serve and we were late. Okay. So I guess that's why our plated dinner took over 1.5 hours to serve when we were told that it would take an hour. In my opinion an hour was a long time to serve approximately 170 people, when you had all meal selections at every table in advance, but that's just me. I have seen 600 people served in less than an hour and this took over an hour and a half. Also you need to know that multiple weddings may be going on at the same time, which will cause music from the other weddings to be heard in your reception, especially doing your toast or bouquet toss. There were 3 weddings going on at the same time. The walls are not soundproof as I was told and I was later told (after the wedding) that they are sound buffered. I left a message for the general manager, who left a nice signed letter for the newlyweds. I would say the letter was just a formality , but empty words. Another manager did call me but the whole time on the telephone she acted so uninterested in any thing I had to say and had an answer in favor of her staff employee each and every time for whatever my concern was. What happened to the customer being right at least about at least one thing. But the report that had been written up by her employee was the most accurate and the gospel. I, in turn, decided to reach back out to the General Manager, Ellen. That was something I wasted time doing. She informed me when she called back that she had the catering manager or someone, listening in on the call. Two were together to back each other up that their people were correct about every thing. I definitely would say that they have the same management training which is stand together, back your staff and show no empathy,definitely do not try to make anything right, always go by the rule that the customer is always wrong, unless that video camera that the General Manager indicated could be pulled to prove that the wedding started 10-15 minutes late happens to prove that I may have told the truth about something. My daughter is married and it's over now but I will never recommend the venue for an event. Brittany D. our initial contact was the best person we interacted with.

I would discourage any bride and groom from selecting this venue. The problem is my expectations were very high of the Founders Inn and I was extremely disappointed with the service. For starters, I was told by My coordinator that if the weather took a turn she would personally come up to discuss it with me if it had to be moved. Unbeknown to me I walk down stairs it is gorgeous outside and I look to go to the garden and it is in the atrium! This was my worst fear because I have dreamed of a garden wedding. Now I understand that Mother Nature cannot be controlled but My coordinator never told me! I was devastated as I was walked over to the atrium. Thank God I was able to marry the man of my dreams and that is how I kept my smile going.

Also, per our contract we wanted no sauce on the pork tenderloin and there was sauce on all of them! Also the chicken had no mushrooms I personally saw this and later asked my guest about it and no one had mushrooms. The Chef "decided" to process the mushrooms and cheese together and pipe it into the chicken without asking us about it. It had no taste and the guest advised they thought it would have been better. We were given and told a menu at the tasting but was provided with something different. As if things could get worse we were unable to have our morning breakfast in swan terrace that was paid for in our package because of the Mother's Day brunch. It's not simply the brunch it's the expirence in itself. Founders Inn has tainted what was suppose to be a dream day. I do not believe that I received a $12,000 service from Founders Inn and I Would not want any other bride to receive subpar service that I did.
Founders in even admitted that our wedding was not orchestrated correctly and only received 420 back! Rip off!

I have little good to say beyond the food is very good and the site is gorgeous. We were married around the holidays and it looked absolutely amazing. However that's where the fairy tale wedding I was planning ended. My coordinator suddenly stopped returning phone calls, e-mails and had absoultely no communication with anyone less than 2 months before the wedding. I called over and over again with no response. Finally a week before the wedding someone called me back. To my horror everything we had done was lost! They didn't even have the date correct. The menu was gone, the seating, virtually everything. I am aware that it was no fault of the person who took over my event, but someone should have returned a phone call much much sooner. I put so much faith into this place that I thought would be my dream wedding location only to be sadly let down. The day of my wedding I walked down the aisle with 5 mouth ulcers! I have NEVER had an ulcer until this. I would like to believe that this mess will soon be sorted out and future brides will be more lucky than I and some others but I am skeptical. At times it was wonderful, but the lack of professionalism was unreal. If an even planner is no longer in the department then their voicemail and e-mail should be forwarded to the manager, or who ever is in charge of this, not left to collect messages that no one will ever check. And you would think that the planner's clients would be contacted immediately and informed of this change, but that never happened either. I don't reccomend this site, not until they go through some serious changes.

Since childhood, every girl dreams of her wedding day: a flawless ceremony, delicious culinary creations, and breathtaking details. When my soon-to be Husband and I found the Founders Inn, we knew immediately that it would be our ideal location. The menu online looked superb and the resort location was perfect for our out of town guests. Upon our meeting to book with Charlese, she was busy and late. What we didn?t realize then, it was just the beginning of the lack of organization and professionalism required to host a successful event. Over the following months, multiple emails and phone calls were made to Charlese regarding the details of our date, many of which were never returned. It took my wedding planner, Malissa Murphy to get any sort of response from Charlese.
On the day of the wedding, we were put in a conference room above the atrium. The room was steaming with heat and after three calls to the front desk, nothing was done. Further, we requested a mirror and we were told, ?there were no mirrors available.? While my bridesmaids, parents, photographer and I were all running back in forth to the bathroom for mirrors, there was a wedding going on below us. I felt sorry for that bride, because I know her guests must have been distracted by what was going on above. The 5:00pm wedding below was too closely booked to our 6:00pm starting time. Therefore, at 5:50pm there will still no chairs set up for my ceremony because they were still using them for her ceremony. This caused chaos because no one knew where to sit or where to place their gifts, the ushers didn?t know how to direct our guests, and it made the Founders Inn look unsystematic.
During the cocktail hour, tens of guests commented that there were not ANY appetizers. A few of the guests did get one chicken skewer and when asked for seconds were told, ?we are out.? That is mortifying. How can you have a cocktail hour with nothing to eat? My husband and I didn?t even get any appetizers, not even a bottle of water. In our contract it stated during our photo session, we would be giving nonalcoholic drinks and appetizers. The three bites of each that were put out, were eaten before my husband and I even saw them.
Once inside the reception, we immediately noticed there was no fish. We paid per person for Rockfish amongst other entrees under our contract and there was no seafood. A few of our aunts only eat fish, so some of our guests were stuck with nothing. Not only was it a breach of contract, but a huge embarrassment. Feeling so overwhelmed, we made our way over to the bar where we noticed two more unbelievable mishaps. None of our requested beers were present and the bar tender had put out a tip jar (after being instructed not to do so). Later, the DJ announced it was time for the ?cigar bar.? [Charlese suggested the cigar bar during one of our earlier meetings. It was in our contract that the Founders would provide cigars and we would provide guillotines and matches.] Not only were there less than ten cigars, but also the matches were nowhere to be found! So, tons of people were asking the wedding party, the servers and me ?Where are the cigars?? And yet, for another time that evening, guests were told, ?we are out.? Yet, by that time it was too late, everyone had felt the stress and discomfort.
After the night ended, I was informed that the Founders Inn gave the kitchen an incorrect and outdated contract. Therefore, the contract used was not signed and not agreed upon. With it being over a month since out October 17th wedding date, I have not received one apology, one dollar in refund, or one ounce of recognition in fault. One could only assume that an institution such as the Founders Inn would be prompt in rectifying this problem. In the mean time, I want to make sure that no other brides will have their wedding day ruined by this utterly disorganized location.

UPDATE**** Under a new catering manager, the Founders Inn DID apologize and we can to an agreeable settlement. It seems that they are taking the time and the effort to ensure wedding mishaps like mine will not happen to future brides.

I signed a contract for my wedding with the Founders Inn over a year in advance for half of the ballroom and there were no other events booked the same date. The November before my April wedding, the Founders Inn told me my wedding had been double booked with a large military ball. They tried to move my wedding reception to their restaurant, but after a few days I was informed that the other event was able to reschedule since my contract was signed first. I made sure to ask about it again at my tasting in January and again was assured that we were the only event booked. One month before my wedding the Founders Inn again informed me that there was an 800 person military ball that required use of the entire ballroom. The Sales Director and Hotel GM claimed they had no knowledge of this conflict prior to this time. The Founders Inn again tried to move my wedding to their restaurant, but could not guarantee that my wedding wouldn't be affected by an 800 person event next door. They offered to move my wedding date, but that is impossible one month before a wedding. To make matters worse, they hired a lawyer who sent me nasty letters and called me repeatedly, and tried to bully me into making a settlement with them. They seemed more concerned about what I would potentially post on social media than to fixing my wedding. The Founders Inn cancelled all rooms that were booked in connection to my wedding room block. So not only did I have my wedding double booked, they put me through distress and displaced all of my guests. I know mistakes happen, but they failed to address my issue when it came up the first time. They forced me into a corner to get their way, and to take the business of the larger event. I have heard through various wedding vendors that other brides have experienced double-booking issues with Founders Inn. I would not recommend this place, especially for a once in a lifetime event such as your wedding day. This hotel is bad business.

Do not book your wedding here! Trust me! I booked my wedding in January which was nine months prior to the date. One week prior I found out, ( they did not tell me, but instead asked me come in for a walk through and threw in the fact that ) they had booked another wedding right on top of mine. My wedding was scheduled for outdoors at 6:00 pm and they booked another wedding ( not sure when but pretty sure it was within the month of August) to take place at 7:15 pm! It was all down hill from there! I actually cried on my wedding day because employees of The Founders Inn stood outside as I was trying to take wedding photos because they wanted me to rush in order to get out of that area so that the other wedding could take place. I could go on and on. The stress and drama that they caused me both prior to, on, and after my wedding date is not measurable. I have nothing nice to say about them. The way they handled the issue was to give me a discount and ask me to sign a new contract. However, even after finally agreeing since I was about two days away from the wedding date at that point, they did not hold up there end which was to not put any pressure on me to move quickly through my pictures. The food and service was horrible because it was not ready since they had to cater to the other wedding. There is no accountability or consistency with this company. I plan on using them in a small claims court. I am not a dramatic person, but this situation has forced me to take these measures. Do not have a wedding here!
**Update 01/18/2014** The Founders Inn and Spa has resolved this issue with us.