Drakes Landing is such a beautiful venue and the help we had made it even better! Allyson was there to help us every step of the way and always responded same day to every email I sent. The morning of the wedding, I couldn't help but keep calling in to make sure everything was running smoothly. Allyson assured me I didn't need to call and that everything was going great and if for some reason it wasn't she would take care of it and only let me know need be. Our guests loved the stunning views Drakes offered and the peace of mind Allyson gave me let me relax and truly enjoy the day.

The staff at Drake's Landing was phenomenal throughout the entire planning process for our wedding. They never took more than a day to answer and questions and were always there to provide additional suggestions. Everything went so smooth on our wedding day and the food was outstanding - we received compliments all night long! The staff also made sure to check on my husband and I throughout the entire night to make sure we had everything we needed. I would recommend this venue to anyone based on the my experience with the staff alone. In addition to the amazing group of people that work here, the venue is gorgeous! From the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, to the lake out back, the firepits, the copper ceiling above the dance floor - it does not feel like the typical banquet hall and gives off a more 'home-y' feel.

Thanks for everything!

Drake's Landing is a lovely venue and a great value. the setting is idyllic and parking spacious. The food was excellent. If I have any suggestion to make it would be to have someone on hand from the banquet sales staff at the time of the reception. There wasn't anyone who we dealt with during the preparation process to refer to if things were different than expected and the staff that was present evidently had no idea what was discussed.

Before I begin, this review does come almost a year late. Not only has it just been a very busy year, but I spent a lot of time contemplating the type of review I wanted to give. So here it is.

We chose Drake’s Landing because we absolutely loved the venue itself. The space is beautiful, and we loved being able to have our ceremony outside and our reception inside without having to move locations. We also really loved the layout, the wall of windows, and the location. It was close to us and most of our family, and there were plenty of hotels nearby for our guests. From a purely aesthetic and location standpoint, it checked almost every box for us.
Unfortunately, some of our disappointment with Drake’s Landing started before the wedding even took place.
I have celiac disease, and I was very upfront about that before we even booked the venue. Because of that, the food sampling experience was especially concerning for me. Depending on the menu, the samples they provide are leftovers from other events rather than freshly prepared samples, which I personally did not love to begin with. When we received our samples, I noticed that there was au jus on the prime rib. Since I have celiac disease, I immediately became suspicious and contacted them before eating it. They confirmed that the au jus contained wheat flour. (Reminder: they had been made VERY aware of my dietary needs MULTIPLE times. Yet they did not inform me in the email letting me know the samples were ready for pick up that any of the sample items contained gluten, and said nothing to my husband when he picked them up.)
I was extremely lucky that I noticed it before eating it, because otherwise I could have unknowingly consumed gluten despite having specifically disclosed my celiac disease to them. For me, that is not a minor dietary issue. This incident could have made me very sick and caused additional intestinal damage. What was probably most disappointing was the response I received. There was really no apology or acknowledgment of how serious that could have been. I was simply told that the chef could make the au jus gluten-free for me on the wedding day. While I appreciated knowing they could accommodate me that day, it did not really address the fact that I had just been given food containing gluten after being very clear about my medical restriction, and it definitely did not help rebuild the confidence I had in their ability to safely accommodate me.
I will say that they did make an effort on the actual wedding day. They brought me my own plates and, to my surprise, provided gluten-free versions of the hors d’oeuvres as well. I genuinely appreciated that, especially because I wasn’t expecting the hors d’oeuvres to have gluten-free alternatives.
The other major issue for us was the day-of coordination. Our experience with the coordinator was honestly very disappointing. At the rehearsal, we felt extremely rushed because another rehearsal was scheduled immediately after ours. Ours was from 2:00–3:00, and the next couple’s rehearsal started at exactly 3:00. Because there was also an event at the venue the night before our wedding, we were only allowed to bring a small amount of our decorations to the rehearsal, so there wasn’t really an opportunity to go over the setup with the coordinator beforehand.
Once we were outside practicing the ceremony, the coordinator went into her office and essentially disappeared. At one point, I had a question about where everyone should stand because none of the ceremony chairs had been set up yet. I actually had to walk around the building trying to find her. When I finally found her in her office on the other side of the building, she seemed extremely inconvenienced that I needed her help. She came outside, quickly told us where the chairs would start, and went right back into her office. There wasn’t any other guidance or assistance, and she didn’t even say goodbye to us when we left.
What surprised me even more was that I didn’t see her once on my wedding day. Not when I arrived to help finish setting up, not while I was putting my dress on, not before or after the ceremony, not during cocktail hour, and not during the reception. My mom and bridesmaids ended up doing essentially all of the setup themselves. The irony was that the one thing the coordinator seemed particularly concerned about beforehand was making sure she had our table runners the night before, while everything else was left for my family and bridal party to figure out.
Even cleanup wasn’t really discussed with us. My husband and I ultimately ended up helping the venue staff clean up at the end of the night because we had no idea what we were actually supposed to do, and we had never received any direction from the coordinator. We were happy to help because we felt bad and wanted to make sure everything got done, but as the bride and groom, we didn’t expect to spend part of the end of our wedding night helping clean up because we couldn’t find our day-of coordinator. (Literally the end of our wedding night. We went from our final private dance straight into helping clean up while our remaining guests were standing outside in the hallway)
Overall, I still think Drake’s Landing is a beautiful venue, and I can absolutely understand why couples choose it. We loved the space, the location, and the fact that we could have both our ceremony and reception there. Unfortunately, the lack of communication and day-of coordination, along with the issue surrounding my celiac disease, took away from what should have been a much more stress-free experience.
I don’t regret choosing the venue itself, but knowing what I know now, I would have asked a lot more questions about exactly what the day-of coordinator’s responsibilities were and how involved they would actually be on the wedding day. I would also strongly encourage anyone with a medical dietary restriction, especially celiac disease, to be very specific and proactive about how their food will be handled.

Our wedding was still beautiful, and a huge part of that was because of the efforts of our family, bridal party, and other vendors. I just wish the experience with the venue itself had matched the beautiful space we fell in love with in the first place.

my daughters wedding reception was held at Drakes Landing in October 2021. Lake view was beautuful, Manager Gina so rude and unprofessional and unavailable during the evening. they did not put all the cookies out or replenish them on a regular basis as promised and per contract. Allyson the coordinator, assured us the bar cookies would be cut and plated. we took so many cookies home and when questioned, Gina was unprofessional and a liar and said she was the owner of both Drakes and Avion to prevent us from contacting the real owners. many of our guests commented on how good certain cookies were, and thought we ran out, not so they didnt plate and replace them. coffee cold and empty several times, and i had to tell staff several times. lights on patio were half burnt out. we had contracted 2 bartenders, we found out later there was one and a stock boy who was too young to serve. we had almost 300 guests, and believe me that building cannot fit that many guests comfortably. would never go back. would never recommend. Horrible management especially Gina. if you already booked them, better assign someone to monitor them to make sure the service is provided,

Do not waste your time with this venue. Like others mentioned, the management is very rude. All they care about is getting your money. They were not helpful in the least and extremely unprofessional. A 13 year old girl would do a better job at running this venue. Sad because the venue and scenery are gorgeous but the management is so unwilling to work with the client that the experience was miserable. Filled our planning experience with angst and anxiety instead of excitement. I would advise to stay away from this and the Avion next door. Just worthless people running the show who have no idea how to provide CUSTOMER service.

Very rude
Never go there
Treat you with no respect

The venue is beautiful for a wedding. It's on a lake. Absolutely gorgeous. The food was really good. But the staff however was not up to par. Kat was a doll to work with through out the year of planning but the day of the wedding there were completely different people working. We had over 2000 cookies that weren't all out on the cookie tables. The bartenders were completely rude. It felt like they were bothered to get you a drink. They were supposed to put all of the tables back out on the patio after the ceremony but they didn't get around to doing it until halfway through the night. The whole day was like I had to get on them or remind them about certain things. If I had to do it all over I would've booked with a different venue.