We initially found Epping Forest due to the beautiful water views and lovely history of the mansion and we were so happy we did!

Ernestine was our point person throughout the wedding planning process and was there for all our needs the weekend of. She was responsive, kind and always willing to give a calming perspective. The entire staff also worked to ensure that our wedding day was PERFECT!

All of our guests since have been RAVING about how incredible our wedding day experience was for them as well! From the food to all the perfect sunset photo ops they have had nothing but great things to say!

Finally, Ernestine and the entire Epping team are the exact people you want in a crisis! Our dogs acted as our ring bearer and flower girl in the wedding and before the start of the ceremony, our ring bearer decided to run away. Everyone on staff and even some neighbors came out to search for our pup and ensure she made it home safe.

Thank you so much Epping Forest!

The first time I went to Epping Forest, before I even met my now husband, I had the “I’m having my wedding here one day” moment. So to say I was married to Epping, before my husband, is an understatement.

Epping is absolutely breathtaking; the moment you pull up, you’re instantly going back to an old world, and on top of that, the staff is absolutely top notch. Ernestine and Linda are at the top of their class when it comes to the wedding industry in Jacksonville.

We moved our wedding an entire year because of Covid, and they took us through the Covid trenches with hands held and heads high. We also ended up changing our ceremony to getting married at church instead of Epping, and it didn’t effect out timeline at all, we pulled up to Epping the same time cocktail hour was going to start anyways, and they greeted us with big smiles, cold drinks and happiness I’ll never forget.

Our guests haven’t stopped raving about how professional the staff was, how BEAUTIFUL to sunset was on the river and watching the sun go down during cocktail hour, and all of the food! Ernestine absolutely crushed it, from answering all of my crazy questions, to streamlining the timeline for my planner to reference. We truly had the best day of our lives!!!

My husband and I have nothing but amazing things to say about Epping! Ernestine was so helpful with every step of our planning and made sure everything day of went by without a problem. We feel in love with this venue as soon as we walked up to the mansion. It is breathtaking and the photos will be beautiful. The staff always made sure my husband and I had anything we needed, and even made sure we got to enjoy the food!

The Epping was such an amazing place to have my wedding. Everything was like a dream. It was romantic and elegant and went so smoothly. The staff of so friendly and helpful. They were flexible with our unique requests and really did a great job with everything.

We just had a wedding there was absolutely beautiful and the staff was amazingly helpful and made it perfect! food was great too!

Thanks so much for all the help you gave our team from Complete Weddings and Events - Jacksonville during Michael and Michelle's wedding! The Staff is so professional, helpful, while the food is absolutely fabulous! We love Epping Forest, and I will definitely post my compliments to WeddingWire and The Knot! Kudos to Ernestine, the Epping Forest Wedding Coordinator!
Kathy & Scott
Complete Weddings and Events - Jacksonville
Owners

The mansion and location is BEAUTIFUL and the staff was professional and efficient. During the planning, they answered all of our questions whether it was in person or promptly over email. They gave us their recommendations for the set up of the venue then customized it to fit our needs. They made everything easy from decorating the mansion with the items they had and the ones we brought in, picking what to serve, and recommending vendors. The day of, Epping staff kept everything running smoothly and on time at our brunch wedding. Long story short, Epping made everything easy so we could enjoy the day. Several of my guests have commented how professional and friendly they were. Ernestine was the coordinator we worked most closely with. She was wonderful throughout the planning process and was a positive energy and a smiling face on my wedding day. She made us feel comfortable from the start and seemed genuinely excited for us! I highly recommend Epping for your next big event.

We looked at several venues for my daughter’s wedding and was very close to booking another venue when my husband suggested looking at Epping Forest Yacht and Country Club. He had been there for a corporate event and was very impressed with the food and service. We met with Epping and were very specific and direct about what we were looking for in a wedding venue. We wanted the best food and beverage along with excellent service. I explained to them that we were looking for the same level of service we had at our own wedding, which at the time was the second ranked hotel in the world. We gave them very specific examples of exemplary service at our wedding and told them this is the level of service we are looking for. As parents, you spend a lot of time and money planning a wedding and you want to be able to enjoy it. They assured me that service was what differentiated them from other venues.

Epping delivered everything they promised. Our contact, Ernestine Sanchez was a delight to work with from our tasting, to the rehearsal, to the wedding and reception. Our bridal attendant, Sam Hanke, attended to anything and everything my daughter needed on her special day and we feel we couldn’t have received any better service than these two ladies provided!

Our guests were greeted by Epping Forest staff upon their arrival and directed to the ceremony, then to the cocktail reception and subsequently to the reception. It may not sound like much, but this is an important detail so that guests are not left on their own to figure out where they should be and when. Any one of the staff members if asked something, they owned it and attended to it immediately, whether it was their job to or not. That's exceptional service.

The food was perfection! My husband always says, good food, good drink and good music makes for a good wedding. I did a walkthrough of the food stations before everyone was served and was so impressed with how beautifully everything was presented. When I got a moment to eat, everything was so delicious! The tenderloin was cooked to perfection!

I truly feel like we had the Elite Team for our daughter’s wedding. All our vendors worked very well together. Between Southern Charm Events for event planning, J. Mosley Photography, Y?Entertainment for DJ and selfie station, Take One Productions for videography, Rose of Sharon for flowers, LMS Creative Studios for decorations and signage and Epping as the venue, we had the best of everything for our daughter’s wedding.

We couldn’t have chosen a more beautiful venue for our wedding! We just got married at Epping 1/11/2019. Ashleigh, my wedding coordinator and Brittany, my bridal attendant were nothing short of AMAZING! The entire staff was incredibly nice and accommodating to our guests. Brittany was absolutely perfect; our glasses were always filled with our special Veuve Cliquot, she offered to get my food for me so no one would step on my dress, she moved stuff from the bridal suite to the parlor room so we wouldn’t have to worry about gathering stuff up after the wedding, she continuously fluffed my dress for photos and even bustled it after sunset photos were done. Before bustling the dress, Brittany walked around behind me holding my train while I mingled with guests at cocktail hour. I felt really bad that she was doing that and told her that she absolutely didn’t have to, but she insisted that it was her job—I can’t lie, it slightly made me feel I was royalty. A smile never left Brittany’s face; she was truly a huge asset to our wedding. Ashleigh was wonderful with communication; our wedding was a little “different” as we didn’t have a bridal party, but Ashleigh coordinated all of our vendors and made sure everything went smoothly. These ladies 100% helped to relieve some of my stress.

Every guest commented on how great the food was! If you get a chance, definitely have the grilled cheese and tomato bisque shooters, crab cakes, and the amazing teriyaki skewers! The mashed potato bar was phenomenal—the potatoes tasted so great on their own that you didn’t even need any of the toppings, but they were definitely a plus.

Epping contracts their wedding cakes out to Classic Cakes—makes it convenient so there’s no separate bill, and the cake is outstanding!

I originally found Epping on The Knot and thought it was so beautiful that I had to tour. After touring, I fell in love and just knew that I wanted to have our wedding there. The grounds are so magical and everything was perfect! We were married this past Friday and although they can’t close down the whole mansion to members, it still felt like the entire mansion was ours; Epping made sure that we didn’t have any “crashers” and when we did spot a member, they were clapping and offering congratulations.

Our wedding was absolutely everything I could have imagined and I would 1000000% recommend choosing Epping for your venue! I couldn’t be happier with our choice!

I cannot say enough wonderful things about our wedding at Epping. Our wedding coordinator, Ernestine and our bridal attendant, Samantha were the most valued members of our wedding planning and day. They were both so calm, attentive, patient, and so encouraging.
Samantha was there for me the entire day helping me get ready, pass notes to other vendors, keep us hydrated, and get me down the aisle. She was always there for me which made me feel so much more calm when there are so many details to think about, she even helped me bustle my dress after the pictures when my family didn't know how. She then helped our parents load the car at the end of the night. She was my angel. I can't say enough how much I could rave about her.

Ernestine was perfect as well. She made sure our vision was executed flawlessly. She was always there to answer questions during the planning process and even met us early on the rehearsal day to help us unload boxes of decor and help calm us after last minute questions. When you are a long distance bride and not close enough to come by often it can be very stressful to put your vision in someone elses' hands, but I quickly realized on the day that they had everything covered.

The food was amazing, the venue was the most beautiful everyone had ever seen, and I can't imagine having a better team. I wish we could do it over again! I cannot recommend Epping and Ernestine and Samantha enough. Stop looking at venues, this is the creme de la creme!


Chris and Catie Dixon