The O'Neil house is this beautiful, charming old house in Akron. It is now being used primarily as a bed and breakfast, but the downstairs can also be used for small events. We decided to have our small, intimate wedding with 55 guests there this spring. The owner also does the catering and hires her own staff for valet and waitstaff. For us, this was an all in one! We did our wedding and reception all at the same place, and some of our out of town guests even stayed in the rooms upstairs. Gayle, the owner/proprietor, was extremely helpful and flexible - making sure our evening would be everything we hoped it would be and more. She also had great advice on vendors and styling - she has excellent taste. The ambiance that night was so fantastic. We also got some fantastic pictures in her gorgeous gardens. Thankfully, everyone walked away saying how beautiful the wedding was and what a great time they had!

I had a small class reunion at this house for about 40 people. One of my biggest issues with Gayle was there was no contract that I could refer to over a year of planning. So if I forgot something I would have to revisit old emails in hope of finding all the info I needed about pricing etc. As a retired school teacher, Gayle had no problem being condescending and downright rude to my guests who did not leave at the stroke of 11 when she bid us goodbye. Within 5 minutes I was subjected to lights being turned on and off and refusal or a glass of water for a guest because time was up! I was mortified as my guests looked to me to explain her behavior. I felt like a naughty schoolgirl and I am really trying to not let this craziness ruin my nice memories of seeing my old classmates. We made our way out to the driveway to say our goodbyes with lots of eye rolling and head shaking. As a woman in my 50's this did not sit well with me. I would think long and hard about booking this venue for an event. I also stayed upstairs in a delightful room with a great breakfast. that was all good. Maybe Gayle should just stick to that!!!

After 14 months of planning a wedding at O'Neil house, I can finally write the long awaited review.
Let me start by saying, I loved my wedding day and in the end, I was a over the moon bride. In the end it all came together but the process was a tough one.

First thing: Gayle does NOT do a contract. This will cause many headaches over the course of your planning and I wish I would have got exact numbers from her. It really is a poor way to do business but hey, it's her choice.

After you get over this hiccup, you move on to planning with Gayle. She loves to talk down to you so you feel like you're an idiot the entire planning process. Combine that with her attitude of thinking of B&B is possibly the great B&B in the world. It leaves you annoyed after conversations and crossing your fingers for a good out coming.

If you can get past the no contract, no set confirmed prices and a condescending attitude, you'll still manage to have a wonderful wedding.

The good about my day:
It turned out wonderful and I really wouldn't change much. If something was wrong, only I knew and nobody else. I couldn't have found a more gorgeous property and more amazing food. The staff makes this. She really has a great staff.

The bad about my day:

-Wasn't served what we decided on for dinner. Again, only I noticed and my mother in law.

-Bill was around $2k more and I assume this comes from, 1. my lack of following up on pricing as we went on and/or her lack of knowing what she was charging 2. because the wedding the day before used all my rentals and instead of splitting, she charged each of us (though it was a flat rental rate, not per day)

-We were told we were out of many beers/wines around 8:30 and went and bought more. Upon pickup the next day of our items, all the original drinks were still there. Total mess up on their part.

-Gayle got into many fights with my coordinator (who mind you, was 8 months preggo), blaming HER for losing boxes of my wedding items. Funny thing is, Gayle was responsible for those items, not my coordinator who just arrived at O'Neil that morning. One item was also destroyed by the staff. A very personal project to me :( No apologies for it.

-Gayle was very against putting bottles of water out for our ceremony guests. She said it was a safety issue having bottles of water laying around ad it was "tacky" BUT, it was near 94 degrees, full sun and that's not considered a safety issue?

-She says she packs everything up for pickup the next day. Nothing was packed up until I told her, I'd pick it up on my own terms because she didn't do as she said she would.


I'm sure I could go on.

OVERALL. If you're looking to have your wedding there, think carefully. She'll plan a gorgeous day but it won't be without many, many headaches and tears along the way.

We booked the Master Suite at the O'Neil House for the night of our wedding, plus the night before (so we could get ready and take photos there). We made the reservation over a year in advance. When we first called to ask about availability, we were told that the Master Suite was available, and that we could even rent out the whole house if we wanted. We decided to book just the Master Suite. About six months later, we called the O'Neil House just to confirm that our reservation was in order, and it was confirmed. A few months after that, we received a phone call where the owner told us that the Master Suite was actually NOT available for us because another wedding party had booked the whole O’Neil House for our wedding weekend. She said that she had thought we were part of the other wedding party, but now she realized her mistake. We said we were confused because we had made our reservation way in advance. She said the other party had made theirs a long time ago too. We asked when the other party had made their reservation, and she couldn’t give us an exact date. We told her that it seemed like maybe we had been the ones to book first, because when we first called about availability, we were told that the room (in fact, the whole house) was available before we had even given our names. She didn’t argue that point. Eventually she admitted that we “must have both been calling around the same time.” And yet, there was never any question of whose reservation was getting bumped. We had only booked the Master Suite, while the other party had booked the whole house. Ours was the one to get cancelled - surprise. We’re now left scrambling to find an alternative, and our options are limited. I can’t understand why a hospitality professional would take multiple bookings under the assumption that different wedding parties (with different names/credit card numbers) are affiliated with each other, and never bother to confirm that with us or them. Be careful if you book here.