Sarah Switzer, the event coordinator with Von Jakob, was WONDERFUL to work with. She was very prompt and thorough in her correspondence and always very professional. She was warm, polite, and pleasant during our initial meeting, and followed through on every question and concern we had. She was always prompt in answering emails, and every request that I had (ranging from wanting to keep the corks from wine consumed at our reception to having a space set apart for the Korean Paebaek ceremony) was met with enthusiasm.

The food at the reception was EXCELLENT. We chose mid-range meals (in price) for the reception- the chicken kiev and the smoked stuffed pork loin, with the asparagus and the twice-baked potato. The food was delicious at the tasting and JUST AS delicious at the reception! We were thrilled! Many of our guests commented on how great the food was. The beer and wine were also great.

We used the Brewery room, and it was gorgeous. The room itself is already so pretty, we didn't have to do a whole lot for decorations. We used simple centerpieces and it was wonderful with the lighting already in the room. The view and surrounding grounds are beautiful and it all provided the perfect ambiance for our reception!

My wedding at Von Jakob was absolutely amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better place to have it. We had almost 250 guests and it was so accomodating for that large of a group. It was so beautiful and relaxing. The food was fabulous and I got numerous compliments about it. I know people had an amazing time and so much had to do with the setting. Everything was done exactly the way they said it would be done and having the access to the Bed & Breakfast made the entire experience even better. It is more expensive than some other facilities in the area but it is worth every penny. I wouldn't change a thing!

We absolutely LOVED everything about our wedding at Von Jakob. The only complaint I could possibly have is that it's a bit pricey...but in reality you get MORE than you pay for!! The food was SO DELICIOUS and the portions were HUGE. Our guests had nothing but great things to say about the food. Also, our coordinator Christian was wonderful, especially the day of. She was great at handling every issue that came her way, and she worked well with our contact people (my MOH) to keep potential stress low for me! You also cannot beat the view! The hills of Southern Illinois, the vineyard, it is all amazing! My Chicago friends were shocked at how beautiful it is down here, and Von Jakob truly captures that beauty!

We will continue to recommend Von Jakob as a wedding venue, Saturday hangout, great wine producer, etc.!

I am torn about this review because Charles, the wedding coordinator, deserves 5 stars. Unfortunately he is leaving Von Jakob and I'm afraid the venue is understaffed and less professional without him. My biggest complaint is about the bar service. We paid for an open bar for 5 hours, yet they shut the bar down while they served food, which was almost an entire hour that we paid extra for. Many of my guests said that bar service all night was extremely slow and the bartenders were rude and unprofessional. (Which I actually experienced this a few months ago at a birthday trip down there and also Friday when we were setting up - maybe it was a new bartender, but he was awful!) They also ran out of many domestic beers, refused to make a simple margarita, and didn't have any of their own craft beer in stock. Other than the poor experience with the bar service, the venue was beautiful and Charles was on top of making sure everything went smoothly. He even called all of my other venues to confirm setup times and keep things orderly. He busted his butt night-of to make help woth food and the bar and everything else. I was very grateful for him, but I'm afraid couples in the future will not have the same experience now that he is leaving to work at a different winery. The food was good and everything was reasonably priced (besides the bar- I would expect service to be better and to not be out of craft beer that was included in our price).