Holcomb Farm Weddings & Events Reviews
Holcomb Farm Weddings & Events
Granby, CTReviews
4.1 out of 5 rating
4.1 out of 5 rating
7 Reviews
82% recommend it
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User2309638 Sent on 09/10/2015Amazing venue, run by town of granby. Farm like setting. Brand new facilities. -
![Melissa]()
Melissa S. Sent on 07/07/2021Not a review for david alan
I honestly feel bad leaving this review because it looks like the venue is being taken over by new management (David Alan)? I had my wedding before David Alan took over, and so this review should not reflect in any way on their abilities, as I did not work with them. I worked with the town park and rec department of Granby throughout my wedding planning process at Holcomb Farm.
Pros:
The actual venue itself is absolutely gorgeous. I love the wood inside the reception venue, as well as the fireplace. It's definitely a great site for rustic weddings, which mine was. Our pictures turned out great because we used amber uplighting, as well as rented an arch with "edison lightbulbs" hanging over our sweetheart table. I also loved the grassy area outside for the ceremony, as it fit in well with our rustic vibe, and the red barn looked great in pictures. I would only be recommending this venue purely for its looks, esp. if you want a rustic wedding.
Cons:
When we were planning our wedding (not sure if it will be the same through David Alan), but the rules were quite strict in terms of decorating. I had envisioned hanging string lighting from the beams in the venue (just hanging it and using magnets which our lighting vendor had), but we were told that it was against the venue rules, due to past issues in the venue- so that was a big bummer for me, as it had been part of my wedding vision- but if that's not an issue for your vision, then no biggie. As another con, I was told that the "wedding workshop" (a smaller building outside the venue, very cute and great for photos) would be unlocked and ready for use upon arriving to the venue at our pre-determined and rented-for time, on the day of the wedding. My husband and his groomsmen were planning to get ready in there. However, when he arrived to the venue, the workshop was locked, and he had no phone number for the day-of site coordinator to contact - I was a bit upset that they weren't able to take getting-ready photos in the nice "wedding workshop" building, especially since we were already paying so much for the venue! Related to costs, there were quite a bit of add-on fees, so just a heads-up about that. For example, it was a couple hundred for each additional hour to rent for the day, even just for my caterer and decorator to come in and set up earlier (even though there was no other event happening that day, and no one else there). It also cost me a couple hundred dollars just to visit the inside of the site an extra time before the wedding to help with planning. It was also quite stressful at the end of the night because we had to make sure we cleaned up the entire venue at the end of the night before our rented time was over. Looking back, I would probably have chosen a venue that helped out more and provided more services, such as with set-up and cleaning-up. We were also given no help with designing the layout for tables in the space, except for being given a website that was not the easiest to navigate, so I felt a bit helpless in that regard.Holcomb Farm Weddings & Events's reply:
Hi Melissa,
Although not a review for our services we appreciate the feedback as it will allow us to help future clients and provide them with a better experience.
We wish you much happiness and success! -
![Samantha]()
Samantha Sent on 10/24/2018Rude, Unprofessional and Disorganized
If there's one thing you take away from my review its this: Holcomb Farm is a town-owned property that is trying to advertise itself as a wedding venue. You get four walls and a ceiling and zero customer service. If I could do it over again I'd get a wedding planner because of the complications and stress working with this facility. I booked Holcomb Farm in September 2016 for my wedding in October 2018. Over that time there were numerous staff changes and zero communication notifying me that my point of contact was no longer working there. In addition to staff changes there were countless EXTREME changes made to the venue itself for example: a gravel road was put right in the middle of the lawn, the carpeting was ripped out and left as cement, and walls were installed where it was once an open walkway. When I asked about the carpeting I was told (rather rudely) that I would have to pay an extra $500 to have carpeting laid back down. Meaning I would have to PAY EXTRA for something that was there when I booked the venue and they removed without telling me. You can't have a fire pit anywhere on the property, you can't hang anything from the beams in the ceiling (lighting, fabric or streamers), you can't use any of their tables or chairs outside or even on their covered patio which is connected to the building. You can't put a tent on the lawn adjacent to the barn, it has to be at least 20 feet from the building which defeats the purpose of providing rain coverage during an outdoor ceremony if guests have to walk through the rain to get there. You can't have any vehicles anywhere on the lawn next to the building (food trucks, delivery trucks etc). They provide a "monitor" who is supposed to help set up and break down the event but they cannot help with anything that is outside the barn, even though it's on the property. You have to provide your own staff to clean up decorations and empty the space by midnight which is an extreme headache since most catering companies only clean up their equipment and leave by 8/9PM. The bathrooms are very outdated and gross, we had to put a lot of work to spruce them up before my wedding. When I toured the venue in 2016 the FIRST question I asked was "do you do more than one event a weekend" (I would not book a venue that did more than one event a weekend). I was told "no, we only do one event a weekend", but of course Holcomb Farm went back on their word a year later, and blamed the employee (who had since quit) for telling me false information. I had two well-known rental and decorating vendors in the area tell me they do not work with Holcomb Farm because they are particularly difficult to work with. The worst part of the whole experience was the attitude given to us throughout the entire 2 years. This is a town-owned property trying to make a buck. They will treat you like they're doing YOU a favor by letting you use this venue. Just like dealing with the DMV you get zero customer service and deal with employees who enjoy telling you "no". Holcomb Farm is a beautiful venue and it is very inexpensive but be warned that you will end up spending almost the same amount of money adding all the items that other legitimate wedding venues include (linens, glassware, silverware, cleanup staff). This is more suitable for a shower/birthday party venue.
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