Sepia Chapel Reviews

To this day, we adore Sepia and are so happy we chose it as our wedding venue!

To give context and higher praise as to why we love the new owners, the Meolas:
When we originally signed our contracts April 2022, the venue was entirely owned by another family. A very close friend of mine strongly encouraged me to find another venue, and warned me of shady and unprofessional behavior that happened to them during COVID.
The person who gave my family a tour of the venue (and eventually was fired) had no idea what was going on. She made many false promises, including telling us she put our date on hold and was writing a contract, only to find out she never did when I checked up on our previous interaction. As well as promised that a new bride and groom suite would be fully completed and available by our wedding in October 2023. The previous general manager was slow to reply, passive aggressive and extremely disorganized. I had begun to realize that I had likely made a poor decision to hire Sepia as our venue because the people treated us horribly.

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS BETTER!! :)
In early 2023, Sepia was purchased by the Meola family. Transparently, as a Bride that was halfway through the wedding planning process with nearly all of my vendors signed, I was very nervous what this new transition of ownership would mean for our wedding, and if they would uphold the contract.

The Meola's were not only extremely understanding of the situation, but they were professional, quick to answer any questions and concerns, and went above and beyond to make sure the transition of ownership and already decided wedding day decisions were communicated and transferred over. The Meola's not only upheld our contract, but modernized and better many things within and outside of Sepia. Without a doubt, with the new ownership, Sepia's appearance improved and communication flourished.

One thing that was a let down for us were the bride & groom suites (that we were originally promised by the old owners). Due to things previously not done correctly, unfortunately having the brand new bridal and groom suite was not available to us on our wedding day. My groom and his groomsmen were not able to get ready at the venue, and we had to find a different location. However, the girls did get ready on the newly modernized upper level. To make up for the unfinished basement suites, Sepia did invest in modernizing the upper level bridal suite, added comfy couches and spaces to sit, new lighting in hair and makeup rooms, new paint and new decor. Although it was not exactly what we were promised when we originally signed the contract, as always the Meola's did the best they could to make up for the disappointments of the previous owners.

Our experience was 100x better working with the general manager, Caitlyn Meola, who was also a bride at Sepia in 2022. She not only understood what it was like to recently be a bride, she knew the venue like the back of her hand, and genuinely showed interest in making sure our wedding day vision was achieved. Transparently, Caitlyn and I exchanged countless texts, calls and emails, but she handled it all with grace. Caitlyn was detail oriented, organized, and extremely thorough. Her passion for people and weddings undoubtedly shined brightly on our big day. I truly believe Caitlyn's hard work is one of the reasons our day went as smoothly and beautifully as it did. One of the biggest perks of Sepia was all the included decor. It is not tacky or outdated, but rather tasteful, elegant and modern. I was planning my wedding from cross-country and I was not able to be super DIY.

I can only imagine that as time passes, the Meola's will continue to better Sepia, their impact is already noticeable. Caitlyn has already done a marvelous job creating social media accounts to give an example of what getting married at Sepia would be like!

We adore the venue! The staff was kind to our guests, the prices were affordable, and the venue perfectly fit out 140 guest wedding.