The Barn of Hidden Valley Reviews
Reviews
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![Maria]()
Maria Sent on 06/02/2022A DIY Wedding Venue
Update: I am apparently the evil monster out to "destroy" this place with my "accomplices" (I'm not). I shared my experience, and in response the owners find it appropriate to gaslight me (which I find to be downright sad). To set the record straight. In a moment of anger (in response to having to end my reception early), I did threaten to make sure others knew how we were treated. It was the only way to get the owner who was refusing to speak to me about a major issue (that caused my reception to end early) to come down and discuss the matter. I did not use the word "destroy", those are likely the words the staff used to convey my words via text to the owners (who were not present at the time), but those were not my words. In my original review, I listed what was & was not provided. No attacks, no making good on the threat, no secret plot, an honest assessment of my experience for goodness sakes. All reviews from my family/friends were of their own volition w/ no direction from me. I regret my conduct while angry (I raised my voice, swore), however, to translate my words in anger into motive for some malicious plot, and to discredit my experience, is downright sad. Also, "too much celebration" is a way of saying I was intoxicated and another attempt to discredit me. I was stone cold sober.
Finally, the things I'd like to "complain about now" came not from the things we anticipated, but from what we thought would be available either b/c it was contracted, promised, or a basic amenity, but never materialized. Most of these things they have noted as fixed, I am thankful for this.
I know a lot of people in this community and they work hard for their money. I'm not going to put 5 stars if my conscious speaks otherwise. I want this venue to improve, I don't want to "destroy" them. However, if resorting to turning me into a monster is what they'd like to do instead, it's sad, but I'm done. I sure do hope they are nicer to the next person who leaves a less than glowing review and don't resort to belittling and laughing at them. No bride wants to have to end her reception early, get as upset as I got, and then be attacked for sharing her experience. I certainly didn't. All my other vendors were wonderful and got glowing reviews on the knot, wedding wire and google.
My original review (grammar shaved for space)
Wedding held at The Barn of Hidden Valley on 5/21/22. Beautiful new venue in Alexandria, Ohio. We were the first wedding. Although venue marketed as a “wedding venue”, did not provide many of the options that one expects from a “wedding venue”. It is a do-it-yourself kind of place for the cost of a venue with more amenities.
For the rental fee:
• Gorgeous venue + grounds
• 30 5’ round tables, 6 8' rectangle tables, 4 6' rectangle tables, + 250 chairs (inside use).
• A nice patio w/ rocking chairs.
• Ceiling fans, many windows and doors for breeze (no AC)
• The use of a commercial-size refrigerator (no freezer)
• Bride and Groom’s suites. Will be tight if you have 3+ in your bridal party
• Fire pit + wood to burn.
You will be responsible for:
• Table and chair set-up (set up part of contract but no help was there to do so). We were permitted to set up and decorate the day prior . Tear down included in rental fee, however we chose to tear down to achieve required sweeping of floors
• Drinking water. Well water, smelled and tasted of sulfur
• Trash bags + removal; no dumpster
• Decorations. Use of nails and staples is permitted. All must be removed prior to event end time.
• Ice + means to keep it cold
• Extra paper towels and toilet paper
• Caterer of choice. No cooking facilities
• Table linens
• Tableware
• Outdoor seating for a ceremony
• Arch for ceremony
• Event Insurance, naming the The Barn of Hidden Valley
• Alcohol. A certified bartender to serve is required. No bar area.
• Buses not welcome on property. Owner upset with bus turning around partially in grass. Cars had to park in grass. ~160 guests who did not bus, carpool is recommended.
• Leave venue exactly as it was when you arrived: remove decorations + any nails/staples used, remove trash, vacuum balcony carpet if debris, broom sweep ground floor, wipe down counter areas, clean showers if used. Ensure fire pit is extinguished + debris removed. If cleaning is not done according to the provided outline, fees incur. The proprietor did allow rented chair pick-up the next day
You can comfortably fit 200 guests seated. -
![Heather]()
Heather Sent on 10/05/2024Loved our experience at the Barn of Hidden Valley!
Fantastic venue! Thanks to Hurricane Helene we had to move our daughter's wedding ceremony inside, but all went amazing! Jim and Sharon are wonderful, kind, very helpful and responsive to all our questions. Lots of space for all to celebrate the day. Plenty of parking. Beautiful land and building inside and out. Even with all the rain we were still able to get beautiful outdoor pictures on the covered porch. Thank you for helping make the day unforgettable! Highly recommend this reasonably priced venue! -
![Brennen]()
Brennen Sent on 06/15/2024Wonderful Venue for a Wedding
I am so glad we had our wedding at The Barn of Hidden Valley. My wife and I were married here during the springtime. We had an amazing experience during our time there for our wedding. The Barn of Hidden Valley sits in a wonderful setting, full of beautiful scenery. No matter what time of the year, I know a wedding here would be amazing. Our experience with the owners were fantastic. My wife had some big ideas for our wedding with decor and the owners were super helpful executing that plan. They were flexible in our needs and have amazing amenities to support our special night. The kitchen area has everything needed to support the food of the wedding, from warmers, to a huge commercial fridge and freezer, it was very convenient for us. It was nice to have an onsite area at the venue for the bride and groom to get dressed and have their spaces. We had an outside wedding with the reception inside. They had a beautiful arch that we used to have our reception. For pictures, there are so many different locations on site that you can go to to get the aesthetic that you are looking for. Our wedding was beautiful and we were able to enjoy every second due to the venue and the owners being helpful. Overall, I would definitely recommend this venue to anyone that has an event coming up!
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Heather Sent on 05/25/2024
Amazing! Couldn’t have found a better venue
We had the most beautiful wedding thanks to George and Sharon! Working with them was so easy and they’re very quick to respond with any questions you could think of. This venue is absolutely perfect for weddings and more I cannot recommend them enough! -
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Lori Sent on 05/21/2024
Enjoyable and Stress Free
We celebrated our daughter’s wedding at The Barn of Hidden Valley. First off the owners George and Sharon were great and very easy to work with. Anytime I had a question they were always very quick to reply. The wedding venue is beautiful and was fun to decorate! I would highly suggest using this venue for your event. -
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![Lois]()
Lois Sent on 04/27/2024Wedding/reception
Our family celebrated a beautiful wedding on April 19, 2024. Our daughter and son-in-law found The Barn of Hidden Valley and fell in love. We were planning from afar so our initial planning was stressful. After securing our location it was with ease. George and Sharon helped us with everything including the AIRBB stay. We were lucky enough to stay in the two AIRBB’s on the property allowing us to enjoy the pre wedding festivities. The venue was perfect providing all the natural elements and beauty of the barn and the covered bridge and the outdoor arch. We would recommend this Venue and working with George and Sharon. They helped pull off a very smooth and enjoyable day. Thank you. -
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![Erin]()
Erin Sent on 05/12/2025Beautiful Venue - Very Versatile
My wife and I got married there on Cinco De Mayo. We initially booked the venue a full year prior to our wedding. Cannot say enough good things about the owners! They were very quick to answer various questions we had during the planning process and let us come back closer to the wedding to finalize our vision for setting things up. Due to Ohio weather, we ended up having our ceremony also indoors which this venue was perfect for as it has more than ample amount of space inside to do so. Thankfully the weather did break at times so we could also get those outdoor pictures. Us and our wedding party booked both AirBnBs that are on site which was so convenient. Being that New Albany is also very close, it was the perfect distance to various rehearsal dinner options. We absolutely recommend this venue for anyone! -
![Mei]()
Mei Sent on 06/07/2022Disappointed
I'll give this place one star for the aesthetics. It is pretty and the grounds will give you great photo ops, but unfortunately that's all I can say that's positive at this moment. I realize this was the first wedding they hosted at their venue, but even that was no excuse for how they handled things and caused stress for the families on such a joyous occasion. Most wedding venues go above and beyond to accommodate the bride and groom and the families on their special day. Knowing others who do this for a living and seeing how hard they work to provide the best possible service for their couples, I was appalled at when I found out how much my family members paid for what little they got. $5500 with a $1,000 deposit and you get a barn with no A/C, no table linens, no bar set ups, no freezer to keep things frozen, no ice available, no filtered water (water smelled like sulphur so you have to be sure and purchase your own filtered water - brother of the bride had to leave to go buy more water during the reception), no trash disposal (THEY HAD TO TAKE ALL THE TRASH WITH THEM TO DISPOSE OF), no one on site to make sure everything ran smoothly, no outside chairs available for ceremony, no arch (even though these things are "pictures" on their website), no basic supplies or cooking utensils available for caterer and the microwave didn’t work, no set up or clean up (this was done by the bride and groom and family and wedding guests). The bride and groom literally had to change out of their wedding attire into street clothes to CLEAN UP. They wanted this clean up to be completed within an hour after the reception ended which included cleaning the bathrooms, showers, floors, removal of decorations - literally everything - so the reception had to end earlier than planned to begin the cleanup process. I guess the take down of tables was included - but in order to clean the floors sufficiently to their specifications listed on their last minute list, the tables needed to be put up so I would argue that it really wasn't included. Seriously though?? First of all...set up and take down should be included...but if not...give the family until the next day to get everything out and fully cleaned up. They shouldn't have to stress about anything on the day of the wedding. The fact that wedding guests literally had to restock the toilet paper in the bathrooms is just absurd. I feel like these people saw dollar signs when building this place, not realizing the amount of work that goes into running a venue like this. IF you just want to rent out a building with no A/C, then you need to charge WAY LESS. If you are planning on running an event center and want to charge for one, then you need to invest in a few things before representing yourself as such a venue and you could probably take a few lessons in customer service. I heard the owner refused to come down and talk to the bride when she was presented with the list of things that needed to be done in order to get their deposit back during the middle of the reception. BAD TIMING. This wasn’t listed in the original contract. Maybe this was just a learning experience for all and they will figure out what to do next time. I just feel bad that it had to be at this beautiful bride’s expense. Her day was still wonderful and the wedding was gorgeous. I guess all the issues will be something we all laugh about later on at how absurd it was - especially the bride’s brother having to haul off bags and bags of trash that started leaking in the back of his truck. I don't know. Good luck to you guys on future events. I hope some things were learned and you are just getting the kinks out. Unfortunately it was as this family's expense. I suggest doing a bit of research on what venues do for their customers to make their day as smooth as possible. You'll find that you can make a bunch of money and still make your customers happy. Just my two cents.
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