The Homestead Reviews

My husband and I are so happy we had our wedding at The Homestead! Everything was so beautiful and perfect. Our coordinator Sandy Luthardt is an amazing woman who loves what she does and is damn good at her job! She was so professional and kind. She had an answer for all of our questions and a solution to any problem. The catering staff were also amazing! The Homestead is a beautiful place and we can't wait to go back!

Phenomenal wedding venue!!! They had a day of coordinator built in without any extra fee, which made a huge difference between me being really stressed and taking my stress away. It was so nice to have our rooms all in the same place, a bar there, restaurants, etc for the weekend. They answered any and all questions I had and their staff made us feel so welcome and special on our day. They made things easy for us by having things mostly included! We recommend to have your wedding here hands down! We will be coming back to the Homestead hopefully every year, it’s that beautiful and we were treated that well!

The homestead was great working with us as we planned long distance through phone and email. Our coordinator, Sandy, was amazing and had everything set the way we wanted. She worked with us through every step from initial planning all the way through the reception. Even with poor weather on the day of our wedding she quickly adapted and suggested an alternate ceremony site that was beautiful.

We had our wedding ceremony here and it couldn't have been better. Our coordinator from the group sales team was selfless and extremely helpful, she did whatever it took to make our stay, ceremony, and reception the best it could be! To give some examples, we exchanged over 20 emails leading up to our ceremony to coordinate minor details, they were extremely flexible to the elements allowing us to choose a ceremony site a couple days before the big day, and they helped us save in decoration costs by personally moving some of our ceremony site decorations to the reception site. We had a small, intimate ceremony so that lended itself well to being flexible, but I feel the staff here went above and beyond to give us a phenomenal experience. My wife and I highly recommend this venue for a beautiful, northern Michigan ceremony!

Wedding weekend was a winter wonderland. Homestead had white powdery snow that made our winter New Year's Eve wedding perfect. Staff was superb and my wedding coordinator Lynzie Gotshall made everything stressless for me. It was amazing

Our wedding at The Homestead was truly incredible. My husband and I feel so lucky to have found this venue. Our coordinator, Lynzie, was so helpful, organized, and responsive throughout the entire planning process. I felt very comfortable relaxing on our wedding day because I knew things were under control. The staff at The Homestead were so prepared with every detail of our day that things moved flawlessly. The food and drink service was fantastic – so quick and friendly. It’s like they anticipated everything we would need and would have it to us before we could ask for it. Our guests loved The Homestead, too. They raved about both the resort and our wedding. So many people thanked us for inviting them because it provided them with a weekend getaway at such a beautiful place. I highly recommend this venue!!!

The team at The Homestead, led by our wedding coordinator Barb Ellis, was beyond spectacular. From the moment we booked the venue, to the morning after our wedding when we had to take everything home, they were attentive, helpful, sweet, kind, quick, and thoughtful. We couldn't have asked for a better venue, inclusive of all the bells and whistles! Even on the worst possible weather day, when our outdoor wedding rained out, they did everything in their power to make sure the day was beyond our wildest expectations. We wish we could do it all over again!

The staff was incredible - a group of people genuinely excited to be there and make sure that our entire day was perfect. We are beyond lucky to have chosen The Homestead for our wedding! Our guests had an incredible vacation weekend away, and all fell in love with Northern Michigan (as we knew they would)! Thanks again to the Homestead for our dream wedding!

My original thank you letter to the Homestead team and Wedding Sales Associate, Lynzie Gotshall was three pages long. Because this review box is not long enough to express all of the gratitude I have for this team and the incredible weekend they helped to create for us, I will have to summarize the highlights. Bottom line, Lynzie was a lifesaver. My husband and I decided not to use a wedding coordinator due to budget restrictions and I know now that without Lynzie our dream wedding never would have happened. We chose The Homestead as our ceremony (top of bay mountain) and reception (mountain flowers lodge) sites in early October 2015 and Lynzie helped guide us through every decision there was to make regarding planning not only our wedding day but entire wedding weekend. She even included potential vendors!! Lynzie is an invaluable resource on the Homestead team and made our 10-month journey of planning and facilitating our dream weekend wedding an absolute blast and stress-free.
While Lynzie was such an important part of our positive experience with the Homestead, it is also important to acknowledge our gratitude for the front desk staff and wait staff present during our cocktail hour, reception and farewell brunch. During an obviously busy time at the front desk, the staff welcomed my chaotic family in arranging welcome bags for all of our guests and any adjustment in accommodations were easily and hospitably addressed. The wait staff at Mountain Flowers Lodge made us feel as though we were attending a black-tie affair. From greeting my groom and I right off of the chairlift with champagne on a silver platter to always making sure our glasses were full, many of our guests stated they felt they had their own personal servers that evening.
Overall an incredible job well done to each person that had a hand in making our wedding weekend possible. One week later and everyone is still talking about the event of the summer. THANK YOU!!!!

All I can say about The Homestead is WOW. My wedding day was absolutely perfect, thanks to Lynize, Connar and the rest of the crew. Their attention to all the details big and small was impeccable. From the time we met them in July to book our wedding, to the clean up, they went above and beyond to make this the event of my lifetime. I had no stress or worries, and was fully able to enjoy my time with my new husband and our guests. Lynzie was there for an entire year, helping us with everything and always answering questions. Connar took charge of our vendors, and helped us the entire week of our wedding. She even got on her knees to help us wrap up extra flowers the morning after. Even the wait staff took care of us and our guests so fantastically. Especially Hillary. She anticipated everything we could ever need or want, and had it delivered to our table before we even asked. Our guests have been raving about their time at the resort. Most wished they could have stayed longer. We can't thank everyone at The Homestead enough. If you are looking for a perfect wedding in Northern Michigan, look no further than The Homestead Resort.

I have been photographing weddings here for over 5 years now. Every wedding that I have shot has been very well organized and beautifully decorated. The Homestead has several amazing spots for photos, no matter what time of year! The staff really make sure all guest are fully enjoying their experience and are very accommodating. I highly recommend the Homestead to make your wedding day an experience you will never forget.

What a beautiful place to make many lasting memories! My daughter's destination wedding at the Homestead was wonderful. Many of our guests said it was the best wedding they had ever been to! Planning the wedding from such a great distance (we live on the west coast) was much easier with the vendor lists provided by the Homestead. We worked for a year with Elizabeth answering our questions, and helping with planning. Lynzie was our event coordinator and set up and assisted with each of our events: rehearsal dinner, welcome reception, wedding, and goodbye brunch. She made each of our venues look beautiful. As the mother of the bride I was able to relax and enjoy a wonderful wedding weekend and spend time with our guest.

Our wedding was a fabulous stress free event and I can contribute all the of the wedding's success to Elizabeth Curlew and all the staff at The Homestead. We are from the metro Detroit area but even with the 5 hour distance it was a breeze planning a wedding at The Homestead. Any time I had a question or a concern I would email Elizabeth Curlew (our wedding coordinator) and she would respond asap (I'm sure I emailed her a bajillion times).

First, you can not overlook how gorgeous the property is. Everything is so well maintained, you could not ask for a better venue. We had our ceremony and reception at the Camp Firefly venue, it was gorgeous! I love how secluded it felt, it was like we had the whole property to ourselves.

Anything you can dream of The Homestead staff will make possible. We had a fall wedding and it had also been a dream of mine to have mini donuts and cider at our fall wedding, Elizabeth made it happen. I wanted to set up my ceremony completely different that they normally do, Elizabeth made that happen. And it wasn't just Elizabeth (who I can not stop singing her praises) it was everyone else. My guests loved how our bartender remembered their exact drink order and how friendly everyone was. You can tell they take pride in what they do. You are not just another wedding to them. If you are looking to get married in Northern Michigan, no need to look any further than The Homestead! My husband and I can not wait to go back up and visit!

My husband Brian & I were married at The Homestead in September 2014. From Day 1 the service we experienced was superior. Our Event Coordinator, Elizabeth walked us through each step of the wedding planning process and kept in constant communication with us the entire time. The resort was gorgeous, well-maintained and everyone from housekeeping to the management staff were friendly and helpful. Each and every person that assisted us on our Wedding Day at The Homestead provided us with a lifetime of memories. We not only built memories, but friendships with the staff there. We cannot wait for many more trips and a limetime of memories!

Elizabeth and Emily were absolutely awesome, they took care of everything. The Homestead is such a beautiful place....we couldn't have asked for a better venue. Everything is on premise and our guests were able to enjoy a beautiful day at the beach.

The bar manager at Beppi's was great during out rehersal party. Actually after the wedding my sister left her shoes outside and her son, which works at Nona's restaurant on premise, brought the shoes to our room.

Everything was perfect and we had such a great time. I would recommend this venue to anyone. #Awesomeness

The Homestead is hands down the best venue in Michigan. Everything from the venue to food to staff to lodging was absolutely perfect. Having everyone so close to each other was a huge plus. No one had to drive to get anywhere and we were all able to hang out all day. Our coordinators kept everything running smoothly all day without any hiccups. You must check out The Homestead for your wedding!

You cannot beat the setting and scenery at The Homestead. I looked all over Michigan trying to find the perfect venue for our wedding and there is no comparison to The Homestead.

The food was excellent. My guests all commented on how much they enjoyed our wedding because the resort is so relaxing and beautiful. There were a couple hiccups with vendors outside of The Homestead but the staff (especially Barb) made sure that I was ok, my guests were happy and things continued to run smoothly.

The set up and tear down of all our decor could not have been easier. I met with Stephanie for about 10 minutes to tell her how I wanted everything set up. She took notes and it looked beautiful on our wedding day!

We recently got married at The Homestead and were very happy with our experience. It is a beautiful location and our guests enjoyed the quiet, up-north village setting. It is a resort, but it is not cheesy or gimmicky at all. They provided us with a wedding organizer document, which was basically a giant checklist to ensure that we had all of our bases covered, and also served as a communication document between us and our wedding coordinator, Lynzie Gotshall. Lynzie was incredibly helpful and responsive during wedding planning, and with the Homestead team, helped to execute what seemed like a flawless wedding day! The reservations manager (I believe his name is Tobias) stepped in to assist when there was a room availability issue with an out-of-state member of our bridal party, and went above and beyond to accommodate him and his family. The servers for our cocktail hour and reception were professional and ensured that everyone had what they needed. Last but not least, the food was incredible, both at Nonna's and at our wedding reception. The reason for taking off a partial star on the review was the difficulty that a few wedding guests had when booking - the reservations system had crashed over the summer and they were unable to take future reservations for about a week while the system was restored, and some guests had to call back a few times if they did not receive a return phone call. That being said, Lynzie kept us informed about the issue and made sure that everyone was taken care of once the system was back up and running. Thank you for a beautiful, memorable, and fun wedding day!

Originally, we had our wedding scheduled for June 2020 but due to the pandemic we decided to postpone. The staff were extremely understanding and helpful during this time, especially since restrictions were just beginning to lift the months leading up to our wedding. We are so happy we chose the Homestead as our wedding venue! We could not have asked for a better day or a better event coordinator (we loved Sandy!). We had our ceremony on the Top of the Mountain and our reception at the Mountain Flowers Lodge. The view on the top of the mountain in summer is absolutely beautiful. You will have a stunning background for your photos here. The Mountain Flowers Lodge is beautiful too with the gorgeous wooden beams, fireplace, and waterfall right outside the side window. Many of our guests said it was the most beautiful wedding venue they had attended. They also loved staying at the Homestead—many of our guests went to the beach, pools, and hung out at Whiskers—the outdoor bar. It was really nice to bump into our guests around the resort in the days leading up to the wedding. The food was also delicious! I have many dietary restrictions and the staff were very helpful making sure that we had options, including vegetarian and vegan options. The only issue we encountered was communication. They are a very busy venue for weddings in the summertime so don’t expect prompt responses. However, they will always get back to you in time and this was not enough of an issue for us to warrant anything less than 5 stars. We highly recommend choosing the Homestead for your wedding

The Homestead in Glen Arbor is an absolutely beautiful place to have a wedding! Bay Mountain has a gorgeous view of Lake Michigan, which you arrive at via chair lift - so unique and fun! The team at the Homestead are excellent to work with and seem to truly care that your day is extra special with an eye to every detail. I truly could not have been happier and I am so glad we chose them for our wedding 3 weeks ago. Our out of town guests loved their stay and raved about the meals, not only at our reception at Camp Firefly, but also at Cafe Manitou. Our wedding was the best day of my life. And we are so happy we went with the Homestead.

My husband and I couldn't be happier with how beautiful our beach wedding was at The Homestead. Even though it is expensive to get married in Northern Michigan in general, it was well worth the money we spent. We choose the smallest venue (maximum of 35 guests) which happened to be on the beach overlooking the Manitou islands and Sleeping Bear Point. The reception was upstairs at Nonna's Loft. Our guests loved the ceremony venue and loved the food at Nonna's. Lynzie was an excellent Wedding Sales Associate and Day-Of Coordinator. If you're thinking about having your wedding at The Homestead, do it!

The Homestead Resort made planning our wedding from out of state effortless and stress free. Their coordinator was professional and organized. She really listened to what we wanted and made sure that our day was exactly what we envisioned. The service from our first visit to our check out day was amazing. We truly felt as though we were the only people on the resort even though it was their busy season. There were other weddings the same day and they made sure that our paths didn't intersect. The only reason I gave a 4/5 rating on service was because some of our guests experienced poor service at the pool/bar area by the beach. It was un-related to our wedding but I felt it was worth the note. My husband and I would both HIGHLY recommend The Homestead for your wedding day. I can't stress enough how amazing they all were.

Where do I start? EVERYONE from The Homestead was helpful, courteous, kind, sweet and supportive. Lynzie made everything easy and had the most excellent suggestions to make life easy for us and all of our family. Our wedding was very small wedding and it was PERFECT! We had a rehearsal dinner at CQs BBQ, the food was SO delicious! Our bartender, Liz, was just so lovely! We had a beach ceremony. Audrey was our day of coordinator-her demeanor was so easy going it helped calm me immensely. Our reception dinner was at Nonna’s and the food was the most amazing spread-we had a made to order menu that was over the top. We also included a farewell breakfast, again at Nonna’s and the spread was just UNBELIEVABLE! Everything from an omelet station and mimosas to lunch service. Just incredible. Once again, we had had the privilege of Liz as our bartender. Also, the ladies had manis and pedis done the day before the wedding at LilyJade-Erica and Nicole made us all feel comfy and beautiful at the salon. Last but certainly not least: JESSICA made my hair look so AMAZING!

Great location!

Amazing staff, beautiful beach wedding location, perfect for bridal party and guests.

Our wedding is at The Homestead in May and so far we have loved working with them and the property is absolutely breathtaking! We are so excited to continue working with the fabulous staff and to have our wedding! We are having both the rehearsal dinner and wedding on the property and have recommended that our guests make a weekend out of it so they spend more time up there.

From the moment we visited the ceremony site atop Bay Mountain and reception site at Mountain Flowers Lodge, we knew The Homestead was where we wanted to get married and, looking back, we could not be happier with our decision. Though it was a little pricier than we were looking to spend, it was worth every penny. Barb and her team were great to work with, very professional and they know what they're doing! Even with a little mid-afternoon rain, they did everything in their power to get our guests up the mountain to hold our ceremony where we had originally planned. Everyone kept commenting all weekend that I was the least stressed bride they had ever seen, and I owe a lot of that to Barb and her team. They kept me organized the month or so prior and we were able to meet 3 days before the wedding to go over final details and drop off all the decorations and I didn't have to think about a thing after that...was able to just enjoy the days leading up to the wedding with family and friends. All of our guests loved the resort and Glen Arbor and are already talking about when they can go back next. They also all commented that the food was some of the best they had ever had at a wedding!

If I had to change anything about our experience, it'd be to get earlier check-in times for our guests and to have the on-site restaurants/bars open more and later.

I would definitely recommend The Homestead to any bride-to-be!

I highly recommend the homestead for a summer wedding. The views and the atmosphere was so perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better day.

The staff was polite and so helpful. Everything was taken care of wonderfully--my family and I had a great experience. It really made our day perfect!

Our wedding was at the Homestead Resort on June 19, 2015 and I couldn't have asked for a more picturesque day and venue. I was a little nervous going into the week of our wedding as we found out that our catering manager that we worked with the past 10 months had left the resort for other opportunities. The director of Group Sales, Barb Ellis, stepped up to the plate and was able to calm all of my nerves and make sure all my expectations were met and exceeded. She went above and beyond to make sure that all the promises that were made were executed. I got married on top of Bay Mountain and the reception followed in The Mountain Flowers Lodge. Barb and Lennox were there every step of the way to assure we had the perfect day and constantly checked in on me and my husband and made sure everything was going well and to see what else they could do to create the best experience for us and our guests. Dinner, Bar, Late Night Snack and S'mores all went according to the timeline and schedule I set and without a hitch. It was the most perfect day!!! I just wish the DJ was allowed to play past 11pm, as none of my guests were ready to leave the party!

The Homestead is a ABSOLUTELY gorgeous place to have your wedding. There are many ceremony and reception sites to host your event. We chose to have our ceremony on top of the mountain and the reception at Camp Firefly. Both were beautiful. My photographer asked us to sneak away form dinner and take some "just us" photos on the beach and everyone loved them!! (The service was so great nobody noticed we were gone!)
The food is delicious. We ended up inviting way more folks than we anticipated would come and they made special accommodations for us. We served a cocktail style reception and extra tables were ordered to please all.
Barb and Lindy are wonderful sports even hosting a super cold and rainy rehearsal in the rain with pleasant dispositions.
If you live in the area, or appreciate the west coast of Michigan this venue is worth a visit.

Due to employee turnover during our planning there was some issues but overall it was worth it in the end. Beautiful place, exceptionally friendly staff.

The Mountain Flowers Lodge at the Homestead was the perfect backdrop for our rustic elegance winter wedding.

The location itself is peaceful and out of the way. Our guests, even local ones, were able to experience something new and different - the quiet woods, a sleepy town, the frozen lake...In addition, the Lodge was just steps away from guests' rooms, allowing them to keep off the snowy roads, stay later at the reception, and reconvene for breakfast the next morning.

The venue was full of gorgeous wood, and was beautiful enough that I didn't need to over-decorate. It was plenty large for my 150 guests and all the special gift, cake, hot drink tables we had set up.

The staff on our wedding day was professional and experienced. I hardly noticed them moving around and they never came to me with any questions, which helped me to enjoy the day. They served seamlessly and cleaned up promptly.

The food was also up to our standards. The appetizers were great, and the entrees, while not as large as when we sampled them, were tasty. Everyone we asked said the food was delicious. The hot cocoa and cider we had tasted gourmet and even had to be replenished a few times they were so popular!

I would definitely recommend the Homestead for your wedding reception. The idyllic background and the experienced staff will not disappoint.

They were hard to book initially, but really took care of everything for me on the wedding day. Gorgeous venue and delicious food!

I think the Homestead is used to hosting very large weddings which wasn't the case for us (there were less than 25 people including the bride and groom). The Homestead provided us with a very detailed checklist to use while planning our ceremony and reception and they were good about reminding me to turn things in once the various pre-wedding timelines pasted.. this I appreciated very much because I wasn't paying attention to those dates. The venue itself was beautiful and everyone had a great time.

However, we were told a lot of things would happen that didn't happen until we reminded the staff... we were told that we would have a shuttle from the beach to dinner (we didn't have one and our photographer had to drive us), we requested to have bottled water at the ceremony which was overlooked until we reminded the coordinators, we were told we would hear from the chef a week before the event and we didn't hear from him until the day before (after us reminding the coordinator), they got our wedding date wrong on our menus and I was told the chef would be able to customize a dessert (cheesecake or a pie), which he wasn't... it seemed like the left hand didn't speak to the right hand and we felt like we didn't get the attention on our wedding day because our wedding was so small.

Very disorganized and difficult to work with. My original coordinator at some point was no longer working at the homestead but no one bothered to tell me in a timely and professional way. I was given a new coordinator after I contacted them with a question and found out about the first coordinators departure. The new coordinator never reached out to go over any of the events we were working on (brunch and rehearsal). When I reached out about menus a few weeks before the events i was told I was supposed to turn in a packet weeks before which I had never received.

The homestead was so difficult to work with the we had to cancel our rehearsal for some very minor details. Huge headache - totally unapologetic staff that could care less about their customers who are spending thousands and bringing guests in who spend thousands. We were literally told by our coordinator "i dont know why its my problem." You are the coordinator! You coordinate! Horrible customer service.

Some of my weddings guests were told the homestead knew nothing about a shuttle the night before the wedding when it had been discussed beforehand. When one guest asked about mini golf they were told to "just google it". Very unhelpful staff.

Rooms are very overpriced and outdated. Couldn't even get a good shower at $500 a night! Wouldn't deliver a bottle of champagne on behalf of my fiance.

Honestly, I'm so happy I didn't have my wedding here and I don't recommend it to anyone.

Lynzie was very helpful and patient as we exchanged hundreds of emails over the course of a year and a half. The Homestead assigned a different day of coordinator, Barb, for our event. I had sent pictures and written descriptions of our wedding layout and décor. When I arrived the navy overlays I provided were misplaced and tables were set and placed incorrectly. Barb told me I had not provided enough table covers and that my instructions were unclear (2 things you don’t tell a bride on her wedding day…) She and the team placed half of the table clothes correctly and the night went on. The food was great; however they had changed the fish recipe without warning and we were served a fish we had not approved as a meal option. They never returned our escort card holders, our cake top, or our guest book. My parents had to return to the site and get the cake themselves, and the guestbook was later mailed to us after leaving a voicemail with the staff whom never returned our calls, the escort card holders were never returned. Lastly, the lodging department could use a class on customer service. Be warned that their check in time is 4pm, no exceptions. If you ask, they will suggest you either book your room for the night before or get ready in their public locker room. We were promised that my 93-year-old grandmother would be in the room next to her daughter, this was confirmed twice throughout the year. Upon check in my grandmother was not next to her daughter, in fact they were in completely different buildings. Secondly a guest was placed in a room with a faulty key. Instead of moving this guest, she was asked to call housekeeping anytime she wanted to enter her room. In each case, there was no compromise or attempt to rectify this situation for our guests. This property has been capitalizing on its location for years. I had heard rumors of its service degrading over the years, and unfortunately it is all true. You’ve been warned.

I was very eager to have this place as my venue, but after touring and inquiring about the flexibility I would want for my wedding, they either couldn't answer the questions or couldn't accommodate. They also had very strict rules.

The place is beautiful, but I felt like once we made the commitment to have our wedding there, the service went down hill fast. Our coordinator was slow to respond, and never put forth any extra effort. It felt like we got the bare minimum. They consistently made errors on our banquet forms and totally dropped the ball on the food service that was ordered the day of the wedding for the bridal party. They swapped out the wine we ordered for dinner service with out informing us and when we went for our tasting they skimped us big time only providing us with one entree (your guaranteed two) and for the tapas bar they served us raw carrots and celery. I will say the food the day of the wedding was quite good (at least the filet and chicken, the gnocchi was bad). They did not staff accordingly to host our guests during the weekend. The service at Beppis and Nonna was so slow, often our guests were made to wait up to two hours for their dinner, and the beach bar only had one bartender which is of course where everyone wants to be in the summer time. However some would say that we are lucky that the restaurants were even open as they are notorious for just closing them down with no regard for where their guests will go. Overall it was a beautiful venue, but they service level was below average for what you pay.

Brides, grooms, anyone looking to enjoy Glen Arbor, look ANYWHERE ELSE. ANYWHERE. ELSE.

I've had bad experiences here before but hosting guests for my sisters wedding with The Homestead was the most appalling to date. From refusing to leave keys for incoming guests, to wasps nests and dead animals in rooms, to *refusing to give guests welcome bags because we didn't "host the wedding at their facility so they can't be held liable"* I've had it.

The arrogance, ignorance, and disregard for their guests is mind blowing. You would think that there'd be an ounce of hospitality here but spoiler alert: there is none.

The Homestead makes money because they're the only resort around. That's it. Don't believe me? Ask anyone in town their feelings on the resort. Planning a wedding? Ask vendors and planners their experience with them. It's truly amazing that they're still in business.

Lucky for you, there's amazing rentals in the area and plenty of other people around to give other options.

I urge you to think twice about this place. Glen Arbor is worth the trip, don't let The Homestead ruin it for you.

WARNING, the Homestead while a beautiful venue is currently not being operated at a level that meets the reasonable expectations commensurate with the fees they charge. Furthermore, the Homestead's administration and managers proved to be disappointing, unresponsive, and unprofessional. There is no place as beautiful but you must be prepared to micro manage all aspects of the event and you must be ok with paying in full BEFORE the event. You should look elsewhere if you would like to have a carefree wedding or reception.

DO NOT HAVE YOUR WEDDING AT THE HOMESTEAD.

I chose the Homestead for our wedding because of the beautiful setting and the illusion that it would be easier to plan if our venue coordinated most aspects of our wedding. While our wedding was beautiful, we are still dealing with the aftermath of the mistakes made by the Homestead staff.
HOMESTEAD STAFF STOLE FROM US: Multiple Homestead staff stole wedding cards with cash and checks during our reception. The Homestead will not reimburse the money that was stolen and has stopped responding to our inquiries regarding the incident.
OVERCHARGED OVER $5000: I found over $5000 in errors in the 28 page bill for the wedding. Our “corrected” bill was still $1000 too much. They fixed it.
OUR BILL WAS SENT TO STRANGER
FOOD PRICES: Some entree prices increased up to 50% from the time we booked the venue.
AIR CONDITIONING DID NOT WORK AT RECEPTION: It was 90 degrees and the Homestead did not have fans. They did not fix the problem and complained that our guests were upset. We were all drenched with sweat. Received credit.
AC DID NOT WORK IN ROOMS THE NIGHT BEFORE THE WEDDING: We received a small credit.
POOR HORS D'OEUVRES: The veggie plate was not as presented during the tasting. Received credit.
WILL NOT RETURN ITEMS FROM RECEPTION: The Homestead lost our cake knife and has not returned our cake plate nor our cake server and they will not answer our messages.
SAD SALADS: We paid a large sum for salads with veggies but received salads that were basically lettuce with some onions on them. Received credit.
SPRINKLERS: My brother and sister-in-law were drenched with sprinklers on barely lit paths after the reception ended.
POOR ACCOMMODATIONS: The rooms are outdated and disappointing for the cost. There was trash and dirty laundry in the halls all day. Many of our guests voiced concerns over the quality of the rooms, the cost, and the staff.

We are owners at the Homestead, so when it came time to pick our venue it seemed like a natural choice. So many wonderful memories. Once we booked though, customer service went straight downhill. So far in the planning process, the staff has been incredibly unresponsive to emails and phone calls, and completely uninterested in how the process is going for us. We are hosting 3 different events onsite (welcome party/rehearsal, wedding, farewell brunch), and each of our contracts notes a tasting is involved. As soon as the tasting came up, we were told we could only sample 3 entree options, even though that's the number we ultimately have to choose for the day of our wedding. Even offering to pay for additional options we were denied and then just blatantly ignored when we asked to speak with someone further. Apparently contracts mean nothing. The actual sampling itself of appetizers was unimpressive. Nobody welcomed us or explained how it worked, we were just expected to show up and eat food I guess, and the wedding sales staff even left before the event was over (without saying goodbye I might add or notifying us) so when we had questions there was nobody there to ask! And the food itself was lacking - cold chicken satay, over-cooked beef wellington, and stale crostini. You would think with the amount of money we were spending here, not to mention the fact that we own at the resort, that the service would be better and we would be treated with a bit more respect, but apparently not. More to come I'm sure because we still are 6 months out from our actual wedding. All I can say is thank goodness we have an external planner to save our sanity communicating with the Homestead wedding sales staff.