The Villa Franca Reviews

The team at Villa Franca were so wonderful to our family. Opening your property can be very daunting, but their home felt like ours while we were celebrating our daughter's wedding. Everything was beautiful and we would absolutely recommend them.

We thought we wanted a mountain top wedding until we toured Villa Franca. We met Ginger and the first thing she said was "How do you both envision your wedding day going? What do you want it to be like?". That question right there stopped us in our tracks. We had viewed at least 10 venues and not once did anyone ask us what we wanted. Meeting Ginger was a breath of fresh air. We felt like she really cared about our big day. The estate and it's grounds are unbelievable but Ginger herself was our buying point. The restored house and it's surrounding areas are so well kept and polished. The southern charm oozes from the walls. It's like stepping back in time and living in a new world that we had only dreamed of before. Planning the big day with Ginger was a breeze. She helped plan everything down to the smallest details. When I was overwhelmed by my own ideas Ginger helped organize my thoughts and brought them to life. My wedding day was beyond perfection. It was the beautiful fairytale I had always hoped for as a young girl. The big day was smooth and stress free. Again, all thanks to Ginger and her amazing staff. I couldn't have asked for a better wedding or coordinator. If your wedding day is only one day in your entire life then you want it to be the best day as well. Mine truly was the very best day. Thank you, Ginger. Thank you, Villa Franca staff. Thank you, for giving us the best day.

On 09/30/2017, my daughter married the love of her life at Villa Franca Estates with closest family and friends attending. As mother of the bride, my hope for the day was that it would be everything my daughter envisioned, and that at the end of her wedding day, she would be the happiest bride in the world. When I asked her about the day, she said one word...perfection! The day was all she could ever have imagined and more! Villa Franca Estates is a stunning backdrop for the perfect wedding. The home on the property and its history lend to the charm of the venue. Add to that the outbuildings, mature landscaping, rock walkways, rustic stone walls, and setting after setting of postcard beauty are why we couldn't have chosen a more perfect backdrop for the memories of this intimate occasion. The perfection of the day could not have happened without the oversight of Ginger Black and her husband, who are the owners of Villa Franca Estate. Ginger's attention to detail and her professionalism were key in making this the most memorable day for my daughter and son-in-law and all of our guests. Ginger and her staff were wonderful to work with in every way-friendly and warm to us and our guests, professional during every encounter, and dedicated to ensuring the bride, groom and guests had the best time in this lovely, bucolic setting. Ginger went above and beyond for us, and we could not have asked for a better experience! So, thank you, Ginger and please thank your wonderful staff, for making Allie and Joe's wedding day "perfection". The memories of this day will be with us all for a lifetime!

August 2017 Wedding-

No words can explain how amazing our wedding was thanks to the Villa Franca. The Bridal Suite was big enough for my whole wedding party to get hair and makeup done. The room was catered with Champagne, sandwiches, and sweets! Ginger paid close attention to every detail and request my Husband and myself asked for. She organized our whole bridal party rehearsal and so much more. The Estate has beyond beautiful grounds, great staff, and a night our families will never forget.

Our wedding was perfect! Ginger worked with us for 2 years to make our day go just as we wanted! We got so many compliments on how beautiful our wedding was, everything went so smooth! Ginger was so easy to work with, she listened to your ideas, let you set it up as you wish, and worked with you in every way possible to make sure the bride was happy and stress free! We got greeted with wine, snacks and my new monogram robe! Ginger also helped with all our crisis, she hemmed pants, fixed zippers, managed to get dresses to fix that wouldn't, she is literally the perfect wedding venue for any kind of bride!

Villa Franca Estate is an absolute beautiful venue!! Ginger Black is excellent to work with and made sure everything was taken care of. My wedding day was perfect and I am so happy I was able to have it there. I highly recommend checking out the venue. Photos do not do it justice. It is beautiful.

My oldest daughter got married at Villa Franca Estates and as the mother of the bride for the first time ever, Ginger and her entire staff were so helpful. She made made suggestions but let Kellie (the bride) decide what she wanted. All we had to do was show up with our personal things on the wedding day. We supplied the decorations but the set up and clean up were taken care of by Ginger and the staff. The weather was beautiful, the wedding and reception were without one single problem, and the estate is stunning!! I would recommend this venue to anyone!! Everyone loved it. We all had a great time! Ginger Annas

Ginger and the staff at Villa France were GREAT! We never had one doubt this was the best place to have a wedding. The package includes almost everything (rentals, food, etc), allowing us piece of mind because we were busy. The only services not provided were a DJ, photographer, and cake. Ginger will also contact all your other services to confirm everyone has directions and lets them know to contact her (Sort of a wedding day planner). She is AWESOME. The house and landscape were beautiful. The new tent liner and chandeliers looked so good in our photos. We could not be more thrilled with how our event went. Our car service never showed up and we ran over our allotted time. Ginger allowed that with no problem while we were on the phone and making new plans. I would recommend Villa Franca to any person wanting a fairytale wedding.

Ginger and her staff are awesome!! She was so helpful in making my daughter's day stress-free and beautiful. The facility is gorgeous and the grounds breathtaking! Thanks so much Ginger!

Ginger Black is the true definition of southern hospitality; she was a sweet, charming, and thoughtful host for our wedding reception. We picked Villa Franca Estate because we were looking for a southern, outdoor wedding reception where our guests could feel at home while still maintaining a level of elegance more common in a formal wedding reception. Ginger met with us many times to ensure our vision was carried out. She was responsive, thorough, and provided valuable feedback to ensure our event was not "cookie cutter". We comfortably had 175 guests at our wedding reception dancing the night away under the stars; the venue was perfect, all rentals (tent, tables, linens, etc.) were great quality, and the service was top-notch. The natural beauty of the gardens and the house gave a perfect backdrop to our reception. The inside of the house offers a stunning, Victorian feel - perfect for getting ready and taking pictures. Ginger focused on every little detail and our day was absolutely perfect! We would definitely recommend Ginger to any bride (or anyone honestly) looking for a special location to host their event.

I was not a bride, but a vendor for a wedding at Villa Franca Estate. My first impression of the Villa was that it is a beautiful venue to have a wedding at!The landscaping was just breathtaking. The staff were very friendly. We enjoyed working with the owner Ginger and her sweet staff who helped keep the wedding running smoothly.It was a pleasure working at Villa Franca,we hope to come back soon.
Bridal Affairs DJs and Entertainment

Ginger is so amazing! Our day was wonderful because of her! She did everything she could to help our day go so much better and it was really affordable. I would recommend this venue to anyone getting married!

Absolutely loved this venue!! A memory I'll NEVER forget!!

Romantic, Intimate and Beautiful words that describe The Villa Franca Estate. The first place I looked at to have my wedding reception and the last. As soon as I entered the property all of my wedding dreams that I had invisioned couldnt have been in a better place but there. Ginger and her staff did an absolute great job, from start to finish. Ginger offers services that no other facility would. She is wonderful to work with and always willing to help in any way she can. Chris and I where really pleased with her professionalism. Thanks to Ginger our Wedding Day was perfect!

When my mother and I were shopping for a wedding venue, we were dissapointed with what we found in our price range. Nothing was what we wanted. The day we pulled into the Villa Franca Estate, I told my Mom that this was the place I wanted to get married. The Vila is so beautiful, inside the house and around the grounds. Ginger (the owner) is so sweet and attentive. We felt pushed around by other venues, Ginger's motto was "Whatever the Bride wants", just like it should be! We chose to get married in the rose garden surrounded by Ginger's beautiful flowers and plants. You have a lot of flexibility there...you can choose from any number of spots on the grounds or in the house for your wedding and/or reception. Overall I would highly recommend both the Villa Franca Estate and Ginger Black to anyone planning a wedding, on a budget or not. The Villa absolutely made our pictures and now, getting close to a year after the wedding, my friends and family are still talking about how beautiful and perfect it was there. Our wedding was everything we could have wanted and more thanks to Ginger and the Villa Franca. Katie & Wes Brady...Rockwell NC

If you are wanting an outdoor venue in Rowan County, choose this one! It was great! Exceeded all of my expectations! Ginger and her staff are great. The suites to get ready in were beautiful and I don't have any complaints. All of my guests loved it.

As soon as I saw the place I fell in love with it. It was just what the groom and I had wanted. Everything was pretty much included like linens, chairs, some decorations and stuff like that. They had set up the arbor for us and we brought our colorful decorations to add to it. The bridal suite upstairs is awesome for the bridesmaids and bride to get ready in. We were there at noon that day to get ready and spent all day decorating and getting ready. The groomsmen and groom arrived around 3 and they all got ready in the groomsmen room which is nice to have separate rooms to accommodate every one. One of Ginger's staff fixed my mother's dress right before the ceremony due to her zipper breaking and were able to make it work. We did run a little late due to that for the ceremony to start but no worries the show still went on. The reception was nice to be at the same location so your guests didn't have to drive anywhere else. We brought our own beer and wine and she provided us with a bar tender. The food was awesome provided by union street bistro. Everything on the wedding day was pretty awesome and I am so happy that I got to use the venue.

The rehearsal dinner the night before was held there as well. Linens and chairs were provided but not many table decorations like we had thought there was going to be for that night. I felt that night was not so organized but it turned out great. The rain had stopped right in time for us to rehearse and then go inside for the dinner part. They did have a tv so you can hook up a computer or usb drive to have a slideshow playing. We unfortunately didn't have the right equipment for that to play but we played it during the time dinner was being served on the wedding day which worked out well. It was our fault for not having the correct chords so future brides I would suggest to bring it all don't rely on just one lol.
Overall if I had to redo again I would still choose Villa Franca and I recommend it to others.

I fell in love with Villa Franca the moment I stepped on the property. I just knew it was going to be out of my price range - the grounds and interior of the house were just too beautiful. I was so pleased when I found out how incredibly reasonable it was!

Ginger is a pleasure to work with, and runs a very tight ship. It was a very professional operation; the setup and take down was handled by the staff, servers and a bartender were provided. I was thoroughly impressed with all the details covered that we didn't have to worry about. Literally, all we had to do was show up. I would definitely recommend this venue to anyone hosting an event.

Thank you Ginger for all your hard work and for making our special day as stress free as possible. I hope to work with you again in the future.

The owner was very helpful and did amazing work. The grounds looked amazing!

Lovely outdoor Venue. Would recommend to allow outside catering company's to provide food for wedding.

I'm hoping that over the years, this place has improved with their services. I got married at Villa Franca 5/15/10 and I cringe to think of the services we were provided versus the money that we paid. Ginger was very sweet and accommodating in our early planning, however, the day of the wedding came, and certain memories are less than perfect, thanks to the Villa Franca. After the ceremony, I wanted to change my shoes and the doors were all locked in the house, except for the Magnolia room, where our reception, cake and candy bar were located. I had to get staff to track Ginger down to unlock the downstairs room where all of the bridal party's belonging were moved from upstairs to downstairs into the groom's dressing room. No one knew staff were going to move our belongings without our permission. Even though sercurity was onsite as required, my guests were constantly given dirty looks by Ginger, to make sure that they weren't ruining her property. Finally, as the evening was drawing to a close, I discovered that my personalized M&M's were not even used at my candy bar. When I asked Ginger about it, she simply stated that she didn't want M&M's ground into her carpet and so she didn't put them out. Needless to say, I didn't want bad memories to outshine the good, but I'm giving all the brides fair warning of this place. It is absolutely beautiful, but you better be sure that you and your guests don't mess up Ginger's property....which we never did, but no one needs to remember their day like this!

When we first looked at the venue, we loved it. We loved the outdoor site in front of the house with the reception area to the side of the house. I liked the idea of the convenience of having everything all in one place. The house features a beautiful room inside called the Magnolia room that is traditionally set up to house all your food. We liked having this option because we didn't want any of our food sitting outside getting exposed to the elements. Ginger, the woman that runs the venue, was so eager to have us book with her she offered us a reduced deposit hold and a couple of other free options for the day of the wedding. Although she appears very pleasant when meeting and speaking with her, she is poorly organized and often times did not understand the questions I was asking her. We were forced to pay her higher costs for services quoted directly from the caterer for the exact same service. When I asked for an explanation of the cost difference I was informed that I signed a contract and "where every penny went to was none of my business". (I received that per word via email). The electricity/outlets have not been updated so you can't have hair/makeup done at the venue. Ginger was not on site as promised when the wedding cake and flowers were delivered. She left during our rehearsal dinner without telling us and could not be reached via phone. She locked us out of the main house during the rehearsal dinner when we needed inside. She locked us out during the wedding when we needed inside. (Both of which was discussed with her prior to the event). She was found sweeping the floors next to our food that was out for the guests. The ceremony site was not sprayed for bugs; we had thousands of gnats everywhere that ended up consuming my hair. She wouldn't answer her phone on wedding day. Overall, great venue if it was managed by someone else!

I absolutely loved Villa Franca when I saw it. I met with Ginger and she seemed very excited to work with me. She offered me several extras, but after the contract was signed, she did not offer ANY assistance with planning and coordinating. She was hard to reach, and calls and emails to her were frequently answered only after a few days, and she went on at least two week long vacations where she was unavailable and had no backup for us to talk to. She informed us that we only had the ceremony and reception for 4 hours. Nothing about time is indicated in the contract, and she had already updated her website to reflect new packages so I didn't have anything in writing. She finally agreed to let me have one additional hour if I paid the $200 (base minimum for her staff to be paid) and she made me feel like it was completely my fault. I also had to keep reminding her that she included my glassware with my bar package. A month before the wedding, she tells me that she won't be in town that weekend and that another wedding planner (Vanessa) will be handling my wedding. Sometime around this time, Ginger also tells me that she'll include tent draping for free. Well, I didn't want the tent draping to begin with. I never received final confirmation of details for the wedding. The venue was not setup as I asked. The bridal suite and grooms's suite did not have the beverages indicated in the contract. The entire area is NOT covered (you walk in the rain from the tent to the house.) The bartender misplaced a case of champagne so my guests went without (it was not found until after the wedding.) My guests barely fit under the tent, making the dance floor very small. The tent is lower than the concrete area, so water pools under it. I had a guest slip while dancing. My only positive mention is Ginger’s staff. Cars got stuck leaving in the parking lot (it's all grass) and were fishtailing when they left. Thankfully, no one was hurt. See my review on Yelp to read this in entirety.