Willowdale Estate Reviews

Where should I even begin with the praises we have for Willowdale? Prior to booking our date with Willowdale, I was aware of the great reputation they had, however...I can truly say Monique, Kelsey, and the entire team at Willowdale truly went above and beyond our expectations! From the very first meeting, to our tasting, we knew we made the right choice for our venue...however, it was not until dealing with all of the uncertainty of getting married in 2020 that we TRULY realized how incredible the Willowdale team is! During all of the back and forth and uncertainties raised - Monique and the team at Willowdale were in constant communication with us. We never felt in the dark in the planning/re-scheduling process, and we truly felt they were in this WITH us . When our date (finally) came....again, Willowdale went beyond all of our expectations. Our coordinator, Kelsey, was with us every step of the way! From everything that seemingly worked against us during planning, the day of our wedding was an ABSOLUTE DREAM. It was all worth it. The day of we never once felt stressed. The staff, the food, and the venue are just exceptional. While we had to make adjustments due to new regulations, all of our guests STILL talk about how normal, but safe, everything felt. Out of town guests are still talking about how beautiful our day, and venue, were. We have such a special place in our hearts for Willowdale and look forward to coming back for their events throughout the years! If you have any questions about booking with Willowdale - we could not recommend them more. Monique, Kelsey, and the staff at Willowdale - thank you for being with us every step of the way and for making our day unforgettable.

We are so happy we went forward with a wedding in 2020! We were so impressed with the team at Briar Barn and Willowdale. We had booked Briar Barn for October, but when the pandemic hit, with the help of Kelsey, we were able to keep our chosen date and move our wedding outdoors to the Willowdale Estate! The team at Willowdale is the most organized and accommodating venue I have ever seen (and I have been a bridesmaid 8 times.) Willowdale went above and beyond with everything they provided us. Everything was perfect. Even our most skeptical guests complimented the pandemic safety, fun, and food! One of my favorite memories was during group photos - Kelsey brought us a tray of our passed hors d'oeuvres, and the two of us took a few minutes alone to enjoy them before joining everyone at the cocktail party. It was not an easy decision to cut our guest list in half, but with the help of Willowdale, the rest of our re-planning was simple.

We got engaged in October 2018 and Willowdale was the first venue we saw. we looked at few others but we knew it was Willowdale! there was a few other weddings in our families so we booked March 2020 - Well we all know what happened March 2020. Two weeks before our wedding that we waited a year and a half for the state shut down. Of course we as well as Willowdale staff had no idea how big this would all turn out. after looking at the open dates we decided to book Nov27th 2020 in hopes this would all be behind us. of course as time went on the state regulations changed a million times and every time i would contact willowdale and ask "what does this mean for me'" every time they made me feel better! in the end the regulations were 25 people which we decided to make it work! after 8 years together and over two years engaged we wanted to move on with our lives! as you can imagine some people were not happy that we were moving forward even with the small number and asked people to mask and get tested if possible but willowdale was amazing! Kelsey was our coordinator and she made me feel so much better and that it was my day even with all of these changes and regulations. The day was beautiful and we had a great day and no one got sick!!

as you can imagine I dealt with many vendors during this pandemic and they all had different responses but Willowdale staff was by far the best. they made us feel comfortable with our choice , safe in the facility and were committed to making sure that we had a wonderful day even during a pandemic! I cant recommend Willowdale and Kelsey enough!

My Husband and I had our wedding at Willowdale on 1/25/20.
We wanted a winter wedding and as soon as we found Willowdale we knew we had found our place. Our wedding coordinator Rachel Timmons was absolutely amazing! She was so patient and right there to answer all questions and concerns. We had some bumps in the road and Rachel was right there to ease any stress I had and made sure everything would be perfect. She made our day run so smoothly and made the vision I had come together so perfectly. She is wonderful at what she does and she cares! The food, drinks and cookies were OUT OF THIS WORLD! Guest are still talking about it. They were blown away by how beautiful and elegant the Mansion was. It is a wedding they will never forget. They still rave about it. The team at Willowdale are so kind and caring and we were so lucky to have had Rachel to guide us through such a stressful time. She was such a pleasure to work with. You are in great hands with anyone but Rachel is THE BEST! Thank you for everything Willowdale and Thank you again Rachel for making our day so much more special and absolutely PERFECT!

Choosing Willowdale was the best decision we could have made. The space itself is incredibly unique, historic, beautiful and full of character! Situated in the beautiful Willowdale State Forrest, it reminded us of castles in Ireland. From beginning to end, the staff was responsive, accommodating, and easy to work with. Kelsey was our wedding planner and she was *incredible*!!!! We used their recommended vendor list, which was a huge time saver - and home run. Not to mention, the food was incredible. Our guests stayed at their sister property, the Briar Barn Inn - which was also adorable. Fireplaces in each room! Everyone said we had the most beautiful wedding they had ever attended. Couldn t suggest this team or these locations enough. Thank you!!!!!

My wife and I had our wedding at the Willowdale Estate on October 3rd, 2020. It was a small outdoor intimate wedding underneath of their court-yard tent. Kelsey helped us plan everything the week prior leading up to it and coordinated everything the day of. We had an amazing night and I think it was the perfect execution of what a "covid wedding" can be. This actually might be the perfect spot for one.. it sits on a huge outdoor area that is beautiful kept by the Estate and their team. The estate itself was spacious and clean. We made significant cuts to our guest list and decided against inviting our elderly family and did not invite any children.

The wedding far exceeded my expectations. My wife and I paid for everything ourselves and we really wanted to see through that we maximized ever dollar we spent. I think we got incredible value for the services provided.

The food and drinks were amazing. We hosted an open bar and the estate bartenders set up this awesome little outdoor bar area on the patio that served our needs perfectly. Our guests, rightfully so, took advantage of the open bar. The signature cocktails (red sangria and whiskey smash) were delicious and were a great "his and her" cocktail. We got many compliments about how delicious the food was.

In the end, despite the stress that a covid wedding can bring, if you are willing to compromise a bit and are looking to have an amazing night, I give the highest recommendation to the Willowdale Estate, Kelsey, and all of their support staff that helped us have a memorable, fun, and most importantly "normal" wedding.

THANK YOU!

We originally had our wedding scheduled in March 2020 during the pandemic and then were forced to delay to August. The staff was very communicative the whole time and flexible with rescheduling from mansion season into tent season, even though we ended up with a much smaller guest count for the ceremony and reception than we originally anticipated. Kelsey was wonderful and accommodating building up to our rescheduled day and on the day of the wedding itself. Our day was absolutely perfect and the food, atmosphere, drinks, and staff were excellent. We cannot recommend Willowdale highly enough!

Our wedding was almost a month ago at Willowdale, and it was absolutely amazing! The venue itself is just so so beautiful, with everything in bloom in the courtyard where our ceremony was held to the vintage estate itself. That is what sold us on having our wedding there! (And the chocolate chip cookies they sent us in the mail after visiting, of course...)
Besides the venue itself and it's beauty, our Willowdale wedding coordinator, Courtney, was beyond pleasant to work with! She was very sweet and accommodating, and answered any questions we had regarding pretty much anything at all.
Another amazing quality of Willowdale was the FOOD!! Omg, mouth-watering! Everything is cooked right there in the kitchen, so you know it's fresh and coming out to temp, from the apps to the entrees.
The serving and bar staff was very attentive, and helpful as well! We requested they bring out appetizer platters as we took formal photos, and they did, and also brought rounds of drinks for the entire wedding party.
So many of our guests told us afterward that it was one of the most amazing, beautiful, and fun weddings they've ever been to, and how much they loved the food! I would say it was a win for us! Thank you Willowdale!

If you want to have a seamless and beautiful wedding experience - look no further than Willowdale Estate! From the moment I saw pictures of this venue, I know it was perfect for my wedding vision - once I met the Willowdale Team, I was sold! The venue is absolutely breathtaking but pair it with the exception staff (coordinators, planners, servers, vendors) and your day (and wedding dreams!) truly becomes a reality. I am still on cloud nine from our big day and cannot recommend Willowdale enough!