Benham's Grove

Overall, my experience with Benham's was excellent. The site looked beautiful and leading up to the wedding the staff was very helpful in answering all of our questions and providing suggestions for us. I did have one issue which actually my bridesmaids dealt with more than I did...the woman who was the coordinator for Benham's the day of my wedding acted a little strange. We had our gifts locked in the cabin, which is what Benham's generally does. At the end of the night, my bridesmaid and her fiance were getting the gifts from the cabin and loading them into their car for me when the coordinator told them some of the gifts in the cabin were not mine. This was completely not true. Whose else's would they be? They were locked up with my gifts all night and had cards with my and my husband's names on them! She also tried to tell them that some of the decorations that they were taking down belonged to Benham's. They didn't. They were silk flowers that belonged to my mother. Luckily, my friends had the sense to ignore this sadly confused individual and got my gifts and my mother's silk flowers back to me. In addition, I was told by all my bridesmaids that partway through my reception the same coordinator rushed my friends to get all our stuff out of the bride suite, so they had to move all our stuff out (my clothes, make-up, dress bag, etc.) during my reception and missed part of my reception and worried they left stuff in there in the rush. Everyone felt very rushed by this woman at the end of the night as well when cleaning up and taking everything down, even though we had previously gotten our time extended for clean-up time and got out of there before the time required. Other than that coordinator, everything was beautiful and I really liked that I could hire my own caterer and bring my own alcohol. I did hire outside coordinators and would recommend doing so.

The grounds were beautiful. We got married mid-august, so it was quite warm. The only negative things were they didn't spray for mosquitos or other bugs, because we kept getting bitten by them. And the benches were dirty, so it hindered our ability to take some cute pictures. But everything else was great, and our guests really loved the location.

Lovely place with so much potential. Great pricing. Certain areas were not very accommodating such as the barn as we would have liked but everyone was so friendly. Enjoyed being there on my special day.

Benham's Grove was the most perfect location for my wedding! The grounds and gazebo are so gorgeous and they keep everything in good condition. There is a place for the girls and guys to get ready! Great spot for the caterers and the workers were always extremely helpful. Sometimes they were a little slow with responding but they always got back to you!!!

We had our wedding reception at Benham's Grove on June 18, 2011 and could not have been more pleased with the grounds and staff. Everything on the grounds was beautiful! The photographer loved the area for pictures and we received many compliments from the guests about how wonderful the venue is. The brick patio for the tent was amazing! It looked spectacular and we had no issues with the ground being wet or muddy even though it sprinkled some later in the evening. Our event coordinator, Margo, was phenomenal as well! She helped wherever she was needed during set up and clean up without complaint. Additionally, she helped many of our guests safely get home by calling numerous cabs at the end of the night. She was incredibly patient and helpful throughout the entire event! I could not have asked for a better venue!

I got married at Benham's on May 26th. The night before there was a horrible storm and it really hit Benham's hard. The main house sustained quite a bit of damage as well as the grounds. The staff and crew worked very hard to have it ready for us in the morning. Since the bridal suite was damaged they offered me the cottage instead. Although there was a lot of damage the grounds were still beautiful. Benham's and their staff have been nothing but nice to my husband and I. We originally booked with them for October 8th, 2011 but had to downsize our wedding. They made room for us in the very tight graduation season and gave us a wonderful price. It should also be noted that they have added a beautiful brick patio to the tent area which was just a grassy patch. I think that pretty much seals Benham's as one of the prettiest places to get married. Many thanks to the staff for making my day much easier than it could have been. I didn't even think to worry about the grounds after the storm and you guys did that for me.

Over all I loved Benham's Grove, the location is beautiful and the women who work there are fabulous. BUT I had some big issues the day of with them. The man who was my 'planner' for the day of wasn't great. I'd never met him, he never introduced himself the day of, he wasn't very helpful, and he was rude to my bridesmaids and guests. The other HUGE issue I had and want to warn people about is the grass there... if you are having your reception there by June and July the grass is gone under the tent and its all dirt. They promised me it wouldn't be a big deal the day of and it was almost a disaster. It rained before my ceremony and the dirt that was under the tent AND around it turned to mud. They told me they were going to put stuff down the week before so it wouldn't cause a problem - but they did not. So 30 minutes before the ceremony my family ran out to Home depot to buy bags of mulch to put all around it to soak up the mud. Benham's grove never offered to do that or even really help. They told me they were going to get a patio down so they wouldn't have that problem. They never did. Until they do, I wouldn't book with them. Now with that complaining out - its still a very pretty place. They keep the grounds pretty, the landscape is pretty, and the house is awesome. My guests loved it and didn't know all the hassle that we had. The gazebo makes a gorgeous setting for a ceremony too!

Throughout the planning process, the ladies at Benham's Grove were very helpful and accommodating. This statement my be contradicting my reviews only because the planner that assisted me the day of was, well to be frank, a pain in my rear. Of course I'm going to be most concerned with my feeling on the day of my wedding than anything else. This is how I'm going to remember my venues, not if Sue returned my phone calls promptly. The day of planner was extremely unprofessional, causing panic when it was unnecessary and was constantly in the way. If you choose Benham's it will definitely be a beautiful place but make sure your planner for the day is Sally. She is the manager and wonderful.