My wedding was booked for May 16, 2020 at Hayloft in the Grove, but due to COVID-19 was unable to occur as planned. We paid Hayloft almost $11,000 for our wedding that couldn't happen and I will never see that money again. I want my review to serve as a warning for brides considering this venue in there wedding search to proceed with extreme caution...as you will see from my review (and the many 1 star reviews before mine) the owner, Jeni, does not care about you, your family, or your wedding day..she only cares about money.
I work in the bridal industry, so I know first-hand how difficult this pandemic has been to brides and businesses alike, but nothing could have prepared me for Jeni's complete lack of respect and moral code during this process. Planning my wedding was condensed into 2 separate meetings, so when we were faced with our heart-breaking reality of not being able to have the wedding we had been planning, our first thought was to of course offer The Hayloft the planning services amount that is in their brochure ($600) plus anything else they could think of that was specific to our wedding and felt was fair. They not only refused our offer, but informed us that they would be keeping every single dollar of the $11k we had paid them. This the event rental space we couldn't use due to COVID, the cottage rental that went unused, and the Rent-A-Restroom, day of coordination, cleaning fees and security deposits (all of which could not have possibly been applicable as the event never occurred).
This absolutely crushed me to learn that Hayloft in the Grove was being greedy and heartless and making this time even more difficult for me and my family than it needed to be. Jeni will say that she gave us some dates in 2020 and 2021, but none of them worked around my mother-in-law's cancer treatments or the 5 other weddings that me and my husband are planned to be in this summer/fall. Additionally, many of those dates she offered were Fridays or Sundays (we had booked a solo Saturday ceremony and had access to the grounds all day Friday) so they just were not comparable, OR we would have been the second wedding and had to share the property all in the same day? All that to say that Jeni will play the victim, but I know the truth and what she wanted us to settle for was unfair for the extreme price point and not what we had agreed to when we booked, and I REALLY want to warn other brides who are thinking about giving them their hard-earned money or even already have, PLEASE be careful. I would hate to read more reviews like mine or the ones before me that all address the bottom-of-the-barrel customer service that this venue provides.
I don't understand how Jeni feels so comfortable inflicting this kind of unnecessary and undeserving hurt on a young couple trying to make the best out of an unexpected, unplanned situation. I think it really goes to show her character and the lengths that she will go to in order to save her bottom line. I'm married to a wonderful man (we eloped) and we are so happy despite everything Jeni has put us through to start our marriage, but if I could have avoided ever meeting her, I would. So please - heed my warning and steer clear of the Hayloft in the Grove! It's not worth the time, the money, or the heartache. read more