It has taken me three years to finally sit and write a review because just the thought of revisiting our horrible experience stresses me out. This is a beautiful venue BUT! I warn you DO NOT! DO NOT! Have your event here. The people you have to deal with, Bud and Linda, will make it Absolutely miserable for you and your guest. Three years ago, we signed and paid in full to have our son's wedding here. Over $10,000. Because of the awful attitude and hostility from both Bud and Linda our anxiety level was to the roof. Sadly, it affected one of us and became sick and was hospitalized, and the wedding had to be cancelled. After several weeks in the hospital, It was decided we were not going to have the wedding here. We asked for our money to be returned. The answer was a Big NO. After going to small claims court, we lost our case - due to one sentence "IF written cancellation is received between the date of signing the contract and 30 days PRIOR to the reservation date. .. The judge pleaded with Bud and Linda to consider giving us some money back however the answer was "No way" from Bud. Even though we were only requesting for half of the full amount we gave. Again, Don't have your event here, the beauty of this place is a mirage from the AWFUL frustration you would endure dealing with these people. Also, reading some of the other reviews, pretty much had happened to us. There were additional charges two week before, then another charge a week before the wedding. Please walk away. read more

This place deserves 0 starts and should be shut down!! Place is a dump! Bud and Linda are the 2 most greedy selfish rudest people I have ever dealt with when planning a wedding... isn't this suppose to be a happy time??? Don't listen to the good reviews- they offer a discount if you leave a 5 star review!! I was asked too but why would I? I cancelled my wedding with them and so glad I did! So if your looking into this venue to host your wedding- run fast and far away! Think the price is cheap? You WILL get what you paid for and a terrible customer service team! They are stuck in the 80's and everything here is sad, depressing and plain terrible! Retire Bud and Linda maybe then you could save this place... then again I wouldn't count on it!!! read more

Do not hold your wedding here and please look elsewhere! Bud is greedy and money hungry. He will try to nickel and dime you until the day or your wedding. Bud was nasty and disrespectful to me as soon as he got my money. He did not deliver on my center pieces that I paid for and he even went as far as accusing my dj of dtraling from him. I never write reviews but I wrote this one to wsrn everyone of a big mistake you are making letting Bud handle your special day. Loom elsewhere and I promise you won't regret it. read more

I have been a bridesmaid in many weddings and have attended many weddings and this was by far the worst venue I have experienced. Beautiful venue but the man in charge was rude from the moment we stepped into rehearsal. I understand that there is a time schedule to be kept but the way he was rushing us from moment to moment and his terrible people skills were very distasteful. His demeanor was very nasty 85% of the time. He made my experience of enjoying my best friend's wedding a difficult one. Don't recommend!!!!! read more

DO NOT BOOK A WEDDING HERE 630 wedding and couldn't get dinner out till 1020pm. Drinks were tiny and barely had any alcohol in it. This place is a joke. Maybe the owners should turn it over to somebody who wants to actually make this place succeed cause visible it's beautiful. Until then don't have a wedding here. The owner is old and greedy. Delayed the wedding taking forever to walk around in his walker. No offense sir but time to let someone manage the place. Tried to charge more to stay open later since but the time dinner service ended there was barely 30 minutes to dance. And to end the night they claimed somebody got some sharpie on a table and they tried to charge. I've officiated weddings in multiple places and this by par is a total rip. You will not enjoy your wedding if you have it here. read more

Went to a wedding here and from walking in you would think beautiful place but it's not the the venue that is the issue it's the staff. The owner stood there micromanaging everything. I never went to a wedding where the owner stood around and conducted announcements during a wedding. He even stood there as the food was being served. Let me add the appetizers were better then the main course. Not only was dinner cold but he stood there as his staff served food buffet style and monitored how much was being served. What was suppose to be a a fairytale experience for the bride and groom turned into disappointment. I wouldn't recommend anyone to get married here unless you want the owner to basically be a part of your wedding. read more

BUD is not understanding at an unprecedented time like this after COVID. We needed to simply reschedule our date, because we are concerned for our guests health. He literally wants us to wait until the last minute. He had the nerve to tell us to wait until August to see what the government says if restrictions are lifted when our date was in September. He won't give us back our deposit, and won't let us change our date with a respected amount of time. Let me save you the trouble. DONT BOOK HERE! Here I come BBB. read more

If I could give ZERO stars I would!!! The husband bud is a nice man but both his Wife has a Very nasty attitude! i planned my wedding of 125+ guests for Months, each time I contacted the wife about something to do with the wedding she was rude n rushing off the phone (that should have been my red flag then) my wedding is scheduled for 6/11/22 and I received a call from bud on 5/29/22 at 8pm telling me he was canceling my wedding! A WEEK before the wedding he canceled with a bunch of BS that just wasn't adding up! All he had to say was he was sorry... no alternative, no suggestions to help the last min craziness he dropped on us! Family coming from all over flights booked, hotel reservations, Dj paid for, personal dated wedding favors made, centerpieces bought!! All things can't be returned, exchanged or replaced!! And all they gave was a sorry and his wife gave Major attitude every time I called about getting our deposit back! All this headache to deal with on top of find a replacement venue for my Wedding in a WEEK because of this place! Awful place!! read more

Rude owner. Food bleh. Lost $1,000 deposit because I had to cancel my wedding here due to the lies we were told. I wonder if they EVER finished the construction in their lobby? We were told it would be done by the time of our wedding in October of 2014. Nope. read more

Worst experience ever!!! No stars if I could I have never had a more worse experience in my life. The guy who owns the place (Bud) is extremely rude. He took a meeting in the middle of my wedding and was not at all attentive. Fantasia is much more beautiful and located right down the block. read more

Went to a wedding here and the outside where they had the ceremony was beautiful! The stage and the arches made for gorgeous pictures. They have a little bridge and water fountain which make great backgrounds for after photos. The inside is lovely with the grand staircase and the bridal room was huge making it easy to get ready and having people inside as well. At the beginning before we could get food the owner gave a spiel basically selling himself asking you to leave wonderful comments only which I found to be a let down that you were selling yourself when it was someones special day. The appetizers had a large variety but some of the things were not very hot temperature wise. The food was mediocre at best, the dinner was buffet style and they had people serving you the meat from the pan and they were very stingy and the plates were tiny. The canoli cake was delicious and they gave you large pieces. The staff wasn't wonder full they rushed you and cleared plates before you were done chewing and the bartender was more interested in his cellphone then waiting on the guests. The dance floor was very small but we made it work to have a great time. Overall it was a beautiful wedding the ceremony and outdoors part was the highlight of this venue. I would recommend this place only for the ceremony go somewhere else for the reception because the food wasn't the best. read more

This place was excellent!!!!!! Thousand stars!!!! I got married here on may 16 Saturday 2015 they did a great job with decorating the tables ,flowers and the out door ceremony it was amazing, i love this place!!! Food was to die for!!!!!!! It was great, everyone love it their dinners. But special thanks too Bud and Linda for making my wedding dreams come true thanks Bud and Linda I will recommend this place too friends, family , This place is amazing , great ownwer!!!! read more

Buyer Beware!!! a "Class Act" is what they proposed. Bud and Linda are an act indeed, but class i think not. I wish I would have read reviews for this venue prior to booking. The worst experience ever! Bud and Linda are very "seasoned" personnel and set in their ways. As a bride/groom, I would advise against using this place. Although a very nice venue, their operations of business are outdated and very much inconvenient. At times rude and moody and other times appear helpful and concern, BIPOLAR. no credit cards or debit cards accepted. They hate communicating via email. Money orders or cashiers checks only. A few days prior to my ceremony my price was increased, even though we were making monthly payments for over a year, we weren't notified the 2$ increase per person was implemented until 7 days prior to the wedding. We had to come up with an additional $3,000 and were even threaten with cancellation of our wedding and their attorney if we didn't come up with the final payment before our rehearsal date. I have voicemails from Bud accusing me of trying to "play" him when I have never given this man 1 indication of any such thing, as I stated earlier we made monthly payments for over a year, no defaults. To be accused of this was appalling. Bud and I got into a screaming match on the phone so badly My son had to come out his room to see what was going on. 10pm at night my Fiance and I drove to drop off cashier check to this man, when we could have simply brought him this the following day which was our rehearsal. Receipts/documentations are hand written, not legible, and mailed back weeks after payments sent, because as Linda stated she " doesn't get to the post office as often". Phone calls after normal business hours, sometimes as late as 11pm and if you do not pick up expect at least 4-5 calls back to back. I would never-ever recommend working with this place. I have experienced more anxiety dealing with these two than I have the excitement I should of been for the wedding..Bummer. read more

I recently attended an event here for a friend's birthday. The owner was very rude, the food was blah, it was boiling hot in there because he turned off the ac in the middle of a heat wave, and the list goes on and on. Never again will I attend an event at this craphole. Terrible terrible terrible read more

If you're a person of color, DO NOT have your wedding here! If you're a person of color, THINK TWICE BEFORE HAVING YOUR WEDDING HERE!!! I was recently as bridesmaid in a wedding held here and from the rehearsal dinner to weeks after the wedding, I have had nothing but negative experiences with Bud (the owner). On the night of the rehearsal dinner, we were met with a disgruntled Bud who REFUSED to let us inside because a few members of the wedding party were running a bit late. It was 37 degrees out and we couldn't even wait in the lobby of the venue, this was the first red flag. Once the rest of our party arrived, we were rudely dealt with and met with indignation after the bride let him know that she'd much rather prefer to walk down an aisle going toward a podium, that was already in the room and set up for an officiate, than across the dance floor (tacky) where the chairs were originally set up as this was a Christian wedding. After almost an hour of tense discussion and attempted reasoning with Bud, the bride left the room in tears as he demanded more money for a "set up fee" to move the two tables necessary to abide by the bride's wishes, something the entire wedding party was more than willing to pay for. On the day of the wedding, there were no ushers to guide guests to their seats which caused great confusion. When it came time to set up, Bud would tell us there were rooms, that were not being used adjacent from our hall, that we were not allowed in and offered no alternative for the bride to hide and emerge from so she could remain unseen. During the ceremony, Bud continued to speak over the pastor with a microphone which was extremely awkward and unprofessional. He also did so over the DJ during the bride and groom's first dance. Fast forward to today, a week and a half after the wedding, Bud is now harassing the bride with accusations of theft by a member of the bridal party or one of her guests. There were other (rowdier) functions going on during our event where drunken party-goers were wandering around the entire venue, yet we are the ones being accused of theft. I would never recommend for anyone to get married here, but I urge POC especially to look elsewhere. read more

As a bridesmaid and as a guest. For those of you who believe that "La Mirage" is your wedding venue of your dreams. Please I suggest you take the reviews very seriously and as facts. Michael Schoff aka "Bud" is the most incentive, arrogant, rudest and racist person I have ever have the displeasure to meet. He gives you a tour and tells you everything your heart wants to hear. He paints the picture perfect venue for you and your groom. As soon as he has you sign a contract. The nice, understanding and willing to accommodate goes away. Even with COVID 19. He will add fees that were not discuss with you. He will ask you to pay in cash so that it can't be track. He will even interfere the day of your wedding. Please he will destroy the most important day in your life. This man disrupt the ceremony if he feels the guest are not where they are suppose to be. If the music is too loud for what he thinks is should be, he will unplug your DJ! He does not take your wishes into consideration whatsoever!!! I tried looking this venue up and this man to see if he had any outstanding complaints, and you will be surprised to know that he has been sued in New Haven for what appears to be a breach of contract. That's how I found out his real name. You can't tell the outcome, but from what I read. It looks like he did not win that complaint. Do not fall for this "no site fee" ad!!. That's how he gets you in and then he makes your best day the worst day of your life. read more

I just had my husband's 65th birthday party there. If you want someone who is easy to work with, who will not steer you wrong this is the place. The building is so beautiful not to mention the rooms themselves. The food? OMG to food is fantastic, and a lot of it. I had 93 people and there was enough food for second and third helpings and believe me a lot of people did have second and thirds. I would tell anyone who is looking for a venue for a wedding or banquet to call La Mirage because you will not regret it. Jackie A read more

It was the worst mistake that I have ever made to choose this venue to get married. The venue looks amazing but the management here are thieves!!! They will rob you! They will pinch every penny. Bud and Linda will do anything to get a penny out of you. They make up fees as they go along. When I initially went I told them that I would want to cover the chairs. They said of course. No problem. Once the contract was signed I was told that I either use their old outdated covers or pay the same fee and provide my own covers! That is not in the contract. I had to change my entire color scheme and bridesmaids dresses to accommodate their old ugly silver chairs. Then I felt 10 to a table was too snug for guests. I wanted 8 to a table so guests could have room. Magically another fee not in the contract. $15 per additional table?! I literally had the hardest time planning my wedding and working with these miserable people. So much I didn't want to hear Buds voice. The day of my wedding he didn't even allow my emcee that I hired and paid for to announce the tables. He had his own mic and speaker and made announcements even though I asked that he do not. Then when discussing set up and break down I was told 1 hr for both. When it was time to receive my security deposit he deducted $180 stating that people who took down the extensive decor left at 10:30 and the fee is $120 per hour. Lies!!!! I was told 1 hr for break down. Now you are saying there is no time at all to break down? So you should break down your wedding in the middle while guests are still partying??? I assure you this is not the place to have a wedding. You will regret it. As a bride and groom this should be a happy time. They pretend to be nice here at first but once they have your money they are miserable and will make every attempt to get you for every penny they can. They tried to steal my joy at what should be the happiest time of me and my husbands life . I wish I could give zero stars!!! read more