Grand Ridge Manor

We had our wedding on September 5, 2015 at the Grand Ridge Manor. It is a relatively new venue within the Greater Seattle area and you can definitely see the place in which they have room to grow/​Below are the pros and cons of using the venue for your ceremony/​reception:
PROS:
— The setting/​scenery is very difficult to beat. Even though it rained during our reception we have received multiple compliments on how nice the venue looked.
— If you want to have full control over a wedding where you plan literally every last detail then the operators of the venue are definitely not going to get in your way.
CONS:
— PLANNING: As noted above, the venue operators are very hands off when it comes to planning the wedding. If you are not prepared to have details like what type of plates and silverware you want… then this venue is not for you.
— COMMUNICATION: We sent our deposit and set the date in September 2014. We did not hear from the venue or the operators until March of 2015. This is despite the fact that I (and others in the family) had started calling/​emailing them the first week of January 2015. In the 12 months that we did business with the venue there was not one phone call that returned (this is not an exaggeration).
— EXCUSES: Following up on the lack of communication, during the 12 months we worked with them their: voicemail system, email system, phone system somehow «unexpectedly went down» during times in which we would try and reach them. There was even a point in February where the website (they can’t even maintain a Twitter or Instagram) went down and there was real concern that the owners had skipped town with our money.
— DELAYS: You’re expected to pay the rest of your balance 60 days prior to the date of your ceremony. When I reached out to them to find out where to send the check it took 30 days for them to give me an answer. While it was nice to have an extra $ 5,000 in my account it was a of their disorganized process. This ended up hurting us after the ceremony when they were two weeks late to returning our security deposit… not surprisingly, there had been an «unexpected issue» with their accountant AND they had a check get «lost in the mail».
— CLEANLINESS: The inside of the house (specifically the Groom’s suite) is just flat out dirty. It seems like a venue would hire a maid service to come in and clean up before each event, but apparently not. The poker table is sticky, the mini fridge had hair in it. When we had previewed the venue in September I had noticed cigarettes still in ashtrays and things like that which should have been another big red flag.
— FOOD: When you use GRM you are required to use Emerald Cove Catering (they are owned by some of the same people). For the first tasting, we were told at 1pm to meet in Issaquah at 4pm the same day (apparently there had been an email issue and thats why they invited everyone so late). So, we skipped that one and went to the second tasting. Overall, the food was average at the tasting and there was very little direction on how to plan a menu. The other couples said that at the previous tasting the food wasn’t even things on the companies published menus and you could see that it really confused them. I’ve planned menus in the past and ended up sending a special menu for our event. Fortunately, the cost was surprisingly reasonable. However, due to the rain that night it wasn’t executed well and our buffet came out piece meal throughout the night.
— DECOR: When getting the estimate for the food we specifically asked if it included plates, glasses and silverware. Their response was that it was all included and the cups would be plastic. So, we decided to rent glasses and went on our way. The day of the wedding as we were setting up (so 12:00 for a 6:00 reception) we saw that they had plastic knives and forks as well as little tiny cake sized plastic plates. My mom said that this wasn’t acceptable and they needed to help find a solution. They went away for a few hours and then around 300 started setting back up with the plastic items. This forced us to run to the local Fred Meyer and buy all the silverware they had. I’m sure there is an argument that it was our fault for not getting them to specifically describe all parts of the décor… so let it be a lesson that you need to ask about EVERYTHING (one shouldn’t assume that if you’re paying $ 7500 for a venue they would assume you don’t want to have plastic cake plates for your dinner course).
FINAL THOUGHT: At the end of the day… the venue (at least the outside part) is great and if you have the time and resources to plan your perfect wedding without any help from the venue operators then you should be fine. However, it is a very, very high wire to walk across and if you don’t ask a simple question like: «are the plates you are providing plastic cake plates?» then your stressful event can become even more stressful as you start having to troubleshoot at the last minute. Message me w/?

Beautiful grounds — my daughters wedding was SO MUCH FUN — the staff was so accommodating considering the weather was not behaving and we had to switch everything around at the last minute. Everything was as it should be and the wedding was BEAUTIFUL. To top it off the staff let of beautiful fireworks as the bride and groom drove off for the evening… what a great end to a wonderful day =)

Best day of our lives… but buyer beware of The Grand Ridge.
Lesa is by far the worst «wedding planner» or «grounds attendant» in the business. One specific issue was that the space can easily hold up to 300 – 400 guests but the tent on site was only large enough for 150. That would be fine… had we not been quoted for a 2^nd tent, paid and then the tent was «given/​used or resold» to another wedding party the next weekend.
1. Forget the tasting, you are required to use Emerald City Catering but will be made to feel like a criminal if you ask to taste specific items. We were told by staff «If you like the chicken, you can assume the beef would be great as well». We were told we would be charged for any additional tastings.
2. We supplied our own alcohol, we were told that we could have 2 signature drinks. guest were refused the scotch and one guest had to beg for a snoot for my groom. The bar opened BOTH magnums of scotch but did not pour so we were unable to return. Guests were also refused refills of wine at their tables– again, not our wishes.
3. 220 mercury glass votives were mysteriously missing at the end of the evening
4. we were quoted $ 250 for the bridal suite, then told by Lisa it would be $ 500, then it was comped at the last minute. The next morning staff was on site to ensure we had left the premise.
5. Air conditioning broken, bridal suite unbelievably hot
6. We had purchased water for our guests and none was given out prior to the ceremony as instructed.
7. Cake topper was destroyed/​thrown away/​missing
I could go on and on and on.
Extremely unfortunate since this place is absolutely breathtaking. It is unfortunate that the service was so poor and criminal. Whomever owns the place needs to get the most top notch business professional in there quickly in order to turn around the slippery path going downward fast.

The location is beautiful, there is not doubt about that, but he quality of service was very low. I paid a lot for my few hours at this location, I would have expected better attention to detail, responsiveness, and quality. I was very disappointed in how the house was still dirty from a previous event, my parents had to help clean before they could even decorate.
The lady that I was in contact from the beginning decided to quit a few months before, so I had someone else from that point and she was so unresponsive about just about everything! I had emailed, called, texted, and no response for days, including on the day of my wedding when no one was there when we needed to get into the building!
The woman who was supposed to give me a key code the night before didn’t even call me until 30 after our start time that was contracted for us to be in the building, when she did show up, she left after 15 mins and left a note for me, the bride, with my hair dresser who was the only one there at that point. She didn’t even wait for me to make sure things were taken care of.
Overall for the amount that I paid, I am VERY DISAPPOINTED and wouldn’t have chosen this location, even though the house is beautiful, the lack of service is NOT worth it.