Smith Country Gardens

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Smiths – B

My wedding ceremony and reception was held at Smith Country Gardens in Guys Mills, PA. We booked Smith’s the very same day we got engaged. When we looked at it, we knew it was perfect. This proved to be a blessing and a curse. While we loved so much about them, there were some setbacks. Where to begin…hm… Smith’s is owned and primarily operated by Nancy Smith. All of her family helps out and it is a very fun place to be a part of. They are fairly organized and ask all of the preliminary questions at booking. (Ie: date, how many, food choices, colors, etc). Smiths cooks on site: buffet style. They also have a “mini-Michaels” closet where they have thousands of pieces of décor you can look through for your wedding. Nancy also does dress altering (which I had her do, and she did AMAZING!), and also will bake your cake. Her cakes are very fair in price, but I didn’t see any picture that overly impressed me, so I stuck with the cake baker I referred to above. You can opt to have your wedding out back, in a gazebo by a water fountain – or have it elsewhere. We chose to have it outback. The reception is in a huge, beautiful, stark white reception hall. It’s prefect to decorate as you wish, and my photographer loved how bright it was! It can fit up to 300 people I believe. I had 150 or so with ample room! There is also a dressing room for the girls. One major problem with the dressing room is that it is PINK. I mean, pink. The walls are the most awful pink color ever, and almost all of the pictures taken during that time are in black and white. It’s definitely overwhelming and looked terrible with our dresses. This desperately needs to be neutral. We choose our food choices a year in advance and are so glad we stuck with them! The food was a-ma-zing! There were so many compliments about the food I couldn’t keep track. I swear, I am not being biased, but it was the best wedding food I have ever had in my life. Delicious doesn’t even give them credit. I loved working with Smiths and I felt they worked with everything that I wanted, arrangements of tables, food, etc. However, they were rated a B for one single reason: they are exceptionally stuck in their ways and want it done their way. On the wedding day, three of my guests got into tussles with the staff, I raised my voice once, and even the videographer felt their backlash. If I heard the phrase “well, we normally do it this way” one more time that day, I knew I was going to blow my top. They definitely need to work on the understanding that it is the bride and grooms wedding, and it is their day, not the staffs. So, if I wanted my receiving line over hear, instead of over there…..or if I wanted my videographer to stand here, and not there…..be quiet, and go with it! Nothing was event altering, nor should it have mattered to Smiths, but many, many…MANY…things did. I know they just want everything to be perfect, and they truly did an amazing job, but wow, that got old. As far as pricing: the hall rental is one price that you pay upon booking, and then you pay for the food two weeks prior to the event. All of their decorations and set up, and clean up are included. They do a fantastic job at making sure the event runs as smoothly as possible. Smith’s runs as a venue, a caterer, and also a wedding planner. There is no question that I would definitely recommend them to future brides! They were great, just make sure you put your foot down when they’re being pushy. 

Review all of my wedding reviews here: http://www.facebook.com/notes/emily-smith/wedding-vendor-reviews-read-and-pass-it-on/10150554359154028