The Boma Lodge Reviews
Reviews
3.6 out of 5 rating
3.6 out of 5 rating
15 Reviews
72% recommend it
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![Tiffay]()
Tiffay S. Sent on 05/26/2023Perfect Woodland Wedding
My daughter had the rehearsal dinner and fairytale wedding of her dreams at The Boma Lodge last week. This hidden gem is tucked away in the woods right here in Rockingham County! Cornel, the owner, has many years of experience with wedding planning. I was so grateful for her expertise that came along with the venue. She made our wedding planning much easier. We could not have picked a more perfect place for my daughter’s dream wedding. We had around 105 guests which I think was the perfect number for our intimate experience. -
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Emily S. Sent on 05/27/2023
Perfect Venue
The owner Cornel is super nice and the place is beautiful. The land is perfect. It was super hot on our wedding day but the ceremony deck was shaded by the trees and it couldn’t have been more perfect. The reception area worked great and there are many good places for pictures. -
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Amanda Sent on 10/11/2017BonaManzee is so beautiful and full of charm! I absolutely adore the owners! They really went above and beyond to make sure our wedding was perfect and went out of their way to help all of our vendors and guests with anything they needed. I couldn't be more grateful, truly. You can't beat the price for such a gorgeous atmosphere and amazing owners. I recommend everyone to use this venue for any event!!!!
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User2051341 Sent on 02/25/2015beautiful place very friendly people afforadable i loved it it was amazing -
User1876568 Sent on 10/21/2014Beautiful venue and beautiful family that owns it. they helped make our day perfect. very reasonably priced, includes table and chairs! -
User2635736 Sent on 06/06/2016We looked at several other venues before deciding on Bonamanzee and the biggest deciding factor was how original and unique Bonamanzee was. We knew we wanted to get married outside but unfortunately most outdoor venues, around here, have a country feel and that's just not me. With Bonamanzee you still get the relaxed outdoor atmosphere without having to wear coyboy boots. Everything was so simple and natural looking that it made decorating a breeze. Both Cornel and her husband were quick to assist with decorating (we did not use a planner and they are not coordinators) and setup however they could. They were very helpful during the whole process and will give you a list of vendors that have worked there before. They are very quick to return phone calls and few days for emails. I would highly recommend this venue and would be happy to go back if I needed an outdoor space again.
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C Sent on 04/05/2018A wonderful location in the lush center of Rockingham County....Cornel and Hardy are both a joy to work with in every aspect. Our daughter fell in love with the venue after one visit and there was no real reason to look elsewhere. The happy couple were wed on site in October of 2017.
Bonamanzee is lovely, serene, and absolutely beautiful. The property will always inspire lovely memories in this families heart.
Cheers! and many happy returns from the Owens' and the Ferguson's -
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![Wynnie]()
Wynnie Sent on 07/13/2019Beautiful place, subpar management
The venue itself is gorgeous. A beautiful place to get married. The owners are not super prepared or organized. They are kind and all, however, they were not quick to respond. I wanted an all inclusive package as advertised, but they were always so wishy washy with pricing. I did not even know the final costs until basically the week of my wedding. And if I had known what I would be paying for so little (because I ended up having to do everything myself since they did nothing), I may have gone with a different venue. It caused me a lot of stress. -
![Christy]()
Christy W. Sent on 03/15/2024Didn't even get to see it
I waited weeks to see this venue and was canceled on at the very last minute. I expressed how tight our schedule is with wedding planning and looking for a house at the very beginning, and I wasn't even given the benefit of a notice i actually was the one to reach out to confirm it was still even a thing 🙃 very poor managementThe Boma Lodge's reply:
I am sorry that it happened. There is always things that happens in life that none of us have any control over such as a death in the family. It is always so sad for me when people put there own likes and dislikes above other people, or rather when things like this happens to you, it is okay but when it happens to another you see all the mistakes and wrong doings.
Then the sad thing about this situation you did not even know the reason, you just jumped to your own conclusion why I it happened and then immediately decided to slam me on a media site. It just fascinate me how easy people can slam others on this sites without taking a minute to think how it will affect that person and how will you react if someone is doing it to you.
Apparently you only consider yourself and the injustice that is done to you by putting this on a media site for everybody to see and how bad I am to cancelled and how poor my management is.
It is quit bold of you to make a statement like this taking in account that we only talk on email and as far as I know I was always prompt in responding to your emails.
So let me understand this correctly just because I cancelled the appointment for a very valid reason and that I can not make YOUR APPOINTMNET WITH YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE and without any KNOWLEDGE why I did it, it is poor management from my side.
Frankly, looking at how you handled this, as well as how you belittled my work ethic with no grounds to say something like this, my only advice is, actually no advice because I am not sure it will make any impact.
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![Kale]()
Kale J. Sent on 10/11/2023Horrible, Poor Management, Wish-Washy
I had a wedding here within the last 3 years. The property is great, and if your wedding is 115 people and less then it would be a good venue for you. With that being said, this is the perfect venue if you can get past the rude, unnecessary, disrespectful, distasteful owner Cornel. She made my experience hell. If it weren’t for friends, family, and my great vendors - I would’ve had the WORST wedding day experience ever. So brides and grooms, make sure you have someone that can be that middle man or better yet just avoid this place and her at all costs.
Nothing about her or her contract was professional. Last minute fees, changes, etc. and her only response to us pushing back was “if you don’t like it, you can have your wedding somewhere else” - she said this literally 3 days before the wedding. AND STILL WANTED US TO PAY HER THE FULL AMOUNT. Luckily, that middle person was able to talk to her and resolve the issue.
I’m glad some of these people who have reviewed have had great experiences, but overall I would not recommend this place to anyone. It’s important that future couples know this place is not all sunshine and happiness, there can potentially be some major issue you run into once that contract is signed.The Boma Lodge's reply:
It really surprises me that you only write a review now after 3 years. I am really confused that you are still so unhappy after this period of time. I think just this action of yours speaks for itself.
If I remembered correctly I think you where even unhappy with a hole lot of things even before the wedding.
I am just a regular person that happens to have a venue to try and make things as nice as possible for brides to remember their day.
The sad thing is that there are people that think they can treat you disrespectfully and rude and you just have to take it because you are the business owner. Always remember ever action have a reaction. Because there are too many people that think just because they are paying for something it does not matter how they treat the people giving them the service.
I am known to be very considered and respectful towards all people. I am DEFINATELY not disrespectful towards people, I maybe straight forward but not disrespectful.
If I was straight forward to you then that means that you where definitely not courteous and respectful towards me at all, actually you where not even friendly. I also remembered that you actually screamed at be over the phone. I have never had a bride treating me like this.
So this being said. As I remembered correctly, it was the biggest struggle for me to get paid by you guys, 7 O'clock the night of the rehearsal you still did not pay me. I also remember that you refused to talk to me at all. Actually you where so rude to other vendors that they actually refused to work with you anymore. Apart from all this you where continuously trying to get money out of me and have so many excuses why I had to give you all this freebies. You actually cost me $600 that I had to pay out of my pocket.
I am really sorry about this. I can just hope that you find peace in your heart and let the things go that just makes you so unhappy. -
![Kristen]()
Kristen Sent on 06/07/2019No Professionalism
We would have recommended this venue to anyone before the wedding. But after the wedding, we'd say spend the extra money and have your wedding elsewhere. After the owners got their final check from us, their attitudes changed completely. The day of the rehearsal (the day before the wedding), we told the owner we would happily come set up the tables (because who wants to do that the actual morning of the wedding?). We got there and I called her and asked if she was there only to be told that she wasn't feeling well and didn't want to put up the tables. That was completely fine because we were there to do that, so it worked out perfectly! The main reason we wanted to put up the tables early was because when we first met with the owners, we were told they could easily seat 150 people at the reception area, only to be told the week of the wedding that they only had 15 tables that could only fit 8 people at them (that only adds up to 120 people). So again, we wanted to make sure we KNEW that our 3 rented tables + their 15 tables would actually fit at the reception site. When the owner finally came down, we were told we would only "mess up the tables and not put them where they were supposed to go". Long story short, she ended up finally letting us help her put the tables up but they had to be where SHE put them, not where the family who paid to rent the place wanted them. She ended up putting our three rented tables right in front of the DJ area where if anyone would have sat, they would've left with busted ear drums. The owner went back up into the house and between the people who actually paid for the venue, we decided we didn't want our guests to be miserable by the DJ area and moved the tables where we wanted originally wanted them and they fit great! When we went back the next morning for the day of the wedding, the owner had moved the tables back to where she had placed them and then argued with the family of the bride that they had to remain where she had put them. After the argument, the owner finally agreed to leave the tables as the family wanted them.
The wedding went completely fine and we didn't hear from the owners throughout the night though they did fully indulge themselves in our drinks. By the end of the night, we were told by one of the owners that everything was perfect, the guests were great, the wedding was the classiest one ever held there, etc. etc. We were willing to put the rudeness of the "table fiasco" behind us and even texted the owners to tell them thank you for letting us use their place for the wedding.
Upon returning from our honeymoon, our family and friends began telling us what actually happened throughout the day as well as after the wedding.
Unbeknownst to the bride and groom, throughout the night the owners were telling guests to stop using the upstairs bathroom (for no reason other than that they could) despite them telling the mother of the bride that guests were more than welcome to use both the downstairs and upstairs bathrooms.
After the bride and groom left, the owners attitudes completely changed (again). Upon cleaning up the venue, family of the bride and groom were told they must take the trash bags out of the trash cans (provided by the venue) and take the trash home. What kind of venue that costs in the $3000 range doesn't even throw away the trash that's already in trash bags in the venues' trash cans?!
While cleaning up the bridal suite, an 8 year old was helping and one of the owners was loudly cursing about what still needed to be cleaned up. This was still WELL before the 11:00 pm deadline that we were given when we signed the contract. She is only 8 and obviously told her parents what had occurred because she was as shocked as the others in the room at how rude he was.
Also upon cleaning up, the owners tried to make the family feel guilty for still being there (BEFORE the deadline) by saying they were "tired because they had a wedding planned each weekend until November 8th". So sorry that they were there cleaning up (in order to get the $500 security deposit back) after a wedding at your WEDDING venue. They even turned off the outside lights while the family was still cleaning up (again.. still before 11:00).
These are just a few of the things we ran into after giving the owners their check. There were plenty more and if you'd like to know more, please feel free to contact me personally. I completely understand that this is the owners' home and they open it up to guests weekly and that they should have a say in what goes on there. However, if you're not even going to lift a finger throughout the process, I don't think you have the right to be rude to the same people who are paying to use your venue about where the tables should be placed.
Obviously this post is long but I don't want anyone else to go through what we and our families went through on what otherwise would've been a completely stress-free day. I would not recommend this venue to ANYONE. Yes, it's beautiful but the headache you and your family will deal with (even on the day of the wedding) makes it not worth a single penny.
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