Montgomery County Park Event Centers Reviews
Reviews
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4.5 out of 5 rating
4.5 out of 5 rating
20 reviews
90% recommend it
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User1817766 Sent on 09/18/2014We had our wedding at The Lodge which is a very cute and inviting log cabin. The grounds are beautiful and clean and it has a very warm feel. We had about 100 guests and there was plenty of room between the tables and enough space for dancing. Another plus was that we were able to choose our vendors and not have to select from a specific list (you'll still need to get a catering license and insurance). Love this place! -
![Maureen]()
Maureen Sent on 10/16/2012We had our reception at the Lodge at Little Seneca Creek and got married on a Sunday. We received a discount since we are Montgomery County Residents and were getting married on a Sunday. We didn't do any decorating of the site and didn't feel it needed any, since it is beautiful as it is. The staff member for the park was there the whole time and helped set up and break down the tables per my floor plan I emailed to them. There wasn't any need to do any extensive talks on the phone. Everything was pretty straight forward and could be handled over email which was perfect for me. Our caterer had already done a wedding at this location so they were familiar with restrictions (no on-site cooking, only warming) and they served as if they had been cooking from start to finish there. Plenty of on site parking too. We had 102 scheduled guests and I wouldn't go above that, especially if you have a buffet and still want ample dance space. We had a sweetheart table which the catering staff moved out of the way once we were done eating. -
![melissa&steven]()
Melissa Sent on 10/11/2010I cannot say enough great things about the Lodge at Little Seneca. First, I fell in LOVE with the huge stone fireplace and that is why I chose this location. As soon as I saw it, I knew that I wanted to be married in front of it. The Lodge is owned by MNCPPC and the staff was terrific. I receieved excellent customer service over the phone, and everytime I went to do a site check Marianna was there to help me. She is the sweetest, friendliest and most helpful lady. She helped us set up the night before (you get 1 free rehearsal hour) and she was helpful the night of the wedding. The lodge was beautiful (just look at my pix!) and the guests enjoyed it. Price was around $2000 for a Saturday during wedding season. Very reasonable. -
![Holly]()
Holly Sent on 06/14/2011The Lodge at Little Seneca Creek was the perfect backdrop for our wedding. I will definitely be hosting events here in the future!! Thanks for making our wedding memorable with your beautiful location. -
![FallBride]()
Fallbride Sent on 11/10/2012We had our wedding reception at the Lodge at Little Seneca Creek. The location was perfect for a fall wedding, the trees around the lodge were already turning orange and yellow making for some great pictures. The inside of the lodge is very open and spacious.
The price for the venue was reasonable, especially compared to other venues in the area. The open houses we attended in the months prior to the wedding were a great help in planning the reception.
One thing to keep in mind is if you're not holding the ceremony here, you are not able to drop off decorations, etc. prior to your scheduled time. Also, to contact them, you are better off calling than emailing. Getting a response from an email can take a while.
Overall we had a great experience at the lodge and would definitely recommend it! -
![Kathryn]()
Kathryn Sent on 12/08/2011This review is for the Lodge at Little Seneca Creek. As soon as we saw the Lodge, we knew it would be the perfect place for us to get married! We wanted our wedding to be cozy and simple, yet also elegant. The Lodge is just that. The beautiful stone fireplace makes the space feel very cozy, and the fact that it used to be a summer camp adds to the simplicity. Also, it is very affordable, especially compared to other venues in the DC area, and there is a discount for people who live in the county.
Another thing we liked about the Lodge was that it was a blank slate. You need to bring everything in – including the caterer and rental equipment. We liked this, because we were able to work with the caterer to put together a menu that we loved (rather than choosing options from a package like we would have at many other venues). We also loved that we could decorate the space how we wanted. We chose to decorate with lots of lanterns, pinecones, acorns, chalkboards, votives, and café lights, which all worked really well with the rustic feel. We also had mulled wine as our signature drink and various types of pie rather than cake for our dessert.
We did need to be creative at times to make the space truly work for us. For example, we had 114 guests, which was very close to their maximum capacity (120). The Lodge is not a huge place, so we were worried about fitting everyone and everything in the room for dinner. That said, we opted to have the cocktail hour outside on the back deck (we rented heaters since we got married in November and the weather ended up being perfect for this!) We also opted to move one table to the side after dinner to allow for more room on the dance floor. This made the space feel larger. Secondly, we ended up needing to get a wedding planner, since there isn’t really a person on site on the Lodge to do all the set-up. We really feel that having a planner is a must, unless you have lots of friends and family to help set-up and/or aren’t planning to bring in many decorations.
The Lodge does have one person on-site – Marianna. Marianna is wonderful! She clearly understands that it is a special day for the couple, and she will work with you as much as she possibly can. She really is the sweetest person, although somewhat disorganized. We felt like she was genuinely happy for us! The staff at the Event Center office is a bit more gruff. I recommend trying to get in touch with Tina who seems to be a bit more courteous.
Overall, we would highly, HIGHLY recommend the Lodge as a wedding venue!!! We loved having our first dance in front of the fireplace, (which had a fire going!) and the cocktail hour was wonderful on the back deck. Also, the log cabin feel makes the space feel charming and romantic. We got so many compliments from our guests about the space – they really seemed to enjoy the uniqueness of it. It truly is a memorable venue!
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![jkhogan]()
Jennifer Sent on 05/11/2012This review is for the Lodge at Little Seneca Creek. I recently got married at the Lodge a few weeks ago and first fell in love with it during my time on the Brides on the Bus event (which I HIGHLY recommend). The place is absolutely amazing and perfect for the wedding we were going to have, "rustic" theme and worked well with our guest count (we had roughly 100 guests). One thing that was awesome about the place was that we were allowed to bring in a lot of our decorations the night before during rehearsal and were able to set up the lights and everything during that time.
On the other hand I did have an issue with getting in touch with Marianna. We had called multiple times to confirm the rehearsal time and because we were not able to get a hold of Marianna, we were stuck talking to the main office for the Montgomery County Park center and they told us that if there was an event on Friday, they were going to cancel our rehearsal. What is that!? Another instance that frustrated me: We had called on a Sunday to confirm that we were meeting up with Marianna to look at the Lodge one last time before the wedding to get last minute photos of the Lodge. We confirmed, drove an hour and a half there and a wedding was being set up. I called and called and called to figure out why they would send us to the Lodge for an appointment when a wedding was going on----and the front desk was neither helpful nor polite. Finally we bumped in Marianna, who said to just come in and take the photos as the groom that day was walking around. Needless to say, we just walked back to the car out of respect for their wedding.
As far as looks and price goes, I would recommend this venue in an instant. As far as service and getting in touch with the managers, I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone who wants them to be on top of their game. -
![Kesha]()
Kesha Sent on 09/25/2011This review is for Woodlawn Manor. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and made for amazing wedding pictures. The representatives were also very flexible and nothing was missing on our wedding day. I'm giving this vendor high marks, but with a couple caveats. During the ceremony, you could hear people in the background yelling and screaming. It was extremely distracting to my husband and I (especially when reading our vows) but many of the guests said it was faint. After the ceremony, we found out that another wedding party came to the venue to take pictures. The representative on site for Woodlawn explained to us that the property by the horses was public and outside people can come and do whatever they want--although we paid for the property!! Second issue: The tent provided is very nice and it is advertised as being able to fit 120 people. Indeed, it fits 120 people, but that's without a dancefloor. We had to rent an extension tent when we found this out about a month before the wedding, and it would have been nice to know this information beforehand since most weddings require a dancefloor.
We're still extremely happy that our venue was Woodlawn Manor due to its laid back atmosphere and beautiful grounds. We would recommend this venue. -
![Sarah]()
Sarah Sent on 10/12/2012I absolutely loved having my wedding at the Lodge at Little Seneca Creek and if I went back in time I would still have my wedding there. The location is gorgeous, in good condition, and the chairs and tables they provide are all high quality. The setting is different from your typical ballroom wedding, and it's uniqueness really drew my husband and I to chose it. Our pictures are amazing-- we went back into the creek area to get really cool outdoorsy photos and the pictures inside the Lodge came out great as well. However, there are a few things I wish I had thought harder about ahead of time.
The setbacks of the Lodge:
-Limited setup time. You only get an 8-hour block of rental time, and even though they only schedule 1 event a day, you can't setup before your rental time starts. Additionally, you have to pay extra if you want to leave anything there overnight. I ended up having to hire a coordinator to do all my setup and cleanup, which worked out well, but wasn't something I was originally planning on. The timing would have made it impossible for me to manage that setup and cleanup on my own.
-Not much provided. You have to rent your own dishes, tablecloths, glassware, etc. There are lots of other venues like this, and they clearly state it upfront, but I didn't plan ahead how expensive all that stuff would be and in the end, it made me feel like the Lodge was not as good a value as I originally thought.
Those are really the only cons I can think of, but as long as you know that you will be dealing with them from the outset, they are not big hurdles!
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