The Lace Factory

I loved working with Andrea and Cloud Nine Catering. They have a very down to earth feel and their personalities very well meshed with mine and my husband’s. Above all, the food was delicious and we got a lot of good feedback about it at the wedding. Everyone said something along the lines of… «You know wedding food is just wedding food but the food here is great!» This company is so accommodating to the bride and groom. Went above my expectations.
I have allergies to several foods, and so do some of the guests. They made sure to accommodate everyone. For example, I’m allergic to carrots but not severely, and I didn’t want to bother them by taking the carrots out of my meal, but Andrea went ahead and said she’d make me whatever I wanted.
All the guests who interacted with the staff and Andrea said they added to the vibe of fun and relaxation.
Many people said that our wedding was talked about for weeks. It was such a great day.

I was sure that I would have my wedding reception at The Lace Factory based on the photos and positive reviews I’d read from other brides. The venue itself is absolutely breathtaking. The biggest downfall about the venue is the parking — there are only 42 spaces. During peak season, brides can hire the Essex Steam Train to bring guests to The Lace Factory for an additional cost ~$ 1,500. This is a great option if you have the money to spend, however the train does not run during the month I was hoping to have my wedding, so the parking was really an issue for us.
My main issues with this venue don’t have anything to do with the venue itself:
1.)There is no beer on tap. Everything is bottled and the choices remind me more of a frat party than a wedding (think Coors Light, Miller Light, etc). My fiancé and father are beer aficionados and the beer selection alone turned us off from using this venue. You are able to bring in a case of beer of your choice, but that is not sufficient for our group of people.
2.) I have a gluten allergy and when I asked about accommodating this, the owner of the venue (who is also the owner of the exclusive catering company used at this venue) rolled her eyes at me and said it was really difficult to work with gluten free foods. I do not choose to have this allergy and I would really like to be able to enjoy the food I am paying so much money for. This was a huge disappointment (especially because the venue we DID end up choosing has been utterly fantastic with my allergy).
3.) The owner was very unprofessional during our visit. We waited outside the venue for 10 minutes past our appointment time despite knocking several times. Once inside, she gave us a brief overview of the history of the venue. She spent quite a bit of time on her phone as we walked around and honestly we felt like we were inconveniencing her by being there for a tour. We’d been to other venues and each time the person giving us a tour gave us information on the venue (even if they’d previously sent me information in the mail or via email). We did not receive anything like that at The Lace Factory, nor did we really receive any verbal information without explicitly asking a question. It was almost as if she took the attitude «Well I already sent this to you, so you shouldn’t have any questions.»
We walked away from our tour very disappointed. It was not a difficult decision to make — we knew the second we left we would not be having our reception there. It was a huge letdown. If the parking and beer issues were not enough to seal the deal for us, the lack of customer service most certainly was.