Harrison House help

Has anybody looked into the Harrison House recently? What did you think? I need to change my hall, and since I'm in Virginia, it's a little hard for me to do any research! If it sounds worthwhile, I can ask my parents to go check it out for me.

Thanks!!!

I went to see the Harrison House and was very impressed when you walk in - the entrance is very grand. It's a nice place if you have a lot of people from out of town since they also have rooms and a bridal suite. They also have a room upstairs for when your party ends and you want to continue having a good time - they have a pool table, bar, juke box, etc. What I didn't like was the set up of the reception room. I will be having a large party (200+) and the seating would not work for me. Since my party would be so large some people would sit in other small little nooks with french doors that open up to my party - I wasn't too crazy about that.

If you party is a smaller size than that and they can all fit in the same area, I think it is definitly worth a look!

Harrison House Brides:

EaD04
ThongLori
julybride444

Hello,

I had my wedding at the Harrison House on July 26th, and it was truly amazing-several people told me it was the best they'd ever been to, and I think they were being honest. The food was great (and I'm quite a food snob), and they catered to us wonderfully, as well as to our guests. I got married outside there and it was lovely.

What I really liked is that I didn't have to go anywhere far after checking in on Friday! There are several nice places in Glen Cove to have rehearsal dinner, so our RD was only 2 miles from the place, the train station is close so people coming from the city took a car service to the hotel, and they have a good brunch buffet on Sunday.

The size of the room can be awkward for large parties IMO. We only had 90 people and it was perfect, but I think up to 150-180 would be ok. Maybe more, but I've seen the room with other weddings in it and the bigger ones always look a little odd. Plus, the cocktail rooms aren't that big so if you get rained in and can't use the outside for cocktail hour that could be prob. w/a big party.

I don't know if you know about my problems, and several other girls' problems, with Bill Kennedy though. Many people have switched after booking with him to Carmela Marrone, and more than one (including me) have come to the manager Chris crying over the way Bill has handled affairs or treated us. He seems perfectly nice at first, but more than one person has contacted me about affairs he's ruined, and he really did treat FH and I aweful. Bill will lie to you about what you'll get that day, 'forget' to put things in your contract, not care if there's another event going on that day, not call you back or be available to meet with, be a jackass to your vendors (some of my vendors that had worked there in the past had choice words to describe him), and overall just not take care of you. You risk stress and disappointment if you do not make sure that Carmela is your event manager....if for some reason you do book with Bill, once you start having problems call the manager-Chris-right away.

That said, Carmela is great and will do a wonderful job for you. Sandy, our maitre d' was awesome. The hotel staff was helpful and accommodating. The Harrison House is beautiful and was a perfect venue for us (we wanted something unique, w/outside space, grand but not as grand as Oheka [we were having a daytime garden wedding that was not black tie]). Also, make sure your sweetheart table is right by the window, it made for lovely pics.

thanks

Oh, just read your post (you posted at the same time as me). What a jerk that guy is! Thanks for the warning!!!!

I also looked at Harrison in May. I ended up booking at Oheka. The prices were very reasonable. I was expecting that it would be about $200+, but they quoted me about $140-$165 pp depending on the month. I met will Bill Kennedy and he seemed like such a nice guy. However, since meeting him, I have heard all of these terrible things from other girls on this site and from vendors.

We thought that they kept up the mansion and outside lawns better than DeSeversky. The food is also supposed to be good.

I did not like the main room. I thought is was awkwardly shaped and I did not like how you could see this ugly building from them. It seemed like the band would be placed in a strange place in the room.

Be careful! They also told me that I would be the only wedding and I could use any or all of the rooms on the first floor. When someone says that, you think you will be the only party. However, my uncle checked it out for a small birthday party for my aunt. They told him that there would be a wedding going on. SO YOU KNOW THAT THAT BRIDE BOOKED THINKING SHE WOULD BE THE ONLY PARTY.

So I think there are some shady things going on there. But it is beautiful.

Annie, I got a great deal b/c we did an afternoon wedding. Call and speak w/Carmela if you're interested in price, and tell her what you can afford and what minimum you could guarantee. We got them to work with us for much under their quoted prices.

Edited to add: they are a conference center. They may have other small things going on during the wedding in small, private rooms. Nothing should be going on anywhere near your event, and nothing of size anyway.....but make SURE.

I am getting at the Harrison House in May.
Despite a few inital problems, I am very happy with my choice- the place i really beautful and it is kept up well. I hear that they are completly redoing the ball room too and it will be ready for next May.

We are having a large wedding- but they did tell us that they can seat 210 people in the main room without having to use the alcove room(we will use this for the band) The problem is keeping the list to 210.

The deciding factor for us was the bar upstairs for sure and the fact that guest can stay right there. You can keep the party going for hours after the reception is over.

Good luck!