TERRIBLE MANAGEMENT ATTITUDE AND UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES

Be careful with this place. They come on super-friendly and strong at the beginning, will promise you all sorts of "flexibility" and "great customer service", but their contract is written in a very unfair and lop-sided manner. If you have any changes - even something as simple as changing the brand of wine - expect a "no" and a hostile attitude.

They put a lot of pressure on us to put a down payment up front. But verbal promises were not honored in our case, and fair dealings with this venue were not possible. The owner quickly became hostile and defensive toward us. He then withheld all deposit money without providing any service, even in the case of a rebooking. He told us he would not return our deposit (OVER $4K) because he could not get another event. However, he got another event very shortly afterward, and he STILL refuses to return any of our money.

He is a former law enforcement officer with an attitude, not the type of person you would expect to be hosting weddings. The owner was very intimidating with us and treated us mercilessly.

If you insist this is the place to get married, here are some tips:

1) Read all the reviews. Two on TripAdvisor (and one on CitySearch) are from a wedding that was cut short by two hours, a bridesmaids arm was roughed up and the bride left the house in tears;

2) Another one on Citysearch is from a photographer who photographed FIVE weddings at the house and had a negative experience every time.

3) One on TheKnot forums had the same experience we did, experiencing outright deception. She was fortunate not to have put down any money.

4) Make sure to read (and sleep on) their contract -- and get a copy of EVERYTHING Joel Hurley promises you in writing. The only reason we signed the contract that night was that he promised that he was "all about customer service", he "treated people well" and he would be completely "flexible" and we "could trust him".

All that turned out to be false when we simply asked to change the brand of wine (they insist on serving Cycles Gladiator which sells for $6.98 / bottle, while charging $17.50 per guest for wine).

5) Save your food tasting for the very last minute. They will require more money from you then, and you may never see it again if you have any concerns or changes at all. Make sure you do the food tasting though, and that the food you are actually going to serve is what you taste. We were told we would be tasting the food at our reception when we came for "dinner" but it was different items when we got there. Additionally, it was poorly spiced and made both of us feel sick after eating it.

6) Don't succumb to the pressure! They may try to "upsell" you at the beginning on size of your wedding, etc. and then charge you for an event much larger than you planned. If you reduce the size of your event they may not reduce your deposit (or return any of it).

If you are looking for nice, friendly, and fair people to host your wedding - who will respect the the quality of your experience - Woodall house is not the place. Joel will use his contract to stick it to you if your situation or plans change at all, even if he books another event to replace yours. We lost over $4K and were provided nothing but horrible service and a nasty attitude.

Additionally, he continually tries to intimidate us into not even posting a negative review. This is a very unfortunate place ... the only beauty about it is the interior of the house. The service is horrific. There are much better places in Johnston County who will treat you better.