Andrea K. Sent on 09/05/2024

5 out of 5 rating

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Truly the Best Venue in the Fraser Valley

My heart swells every time I think about my wedding day, and a huge part of that is the incredible wedding venue and team at Ripples Estate Winery. From the moment we stepped onto the property, we felt drawn into the cozy patio, the beautiful ceremony gardens, and the whimsical greenhouse space of the reception venue. We dreamed of a space that felt romantic and intimate and this venue hits the mark. There is no corner of the venue that isn't picturesque. We got married October 2023 and had the perfect fall colors and made for beautiful photos. From when we booked to our big day, email communication was timely and clear, there is a great website that allows you to browse and price out their options, and pamphlets with suggested vendors and information that made wedding planning easy. Both Caroline and Marni answered every question and met with us multiple times to ensure everything smoothly. There was not a moment of stress on the day as they followed all my directions and timeline perfectly. All décor was set up beautiful and exactly how I envisioned. My biggest suggestion is to place your trust in them as they delivered above and beyond. The clean up service was incredibly convenient as we showed up the next day with everything nicely boxed up and clean. Our guests still rave about the kind staff, the beautiful venue, and the incredible cocktails and wine (the Foley white wine and the Mango Mojito were top hits)! Thank you again Caroline, Marni, and the whole team who were a part of our day. We love getting to go back now and sit on the patio and relive our magical day.

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The Secret Garden at Ripples Winery's reply:

It makes us so happy to know that we helped make your day so perfect Andrea. We are blessed with fabulous, hardworking staff, but couples like you make our job so enjoyable. Thank you for the feed back, I will pass along to all the staff that contributed to your day. I'm sure you will have a wonderful life together.

Chris R. Sent on 31/10/2023

5 out of 5 rating

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This venue is top notch!

This is our 3rd wedding at this beautiful venue. All 3 of our daughters have had their weddings here. Once we found Caroline and her fabulous team, not to mention, stunning venue, there was no other place for us for a wedding. We highly recommend this wonderful garden for your special day!

The Secret Garden at Ripples Winery's reply:

Thank you Chris. It's always a pleasure to have you and your lovely daughters here. Guarantied a great day and a fun party. Too bad you don't have anymore kids, but I saw a whole possie of grandkids......

Rebecca S. Sent on 20/08/2023

5 out of 5 rating

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Best venue ever

The secret garden was a dream venue. All our guests raved about the location being so romantic and beautiful. We had many out of town guests who had never been and were so surprised by the beauty. The plants, garden, pond and tent were stunning. Onto the staff. I’ve seen a few reviews saying communication was lacking. That was not the case for us. Communication was great. I emailed any small question and received my answers within a day. Any phone call was answered. Loved working with Caroline, Marti and everyone else. I had a binder of pictures and plans to follow and it was completed perfectly. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful . Anyone could answer our questions. This made for a great day and an awesome experience. I also loved how the whole venue was wheelchair accessible with options for entry to the ceremony and ramps to the washroom. Would recommend this place to any bride or groom to be ! I will upload pics when I get them.

The Secret Garden at Ripples Winery's reply:

We are so glad you had a great day, It's what we all work hard for and when it all comes together and everyones is happy, wow, what a great feeling. We particularly enjoyed working with the Dads setting up in the morning. What a hoot. It helps that you were so organized, Rebecca, but it was so heartwarming to see how your Dad was so concerned about getting all the details right. Lovely!! We wish you both well.

Emma B. Sent on 17/08/2023

5 out of 5 rating

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The wedding of my dreams!!

just now
NEW
If I could rate Ripples Winery/ the Secret Garden wedding venue a 6/5 I would. Carolyn and her staff were absolutely incredible and hosted the wedding of my dreams! The ceremony was absolutely stunning and the party after was even better. Not to mention the whole venue is incredibly picturesque with multiple spots for the most beautiful photos. Carolyn and her staff handled everything, and made sure that everything was taken care of. The whole day went more smoothly than I could have ever imagined. I was worried about the heat, and while the ceremony was warm (as outside weddings in August will be) the reception area totally cooled down by dinner/dancing time. A special thank you to our bartenders, servers, and day of coordinator, Mardi, as we were a large and rowdy crowd that liked to party and the staff worked hard all night making sure that drinks were being served quickly, tables cleared, and everything was going according to plan. If you are thinking of having your wedding at Ripples you are not making a mistake. It was the wedding of my dreams followed by a whole night of dancing, and fun! Thank you again Ripples Winery!

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The Secret Garden at Ripples Winery's reply:

Emma, we so enjoyed hosting your wedding. You and your family were fabulous to work with. Yes they did like to PARTY!!! But such great people and so much fun! I'm so glad we were able to give you the day of your dreams.

Roxanne Sent on 16/08/2023

2 out of 5 rating

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Beautiful Venue Space but Organization & Services were Disappointing

I honestly wasn’t going to write a review because even just thinking about our experience there just drains my energy, but it’s been really bothering us how things were handled and I just want our voice to be heard and for prospective clients to be prepared if they do decide to book with this venue. Sorry, this is a long one.

Very gorgeous venue, but there were more than a handful of events that happened that were very disappointing and could have easily been prevented or fixed. I’m not going to list every single thing, but these were the significant events that transpired.

When we originally booked with them, they took our deposit and gave us confirmation on a specific date only to be informed the next day that someone had already booked that day and that we would need to find a different date. We were in communication with them for about a month before they accepted our deposit and not once was it mentioned that another couple had booked our preferred date. We told them that they should have informed us before accepting our deposit because we would have kept looking at other venues. They did not apologize and told me it was first-come-first serve which of course we understood, but they should have never given us confirmation and taken our deposit in the first place. We ended up settling on a different day, but this was pretty much our first impression of their communication & organization.
From this initial experience, we actually decided to hire a day-of-coordinator because we didn’t have confidence with the venue’s operation; their email responses were quite slow and we usually wouldn’t know who we were speaking to because they often wouldn't include their name at the end of the emails. We emailed them quite often only because there were many information discrepancies between their online planning sheet, contract, and online private website for clients that we needed to confirm. Information like the bridal suite hours, number of guests per table, mics available with their PA system, etc. Little details that make a big difference when planning a wedding and should be very clear on their online platforms.
During our decor consultation about 3 months before our wedding, we asked the lady who was helping us what the responsibilities of the event coordinator were that was included with the venue as it wasn’t clear on their website. She said they were responsible for things such as being the main point of contact with the vendors, making sure late guests enter the ceremony smoothly, making sure bride & groom are fed, schedule is on time, etc. etc. She listed responsibilities that were almost identical to the responsibilities of the day-of-coordinator that we hired, so we decided to cancel that service as we felt it would have been more complicated if two people were responsible for doing the same things.

Fast forward to the wedding day. We had children invited to our reception and on the online planning sheet (which was to be finalized the Wednesday prior to the wedding date), it said that they had 4 high chairs available. We needed 5, but we wrote on there that we would get one family member to bring their own. When we dropped off our decorations in the morning, the coordinator said that they only had 1 high chair available. She said something along the lines of “It’s not a big deal, we had the same situation last week and the couple just got their guests to bring their own high chairs.” We were given a very detailed online planning sheet to fill out with a deadline a couple days before the wedding day… I’m not even sure if they looked at that sheet, because I would assume that they would have otherwise informed us ahead of time so that we could get guests prepared. Also, if this exact scenario happened a week ago, they should have updated the information on the planning sheet right away? We had guests coming from different countries and it is not that easy to bring a high chair to the venue. We ended up making it work, but I felt embarrassed asking our guests at the last minute to bring their own high chairs when they were told that they would be provided.
The most significant situation that happened was just before the ceremony. My bridesmaids and I were in the bridal suite waiting for all the guests to arrive. We needed a bit of help with getting the guests to take their seats and guiding them to the ceremony space. My MOH went to the front counter to ask for the event coordinator’s help, who was Caroline that day. Caroline told her that she was only responsible for managing the vendors and that she was just a “liaison” for our own day-of-coordinator. We were all shocked and started to panic. We were given different information from the person who did our first decor consultation and we ended up not having a DOC that day. Luckily, my bridesmaids stepped up and adapted quickly and divided their responsibilities for the rest of the day. The misinformation we received had such a huge impact on our day. I would have been more than happy to have kept the DOC we originally hired and for our wedding party to just enjoy the day without worrying about responsibilities.

Something small that bothered my husband and I during our reception was while we were eating. Caroline came up to us to water our glasses and asked how we were doing. She didn’t introduce herself, but I asked if she was Caroline. She said yes and then told us that the music was too loud. I told her that she can talk to the DJ and ask him to turn it down… We were both confused why she would tell us directly and not the vendor or the person who we assigned on the planning sheet as the main point of contact. We are the bride and groom eating dinner at our reception during a very overwhelming day. Did she want us to go up to the DJ ourselves and ask them to turn it down? What was the point of filling out the online planning sheet when it seemed like nothing was read by the coordinators.

The last frustrating event that happened was trying to get all of our decoration items back. We opted-in for the clean-up service which allowed us to leave all of our decorations as well as any leftover cake overnight to be picked up the next day. For our table decorations, we decided to do a mixture between venue and client provided items. We were told on our second decor consultation that they don’t usually do mixed decorations but it would not be a problem as long as we added the clean-up service and provided them with a list of items that we’ve brought in which we did. We emailed them to get confirmation how the clean-up service worked and we were told to just show up back at the reception space the next day between certain hours and everything would be packed up and ready for pick up. Great. We relayed the information to my family members as my husband and I took the next day to relax. My MOH went to the venue the next day and took a photo of everything that was presented to her. She took home what she could and other family members showed up after to pick up any leftover items. After reviewing our items back home, we noticed that our ceremony arch floral, cake stand, topper and cake were missing, so we emailed the venue right away. This whole process was so messy and we were communicating with both Caroline and Megan at the time. At first, they were confused and did not recognize the items so we sent them pictures. Megan said they should have been with the rest of our decorations but they weren’t. Caroline said she might have seen the arch floral at another area of the venue but would not be able to check for another few days as she was away. She said that we were welcome to go back to the venue to check for ourselves. Abbotsford is not close to us and we were not going to go all the way back to the winery without knowing if our items were actually there. We told them that we needed the decorations back by the end of the week as we needed them for our second reception. Megan was apologetic and said she was going to keep looking. We waited a couple days to email them back to get an update. Finally, they sent us a photo of the ceremony arch floral. As for the cake, Caroline said that their freezer broke while she was away and that everything inside, including our cake & accessories were thrown to the dump. She then added that leftover cake is not usually put in the freezer unless it's not picked up the next day, implying that it was our fault for not doing so. We went back to the winery to pick up the arch floral and found the cake topper underneath the floral. We asked the lady who was helping us (not sure her name) if she knew anything about the cake stand (it was a DIY wood stand that my mom had made herself that we’ve had for years and really valued - if it was just another cake stand from wherever, I honestly would not have cared). She said that she suspected that it might have stayed at the venue since it looked like one of their decorations, used and taken by another wedding. She said she was in the process of trying to contact the other clients to get it back and that she would update us. Caroline said it was thrown away. So again, more information discrepancies between each coordinator that we talked to, but at least the lady that was there when we picked up the arch floral was actually friendly and seemed to want to help us.

We emailed the venue again about a week later for an update on our cake stand. We also expressed our disappointment with the pick-up service and inquired if we would be getting any compensation for our lost items which included our cake that was quite costly for us. Caroline was never apologetic throughout our communication with her and seemed to always put the blame on us for any of our concerns. She blamed us for not double-checking ourselves which items should have been there for pick up and a list of items should have been given to our family members. We literally gave the event coordinator the list of all of our items and were told to just show up at the reception space. We truly were not looking for monetary compensation but at least just an apology or someone to take accountability. The last thing Caroline told us was “This unfortunately will not get resolved but hopefully you can look back on your happy day, rather than on this one small issue.”

So with all of the above that had transpired, it was definitely not “one small issue” that we experienced as a whole with this venue. I'm sorry to say that the event coordinator was the only vendor we did not tip. We had envelopes prepared for all of our vendors including the Secret Garden, but unfortunately we decided not to give it to them as they gave us more stress during our planning, on and even after our wedding day when they should have been doing the exact opposite.

We honestly had an amazing wedding thanks to our incredible wedding party, family and rest of vendors. Writing this review is us letting go of the bad energy that we've been feeling towards this venue and everything that has happened because we really did have an incredible day otherwise.

The Secret Garden at Ripples Winery's reply:

This makes us sad to read, we work so hard to give our clients a day of their dreams and yet despite the fabulous day you had, we seem to have failed you on such an exhaustingly long list of issues. Reviews and their responses are mainly for the benefit for other. You have posted bad reviews in multiple places by both you and your husband so we understand that this was not about receiving clarification and there is nothing we can say will change how you feel. As we have tried via the many emails, we will address some of issues you have experienced, not as an excuse or justification, but to show that there are always two sides to each story. It seems that much of your frustration comes down to communication. In an ideal world we would have only one person responsible for all communication. We receive so many emails, enquiries and phone calls that we must split the workload. We agree this can get a little frustrating for clients. For this reason, we do provide all our clients with much written information. Aside from the contract that covers most of the issues you referred to, we include the FAQ and several other documents that are of importance. Communication is a two-way street and require work on both sides.
Firstly, as we state explicitly in the contract, “a signed contract and the deposit are required to ensure your date is secure”. an event is not confirmed booked until BOTH a payment of the $1500 deposit is received and the appropriate contract. As per the contract, this deposit is refundable (-12% admin fee) for up to 30 days. As in this case where we received another complete booking prior to yours for the same date you had every opportunity to choose another date or get a refund.
The bridal suit hours are clearly stated in the contract:
“The bridal suite is available from 11:30AM to 7:00PM”
Audio equipment information is clearly outlined in the Sound information sheet as well as the FAQ.
“What does the rental of the Outdoor sound system include?
It includes a sound board (with blue tooth), 2 wireless mics, a large speaker.”
Table information is clearly outlined in the Décor & Options sheet as well as the FAQ.
“What sizes are the tables?
Round banquet diameter 60 inches and seats up to 10
Rectangle 8 feet by 30’’ for long table events and seats up to 4 on each side”
The venue coordinator’s role is clearly outlined in the FAQ.
“What does the Venue coordinator do?
The venue day-of coordinator is the ‘go to’ person for vendors such as your caterer, photographer, photo booth, DJ, JP and your family and friends that come in to drop off things (decorations, candy etc.) or come help set up. He/she is not your personal planner.”
Yes, you are correct in that our available highchair information needs to be updated. We are down to 2.
In term of your interaction with Caroline, we are confused. She was not even on shift that day, Megan was the venue coordinator. Additionally, we would not need to discuss audio issues with you. We have full control over audio behind the bar. We cannot imagine that a DJ would play music too loud during dinner, but it would be a simple fix for our staff to turn it down through our master control. Perhaps you were talking to one of the catering staff?
Finally, to address the pickup of your décor. The night crew packaged it all and left it in the Hip roof barn to be collected. It is unfortunate that your family members did not have a full list of items to be picked up, as they missed the arch florals and cake topper (that were also there) and retrieved later. The night crew put your cake, on the stand, in the fridge. As nobody picked it up the next day, we gave you the courtesy of a few extra days by putting it in the freezer in the event you still wanted to pick it up. A week later our walk-in freezer died, and all content were destroyed. Yes, we did refuse to compensate you for the left-over cake. Putting it in the freezer was a simple courtesy and as no one had claimed it within a few days, it would have been thrown out in due course anyway.
We are sad for you that your focus is on so much negative rather that they great day you had but we are proud of the fact we gave you a fabulous day in a beautiful environment.

Davena T. Sent on 09/07/2023

2.8 out of 5 rating

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Beautiful venue but no communication!

We purchased a micro wedding at Ripples in May. This was a beautiful venue and the floral arrangements and my bouquet were absolutely stunning. This is something that they do extremely well. The set up of the room was also lovely.

Unfortunately, though, the communication with this company is non-existent. We had to drive out to the venue two weeks after sending our deposit to ensure they had received it and booked our date.

We had no communication and therefore no idea what anything would look like prior to the day of our wedding and If it was not for our officiant we would have been totally lost. After many messages and much frustration, we decided that it would just be okay and went with it however the day unfolded. If you need ANY kind of organization I would suggest a wedding planner or another venue.

The day of we had purchased drink tickets and wine for the tables as well as a charcuterie table for snacks. The cost of this was $472.50. This was not ready when our guests sat down and certainly not worth the money. It was terrible. Also there was a dog (not on a leash and presumably belonging to the owner) sniffing around the table as well as wandering around in our reception area. Their contract specifically states that all dogs must be kept on a leash as was the one dog who belonged to one of our guests was.

All in all the venue was beautiful, the weather cooperated and we enjoyed our day. However, if I was able to do it over, I would not have chosen this venue.

Alysa P. Sent on 25/10/2022

4.2 out of 5 rating

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Absolutely stunning

Our wedding turned out absolutely perfect. I do wish that there was more communication before the event as I felt like I was kind of just hoping for the best with the information I gave them. But it turned out wonderfully !
Such a beautiful place and I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect spot to get married!

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Jamie B. Sent on 24/06/2022

3.8 out of 5 rating

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Wonderful venue!

The Secret Garden at Ripple Winery is nothing short of a breathtaking venue. It wow'd all of our guests. Staff, especially Megan were outstanding and really did help us make sure that the day would run smoothly, helped to keep the vibes calm and everything organized. Get the bridal room for enjoying a drink before the ceremony. It's $100 extra, but worth it in my opinion. I went to go check on the progress of things early morning 10AM day-of and they were already putting the centerpieces out. I also think it is worth the $25 each for them to do your centerpieces. They looked great and took the stress off of you doing your own. There were absolutely no hiccups in the day or evening that happened and that's honestly all we could have asked for on our wedding day. Thank you!

The Secret Garden at Ripples Winery's reply:

Thanks ever so much for your comments! We love Megan too! These words do our hearts good. We will be sure to let all our staff know, as they worked hard together to make your event a success! We loved serving you and all of our clients!

Kennedy V. Sent on 11/10/2021

3.2 out of 5 rating

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Beautiful Venue

The venue is beautiful, if you are looking for an elegant garden vibe with hints of rustic this is the venue for you. Also, it is a very laid-back atmosphere along with being beautiful and our guests did enjoy our wedding. We knew with COVID we would have restricted numbers but we still were allowed 70 people which ended up being a good number for us. The vendor did respond to our emails at a good reply time and the venue turned out how I wanted. However, I did not get a day of coordinator which I believe was part of the package we had purchased. Also, during our rehearsal, we did not have anyone assisting us and another large bridal party was booked at the same time as us which made it awkward. If it was not for our officiant we would have been totally lost during our rehearsal and ceremony. Further, I did ask two close friends to pop in early and make sure the setup, that I paid extra for, was happening and they ended up having to assist a lot with setting up which was disappointing including having to hang our flowers on the arch and take the flowers from ceremony to reception. The waiting area for the bride to walk out of is now a bussing station and there were ketchup and garbage on the ground so that felt very awkward, since we did not have a day of coordinator or anyone from the venue check-in with us I did not know if there was another area to wait beside the bride room but this was minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start so I did not want to be way back there but still hidden from guests. Also, my dad had to ask someone how to get into the bridal room since it was locked. However, the reception was beautiful and very fun and that went perfectly. My only wish was that we had more communication and involvement the morning of just before the ceremony or else I would have hired a wedding planner if I knew the venue would be so hands-off.

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Lani M. Sent on 11/06/2021

1.4 out of 5 rating

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Disappointed

I booked this venue February 2020 in hopes to have a dream wedding there with a 120 guests. Due to covid, I called in April to post pone to 2021 as they were cancelling weddings in the summer. I was able to do that no problem, but found out that they offered a discount rate for the dates in 2020 that I was not informed about. How come we weren’t included in it? We would’ve tried to make it work with the restrictions. We also had family that were immune compromised and could not attend during covid. Which made it hard to move forward with a wedding. Who would even attend when we were all asked to stay home and social distance? No dancing, no socializing and only a sit down service was allowed. Not what we originally signed up for. 2021 wasn’t looking any better to have the big celebration either.

The venue wants full price for max 50 people which wasn’t what we original signed up for in the contract. We emailed several times over the year asking for a refund or cancellation or even holding a family gathering instead this year at our deposit price. There was no flexibility or options offered to us, so we had to cancel. All I can say is how hugely disappointing and maddening this was all to deal with through covid. I have other friends that were getting married last year, and their venues were understanding with postponements & refunds. So how come this venue is not? This venue turned something that was supposed to be a positive experience into a negative experience during 2020 & 2021. How many other brides did they do this to?
I bet a lot of brides lost their deposits over the last year. That’s a lot of money for not providing any services. They should’ve allowed brides to postpone to 2022 or refund original deposits to allow brides to book at a later date. All business’ had hardships through covid so it’s not an excuse to treat clients the way we were treated, any many others I’m assuming.

The Secret Garden at Ripples Winery's reply:

Firstly, let me congratulate you on the upcoming expansion of your family. Something positive out of this sad year we have had. We have all struggled during this pandemic and we have tried to accommodate everybody with their different requirements. We did not cancel any of our 2020 weddings as you indicated. However we did accommodate all our clients as best we could to suit their needs, which included postponements, transfers to Micro weddings and reduced-price events. As you indicated in your review we had no issues accommodating your postponement request from 2020 to the following year and we happily honored your existing contracts prices. Yes we did host weddings in 2020 at a reduced price to accommodate many couples that did not want to postpone. Couples were informed about the reduced pricing arrangements for 2020 in our newsletter. I'm sorry you did not read that but the information did go out to all our booked clients to the email listed on their signed contract. I realize that you did not sign up for a 50 person wedding, however those restrictions are beyond our control. Yes, you did not anticipate similar restrictions when you first postponed, you probably did not anticipate a new family member either. We have all had to adjust our lives and plans. What is sad is that we vendors and venues are expected to take the full financial responsibility for couples that continue to want to postpone because they cannot have their big wedding or get other curve balls that get throw their way. We have held your first date for more than a year and subsequently your second postponement date for more than a year, we also honored your existing pricing. That is now two dates that we have not been able to book for other clients that are happy with the current restrictions. Two dates that we cannot recoup any income. For this reason we are not refunding but have given, as to yourself, multiple different other options. Contrary to your review, we have been exceptionally understanding and have postponed, transferred and adapted at all times, and no, it has not been many other that have been frustrated. Fortunately we have been able to satisfy most of our clients. It is those that we have not satisfied, like yourselves that have taken to multiple reviews. Your right of course, but it would be nice if all the facts were given.

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