Loray Mill Event Hall

This will not let me copy and paste Please read before you decide on the venue. I feel like I/we were strongly deceived. We paid a lot to run out of our rehearsal dinner and then I had to find the cooler and I had to cut the wedding cake. Byron paid me back for the cake but when when I went to clean and find my decorations I discovered the chocolate and white cake. Meaning the plan was the wedding couple would cut their cake the servers were to have the people's cake cut and served to our guests. No one got cake. It was ridiculous. I would not recommend this bunch to a

I came here for a wedding one weekend. The parking lot is huge and this place would be very hard to miss. I love the brick interior and exterior. My only complaint is that it's very confusing when going inside. It's also an apartment so you see their office in one area. The area we were in was large and spacious and had large windows. It was a great area for a ceremony.

Attending a wedding here and really loved the space! It's an old mill so there are a lot of exposed brick and cool design elements. I believe you have to use their catering and the food was amazing. From stuffed mushrooms to the the best chicken at a wedding I have ever had I was extremely impressed! Only downside is due the amount of natural light it seemed difficult for the photographers to get enough light in the venue. Also, this wasn't an issue for us but just be aware there could be another wedding in the same area as you. Didn't really affect us at all just an FYI.

The management is sub par - they're only worried about how much money they're going to make from the bride.

Beware of this company: Their employee Todd admitted to me that they delete reviews, and it is true. If you google "homestead events at loray mill" they have zero reviews, which does not seem possible.I just had a wedding reception at this venue this past Sunday, and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. I would never have another event or ever do business with anyone from this facility again.They promised so many things, then completely changed this the day of our reception, which completely blinded side me, my wife, and our families.When we arrived the day of the reception, the main event hall was completely dirty and had several puddles of water that leaked from the air conditioner. The back room that is attached to the main event hall was filled with rocks and cleaning equipment. Which the staff refused to clean, so I was forced to do it myself. The incorrect color chairs were put out at each table. The entire hall smelled awful and was extremely dirty. Stains, tape and marks all over the floor.The newly hired event coordinator Todd and the owner assured us that they would help us in any way we needed. Unfortunately, the day of the reception it was the complete opposite. There was nobody available to greet the vendors that were delivering items for the reception. I had to go downstairs and guide some of the vendors instead of getting ready for my own reception. There was nobody available to tell guest the location of the event hall, even though Todd assured us there would be. Todd also promised to cut our wedding cake, which was written in the contract, but left the venue and did not response to any phone calls.Additionally, there were zero trash cans or trash bags in the hall so my father in law was forced to leave our reception to buy trash bags instead of enjoying the even that we paid for with his family. So, my wife called Todd, and politely asked him where we could throw away the trash. I overheard him being very disrespectful to heard, and being dismissive of her question.So, I picked up the phone to try to explain to him that I did not appreciate how disorganized, and how poorly they handled our event after making so many promises. If you do not want to provide a service for someone, do not offer it. Be upfront and honest, so that people know what to expect the day of their wedding. This is something that this company failed at spectacularly.This conversation caused Todd to come back to the venue. We continued this conversation in his office and he apologized for breaking all the promises. He told me the best thing I could do was leave a bad review, though it won't matter because the owner deletes them. He went on to explain to me that his goal is for him to be in complete control of renting out the hall while the owner Byron is no longer involved. He explained to me that he receives a lot of complains about the owner and he does not enjoy working with him because he is difficult.Todd then offered to let us leave our stuff there over night as some form of compensation.After this conversation I should have know that Todd was a very untrustworthy and dishonest person since he was quick to throw his boss under the bus.So, after this conversation we continued cleaning and packing all of our stuff. While I was moving stuff to the car, Todd was standing outside of the event hall and overheard my wife tell her mother that she did not want to leave her stuff at the venue over night because she was afraid they would throw it away by mistake.Well, this really set Todd off. He waited until my wife was alone cleaning the main event hall then he blocked the door and began threatening my wife. Please note that he did not confront her when first heard this. He waited until she was alone, which is extremely scary. If he had a problem with what she said, he could have waiting until our family and me was in the room. It is extremely sick to think that this man would do this to a women, especially on her wedding night.I do not know what he said before this, I came in when he was saying the following: "you don't trust me, after everything I did for you." "I was so nice to you guys, and you think I am going to steal your stuff."My wife never said any of these things. At the time I was confused and had no idea what was going on. This rational human being turned completely irate.I tried to reason with him, but he said replied: "you need to completely clean this place or the owner will charge you $500." This was a complete lie, and is not in the contract. I simply replied with "how?" He replied, "he just will."Realizing that the 500 dollar threat was empty sent Todd off into another tantrum, he then started threatening that he was going to keep items left by one of our vendors, if we do not remove there stuff as well. So my wife and I called the vendor and learned that he told them thathttps://www.weddingwire.com/biz/homesteads-events-loray-mill-gastonia/45bb73aea622eff2.html

The venue is beautiful, but overall experience wasn't great. We went through 3 different coordinators in a span of maybe 5 months, so we had to explain the details of our wedding 3 times because every new coordinator we got had basically no information every time we met with them or communicated. The owner, Bryon, cannot keep an employee for the life of him. He also changes the packages and pricing nonstop. So when it came to our 30 day meeting, they showed us all these packages and prices and it was completely different than what we had been shown and they didn't even know what package we had been offered and what was included. The catering the venue offers was probably the highlight. The food was amazing and Kim was an absolute delight and wonderful to work with. As well as the wait staff. They did a stellar job. After our wedding, I had reached out about a couple items we had left behind, included my veil. Apparently it was no where to be found and whoever cleaned the suite said it was never there, along with a handheld steamer we forgot. If they are going to offer a suite to the bride and groom in their package, they should be more detailed and careful when cleaning after. A wedding is a long and chaotic day and there are bound to be things forgotten. How they did not contact me when they found my veil and steamer, I don't know and I'm extremely disappointed that it either was taken or thrown away. So careless.

This place is so beautiful but I'm very disappointed in the service we received. Please read reviews before booking. No communication, no guidance, poor customer service.

ZERO stars for ZERO service. My best friends were supposed to get married here earlier this year. The owners have since cashed their check, made no contact with the bride and groom and never rescheduled their wedding. Shame on Loray. Do NOT do business with these people... I can't express that enough. My friends are out 10+ thousands of dollars AND a wedding. The bride has reached out many, many times requesting a meeting to discuss how they can move forward and Loray refuses to meet or discuss the issue. However, they did mention that they're not happy with the bad reviews that have since been left. What else is this young bride and groom left to do? This was supposed to be the most memorable time of their lives and now it's turned into a nightmare. Loray and their management are nothing short of thieves, I recommend you treat their "business" as such and AVOID them at all costs because it WILL cost you. https://www.facebook.com/groups/CarolinaEventSociety/permalink/3119913141452590/

I would not recommend Loray Mill for your events. The owners/employees lack communication skills. While the place looks beautiful- the experience is horrible. Considering we are in a global pandemic, I do understand certain things are out of your control. I do not think it is okay to take and deposit money and then completely cut off all communication. I think this business could have made an effort to keep lines of communication open.

Short Version:Loray Mill is a beautiful venue where my wife and I saw us having our dream wedding. Homesteads Events has been a nightmare to work with. Based of my wife and I's experience, under no circumstance would I recommend working with Homesteads in any capacity. Some Tips:1. Get EVERYTHING in writing. Verbal agreements don't seem to mean much with the staff at Homesteads Events. My wife and I's experience (along with many others) is that they will promise you the world to make a sale, but do not keep those promises. 2. Pay a lawyer. Lawyers are expensive (insert lawyer joke here). The best advice I can give you if you feel the absolute need to work with Homesteads is pay a lawyer their hourly rate to go over EVERYTHING in a potential contract. Go over everything and take a week to think through any possible circumstance you may find yourself in. It's unnatural to come into the process of planning your wedding with so much paranoia, but due to Homesteads predatory business practices it is a necessity. 3. Be skeptical of reviews (ironic I know). Reviews on sites like wedding wire and the knot that show when a couple is getting married are especially to be noted. Leaving a five star review for a wedding that is to take place two years out is extremely suspicious. We've been told they offer brides discounts for leaving positive reviews. Long Version:My wife and I got married this past April. We payed Homesteads Events, in full, for a ceremony, reception and rehearsal dinner. Fully catered with alcohol (for up to 150 guests), DJ, shuttle buss, bridal suite along with other amenities. Due to COVID-19 and the governor's orders our original date could not happen. The timing of it all was horrendous. We payed the remaining half of our balance the Friday before the governor shut everything down. We called the owner the next morning and asked if they could wait to cash the payment a few days (as it had not been taken out of our account), and talks of a shutdown were everywhere. He said he could not do that. We asked if a shutdown were to prevent us from being able to hold our date, would we be refunded that payment. He dismissed this saying a shutdown would not happen and said he was covered by an "act of God clause" (which is not in our contract.) That weekend the order went out and was implemented that Monday. When we met with Homesteads that Wednesday we asked to be refunded the second half to pay again 30 days out from our newly chosen date. Homesteads agreed. Weeks later, with no contact or payment received we reached out and were then told we would not be receiving back our payment. We eloped in my wife's childhood backyard (because if you knew my wife, who would want to wait?) We planned with Homesteads on holding a reception party later at Loray Mill once possible due to the governor's restrictions. We had chosen a date in late July thinking it was out best bet to be clear of restrictions (we chose this date with Homesteads in March). That date would have also fallen through due to the governor's orders. Notice how I said "would have fallen through". That's because even if orders had been lifted, Homesteads Events failed at working with us to make this happen. Homesteads ignored multiple calls, texts and emails from me, my wife and my mother in-law over a span of months. Feeling extremely frustrated and confused we requested a partial refund, allowing Homesteads Events to keep some of our payment for the time spent with us over a handful of meetings and phone calls. As they had not provided any of the service we contractually agreed upon (they had not purchased food or alcohol or decorations for our event. They hadn't even asked for our final guests count yet), we thought this was more than fair. This request too was ignored. Feeling out of tangible solutions we felt we had to go to social media to warn other potential brides to save themselves of a nightmare of trouble. Only after we started posting (and we reached out yet again) did the owner finally respond. All we wanted was a meeting to hear why they acted the way they've acted and to discuss what an agreement would look like. The owner refused to meet with us until we took down all reviews and posts as an "act of good faith." As the social media was the only thing over a span of months to get their attention we didn't feel comfortable removing anything until we were able to meet. We are extremely frustrated, angry, confused and saddened that a business can operate this way. My wife and I are very aware of the impact COVID-19 has had on small businesses. And wanted to seek compromise in light of that. We payed a large sum of money and received nothing that was promised. Customers do not share in Homesteads Events profits and should not be responsible for upholding their failure.