We got married here last month and couldn't be happier with the experience. Helen the event coordinator and the rest of the team there made the experience so easy and smooth, from the little things of bringing water to the ceremony due to warm weather to tidying up after the wedding everything was thought of and taken care of that made our lives so much easier.

I apologize in advance for the long review, but I think it is important for anyone who may be considering this venue. I also understand my situation may have been unique, or a 'one-off', but long story short, it was completely awful.

After getting engaged in February of 2024, my (now) husband and I started researching venue shortly after. As we had an infant at the time, we were looking specifically for something close to home, with onsite accommodations, and specifically a 'one-stop shop' (I knew with a baby that I wouldn't have as much time and ability to do things like buy/botle wine, purchase alcohol to stock our bar, research other vendors, etc.). We quickly found Golden Beach Resort which offered all of the things we needed and were looking for (and came with an onsite coordinator).

Our initial meeting in March of 2024 went very well. We met with the wedding coordinator (Helen Hutcheon) who walked us through all of the package options, explained the cost breakdown, ensured that the resort would take care of the meals, service, etc as part of the cost per individual guest. Everything seemed great and we booked our date (May 24, 2025) and paid a $3000 deposit. We were then scheduled for another planning meeting (May of 2024) where we saw the venue, discussed decor options, and talked more about which wedding package we wanted to choose. We were then informed that we would have our menu tasting in January or February of 2025 to choose our meal options. I had been in touch with Helen periodically until about October of 2024.

As I hadn't heard anything about our menu tasting by December, I decided to reach out to Helen to get it scheduled. I sent 3 emails with no responses over the course of a couple of weeks. With it being the off-season, I had thought she may not be working so I decided to wait until after the holidays to reach out again. After not receiving responses into January, I called the resort directly to try to reach her (again, no response). I finally received a call back from someone who worked at the resort to let me know Helen was no longer employed there. When I informed her that I was supposed to be getting married there in 4 months, she reached out to her manager to find out what was going on. At no point did anyone bother to contact me regarding this and I'm not sure when/if I ever would have been contacted had I not reached out directly. I finally heard back from the resort (not the manager) who told me that they had hired Helen back as an 'independent contractor' and she would be reaching out to schedule our menu tasting.

When I finally heard back from Helen, she informed us that Golden Beach had ultimately decided to move away from weddings (although they are still advertising them so I'm not sure what the truth is there) but that she would still be coordinating our wedding. Unfortunately, this meant that we were now on the hook to pay all of our vendors directly, supply all the wine and fully stock the bar, as well as purchase our own insurance and liquor licenses (exactly what I had hoped to avoid). The resort also kept our $3000 deposit as a 'venue rental fee' but never had us sign a new contract and never voided our original contract (I am still thinking about taking legal action for this). We scrambled to complete all of the extra tasks and tried to move on and enjoy the rest of the process.

We asked if we would be able to make an extra trip there a few days before the wedding to deliver our wine/booze and some decor. We were allowed to do that, however the day before we did this Helen informed us that we were not going to be allowed to use the elevator as it is for 'people only'. While the manager of the resort and a number of other staff stood around and watched, my mother and I lugged about 10 cases of wine and multiple other heavy boxes of decor up two flights of stairs.

Just before we checked in, I received the final bill for the cottage I rented for the weekend. We were told that if all of the cottages for the wedding had been booked by guests, we would receive our wedding night free. We were charged for all 4 nights we were there even though everything had been booked by guests. When I questioned this and requested our one night be covered by the resort, they did update my invoice to reflect that. Originally, we were also told that guests would have the ability to rent golf carts to get themselves to wedding hill for the ceremony. When a few guests inquired, they were told that the policy had changed and this was no longer an option (again, we were never informed).

The accommodations were acceptable. There are condos or 'cottages' (park model trailers) available to rent and they are all relatively new and in decent shape. They were well stocked and they do provide bed linens and bath towels (we were told there would be no towels provided so we were surprised by that).

Otherwise, things mainly went well. We had a plated and served meal followed by pizza that was ordered in as a late night snack. The food was catered by Palmer's Sips and Bites (the only option provided to us on such short notice). We were very happy with the food at our tasting, however when dinner was served on the wedding night the portions were so tiny that all of our guests were starving (two mini potatoes, one sprig of asparagus, and an appetizer-sized portion of meat). Every bite of pizza was eaten at the late night snack so I hope guests didn't leave too hungry after that. The service was also incredibly slow and the head table was finished eating about 20 minutes before the last table even received their meals (we had around 90 guests and 11 tables excluding the head table).

If you are ok with doing a lot of work on your own, I would say this is still a good spot to host a wedding, however beware that communication is severely lacking. We were very disappointed by how everything was handled by Golden Beach Resort and their management staff. The banquet hall is dated but we were able to have a decor company come in to dress it up and make it beautiful. The ceremony location is also beautiful (we got rained out and had our ceremony in the banquet hall instead) but also note that there is no hydro on wedding hill so your DJ will need to bring a battery pack of some sort for the music and mic.

We got married on June 8, 2024, and truly had the best day. The Golden Beach Resort team was awesome, from the groundskeepers, front-desk staff, kitchen staff, and, of course, the event coordinator, Helen! Everyone was so helpful and made us feel like our day was as important to them as it was to us. The venue itself is beautiful, the food was incredible, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for a wonderful venue that truly does it all! Thank you for everything!

Things started out a little rocky. We had a lot of trouble with the original event coordinator. Rebecca took over just under a month before our wedding date and since then it has been smooth sailing. Both Rebecca and Lawrence (the manager) made our day so beautiful and special. They went above and beyond. I am so thankful for their help. The food was also amazing. The chef they have is incredible and we heard from everyone nothing but praise. Many people said it was the best food they have ever had at a wedding. Based on our incredible experience I would highly recommend Golden beach for your wedding.

I just got married at Golden Beach this past weekend. Take out all the normal pandemic bride dilemmas and restrictions this was a freaking dream!!

While planning: Cindy was always a phone call, text or email away and went above and beyond my expectations! She calmed me down more times then I can count and I am extremely grateful for her and her daughter who was the bartender at the wedding!

During your wedding weekend: I will admit I didn't think a few things through went it came to planning the reception but that did not matter because Cindy and Lawrence had my back and between them and my family every hiccup was solved before I even knew about it. From the moment I arrived on scene for the wedding weekend they pulled me and my now husband aside and discussed expectations, they met every single one! Becca at reception will make sure you and your family have a great stay and the rest of the team will be making your whole weekend or day feel as magical as you'd want it too!

Food: I sadly never got to meet the chef or do a tasting (pandemic wedding problems) I was a bit nervous if I chose the right food package, I went with the gold package and you would not be disappointed, many people came to compliment us about our food choice and me and my now husband 😁 loved it as well! (Yes, I got to eat at my own wedding.. Lawrence will make sure of it)

Honestly if your looking for AMAZING views, service and overall experience, you'd be crazy not to check them out, I promise you won't be disappointed!

ps: I'll add pictures of our hall set up for reception when I get them 😊

We had a beautiful candlelight evening service on NYE. It was absolutely amazing. Great food, fantastic venue and people! We loved our day and the cottage that came with our rental. Provided a place to get ready and have pictures done before the service! My niece even did her speech on the wedding and Golden Beach

We were married here on Saturday and we could not be happier!!! All of the staff are so accommodating and laid back. The food was amazing, the service....everything!!! We had 200 guests and every single one of them are raving about our weekend. Melissa the wedding co-ordinator is top notch and made my wedding dreams come true. She saw my vision and went with it. She went by far above and beyond her job description and I could never thank her enough!! BOOK YOUR WEDDING WITH GOLDEN BEACH!!! ??????. Can't wait to see all of you soon. Thanks again Lawrence and Tracey. We love you guys!

We had a fantastic experience holding our wedding at Golden Beach! Rating would have without a doubt been 5 stars across the board if we hadn't have had a few hiccups midway through our contract. However, this negative experience is not at all indicative of the wedding staff in charge in the months leading up to and on the day of our wedding. Everything went off without a hitch and if there were any flaws (which we saw zero issues), the GB team did an amazing job keeping it under wraps and smoothing them out.

We had the day of our dreams and have heard nothing but fantastic things from all of our guests. Great food, fantastic service and a lovely team of people. Absolutely recommended.

Thank you so much for everything!! Words can not discribe the amazing experience at Golden Beach Resort. Melissa went over and above what was need. She made our day perfect. Lawrence was there right to the end of the night and eager to help with anything needed. The rest of the staff were so helpful and friendly. The food was delicious, the hall was beautiful and Olga 's hill was gorgeous for our dream wedding!!! Our guests praised Golden Beach for the amazing atmosphere and food!! Thanks for all you did, to make everything perfect!! It was our dream wedding!!! We look forward to returning !!

Words cannot express how amazing our wedding day was. From the moment we went to take a look at the venue until the last dance went absolutely perfect. Very accommodating, helpful, friendly and Melissa just helped it all come together perfectly. She definitly knows her stuff. The cottage location was great, the view of the ceremony was stunning and the food was excellent! If I had to just put it in one word...EXCEPTIONAL! Thank you for an amazing wedding!