The Lakeview by Carmen's Group

Where do I even begin? To all the "Pandemic Bride & Grooms" out there - do not be turned off by the idea that your wedding won't be perfect with restrictions, especially if you book with The Lakeview by Carmen's. Charlie & Natasha were there for us every step of the way leading up to our big day and Gonia was so wonderful to work with as our Maitre D'.

Not only were they SUPER flexible with our package when restrictions changed our plans, they reassured us that no matter what we'd have an amazing day. Turns out, they were right.

To give you an idea, our New Year's Eve wedding had the following provincially mandated restrictions:
-no dancing
-the reception had to be seated with the exception of first dances
-no going to the bar for drinks
-we needed to be out of the venue by 11pm

Sounds like a recipe for a pretty disappointing NYE party right? Wrong! The Lakeview did everything they possibly could to accommodate us and ensure we had the best night. They gave us table service, which turned out to be amazing. Our guests have told us how incredible and quick the service was , saying they never had to wait to order drinks because the staff came around so often to take orders.

After the reception ended at 11pm my husband and I, along with several of our guests went outside and rang in the new year complete with music, fireworks and the lake as our backdrop. I truly would not change a thing if given the choice.

The location is beautiful. the space is elegant, the food is DELICIOUS and the staff are simply the best I've encountered (and that's saying a lot as I've been to many weddings over the years as a wedding photographer)
Their attention to detail and safety made our day as stress free as you can get.

We can't thank the Lakeview enough for everything they did. If you are hesitant to book - don't put your life on hold. No one knows what tomorrow will bring, take the plunge and marry the love of your life..and do it with the best in the business - The Lakeview!!

We would highly recommend The Lakeview! From start to finish the staff was professional, helpful, and kind. The food was delicious and the venue is stunning! On our wedding day, we enjoyed our time with our guests and enjoyed ourselves, The Lakeview staff took care of absolutely everything!

Can’t thank the staff of the Lakeview enough for making the day run so smooth. Any issues were quickly addressed and taken care of by the staff and helped us stay informed. The venue is absolutely gorgeous…. Not like every other banquet hall. Beautiful open space, stunning lights and high ceiling. I highly recommend this venue. Beautiful views right along the waterfront; makes for gorgeous pictures.

The only negative thing I have to say is the bartender did not seem like he wanted to be there and seemed alittle grumpy.

I just got married here in early November during the Pandemic. The entire experience from the moment we booked the venue to the end of our wedding was fantastic. The staff are top notch and incredibly helpful. We loved that they were honest and real. There were no games or gimmicks or hidden costs at The Lakeview. Gonia and Yvonne were awesome and we had countless guests remark on how professional and friendly the staff as a whole were. The venue itself is easy to get to and located in a perfect spot. It was a perfect wedding, regardless of COVID rules.

We got married here in October! Best decision to have our wedding here!
Ever since I got engaged, I’ve been looking at Lakeview by Carmen’s as my top choice if our wedding were to happen here in Canada. When COVID pandemic happened, we knew that going overseas was going to be a challenge, so we opted to holding it here. And it all worked out, thanks to Lakeview by Carmen’s!
My husband and I could not have picked a better place to have our wedding! We had the best wedding ever and we can’t thank the Lakeview by Carmen’s enough for all of their help along the way!
From the first visit to the end of our wedding event, all of the staff there were amazing and super helpful with everything.
Our special thanks to Yvonne(our wedding coordinator) and Gonia (our Maître d’), who always made sure that we had everything we needed and were very attentive to all the details and to all our needs.
They were very accommodating as well and didn’t let any of us stress out on anything.
They took care of everything for us and made sure the day ran smoothly!
It is such a beautiful venue inside and out! We absolutely love it there and are so thankful to everyone who made our wedding day extra special!!!
Gyn and Marco- October 25, 2020

Good day to you Lakeview and review readers of all stripes! I am not normally one to post reviews but in this case I felt I could not withhold. And so, strap in, forge on & please enjoy this cautionary tale:

We picked Sept. 11 because Lakeview was offering a “free ceremony” if we booked on a remaining Friday in 2020. Their packages also included discounted pricing for children & vendors. We booked for 100 guests, a beachfront ceremony & indoor reception. Our contract stated “no charge” for the ceremony.

In March 2020, Covid-19 hit. To be fair, that obviously had a major effect on Lakeview’s ability to conduct business & complicated matters for all involved. Lakeview began dropping the ball on communication. We're talking weeks with unreturned emails & phone calls. We got the feeling they were too busy for us, but we should have been part of their busyness. We diligently continued to pay our instalments.

Close to September, Lakeview agreed to do a beach front ceremony with 100 & the indoor reception with 50. However, this changed the contract. Their hands were tied on it legally & they offered to refund us half of the cost of the reception.

But the poor communication continued:
-We were originally promised a tasting to choose the menu for dinner. They wavered on the date & existence of our tasting for the month until the wedding, finally agreeing to hand us take-out containers out the back door of the venue a week before our wedding. Despite this, the food was quite delicious & we made our selections.

-We met with the maitre'd for the first time the day before our wedding & heard some new information. We were also told that they would only use the outdoor wedding arbour if there was no wind (sure enough, there was wind on the water front in September. This means we also ended up wasting money on a florist & designer). It strikes us as odd that they would not have an arbour structure available that could anchor into the sand, somehow.

Weeks after the wedding, we realized they still hadn't sent us the final invoice. On Oct 1 we emailed our contact for it. We heard nothing, so we reached out to other staff on Oct 6. On Oct 8, we finally received it.

There were some minor additions to our wedding package. With the Covid changes down to 50 guests, they agreed to refund approximately $6k off the original cost. With additions & final charges, it worked out to a total of about $7.8k. Up to the wedding date we had paid $10.5k, so they actually owed us $2766.42.

The final invoice they sent said that they owed us $500! They were now charging us for the "no charge” ceremony ($1850!) & charged us adult pricing for children & vendors ($100 extra). They said that they were now charging us full price for the children & vendors, and the beachfront ceremony was now no longer free. None of these changes were discussed or negotiated with us.

We contested these changes. Lakeview took 3 weeks to respond to us, lying & trying to convince us there was no “free ceremony” offer back in January 2020. We also argued that there was no discussion of charging everyone adult pricing, nor us having to pay for the beachfront ceremony with reduced capacity.

Lakeview took another week to reply to my push-back & decided to give us another $1000 & an $100 gift card to their restaurant.

And here we are, a year after this saga began & we are still owed $1100. Unfortunately, the knowledge of this & the feeling of being cheated puts a damper on our wedding day experience at Lakeview. Please use caution when you deal with them, if you deem it appropriate to deal with them at all. Expect to experience delayed & half-hearted communication, added stress close to your wedding day & the very real possibility of being ripped off like we were. If you do choose to go with them, take screenshots of literally everything, including any offers they may be having at the time, get everything in writing & record every phone call. We hope no one else will have the same experience that we did.

I was in awe as soon as I went for my first appointment. We had both our ceremony and reception here. The ballroom overlooks the water allowing lots of natural light. All the food was delicious and everybody was well fed. The staff was friendly. Everything was perfect, even the weather! My Aunt caught a pic of the Toronto skyline.

We had our wedding here Nov 16/19 and it was absolutely amazing!! All of our guests had an amazing time and couldn’t stop raving about the food!

The Lakeview by carmen's was a great wedding venue. Pristine landscape and location. Beach ceremony option in the heart of the city - Hamilton. The food was soo good our guests are still talking about it. Very well organized team. We couldn't have asked for better service. We had a great experience having our wedding at the Lakeview.

I cannot believe how amazing the Carmen's team is. They made sure my wedding was perfectly planned!
Huge thank you to Charlie, Amber, Allie and Cosetta of the lakeview.
Unbelieveable team!! They set up all the decor perfectly and the food was incredible!
We didn't have a single complaint for our guests.
This was the best day yet, thanks to this beautiful venue and staff!