Even though we had to wear masks due to COVID-19, The Essex made everyone feel comfortable and safe. They were an absolute pleasure to work with and did everything within their power to make sure that my husband and I had the wedding we had always dreamed of. I would absolutely recommend this venue, Hannah is absolutely amazing as well!

Emily Ellis and Julia were amazing coordinators! The process of settling all the details was easy with them in our corner, and they really go above and beyond in every way to make sure you feel special, stress-free, and so helped with everything! They even helped me stuff welcome bags and set up the gardens for our rehearsal dinner cocktail hour since the weather was nice! The venue is beyond gorgeous. the gardens and grounds were immaculate which is saying a lot since we had our wedding later in the season after so many weddings all summer.. but you would never have known! Many guests told my husband and me that it was the most fun and beautiful wedding they have ever been to, and a lot of that is kudos to the venue for making it that way!

We got engaged late in the season and only had a limited amount of time to plan our wedding, but the minute we saw the Essex, our decision was made and our stress went away. The atrium space is absolutely GORGEOUS, but still a blank canvas that you can show your own personality! Not to mention, it meant piece of mind in case of inclement weather for our fall wedding. Emily Ellis and her team were a dream to work with. They were always responsive and provided us with the guidance we needed to plan our dream wedding. The Essex supplies everything you can imagine from tables, chairs and linens to easels, table numbers, and a cake stand. The food was DELICIOUS (as was the cake, which was so beautiful and designed exactly as I had imagined). Everyone in the bridal party did hair and makeup onsite at the spa and they did a wonderful job. They helped us to make a schedule that wasn't rushed, and everyone looked amazing. The Essex also let us setup the day prior to the wedding and were availab... Read morele to assist with everything. Emily was our coordinator and day-of she made the day run SO smoothly. I didn't have to worry about a thing, and she was flexible in making adjustments as things changed. She also took amazing care of us - always offering to grab us something to eat or drink (and even suppling endless gluten free options to meet my dietary restrictions). Plus, the venue and grounds are absolutely gorgeous with many amazing spots for photo ops. Finally, it was amazing to be able to have all of our friends and family staying onsite in their very nice accommodations. We had the best day of our lives and thanks to the Essex it was stress-free and perfect. We would highly recommend this venue to anyone looking for a seamless, wonderful day!

I cannot say enough good things about The Essex! Our wedding in July went from 100 down to 23 people (due to the pandemic) and the staff did an incredible job accommodating the change and making the whole weekend perfect. Our coordinator Julia is an actual angel, and worked with the staff to make sure us and our guests had a great time, while remaining safe and adhering to guidelines. Every event, from the Rehearsal Dinner on Saturday, to the Wedding on Sunday, and the Farewell Brunch on Monday, was meticulously planned and went by without a hitch, thanks to the team there. Us and our guests stayed at The Essex for the whole weekend, and the staff made sure we were taken care of the entire time. Julia and Amanda were at each event making sure things ran smoothly. Chef Dante led a super fun private cooking class for our wedding party. We rented out Junction and Chef Nicole made a world class dinner our guests are still talking about months later. And Aleksa, the hardest working waitr... Read moreess I’ve ever met, helped make sure our needs were always met, including helping the bridesmaids plan room service for a surprise bachelorette brunch. If I wrote about every single incredible thing the team at The Essex did, this review would be pages long. They took away all the stress of planning a wedding during a pandemic, and I cannot thank them enough for that. Needless to say, I wholeheartedly recommend having your wedding there.

Everything was amazing, our coordinator Julia was so friendly, responsive, flexible and fun to work with. Sitting back looking at things there is nothing we would have hoped to have been different. This location is amazing!

It was a great experience. They were extremely helpful in planning and with the music with my playlist.

This review is for the Ponds at Bolton Valley. Our planners Julia Preston and Emily Ellis were the most incredible planners throughout the process and were amazing to work with. They answered every detailed question and request and threw in so many unique touches to make our day extra special (like a giant five tiered peanut butter cake for our dog) The venue and grounds were beautiful! Loved the bridal suite at the Ponds for pre-ceremony to stay cool... The food was incredible --our favorite was our Friday night welcome bbq with the best pulled pork, mac and cheese and potato salad!-- but everything throughout the weekend was so good. Can't say enough good things about this place!

The Essex was the perfect venue for us and I am so grateful to our wedding coordinator Arienne and the entire staff for making our day amazing! With The Essex providing the catering, wedding coordinator, equipment (i.e. tables, chairs, linens), much of the usual stress of planning a wedding was alleviated and everything ran so smoothly. In terms of the venue, the lawn and atrium are gorgeous spaces for the ceremony and reception, respectively. Our guests were largely from out of town and it was so convenient for all of them to be able to stay at the resort (which also provides courtesy transportation from the Burlington airport). Our wedding coordinator, Arienne, was incredibly responsive and helpful with inquiries and was organized, calm and flexible throughout the entire planning process and on the wedding day. The food and cake were so delicious and we had many guests with dietary restrictions for whom the chefs made several special plates. All of our guests were very complimentary ... Read moreof venue and services provided. I cannot say enough positive things about the Essex and highly recommend for a wonderful wedding experience.

Our wedding took place on 10/9/2020, at the Ponds at Bolton Valley (an Essex property). It was beautiful and everything we could have hope for during this global pandemic. There's a wide range of packages to choose from which include appetizers, food, beverage and the cake. The Essex team works with a lot of really great local vendors (DJ, Florist) and alleviated a lot of our stress by helping facilitate the day-of setup and breakdown. My husband and I highly recommend this venue to anyone looking to host not just a wedding but a larger event.

Our wedding was scheduled for May of 2020 and due to the pandemic, we postponed until August. Julia, our planner was a joy to work with and incredibly flexible. Our wedding day was a dream and everything was perfect and beautiful. The entire staff at The Essex made sure our day went smoothly and they all provided such warm, genuine service.

We got married at The Ponds at Bolton Valley almost 2 weeks ago (September 2, 2019). When we got engaged and were looking for venues, we chose to check out this one and some others, but the thing that stuck out to us with the Ponds was that everything was included there, from a wedding coordinator and team, to the food prepared on site, etc. It seemed more stress free and that is what we needed. I knew as soon as we pulled into the driveway that this would be the place I fell in love with. Our wedding coordinator, Arienne, was lovely. Emily, the other manager, was also great too, and both answered countless questions (the same ones over and over at times!) and always got back to us in a timely manner. We had several meetings with them and I felt confident to be in such good hands. We had a menu tasting before the wedding and the chefs were open to a couple of our suggestions and listened to our requests perfectly. Everyone repeatedly told us how beautiful everything was and how awesome... Read more the food was, which we agree with 100%! When we asked to have a brownie sundae bar instead of a cake for everyone, they worked with us to provide the brownies and nice cream if we provided the toppings, so this was very accommodating and worked for everyone. They ended up throwing in a cutting cake for us, free of charge and that was gorgeous as well. The day of the wedding I could just relax in the bridal suite and get ready, while also being on site to see my vision come to life, which was awesome. Arienne served us mimosas and truly made my wedding vision come to life before my very eyes and it was exactly as I had imagined it and wished for it. It was an amazing day, and everything went so smoothly with Arienne there to run everything and guide us throughout the day and night. She was calm and collected and so positive, which helped my stress and nerves as well. If you're looking for a rustic but elegant venue, The Ponds at Bolton Valley is the perfect spot. You won't regret it! Words can't express how happy we were with our special day!

My husband and I planned a Vermont destination wedding and we chose the Essex because it checked off so many of our boxes. We booked it without even seeing it in advance. We were excited that all of our guests could stay in one place and make a whole weekend experience and it is conveniently located just outside of Burlington given that the majority of our guests were flying in. People could easily explore all that Vermont has to offer in the peak Fall season. Given that it was a destination wedding, we relied heavily on communication with the day of coordinator that we were assigned as part of our package. We were able to do an in person walk through at a visit prior to the wedding and the coordinator appeared organized and eager to meet our needs. However, email communication leading up to our wedding day was poor. We would have large lapses in communication, details were missed, and multiple times our banquet bill had errors. Had we not been reviewing it thoroughly, we wo... Read moreuld have been overpaid. Despite their ongoing errors regarding financials, we found that the Essex seemed to nickel and dime us for just about everything. For example, if you need something hung that would require a ladder, they would require an Essex staff member to be involved and would charge $150/hour. The pricing reflected on the Knot is inaccurate and I would highly recommend reviewing a contract thoroughly. Our coordinator stopped communicating altogether and a week prior to our wedding we learned from management that there was a new coordinator that would be with us the day of our wedding. This didn’t exactly put us at ease since there were was poor communication with our second coordinator and further mistakes being made. We choose to host a welcome bonfire the day before our wedding and it was a wonderful way to greet people as they arrived and this was very unique to our guests coming from big cities. Our guests were able to enjoy the grounds of the Essex which are for the most part beautifully maintained. The bonfire area, however, is quite dark and was not really suitable for our elderly guests. Blankets are an extra charge and no one maintained the fire for the $250 fee. Overall, the serving staff was wonderful and the Atrium did look beautiful. We did get compliments on the food and our guests enjoyed themselves. We were disappointed that one of our vendors did not receive the meal that we paid for. Given the hotel rates during peak season, we would have hoped for more upscale finishes throughout the hotel and more welcoming, friendly, and professional staff. Given the investment to host a wedding, we did not feel that our guests or we received extraordinary service.

Have all conversations with this venue via email and be very clear about what you are asking for and agreeing to. I had booked the “bridal suite” I was shown during the tour for my bridesmaids and I the night before our wedding. It has beautiful natural light for hair and make-up as well as getting ready photos. When I arrived Friday, I was advised that both bridal suites were occupied and put into an outdated suite with terrible lighting in the same building as my Fiancé which we had asked to avoid. Our photographs had to be taken in another guest’s room due to the lighting. It took 6 days and several emails before I was offered a refund for the room. Our guests had several challenges with service and would have preferred to stay elsewhere. The wedding itself was amazing! Having a coordinator was incredibly helpful throughout the planning process and throughout our entire wedding weekend. We did not have to worry about anything. Our coordinator took our vision and set ever... Read moreything up for us. It looked better than we could have even imagined! We had so many compliments about the space from guests about how beautiful the Atrium was! The day went smoothly and was better than we could have imagined. We would recommend the Atrium at the Essex for a wedding venue, but never as a place to stay. The service outside of the wedding itself was horrible. For a “Resort” we expected so much more!

We initially chose to have our wedding at the Ponds at Bolton Valley in early fall because of the stunning views and optimal leaf peeping on the mountain. We booked the venue two years in advance to ensure all of our guests had plenty of notice since everyone would be traveling from out of town, with many flying into Burlington's airport. We initially worked with one coordinator who gave us the on-site tour and was one of the main reasons we chose the Ponds. Unfortunately, about a year before our wedding we found out she had moved on. I realize it happens. We were assigned to another coordinator who was on time with her communication and kept things moving. However, 4 days before our wedding, we got a call from the Essex that said coordinator was no longer working with the Essex. I was distraught, worried that details would get lost in the last minute change but Emily and Julia who were assigned to our wedding went above and beyond to make sure our wedding was everything we envisioned!... Read more Everyone said it was the best wedding they had been to and the food was superb! Thank you Essex for making sure our special day went smoothly!