Emerald Lake Golf Club Reviews

We loved The View at Emerald Lake from the first tour! I am not a golf course bride and thought there was no way we could afford this place but the venue & staff were awesome & very affordable! There was some switching around January/February ‘19 but once Tracie took the reigns she met with us and put our minds at ease. She was very responsive to all my questions and very helpful. We did a lot of decorations ourselves and the way Tracie & her team put everything together was beyond expectations! Our guests raved about the food and service! I was sad about the weather that day (the outdoor view is phenomenal!) but Tracie and her team set up the indoor ceremony space and it looked beautiful and then they quickly tore that down during cocktail hour to get ready for the party. Tracie and our DJ All the Right Grooves had worked together in the past and you could tell- everything just flowed and was easy. I recommend this venue to anyone! Food, service & people were all fantastic! I want to be a guest at wedding there!

We searched for a venue that can provide it all and we found it! This place was fairly newer than most venues and they keep adding to their property and their packages. We loved working with Tracie! She took over Amy's job as Event Coordinator and it was all done seamlessly and without a hiccup. She was very thorough and organized and the day of the wedding she worked so hard to make our day so special. The food was delicious and even with us changing the timeline as the day went on she was able to make everything run smoothly. The bridal suite and grooms lounge were comfortable and the venue has more than enough space for large weddings. We got married on the hottest day of May it seems and were able to keep our guests out of the sun before the ceremony started and during cocktail hour by moving them into the restaurant/bar area. We had such an amazing time and our guests loved the venue and service. Thank you Tracie and staff!

The venue is gorgeous and the staff went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed. Amy and Justin went above and beyond to make sure that our day was both beautiful and stress-free. It truly was my dream wedding. I can't imagine having a more perfect day!

I can’t say enough wonderful things about this gorgeous venue. Amy and Justin went above and beyond to make my daughter's wedding reception the best we could have ever asked for. They worked with us on our ideas and were extremely accommodating. The seated dinner was in the main banquet hall for 245 guests that turned into an amazing dancing area once the cake was cut. Guests enjoyed the sports bar area and the beautifully lit patio area with two fire pits throughout the night. The weather could not have been any better than it was allowing the sides of the building to be raised for added enjoyment. If I could give this venue 10 stars I would.

My husband and I got married here on June 2. We were very pleased with everything. The staff went above and beyond to make sure our guest had everything they needed. The venue is beautiful. The decor in the bridal and grooms suits is classy and fits the occasion perfectly. This was the perfect place for our big day.

I was nervous about this venue once I selected it. The first girl I was working with would take days to respond and was very hard to get in touch with.
Once Tracie took over everything was fabulous! I was planning everything from Hawaii and she was so responsive even if I texted her a little late in the evening due to time differences. She was also my day of coordinator and I am so so happy she was. I literally didn’t have to worry about anything on the day of! Guests raves about the food too!

We did our wedding at The view at Emerald Lake. It is a beautiful golf course and a stunning venue for weddings. I had a bit trouble in the start in communication with the staff. We didn’t get call back few times but after going there and visiting their office I felt very comfortable and taken care of with the help of Amy. They were very accommodating and after that I had prompt email replies and communication. Everyone at the wedding loved the venue and got many compliments. I got ready at the venue as well and the bride room is very pretty and looks really good in pictures but I think they can update the lighting as it seems a bit dim in there, other than that its perfect for getting ready and also they have nice grooms room. I would recommend the venue to anyone.

Emerald lake was a great place to spend our wedding day. The food was catered perfectly and the venue was specific for our needs. They made sure my bride and I had the best day ever. Only complaints would be the responsiveness when trying to get questions answered. I feel I had to go above and beyond to get some answers and information. Other than that this was amazing!

TL;DR - Tons of potential, not living up to it, needs new management, but can still be great if you're up for a DIY experience and are extremely proactive. This will be cross-posted on The Knot.

----- The Actual Review -----

Emerald Lakes *should* be the ideal venue. The main room is lovely, the bridal/groom suites are well appointed, the bar/pub in back is super fun, the grounds are beautiful, the parking is vast, and the outdoor area for cocktail hour is quite charming at sunset. Plus, fire pits and corn hole! And the pricing is pretty reasonable. When we first looked at it, we were immediately sold.

We booked the venue in Dec 2018. Between then and our wedding in Sept 2019, management changed twice. Actually, that's a lie. There was no management. There was a wedding coordinator, Amy, who has tons of positive reviews all over the internet. She was great. She left, and then everything kind of fell apart.

Let's start with the contract. Folks, there's no contract. There's a document, and you sign it, but a lawyer has clearly never laid eyes on this thing. It's shockingly amateur. It also lacks any material detail - it doesn't have your food selections, your linen selections, your bar selections, your lighting selections, your timing, your final party size, or really anything other than your package and your date. (Ours didn't even stipulate what the package included; I made them add that detail since they were changing up packages right after we booked.) I was told there would be a second contract with all our selections, but there was never any such animal. Records of our menu were taken on a cell phone; other things (e.g. linens) were written down by hand. There were no formal forms, or documents. Nothing was ever proactively run by us for confirmation, though we did bug them a bunch and at least get the menu confirmed. I run a business myself, and I was honestly shocked at how bizarrely amateur it all was.

Now for the tasting. We got no info about it until basically the day of. Then we got there - it ran about half an hour late, the food was cold and dry at the buffet, and nobody seemed to be in charge. Amy was curiously MIA. We kept hearing someone would come by to talk to us about our event. Nobody ever did. We were told they'd call us to follow up. They did not. We were told we'd be able to look at different linen colors and choose that night. Nope. The people serving the appetizers didn't know what they were serving. There are a good dozen culinary add-ons you can add to your menu, and not one was available to taste. (You know a business is tail spinning when they forget to upsell you...) We ended up having to schedule a second tasting - and they were nice enough to do it, I'll grant them that. But not before we read them the riot act.

Anyway, turns out their wedding/event coordinator Amy had left... and here's the kicker, THEY DIDN'T REPLACE HER. She left in February. Then the GM left. As of late September, neither had been replaced. They ended up giving the event mgmt job to Amy's assistant, who lasted maybe 3-4 months, and then they apparently fired her and replaced her with HER assistant. So by the time our wedding came around, we were dealing with the assistant's assistant, who'd been on the job for like 12 minutes. And no venue GM. There was a bar manager. He was pretty cool, and appeared to get the job done. Our guests had drinks; they were happy.

The current event coordinator actually isn't terrible, but she is overwhelmed, overworked, and inexperienced. Here is just a sampling of the litany of issues we noticed leading up to - and on - our wedding day:
- I am fairly confident they've never had a band play there before our wedding. The band was awesome, they knew where to setup and how. The venue itself had no intel to impart and does not have ANY sound/echo management. Other venues do, FYI.
- Nobody could give us a floor layout with sample seating layouts. And they apparently aren't on the seating layout system that wedding planners use. So we had to draw that by hand. What wedding venue can't provide example floor layouts? This venue.
- There are these cool garage doors at the venue that you can use for an indoor/outdoor vibe. Hell if we could find a human who could open or close them during our wedding. There were also supposed to be lights strung on the curtains on those doors. There were not.
- Nobody turned the outdoor lights on, on the patio, as it got dark. My husband eventually plugged them in.
- There was no AC in the bridal suite on the wedding day. Mostly, this wasn't too terrible b/c we just left the door open and the cool air from the main room wafted in. But then as we had to shut that door, it got pretty toasty. And then, dear lord, the overwhelmed event coordinator asked me if the repair people could TURN THE HEAT ON to unfreeze some coils, as I was sitting there already sweating, waiting to walk down the aisle. It was already 80 degrees in there. I believe my exact words were, "Absolutely not." Then she made some excuse about not knowing until 3p that the AC was out. Truth is, my makeup person had informed her at more like 1:30. And my sister again at 2p. Nevermind that it's her job to check that all is working in the venue, and to know the AC is down. But to be fair, this is the assistant's assistant, stepping up with no help. I blame the ownership for being dramatically, even traumatically, understaffed. It's really inexcusable. (BTW, at no point did we actually receive a call or email apologizing for all this crazytown turnover and understaffing.)
- After the AC debacle, I think I saw the coordinator once the entire night of my wedding. Our poor wedding planner was running around like a madwoman doing everything herself. Or, my sister was.
- According to the wedding planner, the crudite table was set out...without napkins or plates. *facepalm*
- The kitchen was not informed that they were supposed to feed the band. Really odd, since they charged us for those 10 meals and I personally paid in full in advance. The band waited an hour to eat, and couldn't play while they were waiting. They missed playing an entire set because of this. Given how much we paid for a great band, to say I was pissed about this would be a dramatic understatement.
- We sprung for the fancy prime rib station. For some reason, they thought it was wise to serve the plated meals first, THEN open the station. As if prime rib is dessert, and not part of the main course. I got up and went a little New Yorker on someone working there, then poof, a guy appeared to carve meat. Who knows what they were waiting for, it never occurred to me that I'd have to explain that this should be opened simultaneously to serving dinner.
- We ordered a late night snack station, and for some reason they hid it way at the back of the room away from where people were seated, where the band was, or where people were gathered by the fire pits. So it got overlooked. Just struck me as a profoundly stupid place to put it, albeit a minor bone to pick. I personally ordered it, and I didn't notice it until we were leaving.
- A day or two later, my husband stopped to pick up something at the bar, and happened to meet the chef. Apparently the kitchen was super overwhelmed by our wedding. I'm unclear why. It was a normal wedding, with a normal menu (from a prepackaged offering!), and we settled the menu like 5 months ahead of time. That they were overwhelmed and unprepared speaks to the complete absence of management at this place.

THAT ALL SAID: We had a truly fun and wonderful wedding. So here are some good things.
- The food was great. I want to point out: at both tastings, we thought the food was average at best, and some stuff was downright awful. But at the real event, the food was absolutely fantastic. And seriously, the prime rib station (once it opened) was delicious and a huge hit. Don't be afraid to get specific with what you want, and how you want things prepared - they'll deliver. (That said, food options are a bit limited. This is not a gourmet venue.)
- We had access to the venue for the whole day. So we really had time to decorate and make it shine. (Note - the venue does NO decorating, so be prepared to do all of that yourself. Literally everything except putting out tables, chairs, and table settings. Because they do none of that, that really adds to the cost and workload. You need a planner and maybe even a planning team, unless you want to go crazy. And while it's a beautiful venue, it's a pretty blank slate - the walls are blank, the floors are cement, etc. It needed quite a bit of flair, and even still it felt a bit naked.)
- We had access to golf carts for photos, and even rounds of golf with our package. Again, nobody there was proactive in helping us with this, but when WE followed up, they got it done.
- We had 140ish people and a 10 person band, and the venue size was perfect. They claim they can do 200, and to be honest, if we'd had that many, it would have been a really tight fit with a band and dance floor.
- The bar was great and let us bring in a specialty keg from the brewery where my husband works. They charged a small "tap" fee, I think $40, and then set it all up for us and had it ready to take back the next day.
- The servers were apparently told they MUST find the bride and groom and bring us food during the cocktail reception. And they did! It was super charming.

Other things to know:
- They have a ceremony rain plan for inside by the fireplace if you have fewer than 150 people. If you have more than that, plan to spend $3K in tents to have a place for your ceremony if it rains. They don't provide tents OR tent insurance. They planned to put people under an overhang for rain. That seemed unwise with the sort of thunderstorms and sideways rain we had all summer. We were pretty relieved when our guest list fell beneath the magical 150 threshold to fit indoors.
- The layout isn't great for a band, unless you want them blocking the beautiful fireplace. The ceilings are low at the sides, and that makes for some wonky sound. Fortunately, our band was so damn good that nobody cared. Including us.
- The venue itself is pretty great if you want kind of a balance of rustic and majestic and still down to earth - which we did. We had people making s'mores and playing cornhole, others rocking out to the band until they stopped playing, amazing food and plenty of it, etc. The only thing I didn't love in the end was the separation of the pub from the venue. It meant people were leaving the main room a lot. But, I wouldn't say that would be a deal killer, and for a bigger wedding it gives the whole thing more space to flow.
- I thought the bridal/groom suites were quite nice, but we didn't have a large wedding party. If you've got more than 5 or 6 people, it's going to get cramped. Plenty of space to get ready there, though, including hair and makeup stations for the bride/bridesmaids, and even a shower in the groom's suite! I was a little bummed they didn't bring cocktails or anything to the bridal suite, but we just went and ordered them at the bar ourselves. ;-)

In conclusion, Emerald Lakes has a tremendous amount of potential, and I seriously hope they hire some seasoned event professionals to run the place.

I got married here in October 2019 and had originally booked the venue back in May 2019. In that 5 months time, the wedding coordinator had changed multiple times. The woman that was there when I booked the venue, Tracie, was very helpful and responded quickly. But as my wedding was weeks away, it seemed like there was no one working there. As I was told when I signed the contract, our final headcount and payment was due 2 weeks before the wedding. So when that time rolled around, I emailed them sending my final headcount, and how many tables I needed, and asked for them to send the invoice. The next day they responded back with a blank card authorization form. No invoice, no final amount, no information on how much the total was. I was confused and emailed back asking for the amount I’m supposed to pay (I’m not just gonna hand over my card info without knowing what I’m being charged). A few days went by and I still hadn’t received an invoice, so I called the office, no online answered the phone. A week before my wedding I had sent quite a few emails and still hadn’t received any response from anyone on the staff. I was getting super frustrated, and about 4 days before my wedding, I called over and over and no one would answer the phone. Finally my mom drove over the venue to see if she could talk to someone and figure out what’s going on. (I was getting worried at this point bc my wedding was in 4 days and I had no idea what was going on). My mom got there and spoke to Tyler, who apparently is the manager, but I had never met him or spoke to him this whole time. He told my mom “no worries you can pay it the day of your wedding”. I reluctantly said ok. No one wants to worry about paying on the day of their wedding but whatever. The day comes, and I still had received any invoice. But when we arrived at the venue to get ready, they were still cleaning up from the wedding the previous day. Which made me a little angry bc we had things to set up but we had to wait for them to finish cleaning first.

After all that, my wedding was good and the food was amazing. But when the wedding was over, we still hadn’t received a bill. Honestly me and my husband were exhausted and forgot about it. They never came and said anything to us.

The next day, I received an email from Tyler, asking if I have a copy of my invoice. I replied back with “no I never received one”
He responded asking if I had a copy of my contract. I did have that so I sent back a picture of the page where it showed how much I was to be billed per person. (I was so confused how they don’t have a copy of the contract, they are so unorganized)
After I sent him back the picture of my contract, I never heard back from him.
We left the next day for our honeymoon. 2 weeks after the wedding I still hadn’t received anything from them. I was extremely confused but I assumed they’d send it eventually.
About another week goes by when I get a phone call from them, it’s a new person that they had just hired after my wedding, Layla. She calls to tell me I still haven’t paid the balance on our account and it’s been almost a month since my wedding . I reply back confused, saying yes I know, I still haven’t received the invoice!!!
She apologized and said she’ll send it over to me.
I received the email (finally) the next day.
About a day later, she calls and leaves me a voice saying( and I’m not making this up people)

“I’m calling again to get in contact with someone to pay the balance, I’ve tried calling and haven’t been able to reach anyone. It’s been almost a month since your wedding and you still haven’t paid. If we don’t get a payment today then we are going to have to send this a legal department”

When I listened to this voicemail I was extremely angry. I had just spoke to this Layla woman, 2 days ago and told her I hadn’t ever received an invoice!!!! They had just sent me it for the first time the day before and I hadn’t gotten around to sending back the card form. I was literally going to to send it to them that same day. But now they are calling with threats to send me to legal!??!?

I swear these people have a lot of nerve. I called back to give this person a piece of my mind.( she had just started working there and had no idea what she was talking about!!!)
Anyways no one answered when I called back (big shock, I know)

They emailed me right at the same time with a new invoice, saying that the one they sent me before was wrong.

THEY CALLED TO THREATEN ME FOR NOT PAYING WHEN I HAD BEEN BEGGING FOR AN INVOICE FOR OVER A MONTH. THEN THEY SENT ME THE WRONG ONE AND STILL HAD THE AUDACITY TO CALL ASKING WHY I HADNT PAID IT YET!!!!!!!!


Ok so I’m down ranting. Honestly this place really needs to get their act together. It’s a beautiful venue and affordable. But I can’t recommend it to anyone unless they get better staff and figure out how to treat their clients. It’s unbelievable.

This Venue is Beautiful! The location on the golf course was amazing. My downfall with this venue is that the Venue Coordinator is terrible at communication. I would call the venue to get in contact with "Amy" the Venue Coordinator and the voicemail box would be full. I tried reaching the general manager and he never returns your call nor does Amy. I had to continuously just drop by the venue to be able to talk to somebody. This process went on up until the month of my wedding. Thank God for my Day of Coordinator who was able to handle situations and problems that came about. My Day of Coordinator had to Change my table Linen colors due to Amy not writing down the right colors I requested. On my wedding day the venue authorized for another wedding party to have Rehearsals all while my vendors were setting up. I thought that was a very unprofessional move of them to make. But overall, The Catering staff was Awesome and the Venue is Amazing. They just need to work on their professionalism and communication.

Emerald Lakes has great potential to be a top wedding venue in the Charlotte area. The space and greens are gorgeous, and the variety of packages offer options to those looking for an all-inclusive venue. Unfortunately, what is lacking from Emerald Lakes is a well-versed and well-run events department.

To begin this review, please know that no wedding is perfect. This review is to solely share our wedding experience and draw attention to the issues that were experienced.

Our wedding was booked in September 2018, roughly 14 months out from the actual date (11/09/19). We decided on the Indulge package ($95 a person) which was their best package that they offered at the time. The main thing we loved about this package was that it had an open bar package, featuring premium liquors, for both the cocktail hour and reception. The package also offered a day-of-coordinator, which would alleviate a lot of the wedding-day stress.

Unfortunately, during the 14-month span of wedding planning, we went through 4 different event coordinators (Amy, Tracie, Kayla, and Layla). Assurance was provided by the venue, through a generic email, that the day would still be perfect. Sadly, the constant change in coordinators caused a lot of additional stress as the day-of details kept being deleted by the previous coordinator. We found ourselves constantly having to make trips to the venue and repeating the details of our day.

After struggling to get the details finalized with the new coordinator, Layla, who started two weeks prior, we finally made it to the day before our wedding. Kayla, the previous coordinator, had set up a rehearsal for us back in September to look over the venue and practice walking down the aisle. At the time, Kayla assured us she was going to be the day of coordinator and would be there for the rehearsal to run through everything that day for us. Because she was no longer with the company, Layla and the new general manager, Dee, were present. Both were unsure why we had a rehearsal scheduled and didn’t know what “we needed from them.” After reviewing the room, changes needed to be made as table runners were not on the tables, tables were missing, and the carving station was missing. When these changes were brought to Dee’s attention, her snarky response was “I’ll have the check the contract.” Sure, enough we were correct as we had provided a detailed layout to Layla prior to the room being set-up and the changes were made.

The wedding day itself was beautiful. The room issues were corrected and the vendors that we hired were amazing (photo-booth, photographers, florist, DJ, Publix). The huge downfall was the venue;

The day-of issues stemmed from the constant changes in coordinators and the contract itself. Since our wedding was booked, the wedding packages changed, but we were grandfathered into the package we signed. The main issue with this was the bar package. The contract stated that we had a “hosted cocktail hour” and a “upgraded hosted bar during the reception for up to 5 hours, with premium liquor.” During the cocktail hour, the bartenders would only allow guests to get a handful of drinks. Our guests were not allowed to get anything with premium liquor. When it was brought to my sisters’ attention (matron of honor), she went to Layla who had it corrected. The bartenders announced that they had made a mistake and cocktail hour continued.

About five minutes before the reception began, Dee and Layla pulled my sister aside and said that we had no bar package included in the “Indulge package.” They explained that the terminology “hosted bar package” meant that the bar was being run by a bartender, but it was a cash bar. The mention of a “cash bar” was not specified in the contract and never mentioned by previous coordinators. To further the argument, the previous coordinator set up with the bar manager, Brandon, to create signature cocktails for the day. We even had numerous in person conversations and emails with each coordinator about our open bar package. My sister attempted to provide documentation and emails confirming our bar package, but Dee refused to review them and give us the package we signed for. In fact, she explained that she “wasn’t sure why there was so much confusion around this wedding” and stood in the corner the rest of the evening with a frown on her face and her arms folded. Ultimately, my sister was forced to put the entire bar tab on her credit card and kept the entire situation a secret from my wife and I until the next day. The next day an email was sent, by my sister, requesting a refund, as she was mischarged for the bar tab. The venue agreed to provide a refund and offered a generic apology. The refund itself took two weeks to receive.

Other notable mistakes included;
• Being presented with a $900 bill for linen. Linen (tablecloths/napkins) are included with every package.
• We had a carving board station in our package which was constantly forgotten about. We continuously reminded the venue and noted it on the layout, yet moments before the reception started, no carving board station was up.
• We had ordered a fruit tray for cocktail hour. Although labeled on the invoice for cocktail hour, it was placed out during our reception which was a waste.
• We did not receive up lighting, as included in our package, even though colors were selected with Kayla.

Overall, the negatives surrounding this venue include the communication and the events management team. They are extremely disorganized. For anyone thinking of planning a wedding here, I recommend getting everything and every correspondence in writing or email, so that you have documentation to fall back on. Notes about specific staff members include;

• Layla- She has a great personality to be a wedding coordinator. I hope she gets the appropriate training.
• Dee- I hope this review provides insight into how this wedding was managed. Learning about the specific contracts, introducing yourself to clients, and being more personable, will help you succeed at Emerald Lake.
• Brandon, Tyler, the bartenders, and the wait staff- You were all amazing and we appreciate you celebrating with us.