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Brock House
Categories: Restaurants Canadian (Traditional) Event Planning & Services Venues & Event Spaces Canadian (Traditional), Venues & Event Spaces [Edit]
3875 Point Grey RdVancouver, BC V6R 1B3
Neighbourhood: Point Grey
(604) 224-3317
6 reviews for Brock House
6 reviews in English
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Review from Beverly W.
Vancouver, BC
11/9/2011
Brock House is featured in a lot of local wedding magazines and wedding photography websites. It is one of the more popular wedding venues in Vancouver. It is easily recognizable by the infamous tree on the north lawn which provides the perfect backdrop for a wedding ceremony providing that the weather holds up. Got to remember Vancouver weather, right?
I was looking for a wedding ceremony location and discovered that Brock House also rents out the west lawn. It is smaller than the north lawn but has a lovely flower bed for pictures. However, you are not permitted to go close to the water because that area belongs to the north lawn renters. In terms of ceremony pictures, the water is too far in the background and it will not show up because it would be over exposed.
As for indoor backups, the north lawn renters can have the outdoor tent and the conservatory area while the west lawn renters can have the second floor. I was not impressed with the second floor as in indoor backup because it was dark and the decor was outdated (obviously, it is still a heritage house). For the ceremony, the bride and groom would have to be in a corner of a room on the second floor and all the guests would have to sit at an angle in order for everyone to fit. The "bridal room" was a room that had a lot of board games and arts and crafts stuff which belonged to seniors who use Brock House as a recreation centre. The second floor did not feel like a place where I wanted my wedding ceremony.
Two ceremonies can take place at the same time but on different lawns. Apparently, they have not had trouble with noise and they have a lot of experience coordinating guests to get to the right ceremony.
I did receive a tour from a Brock House staff member. I had previously corresponded with her by e-mail and she was very responsive. She seemed a bit bored during the tour but she gave us all the relevant information. I received a folder with menu and booking information. I did put a date on hold and they actually called me at one point to see if I still wanted the date. I was impressed that they actually contacted me.
The service charge is 15% which is lower than other venues I looked at. The food and beverage minimum was also lower than other venues. There are differences in rental rates and food and beverage minimums depending on the day of the week with weekends being more expensive.
I didn't end up booking this venue for my ceremony as I felt like I wanted some a newer venue and they already had the north lawn booked for my date. I have to say that the north lawn is beautiful and worth looking at for a wedding ceremony. -
Review from Masaki L.
Richmond, BC
5/31/2010 2 Check-ins Here
My wife and I are wedding photographers, and we've been there for so many many times. Consistently, we've been experiencing the same poor, very poor service!!! This review is totally about the service but not the food.
In order to provide an objective review, I'll give my comment in 3 different perspectives.
1. As vendors:
A vendor's meal will be provided to all vendors in a separate room if vendors do not seat with other guests together. While the new couple, wedding party, all other guests are having their bread, soup, and salad, nothing is served for the vendors. "Nothing" means really nothing, no bread nor even a glass of water. Even you ask, or the new couples ask, absolutely nothing will be served. Until the entree being served, usually will be at least 9pm to 9:30pm, then the vendor's meal, which is in the size of a kid's meal portion of vegetable pasta, will be served. Sometimes, when the vendor's meal is served or before then, some vendors were gone already.
2. As regular guests:
All servers are professionally trained for carrying out their basic duty. That is, to serve food and collect empty/used plates as fast as they could. Sometimes when they accidentally kicked or hit on guest chairs with guests sitting on, no "sorry" nor "excuse me" will be heard. Moreover, when some guests (including the parents and family members of the new couples) wanted to get up and go to bathroom or something, they have to yield the way to servers because servers won't stop or pause for whatever they're doing.
3. As new couples:
I thought the servers only being inconsiderate to guests and vendors but actually and surprisingly not. When new couples are doing their first dance, hard working servers still work brainlessly or like programmed robots, walking thru the dance floor to and from with bus pans and trays with used plates as if they didn't see the new couples are dancing in front of them.
The term "inconsiderate" is actually too mild to describe the scenario, "rude" and "uncivilized" might be more suitable. Not only us, many of other vendors who we know have been experiencing the same. If you are a couple considering Brock House as your wedding banquet venue, only if you would like to upset your guests and vendors as well as yourselves, you may please reconsider and find somewhere else.
(Too bad, the minimum rating is at least 1 star. Can I go for minus 10?) -
Review from Nadine N.
Vancouver, BC
9/23/2008
I visited the Brock House last winter with my (now) wife when we were looking for a place to have our wedding. We had dinner so that we could test drive the kitchen. The food, it was good, but didn't "wow" us. I think people choose the Brock House for events because of the venue and the packages, not the memorable food.
I really liked that they had a package that even included one hour of open bar and wine with dinner, a champagne toast and wedding cake. Another bonus is that there is a very nice place for a sit down, outdoor ceremony. I didn't know it at the time, but this is a hard thing to find in Vancouver! But I think to really appreciate the Brock House in all of it's splendor, you'd need a bigger guest list/budget. The outdoor tent, etc. was more for a party of 200. They do have facilities for a smaller group, but it's upstairs, and frankly, just not as hot.
If you are a Vancouver bride or groom and are looking for a great wedding venue, check out the Brock House. But do it fast, because everyone else is also circling the place like hungry wolves. -
Review from Kal B.
11/9/2009
our company had a recruitment dinner here.. quite a nice venue.. right near the yacht club by jericho beach
one of those classic houses.. great for holding events, etc.
the hors d'oeurves were delicious.. asparagus wrapped in prosciutto.. mini crab cakes.. egg rolls.. etc.
4 course dinner was exquisite as well.. seafood chowder soup baked in phyllo pastry.. a salad.. choice of beef tenderloin (sumptuous).. chicken.. or fish.. caramel flan for dessert (it was OK, not a huge fan)
the wine served with dinner was nice
service was attentive and professional
definitely recommend this place for events for around 100 people. -
Review from M B.
4/30/2009
I had my wedding at Brock House in 2008. It is a BEAUTIFUL venue, especially if you have an outdoor ceremony. My husband and I were married under the huge tree closest to the water and it was the picturesque ceremony we wanted. Immediately following the ceremony we held a cocktail hour on the lawn where the servers promptly greeted us and our guests with glasses of wine, a much appreciated touch, followed by trays of yummy hot and cold hor'douvres. The dinner was held under the white tent that is a lovely feature of Brock House. For dinner there were 3 options to choose from, the crowd favorite was the butternut squash ravioli. The food is decent, but not as amazing as they claim. If my rating was based only on what I have written so far, I would give Brock House 4 stars because we really did have an amazing night, but I am giving them 3-stars (I really want to give them 2.5 starts) because the management at Brock House is a bit unfortunate.
Weddings are expensive and when trying to keep within a budget you have to constantly be doing cost-benefit analyses to determine what you really want and what you can live without, the management constantly pressured us to spend more on food (we did not cave). They tried to instill doubt in our decisions and overall the pressure was not appreciated. Also, they seemed organized until the day of the wedding, the day of they seemed scattered and not as on top of their game as I would have expected. Throughout the year of planning we were in contact with the upper management about the schedule of the wedding night, table arrangements, etc. The upper management did not seem to relay this information to the kitchen staff and lower management. For example, when I arrived at Brock House the staff didn't know how many tables and chairs to set out for dinner (this was an hour before the guests were going to arrive!), something I had confirmed with the upper management two days before. Another example is that we paid to have a late night snack offered to our guests. Everyone was dancing and not paying attention to the time. At 11:30 (our rental ended at 1am) my mother realized that the late night snacks were not being served. She walked into the kitchen and asked the kitchen staff why they hadn't sent out the snacks, they were never told that we ordered them as part of our package. Also, a few of our gifts were stolen. Although they eventually refunded the money they were extremely slow to return phone calls and requests to meet and discuss the issue.
If you are thinking about having your wedding at Brock House it is a truly lovely venue and we had an amazing wedding. Unfortunately Brock House is poorly managed and it is something to consider when choosing a wedding venue. -
Review from Hayley B.
Burnaby, BC
4/24/2009
I attended a wedding at the Brock house in 2007. The food was pretty average, and the presentation was pretty sloppy. If you don't care about food so much then it's worth a look, otherwise move on.
