The Soundside Club, Hurlburt Field FL

Please read this review if you’re considering Soundside as your wedding venue.

We recently held our wedding here at Soundside. We were initially going to have it pre-covid, but Covid hit right after we sent out invitations, so we decided to wait until we felt safer, considering we have guests who are elderly and immune-compromised. Soundside held our deposit until we were ready to confirm a new date.

The coordinator, Lauren, was very helpful and understanding throughout the entire process. She was very professional, available, kind, accommodating, and quick to communicate. As a bride, when you’re stressed/nervous/etc, THAT is exactly what’s needed!

However, there were a few issues.

I was told that we could bring food for those involved in the rehearsal the evening before the wedding. When we got there, we were told no food was permitted. No biggie, we just ate outside.

We were told everything would be set up when we got there for the rehearsal. NOTHING was set up, and no one was there except the nice lady who worked at the bar. Our friends and fam all pitched in to take down/put up tables, chairs, etc. They traveled from all across the country and we did not want them to have to lift a finger, which was one of the main reasons we chose Soundside. It set us pretty far behind and was very inconvenient. Eventually one person came to set up the dance floor. Lauren handled the situation appropriately and removed a good chunk of the total price considering we did the work ourselves.

It was HOT! I’ve been to several events here, some with more people than we had, and it was always a comfortable temperature. But our reception was so hot that children’s faces were flushed and people were sweating. And with everyone dressed up and hot, not many wanted to dance and sweat more. People left early and it really “killed the vibe. ” They tried to lower the temp, but it kept going back to I believe 73° (somewhere in the 70s). If you know anything about body heat and events with a large number of people, the temp needs to be a lot lower than that. I had some guests tell me they were overheated and needed to go. Since people left early, we were not able to do our “big exit” like we planned, and ended up wrapping it up about 90 mins earlier than expected.

It’s a beautiful location. Set on a green field of grass with gorgeous trees right on the water. There are so many places to take photos.

The staff were very kind and catered to us/checked on us often.

As experienced locals, and not tourists, we chose to hold our event inside instead of outside in the heat. It’s absolutely gorgeous outside, but having everyone dressed up and sitting out in the hot sun was not something I wanted to do to our guests. Plus, I wasn’t going to spend $$$$ on hair, makeup, and my dress to just melt away. I did not want to sweat and have the wind blow my hair and it stick to my face. My husband sweats in a t-shirt, I could only imagine how he’d feel outside in a full suit. If you’re not local, this is definitely something to consider. Their “rainy day” plan is to hold the reception and ceremony in the same ballroom and create an aisle through the tables where guests are seated. This wasn’t ideal for us, so Lauren let us use one ballroom for our ceremony, and two for our reception. The rooms are separated by false walls so they can be opened to make a bigger ballroom.

I’ve heard some people say the food isn’t good, but that wasn’t our experience. We chose to have brunch, and it was delicious. We were able to include French toast and a ham carving station. It was set up nicely. I’m not sure why there were two people needed at the ham carving station, but they were very kind and professional.

We were only responsible for cleaning up what we brought (centerpieces, decorations, etc) and Soundside took care of the rest.

All in all, it was a pretty nice time, but definitely could’ve been a little better. I’d say it’s worth the money as long as these issues are addressed ahead of time.

Nice little bar that is connected to the Commando Inn. Convenient, inexpensive with a friendly staff.

It was my niece's wedding reception and it was just perfect when I see her happy.

Great Customer Service and Rooms. The Hooch Sports Bar has Great Food and Bartenders are Great!

Great effort on the luau, but I don't think they were prepared for the crowd and response they got from everyone.

Hurlburt has a hotel located here and it’s great! On the water with a nice deck!

Attended a wedding there. This is not a public facility. It is part of Hurlbert field. The facility is very nice and the staff was beyond exceptional. The food was very good. If you are active duty or retired I highly recommend having your function there