The Resort at Longboat Key Club Wedding Reviews

We didn't really look around for venues because the only venue I wanted to celebrate our love at was The Resort at Longboat Key Club, my home away from home.

The Longboat Key Club holds a special place in my heart as I've been going there since I was eight weeks old with my Omi and Opa (grandma and grandpa) and family. Unfortunately, my Omi and Opa are no longer with us, so it was important for me to have them there, in a sense, on our wedding day.

I loved how special they made our day, and Ayla was absolutely wonderful.

Thirty days before my wedding, Hurricane Ian devastated South Florida communities, including Gasparilla Island. While many lost so much more, I lost my wedding venue! It did not sustain serious damage, but the island as a whole did. I was told I could postpone the wedding, but that was never an option in my mind.

Luckily, I had the most capable, prepared, and connected team of planners who got me in at the amazing The Resort at Longboat Key Club within a day of finding out my other venue would be closed.

Since we were getting married in Florida, we wanted our venue to truly feel like we were in Florida. We didn’t want to just get married in a ballroom because we could do that in Ohio. We wanted to be able to have most of the festivities outside to enjoy the natural beauty of Florida. We were so fortunate to spend so much time outside enjoying all the beauty Florida has to offer.

Unfortunately, our original venue took severe damage from Hurricane Ian and would not be open in time for our wedding. It was really important to us to keep the same date we originally had. Our planner found us The Resort at Longboat Key Club, and luckily, they had availability the same weekend! It felt like fate. My Mom drove up and signed the contract before we saw it in person to make sure we didn’t lose the date! It was sad to see our first venue get damaged, but at the end of the day, it felt like we were meant to end up at The Resort at Longboat Key Club. They exceeded every expectation we had. Everyone we came in contact with was such a joy to work with!

Our food options were a major hit. We received countless compliments from everyone regarding our choices. Our reception layout was also never done before, but it turned out to be amazing and complimented the venue!" -Kimberly and Michael

"A stunning location that offered it all. We really wanted our out-of-town guests to enjoy the beautiful area I grew up in. I absolutely loved The Resort at Longboat Key Club for its location, gorgeous views, amenities, and the all-inclusive ability to plan the wedding from start to finish. Aside from the venue, our planner, Ayla, was always so helpful and helped make sure everything was executed to perfection."

“We loved The Resort at Longboat Key Club once we saw it. It was actually the first and only venue that we visited. We love the atmosphere that it gave off as far as a vacation for our guests, the proximity to the beach, and the convenience of the resort amenities for everyone. We found that their service was absolutely wonderful, and the wedding venue coordinator and her team made it a very successful event. Most of the vendors we found were suggested by the Longboat Key Club wedding coordinator Ayla Goggin.”

“Alex actually chose our venue because he had golfed there before! It wasn’t until someone from his club told him to check it out for our wedding that we went to take a look. We were sold by the beauty of the resort and the many locations to have each event as well as their flexibility. Longboat Key Club is truly so good at working with every couple to help capture their own unique vision. We really wanted people to feel like they were at a destination wedding and to thoroughly enjoy the Sarasota culture while visiting. The icing on the cake was our amazing wedding specialist, Ayla Goggin. You could tell she takes pride in her job, and she truly helped us have the best wedding ever!”

“The most important thing for us was a beautiful place for our guests to visit and a great beach. We chose The Resort at Longboat Key Club because of the beach ceremony spots that they have. The service was fantastic!  The MVP was Ayla Goggin; she was always available throughout the entire process, even grabbing the groom a Scotch while we took pictures. The beautiful golf courses didn’t hurt either.”

“We wanted a private, natural setting with a beautiful view, so the beach setting was perfect for us.

Ayla, our coordinator at The Resort at Longboat Key Club was amazing. She immediately made me feel at ease when we looked at the venue and her responsiveness and communication was key in planning a wedding from California. They were extremely accommodating to all of our questions and did an amazing job the day of with the setup and catering. Our guests still rave about how great the food was!” -The Bride

"Surprisingly, we only looked at The Resort at Longboat Key Club the morning we landed in Florida and actually ended up canceling our afternoon appointments at other venues. We just knew the LBKC was the perfect venue! Ayla immediately made us feel so special and welcomed, and we knew right then and there this was the place we would say I do! The grounds are absolutely beautiful and speak for themselves and the option to have our ceremony in a tropical setting outside at the Marina followed by a cocktail hour in the Marina Courtyard, and a reception at the Harbourside Lawn was exactly what we visioned, being at “the beach” without the sand in our shoes. The palm trees and tropical flowers throughout the venue are gorgeous."

We knew we wanted a lot of outdoor space. After finding The Resort at Longboat Key Club on Marry Me Tampa Bay and researching a bit more, we loved how many different options there were for both the ceremony and the reception. Having an outdoor reception that was not tented was definitely unique for our guests! Since the majority of our wedding guests were from out-of-town, it was special for everyone to experience the Sarasota area and beautiful Longboat Key! We also loved that our guests would be able to stay at the resort and its proximity to the Sarasota airport for all our out-of-town guests.

When we first reached out to the resort, we were overwhelmed by how helpful and accommodating the event staff was. Gwen provided so much helpful information that really eased all our nerves as an out-of-town couple. She was so incredibly sweet throughout the entire process and was so responsive to all our questions and requests. The Resort at Longboat Key Club truly went out of its way to make sure our dream wedding became a reality. Our guests still talk about how amazing the food, cocktails, and service were at the reception!

About once a year over the last 20 years, I've visited Longboat Key Club and got to know the staff, witness the renovations, etc. The beach there is my absolute favorite beach in the world and was always a top destination each year. It was a no-brainer to pick it as our location for the wedding so that our family and friends could also experience it.

We immediately met Ayla Goggin, who is absolutely amazing! She worked with us not just on budget and vision, but the fact that we had to move the wedding twice due to COVID! I can't say enough about the quality of her work and communication and how easy she made all the transitions for us. And the day of, nothing disappointed in terms of service and Ayla running the show making sure everything was perfect. Hands down, I would recommend Longboat Key Club to everyone and anyone, with Ayla as the real queen!