It is with great sadness that I write this review. My wedding dream has turned into a living nightmare, and I just pray that before you even consider booking this venue you read my story, so this does NOT happen to you!
When first meeting with Joyce (the sole coordinator of the venue) she was a bride's dream. She was enthusiastic, energetic, friendly and willing to go above and beyond... To book the event. I absolutely fell in love with the venue, and the picture she painted of a gorgeous vintage wedding. BEFORE I signed the contract and gave her my $2,000 deposit, she answered all my questions, replied immediately to all my phone calls and emails, and even came in the day before 4th of July to meet with my Fiance and I. After we gave her the check, she became completely impossible to contact (and we were planning a wedding in only 3 months). I'm talking no reply to my emails, text messages or calls. I pleaded with her through several emails and phone voicemails to PLEASE PLEASE just call me back or message me letting me know that everything was ok and that she was still working on my wedding.
I told her in the messages that I understand she is probably very busy, but I just had a few questions and that even if she didn't have the time to set up a meeting, just to call me back and let me know she was receiving my messages. All I wanted was a response. I was so worried that she had run away with our money because we literally did not have any contact with her whatsoever after booking our date. I needed questions answered about my flowers (since that was included in our contract and are done by her) our dj (because we needed to make sure his license was ok to work at the venue) and the caterers (because before we signed the contract she said the vendors she worked with charged between $35 to $45 a plate, and the cheapest we were quoted was $55 a plate which was outside our budget and what we had previously discussed with Joyce). I literally was unable to do anything else for my wedding, or book any other vendors (dj, catering) because I did not hear from her, and like I said before, our wedding is only 3 months away!
I became extremely worried that I would not be able to reach her, so I had my mom try to call and ask for an appointment to see if maybe she would respond to someone else. Within the hour she returned my mom's phone call and was willing to schedule an appointment for her to see the venue and book a "wedding". I was livid. She could not respond to a paying customer, but she was trying to book new dates? I called her AGAIN that same day to see if she would finally respond, and nothing.
When she FINALLY contacted me via phone (after over a month of trying to reach her) she was rude, defensive, and did not even let me talk. She said there was no reason for her to contact me because she was not a wedding planner and the only thing she handles are the flowers and that isn't done until 3 weeks before the wedding. I tried to tell her that all I wanted was a courtesy call to make sure everything was ok and we could move forward, as well as get my questions answered, and she just kept screaming at me and would not let me even finish explaining my concerns to her. At that point I realized that my wedding would be absolutely ruined if I stayed at this venue. I begged her for our money back since she was not doing ANYTHING (not even something as simple as answering a phone, or replying to an email) to help us with our wedding, and she screamed "This conversation is over" and hung up the phone. She then sent me a text message saying that the deposit was non-refundable and that she would be opening up our date to another couple.
While I understand that we did sign a contract, I think it's ridiculous that someone can take your money, have absolutely NO contact with you, and provide NO services, be completely unprofessional and rude, not be willing to work with you in ANY way and still not return our money to us? I'm completely amazed, disgusted, and saddened by this whole experience.
Our only choice now is to look for another venue, and change our wedding date because of the short amount of time. Not to mention she expects us to just forget about our $2,000. I am completely heartbroken and can't believe that someone could do something like this to a person planning one of the most important days in their lives.
After experiencing this I looked up her reviews everywhere. She has claims in ripoff report as well as the BBB. Please read those from other Brides experiencing these issues before you make any decisions, I sure wish I had. The venue is gorgeous, but just not worth having your wedding become a stressful disaster.
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