PART 1
We rented…read morethe Manor Room for my daughter's wedding because we were on a budget, and their pricing seemed affordable. They also gave us the impression that they were willing to work with us financially.
From the beginning, one of the biggest issues we experienced was that the information we were given repeatedly changed throughout the planning process. We made a point to ask questions and clarify details before making decisions because we wanted to avoid surprises. We relied on the information we were given, only to later be told something different.
Ava was assigned as our point of contact. Unfortunately, we found ourselves repeatedly having to clarify details, only for the answers to change later.
We chose to rent the venue without catering but hired their bartender service because Ava specifically told us that everything for the bar would be provided and that we only needed to bring the alcohol and mixed drinks. Based on that information, we booked their bartender. During our final consultation one month before the wedding, we were then told that we would actually need to provide virtually everything ourselves, including bar tools, supplies, garnishes, and possibly even ice because they weren't sure whether their ice machine would be working.
Since this was completely different from what we had originally been told, we canceled their bartender and hired an outside bartending service that supplied everything we needed. This resulted in an unexpected additional expense. When I requested a credit for the bartender we were no longer using because the information had changed, I was told no because we had supposedly received "special pricing" to fit our budget.
During that same consultation, we added the plates, goblets, and silverware package. Ava showed us samples of the linens, runners, and dinner napkins for us to choose from. Since they didn't have the runner color we wanted, we purchased our own runners and only used their tablecloth overlays. Later, when I followed up, I was told the dinner napkins were not actually included but that they would "throw them in" at no charge. This was confusing because we had already been asked to select the napkins during our consultation. Once again, the information we were given changed after decisions had already been made.
We also requested an additional hour for setup, which cost another $60. Considering we received no credit for canceling the bartender we were no longer using because the information had changed, every additional charge became increasingly frustrating.
On the day of the wedding, we arrived at 3:00 p.m. to begin unloading and decorating and immediately noticed the sweetheart table had already been set up even though it was visibly warped in the middle. Ava was unavailable that day, so I contacted James, whom I had originally communicated with. The staff replaced the table, but it was disappointing that it had been placed in the venue knowing it was damaged.
Unfortunately, that was only the beginning.
We soon discovered water leaking from the men's restroom area and water coming up through the venue's laminate flooring. While setting up behind the buffet, we lifted a black floor mat and found numerous paper towels underneath that were completely soaked. We also noticed water seeping up through the middle of the dance floor.
When we reported this to the office staff, we were told it "might have been from the ice machine the night before" and that they had only noticed it that day.
This explanation raised several concerns. If there had been an event the previous evening, wouldn't the cleanup staff have noticed the leak? If they knew about it that morning, why wasn't it repaired before our event? Why were soaked paper towels already hidden underneath the mat if this had only just been discovered? Based on what we observed, it was difficult to believe this was a problem they had just become aware of.
We expressed our concerns because the wet floor posed a serious slipping hazard for our guests. Rather than acknowledging those concerns or discussing a reasonable solution, we were told we had only two options approximately 30 minutes before our ceremony was scheduled to begin:
Reschedule the wedding so they could fix the problem, or
Allow them to place wet floor signs throughout the venue while staff continuously dried the floor.
The office staff also repeatedly referenced the Force Majeure clause in the contract as though it relieved them of responsibility. However, their own contract states that Force Majeure applies to situations such as natural disasters, fires, government restrictions, labor disputes, civil unrest, or other events beyond their reasonable control.