Before I start my very lengthy review I will just say this, Good luck future brides and if you see Red flags immediately, trust your gut and instinct and move on. The most beautiful place in the world for a somewhat decent price, truly is not worth all of the hassle that you will have to look forward to especially on your one special day that you will be spending thousands of dollars for. Peace of mind is worth way more! Technically you will only be doing this once and you will never be able to get that one day back. It's very true when they say you get what you pay for!
So it took me a while to write this review because I didn't want to fly off the handle and say things I didn't mean and I wanted to make absolutely sure that perhaps what happened with me was just a one-time fluke but as I've let some time pass, I can now see that my experience is something that is all too common with this establishment.
First off the only reason why I'm giving this place 2 stars is because of the venue. Venue undoubtedly is beautiful but that's where it stops. Just as every other review, the communication and business tactics behind it are a complete mess. I was very surprised to read other reviewers same experiences, where they note to get EVERYTHING in writing! Even the tiniest detail. Get it down! (Thank God for Yelp!) These people or more so, Cindy tend to be extremely forgetful, unprofessional, scattered and just simply all over the place. I prefer to keep communication through email, that way everything is tracked and ask for proper contracts! These people will try to get you to sign off on security deposit's before even giving you an itemized and detailed invoice or proposal. Why would you ever give someone a nonrefundable $1000 deposit when you don't even know how much your whole wedding is going to come out to? They could hike the prices up to whatever they want and insert any extra add-ons that are not on their original list and if you don't agree or don't feel it's something you can afford later, you don't get your deposit back! And they are adamant about that. Even harassing, as I experienced. I was completely talked down to as if I couldn't afford the wedding and was told that straight out. I was told no wonder why I don't have a job, which is actually by choice, (& didn't even make sense) and was told that if I thought she was bad just wait until I spoke to her partner Shelby. That she was worse and good luck with getting my deposit back. And again this was all based on HER miscommunication and not having a proper contract that I stupidly signed before even knowing how much my whole wedding was going to be there. Keep in mind, before I had went down to sign the contract I explicitly asked to have an itemized proposal to me before I signed. And sure enough it was not there. To be perfectly honest there's actually even way more that had went on, proven email trails, etc., but it's been months since I've dealt with these people and I'm just going to try to be as fair as I can at this point.
Luckily however, I did speak with the more levelheaded partner, which was Shelby. She understood my concerns and was not surprised at all by the treatment that I had faced by Cindy. I was offered the opportunity to still keep my wedding there and was promised that I would only deal with Shelby throughout the entire process, but at the end of the day they are business partners. Their best interest is THEIR best interest. I couldn't even imagine having to deal with Cindy in the background for a whole year, while planning one of the most stressful things and what's supposed to be the most beautiful day of my life. So respectfully I declined, surprisingly got my deposit back and in extremely timely manner and decided to move on my way. Looking back now at these reviews, it's very sad to see that these are obviously their business practices and other people have had to deal with this erratic and unpredictable behavior, because it is such a beautiful venue.
In my personal opinion this place could really thrive and be five stars on yelp, as the other beautiful venues in the surrounding area, but I think they just need to let the owners stay in their place and hire real proper talent to treat stressful, uneasy brides with the respect, honesty and valued customer service that they deserve.
I learned the hard way, but this is a very big decision and purchase that you will be making and dealing with for months. If you have any questions feel free to contact me! I actually found an amazing yet still affordable and flexible place with amazing and very affordable planners as well, I have so far made this entire planning process effortless and stress-free! And even if you still decide to go with Loft 84, I can also give you a little advice as well. Free of charge! read more