My wedding at Flint Hill had two different stories: The wedding day was fantastic, but the planning…read morewas a nightmare. I suspect the positive reviews reflect the former. I will share advice that I wish I had received before making a 50% deposit. My rating is based on the planning. The day of would get 4 stars.
- We were glad we had an outside wedding planner to be our ally. If you've never planned an event like this, you might not realize that you can easily be taken advantage of.
- They provide a lot of staff on the day of the event, but some of them were people we had never met. We had an eight-minute call with our "Day of Reception Director" the week before the wedding. She is a part-time (weekends) employee who doesn't even have a company email address.
- We were dazzled by Melissa's sales pitch. She spent 2 hours with us when we came in for a tour and it was great. We thought she would be a great ally in this process. She was super friendly and helpful through the contract process until we paid 50%.
- We needed to read every version of the updated invoice to catch price changes. The price of our dessert was $9 until one day it was $9.50. They charged us $150 for early arrival with a $150 credit to cancel it out. One day that credit had changed from $150 to $2. Laura from the design studio "accidentally" increased the price of some tablecloths by $5 each.
- Their contracts sometimes expire after two days, and they said we needed to sign before getting answers to our questions. This happened with 2 contract addendums. We asked questions. Melissa said "Any specific detail changes to this contract will be handled in the extended planning sessions."
- They marginalized me while behaving towards my husband. We had a recurrent problem where I would send an email, no response, husband reminds them, and they respond quickly. One time they ignored my email for five days. When he replied to my note, they responded to him within the hour. I don't know if it's because he's a man, he makes more money than I do, or they simply didn't like me.
- If we didn't get it in writing, they often denied it. There are numerous topics that I am certain we discussed verbally but unfortunately I didn't have it in writing. With the issue mentioned above, they insisted we never discussed it, and they only agreed to do it because we found written confirmation.
- We needed to spend at least $2,000 at their design studio, but we didn't have any trouble exceeding the minimum. We had very minimal design requirements, brought in an outside florist for the bouquets, and our initial quote was over $1,900, not counting the $700 tablecloth rental.
- Menu changes come with an upcharge. You only get to put out one salad dressing. If you want your guests to have a choice, there is an $0.50 per person. Mashed potatoes come with no toppings. Want to add something as simple as sour cream or chives? One dollar per person for each topping.
- We paid more than 80% of the adult rate for children aged 4-9. Children starting at age 10 are charged full price. The menu says "reduced rate" for children, but the aren't mentioned until much later in the process. They get a 20% discount on the base price for the buffet, but they are full price for drinks, dessert, and add-ons. I don't know if they would also be charged 100% for drink packages with alcohol.
- We had to convince them to let us have a menu tasting. They offered us a "tasting box" with six items from another event's menu but only one or two from our menu. None of these options had our main dishes included. They said the point of a tasting box is to understand the quality of the food, not our specific menu.
I want to thank Kristin, the CEO, for her help. Two months before our wedding, she allowed us to switch from the Atrium to Flint Hill (for a cost of $3,500) The change in venue couldn't fix corporate policies and staff difficulties though. I can honestly say that planning this wedding was one of the worst experiences of my life. Good luck, future brides and grooms.