My wife and I held our wedding reception at Queen Bee's in April 2014. A bit of an unusual choice, but we are young adults on a budget and more interested in fun and good company than fancy.
We were looking for a venue which, ahem:
-would allow us to purchase and bring in our own alcohol. We knew we needed a decent amount of social lubricant, and did not want to pay the ridiculous prices that so many wedding venues get away with charging.
-would allow us to have a photobooth (my demand).
-might have a space where we could have a fire pit for s'mores (my wife's dream)
-would let us bring in our own desserts since we wanted both tiny cheesecake bites (my favorite) and ice cream cake (wife's favorite)
These were the criteria, and Queen Bee's fit the bill.
Pros:
-QB's met all of our aforementioned criteria. We had the option to use their services or bring in our own vendors. They required that we provide our own alcohol, which was great!
-They were flexible with the space and let us show our personality in our decisions in how the space was used. It's a unique and fun space and we tried to capitalize on that: we took pictures in front of the mural, in front of their painted walls, and across the street with the crazy cat mural. We had the front great room with tables and a dance floor, the middle, mirrored room with a photo booth and bar, and we used the back patio for s'mores and cigars.
-I was excited to support a local business that seemed to have a positive reputation in the community.
-They are certainly more affordable than most other venues. Hotels are nuts. Our initial quote was around $5500, but since we didn't use their photographer, florist, or baker, I think we got out for less.
-Jeff was a super hard worker, and he did all he could to help us achieve our visions for the space. Thanks, Jeff!
Cons:
-There was a last minute reschedule for our food tasting, in spite of the fact that I had been trying to confirm it for a couple of days. Turns out Alma was sick, which is understandable, but shouldn't someone else be checking voicemail and email in that instance?
-Overall, their communication was hit and miss. In the few weeks leading up to the wedding, when stress was at its pinnacle, we did not receive timely responses to our calls or emails. It felt like we had to hound them to get a response.
-The food was just ok. The mushrooms that were great at the tasting were cold during the reception. On the flip side, our sirloin steak at the tasting was awful, so we upgraded to the filet mignon. We weren't able to do a taste test, but knew it had to be better than the fatty piece of gristle we had tried. The filets turned out quite well. They gave it a good try, but if I had to do it over, I would have had someone else cater it or brought in a food truck instead.
-We had arranged to leave the remainder of our ice cream cake in their freezer overnight and pick it up the next day. It was our main dessert- the pretty one that was displayed - and we wanted to save a portion of it for our anniversary. Plus, there was a decent amount that remained and I will not let ice cream cake go to waste! Anywho, in the shuffle at the end of the night, the freezer it was stored in was moved and left unplugged. You can imagine what we picked up the next day. Ice cream puddle cake. We got an apology, but does that really cut it?
-Bartenders were an included service, but they were novices at best. To be fair, we were forewarned that they were not professionals. We gave them a recipe to follow, but upon tasting my first mule of the night, I knew something was wrong. Turns out they had removed the flow restrictor from the bitters and were free pouring them into cocktails. They also added bitters to my sister's Jack and Coke? Strange stuff. We gave them feedback, and they were gracious and adjusted well. My recommendation: If you are serving beer and wine, feel free to use their staff. If you have an event with mildly complicated cocktails, bring in a trained bartender.
For the record, we did not have our ceremony here, just the reception.
Since I added a few pictures that include other vendors works:
photographer: Imagery with Impact/Leylla
dj: Hiba Heabnasty Qadri
succulents (florist): Tend Living/ Britton
ice cream cake: Maggie's Cake Shop
cheesecake bites: The Incredible Cheesecake Company
hair: Jenna Lee
photobooth: Pixster Photo Booths
Overall, it's probably best I waited to write the review since immediately after I would have given them three stars. Looking back, it was a unique wedding spot with only a few snags in the road. Since they're not primarily a wedding venue, it makes sense that it wasn't flawless. We had fun, our guests had fun, and we didn't spend $20k to do it. Good enough for me. read more