I recently hosted my daughter's quinceañera at this venue. While the event itself turned out…read morebeautifully, the planning process and venue organization caused a significant amount of unnecessary stress.
Initially, planning with Evelyn was great. We discussed setup times, table settings, chargers, napkins, and other event details, and we had originally been told we would have access to the venue on Thursday to set up. However, the week before the event our contact changed to one of the owners, and we were asked for information that had already been provided. We were also informed that Thursday was no longer available for setup and had to rearrange our schedules to come on Wednesday instead.
Unfortunately, when we arrived for our scheduled setup, nothing had been prepared. Tables, linens, and place settings weren't ready, and items from the previous event were still in the venue. Because setup time is already very limited, this prevented us from completing everything we had planned.
Future clients should also know that this is a second-floor venue, and you are responsible for bringing up all of your own bar supplies. We weren't told until two days before the event that no carts would be available, so thankfully we brought our own dollies.
The owner did ask what still needed to be done after we explained the situation, and the team completed most of those items before our final walkthrough. I appreciated that effort.
Another important thing to know is that the venue also has its own event planning and decorating business. If you choose to bring in your own vendors or decorate yourself, your setup time is extremely limited unless you pay additional fees for early access. We arranged our own flowers and had to pay extra just to drop them off ahead of time.
We also hired The Habit Burger food truck for our event. We had to set up our own cones to reserve parking, and when the truck arrived, it didn't fit in the location the venue had instructed us to use. Fortunately, one of the owners helped resolve the issue and even told my husband that the team should have already had the parking area prepared before the truck arrived.
The biggest issue was on the day of the event. I arrived around 4:20 p.m. for photos before our 5:00 p.m. guest arrival, and the air conditioning in the hallways and restrooms was not workin it was over 95 degrees outside. We had several ADA guests who needed to use the restrooms, making this especially uncomfortable. About 3.5 hrs into the event, one of the owners arrived with fans, and guests were eventually directed to another restroom that did have air conditioning.
We also had an issue with the security guard, who was speaking inappropriately to some of our minor guests. We immediately reported it to the venue staff.
I do want to recognize the bartender, cleaning staff, and event lead. They were professional, kind, and worked hard throughout the evening to help wherever they could.
Overall, the venue itself is beautiful, and our daughter's quinceañera was a wonderful celebration.
However, there were too many communication issues, last-minute changes, and preventable problems leading up to and during the event. I hope the venue improves its organization and communication because it has the potential to provide a much smoother experience for future clients.