My best friend got married there several years ago. I remember her gushing over how great they…read morewere, and how communicative they were. I distinctly remember her telling me that I HAD TO work with Jill and Jessica.
So fast forward a few years later. I'm planning my own wedding. While I am originally from the St. Louis area, I no longer live in Stl. When I was narrowing down my search, I remembered my best friend telling me to check this place out again.
All of the good that I remembered came flooding back, and I was pleased that I had even more good to bring forth. When I was still in the researching stage, I sought out Jill. For me, the most important aspect was not necessarily money, but how well they could communicate with me. Planning a wedding is hard, but planning a wedding from 1500 miles away is daunting. Jill, and Jessica, and Tyler all made my life SO MUCH easier during the course of the year that I was planning my wedding. For all of those out there looking to plan an event or a wedding, check out this wonderful little gem. To be honest, I am sort of a person who plans for errors, or little mistakes. I just sort expect it. Any errors or little mistakes were that happened literally were handled before I even got wind of it. I am not someone who believes in giving false reviews, and I like to set up real expectations. Here's my own thoughts regarding this wonderful little gem.
1. Jill, Jess, and Tyler...but especially Jill were the best. Seriously. I live in the hospitality capital of the world and their customer service skills are second to none.
2. I had a night-of coordinator, Janessa. I remembered being told that she was new to her role. New or not, she floated all night. She just handled everything. I didn't have to worry or stress or anything. She was just magic. A child dropped a plate during dinner. She had it cleaned up before I could even call to someone to say that the plate fell. When a glass of alcohol spilled near the bar, she had it cleaned up before anyone even knew it happened. She not only chased down her staff, she chased down my friends and family too. She ran to the dj for me, and and one point in the night, she asked if I remembered to eat. She even made sure to save me a bit of extra mac and cheese because I told her that I was notorious for taking care of everything and everyone and not remembering to eat. I mentioned at the end of the night that I was little sad that I didn't get one of my cookies, only to be told that she stashed two behind the bar for my husband and I. HOLY CRAP. GEM.
3. The prices were unbeatable. Seriously. I have a spreadsheet with over 90 locations and venues. This price was the best bang for the buck by a long long long LONG shot.
4. Jessica was so helpful. I interacted with her in person probably a good handful of times. She's genuine, and funny. She's also realistic.
5. Banquet food is banquet food. That was my expectation. People raved about the food at the wedding. Even my husband and my photographer commented that the ham and mac & cheese were fire. They are. As my husband is Filipino, it was really important to me to have some sort of cultural connection to my new in-laws. Bring in the Lumpia. This venue doesn't allow for food to be brought in. In working with the chef, we were able to secure some Lumpia. My in-laws were SO excited to see LUMPIA.
6. Jill was the most attentive, reliable and easy person to communicate with. For a year, I was emailing back and forth with Jill for different questions. She responded each time in less than 48 hours (usually less than 8 hours.) The billing was clear, there were no hidden or unexpected costs and I was sad the night of the wedding when I hugged her goodbye.