DISAPPOINTING!!!
I have very mixed feelings for the Windmill Winery. The first few words that comes to mind is Disappointing, Discouraging and just plan sad.
My husband I stumbled along the Windmill Winery at the Phoenix Bridal show, and instantly fell in love with the property and pictures and knew we had to go see it! We of course went to multiple open houses that they have often, which is a great touch. Both of us being in the hospitality industry were picky, to say the least.
While at the Bridal Show and the Open House we saw one person that made us feel like this was a great place... The owner was working both, hustling and actually seemed to care about the business. We knew we found the place.
The grounds are beautiful, they do a great job at maintaining and creating a unified ambiance that every bride wants right now, rustic elegance.
It all turned after booking and signing the contract... the company seems to have the sales and contracting part down but when it comes to execution or questions they have no idea what they are doing. And, I'm surprised that they have lasted as long as they have. Please be aware that after signing your contract you are not assigned to your Event Manager until 6 months out from your wedding. No name or email to contact if you have questions until then... I went almost a year without have anyone to talk to ask simple questions; how big are your tables? What is your wine list? Do you offer water? (nope they charge you for water). And when I did have questions, I got sent from person to person until someone could answer my question and then was told; 'I'm not your Event Manager but here are your answers." --- Does that seem ok?
Honestly what it came down to for us was just plain communication. Everything was jumbled; we got bounced from Event Manager to Event Manger, not having one, then the next one left, then we didn't have one, then we got the Owner, then we finally got assigned one. With each one not giving our notes to the next, and had to start over each time (including with the owner).
I'm not saying we weren't picky or had special requests everyone does were not out of the ordinary but, when your Event Manager goes 3 weeks without getting back to you... you start to worry about the professionalism of the company.
I work at a hotel as an Event Manager, when you leave for your days off or to handle a family matter for 3 weeks or even a day you put an out of office on.... Just plain professionalism.
Things like this happened time and time again. I even got threatened emails from the accountant that they were going to drop our wedding due to an out of date credit card. But, little did she know she had a new credit card in her inbox 5 days prior... again communication and professionalism.
I know tell people when they ask me how my wedding was and do I recommend the Windmill Winery as a location, my answer is, 'NO! Pretty place but the people are terrible to work with.' Still to this day I want my money back! read more