We held our wedding reception here on 1 May for around 35 guests. Overall, the venue itself is beautiful and our guests had a fantastic time, but there were several service and communication issues that left us disappointed. I've broken my review into three parts.
Pre-event
Before signing the contract, the team was very responsive and happy to answer all of our questions. We were also given a helpful tour of the venue.
However, after the contract was signed, communication became noticeably less enthusiastic. We had several conversations about arranging delivery of our wedding cake, and there seemed to be very little flexibility around delivery timing. The venue did agree to cut and serve the cake, which we appreciated.
During the event
The venue looked fantastic and the cocktails were excellent, our guests absolutely loved them. Unfortunately, several service issues detracted from what was otherwise a wonderful evening.
- One of the bathrooms became blocked very early in the event and took quite some time to be addressed.
- Our wedding cake was left sitting on a side table, still boxed, for most of the evening. One of our guests had to repeatedly ask staff to unpack it, and it wasn't done until much later. When it came time to serve the cake, there were no staff available to cut it, despite this having been discussed before the event. I actually started cutting the cake myself before a staff member eventually came over to help.
- There didn't appear to be a manager on duty to supervise or field questions during the evening. When we enquired during the event about extending the event duration, the staff were unable to respond or direct us to an on-duty manager. Eventually, one of the staff members texted a manager to get an answer.
- We experienced problems with the music system including the wifi, which prevented us from reliably playing our own playlist during the reception.
- No one informed us when the food was served. It was simply placed in the corner without any announcement, meaning many guests didn't realize it was available. Several guests also commented that the chicken skewers were overcooked and dry.
Post-event
This is where our experience became most disappointing.
During the reception, we requested two separate one-hour extensions. Before the event, we had been told this would likely be possible if guests were still enjoying themselves. On the night, we specifically asked for the all-inclusive cost of each additional hour and were quoted $1,000 per hour, which we agreed to.
After the event, we received an invoice showing that the quoted price did not include sales tax, an administration fee, and a mandatory 20% gratuity. This increased the total cost by roughly 37% beyond what we reasonably understood we were agreeing to. Had these additional charges been clearly communicated when we agreed to extend the event, we almost certainly would have chosen to extend for only one hour instead of two.
What was even more disappointing was that, while we were actively querying the invoice, the venue charged our credit card anyway. This also meant we incurred an additional credit card surcharge, despite the invoice stating that alternative payment methods were available to avoid the surcharge.
After raising these concerns, the manager replied on 12 May and offered to waive the administration fee. We accepted that offer immediately. Since then, we've followed up three separate times over more than two months and have received no response, nor has the fee been refunded.
Overall, The Wallflower is a beautiful venue with excellent drinks and plenty of potential. However, weddings are milestone events where communication, follow-through, and professionalism matter just as much as the venue itself. With better attention to detail and more transparent communication, our experience would have been a much more positive one. read more