To preface, I have experience hosting events from 50-200 guests and have worked with numerous…read morevenues and coordinators. Vanessa is by far the WORST venue coordinator I've interacted with in terms of customer service, industry knowledge, and communication skills. If you read the other positive reviews, you'll notice they ALL paid additional money for Vanessa to be their wedding coordinator. If you do not pay this, she is a horror to work with (as corroborated by the negative reviews), and I recommend AVOIDING this venue. Another reviewer also stated the owner is her brother-in-law so there is no recourse for her behavior and there are no other venue coordinators available.
Detailed below are just some of the negatives:
- The wedding was actually for my sister. She was having difficulties with Vanessa so asked me to assist. I reached out to Vanessa explaining who I was but never received a response. Instead, Vanessa told my sister that she felt threatened by my contact and will only work with individuals that signed the venue contract. I never said anything negative, but she often overreacted and took offense over nothing.
- Every response took 2 weeks. She would contradict herself in the same email, which added confusion.
- She would use made up lingo and when asked for clarification, she would blame us for not understanding "industry language" and still wouldn't clarify. In my 10 years, I've never heard some of the terms that she used.
- She didn't understand standard wedding requests. We asked for a cake table and Vanessa responded that the request was unclear because she didn't know what size a cake table should be. We asked to add 2 rectangular side tables for guestbooks, gifts, etc. On the proposal, Vanessa commented "unsure why the client requested".
- Unless asked, she wouldn't disclose critical information. We asked multiple times if additional tables (sweetheart, cocktail, etc.) are free. Vanessa confirmed they were free, but once the proposal arrived, it showed free tables with each linen at an additional charge. I told my sister to confirm if the venue provided cake cutting utensils. They don't (which is fine) but this is all information that you tell your clients without prompting. Imagine cutting the cake with no utensils!
- When asked questions, she rudely responded with "NO" or "YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE"
- In the 1.5 years of planning, despite multiple requests, the venue proposal was only updated twice - once for the initial contract and once when full payment was due 30 days before the event. My sister had to withhold final payment to get her to update it. She updated it 1 week after with inaccurate information. We annotated and returned it next day saying that she'd pay once it was correct. Vanessa had the audacity to respond that making notes on the proposal made it seem like they were stalling payment. Granted, there were 1-2 new updates amongst many more corrections but it was because Vanessa withheld information, and new adjustments were required after seeing the revised proposal for the 1st time.
- Vanessa never provided a table layout. My sister had to create it and then confirmed if 5 round tables per row would work. On wedding day, we arrived to a different layout of 4 rounds per row. Vanessa blamed it on a 2 ft. wide photo arch, stating that she had to make adjustments to fit an arch that was discussed weeks prior. However, it was evident that the room would have NEVER fit 5 rounds per row. We had to rearrange the seating chart and the chairs to accommodate for her mess.
- Also on wedding day, Vanessa was surprised to find the timeline included a champagne toast. Mind you, the timeline was provided 30 days ago and toasts are standard in weddings. So, she gave us 30 mins to decide on the additional champagne cost. I asked to remove 1 champagne bottle charge as there was an entire table of kids, but she refused. So apparently, the venue includes children in the champagne count even though serving alcohol to minors is illegal.
- There was also a safety hazard. About 25 chairs with wheels/casters were intermingled with standard dining chairs. I unknowingly sat in a chair with casters and almost fell. There was no visible difference between the standard chairs vs. chairs with casters, and the table linens prevent anyone from seeing the casters. I told Vanessa who saw no issues and argued that people falling out their chair has never happened before. Thankfully, we were able to get these all replaced prior to the wedding to avoid any older guests from getting hurt.
To the owner: Not only is Vanessa horrible to clients, but since she never updated the proposal, the kitchen used the original headcount and cooked 40 additional meals (talk about a waste of money). Also, due to not providing a table layout, the banquet captain Griselda set up tables once, and then had to come back 1 hr earlier to redo it, making staff do avoidable extra work.
