Problem with our wedding reception venue - advice appreciated!

E._Tenebris_Lux

Thanks Si Clist. I've just found out from someone on a different, wedding-specific message board (I am obviously quite worked up about this) that she had exactly the same experience at this venue and did end up walking away, so that doesn't fill me with confidence but it does mean that this isn't personal and the manager is just terrible at business.

It also means that I definitely need to contact the owners because they have a right to know how he is behaving and that he genuinely is losing them business.

I am about to call him to sort out a date to meet next week and will update you all shortly...

E._Tenebris_Lux

Well, that was underwhelming. I called the manager just now and he appeared to have read our email of last night, as well as all of our other emails, but said that he hadn't had a chance to get back to us because he was dealing with other people's weddings and enquiries. Whilst I'm sure that's true, that isn't a good enough answer - we haven't been asking complicated questions and he could have at least sent us a holding response.

In any event, he was pleasant enough on the phone (if completely unapologetic for his lack of communication), answered a few of our minor queries and has agreed to see us on Tuesday evening to discuss the outstanding queries and potentially finalise the booking and take the deposit. We will obviously go and meet him, but I'll have to talk to my fiancee about whether or not we finalise the booking, leave it for the time being or simply walk away now. On the strength of the evidence that the venue does do great weddings (other people's blogs, photos, testimonials etc) I'm inclined to go ahead - I accept that he may just be terrible at responding to emails but good at managing a venue - but it will come down to what my fiancee thinks, as she's definitely more concerned and put off by his behaviour.

So, we will have to see what Tuesday brings. I definitely feel more reassured having spoken to him on the phone (we may simply have to conduct everything by telephone and in person, although I'll still put everything in writing should things go sour) and feel more positive about it all - having said that, if it should all implode on the day and turn out that they've double-booked us, or the food isn't right, or something else goes wrong, we will always say "Well, we did have a bad feeling from the very start..."

Thanks all for your sage comments and advice - I will definitely keep you updated on developments! I'm reluctant to post the name of the venue for paranoid reasons, but for anyone who is interested the postcode is WC1X 9HH.

RachyD_3

I feel your pain - we had a similar problem with our photographer. We didn't have a lot of choice in the matter though as they're the only decent photographer on the island (we're getting married in the Caribbean). The whole thing turned me into a bridezilla for a while there though!


I hope everything goes well on Tuesday. I guess, as other people have said, a wedding isn't a big deal to these people as they see them week in, week out. I just wish they'd realise it is a big deal to their customers!


ETA: I'm sure you've already looked, but the reviews of the service at (what I assume to be!) your venue aren't super. Just wanted to mention it in case you'd somehow missed that.

globetraveller

I wish you luck with it all!

Mrs_Huggett

Do you have wedding insurance in place, just in case!!! I really worry these days with business's closing down suddenly good luck with the meeting, if you decide to carry on looking I have details for a company in London that does all sorts of amazing spaces, I can PM if you need it.

ladymarmalade

Mrs_Huggett wrote: »

Do you have wedding insurance in place, just in case!!! I really worry these days with business's closing down suddenly good luck with the meeting, if you decide to carry on looking I have details for a company in London that does all sorts of amazing spaces, I can PM if you need it.

I agree with this....just in case anything goes wrong!

floss2

E._Tenebris_Lux wrote: »

Well, that was underwhelming. I called the manager just now and he appeared to have read our email of last night, as well as all of our other emails, but said that he hadn't had a chance to get back to us because he was dealing with other people's weddings and enquiries. Whilst I'm sure that's true, that isn't a good enough answer - we haven't been asking complicated questions and he could have at least sent us a holding response.

......

So, we will have to see what Tuesday brings. I definitely feel more reassured having spoken to him on the phone (we may simply have to conduct everything by telephone and in person, although I'll still put everything in writing should things go sour)......

Maybe he has more going on than he can manage, and really hasn't had time to devote to contacting those people who haven't yet committed to the venue?

Stephb1986_2

Does he seem like a creative type of person? I have found that creative type people are very unorganised and lame at responding to emails etc. My florist is like this which can be frustrating same as my cake lady and videographer.

Luckily I have 39 days to go because I don't think I could cope with unorganised people any longer!

Steph x

E._Tenebris_Lux

Thanks for the comments all - we're now seeing him on Thursday so I will keep you posted.

We will indeed be getting wedding insurance as many have suggested. When is the best time to get it - before or after things are booked?

floss2 / Stephb1986 - I think it's a combination of these two things, i.e. that he is both a generally disorganised and non-email person (which makes sense as he doesn't have a desk job) but is also focussed on weddings which are coming up in the next weeks and months. So hopefully once our wedding is approaching, he will also be focussed on us.

Having said that, it isn't really a viable way to run a business because he is literally losing new bookings simply by not responding to queries and indications of interest. I've found two other people on a different forum who were also interested in the venue but went elsewhere after the manager failed to respond to their queries. So it definitely isn't something I approve of, but there is a lot of evidence that they do deliver good weddings so I think we just need to trust that he's better at running a venue than he is at responding to emails! Definitely doesn't sit well with me, but we'll see how Thursday goes...

Stephb1986_2

I totally feel your pain! I've asked my cake maker at least 5 times how much is it for delivery she will reply and say "my husband isn't in at the moment I'll message you later" and then doesn't grrrr