Venue Disaster

Yesterday, we met our May 29th bride and groom at their reception venue to go over the room layout and the final details for their wedding. Kathy and I reviewed our notes and relaxed knowing that we had everything in place and this was just a quick meeting.

What is that saying about counting your chickens before they are hatched? Well it is true because we found a rotten egg.

As we traveled to the top floor, we noticed construction in the atrium where the cocktail hour and the food buffet will be located. This is an important part of their plan and essential to the flow for the evening reception. Our darling couple (who we are crazy about!!) had selected this venue exactly one year ago and they are paying top dollar for this site. Yet, the once lovely brass railings were now pieces of plywood, and the columns were drywall and spackle, and in the center stood 4 paint splattered scaffolds.

Shock does not begin to describe everyone’s feelings at that moment. The manager was looking through his file and said “Oh I don’t have much information here, have you selected anything?” The bride, still stunned from the construction, turned and said “Yes, I did all that months ago with the previous manager.” I know how sick I felt at that moment and I can only imagine how our sweet couple felt. As they looked through his minimal paperwork and waited while he called the leasing agent, Kathy and I were already going over the options of how to make the one ballroom work. We checked into using an adjoining room. We considered the many options of draping to try to hide the mess and we talked through possible room layouts if we needed to combine the cocktail hour and food buffet into this one space.

The vice president of operations was called in (he has the ability to change the financial arrangements) and I must say that his demeanor was not comforting. He spent most of his time telling us what a headache the construction was creating for him and implying….what do you want from me? We would rather have had a call earlier telling us what was going on and offering solutions or financial reimbursements…but he arrived with a “hey I have no control -  I just lease the space” attitude. He told the bride and groom that he had a prom with 500 kids the previous weekend and no one noticed the construction (prom….seriously?) He did finally agree to refund their money…but since the wedding is 2 1/2 weeks away, that is adding another headache that neither one of these busy professionals have the time for. At this point, the bride and groom decided to sleep on it and discuss their options over the next few days.

The only high point in the day for us was when the bride turned to us and said “I am so glad y’all were here. Both our mothers are out-of-town and it was so wonderful to have the support.” She told us two more times that our presence was very comforting. When we got in the car, Kathy and I turned to each other and we had bittersweet tears in our eyes and we said…”THAT is why we do this.” At this important time in your life, you need someone who has life experience, wedding experience and a motherly touch to handle a crisis.

Stay tuned for further news on how this plays out! ~ Beth

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