Little rant about our wedding venue incoming...
Me, every time I hear for our venue coordinator.
I don’t even know where to start, she’s been absolutely useless! Red flags were there from the very beginning. We struggled for three weeks to get the contract after she said she would send it later that day. In the meantime, we kept chasing her and she alternating between not replying or saying we’d get it that day, but nothing happened. She did tell us that they had secured our date in their system, but that wasn't enough for us, we wanted a written contract in place before we started booking our other suppliers. I don't know if we were being too demanding or not. At that point, I told my fiancé I was having second thoughts and was worried the venue was just too new. I even posted about her years ago and should definitely have listened to the advice to walk away
He reassured me, saying it was such a beautiful venue, it would become more popular, and they’d get their act together in the year and a half before our wedding. He also said that because it’s a DIY venue, we wouldn’t actually need her much since we’d be bringing in our own suppliers, etc. I messaged another bride who had gotten married there. She said the coordinator was great, but that her wedding was last-minute, so she couldn’t afford to be slow with replies. That reassured me, thinking it was a good sign the coordinator managed a last-minute wedding.
I’m definitely the worrier in our relationship, so I trusted my fiancé and we went ahead and booked it. But her replies kept being slow. Eventually, I asked my fiancé to take over communication because I thought maybe she had an issue with me chasing the contract so many times. For a while, she was quick to respond to him, so I thought it was just a "me" issue. But then she started being slow again. I’m not talking a couple of days slow, I mean a week minimum, all while posting content on their socials.
We went back to view the venue to take some measurements, and by then we had already paid 60% of the venue. If we hadn’t, I probably would have backed out. The venue is a big barn with on-site accommodation for 20 people. We visited on a Sunday and had to knock on the window until the mother of the bride from the previous night’s wedding let us in. The venue coordinator was inside the barn too, but apparently didn’t notice us. She was behind the bar and didn’t acknowledge us for a while. We stood there awkwardly for a bit, then each went to the loo, with me loudly saying I hoped she’d notice us when we came back. When she finally did acknowledge us, she joked that it had been a heavy night (you’re the venue coordinator, not a guest?!) and laughed, saying she had double-booked herself, so another couple was about to arrive. She kind of rolled her eyes as she laughed like “lol, what am I like?”
I was
so frustrated, but by then we were already locked in, so I just had to suck it up and deal with it.
Now, with just two months to go, she’s driving me insane. We’re trying to sort out the drinks since we’ve got our RSVPs back, and my fiancé asked her for a price list or a list of drinks they offer so we can figure out what to do for the drinks reception. I kid you not, her response was, “The bar is well-stocked with everything you can expect to find in a bar, but let me know if you want something else, and I’ll see if I can source it for you.” Am I tripping or is that an insane response? You work at a wedding venue, a couple getting married in two months asks for a list of drinks, and this is the response? I’m not asking for anything fancy or complicated or for you to list every flavour of gin you stock, but can’t you at least tell me, “Glass of cava = £X, glass of prosecco = £Y, bottle of 33cl lager = £Z. We can also do Pimms and whatever for £x a glass"? Are we really the first couple to ask for a list of what they offer? The worst part is that we had to wait three weeks for her to reply (chased after two weeks) and this is the amount of info we get.
I know it's our fault for picking them despite the red flags but
We're really trying not to aggravate her as we don't want her to ruin our wedding day, but it's taking me so much strength to not tell her that we'd really appreciate if the service could reflect the price we paid for the venue (it wasn't cheap!).
Rant over!
ETA:
I really am just buzzing to properly start married life.
You've made so many good points and it's good to know I'm not overreacting! I hadn't thought about the last bit (in bold), but you're so so right!