As matron of honor, I rented the upstairs at Sleepy Creek Vineyard for a bridal shower for my best friend.
I spoke with the owner (Janette) on the phone since the staff had no clue the party of 32 was coming in that day.
Given that I booked the event two months pr one would imagine that would be ample time to notify the staff of our event. The table and chairs were not set up so I took it on myself to set up everything—mind you, I am pregnant. Erik was very helpful and brought up an extra table for food once everything was very kind!
Upon speaking with the owner on the phone and in person, she was extremely rude and demanded I pay $30 extra for arriving 20 min prior to my “set up time”-it is helpful to note I arrived early because we had a winter storm that dumped 7-10 inches of snow the day before. I already paid the $150 set up/venue/tear down price when she asked for the extra $30. After spending 10 min on the phone arguing about what I was there early, I spent the other 15 min she was complaining about, setting up the table and chairs that should have already been set up. In total, we spent an hour going back and forth over the $30 (3 separate, very rude conversations). That time was wasted on pointless conversations and time away from the celebration I put together for the bride.
I can’t emphasize enough, the staff was extremely helpful and over apologetic for the owners behavior and attitude and offered up numerous excuses for their boss, the owner, on top of which they repeatedly said-what might be the most appalling bit of information, “she’s like this with everyone.”
We were told that everything would be set up upon arrival, nothing was; the bride contacted the venue asking about table linens and was assured it would be supplied, the owner berated me in person, and over the phone for having the audacity to expect what we paid for and ranted that they have no obligation for table linens. So we were left with white plastic tables that looked cheap and dirty. Aside from how I, or the bridal shower was treated, I have to emphasize that the owners communication with the staff was terrible, she did not communicate with them about our reservation, and when the staff communicated to the bride that they could definitely provide table linens, the owner completely undermined their directive.
In short, we have 32 guests who will not return or refer this venue for any event. This is really unfortunate because before today, this was a place I would recommend to everyone. The staff did their best but the owner made it painfully impossible for the staff to fulfill agreed upon terms of the bridal shower. Horrible internal communication, terrible customer service and extremely unprofessional.