I am having my bridal shower at Schade Creek Winery next weekend in Waukee. My mom and sister and aunt are hosting the shower and have told me what a pain it has been planning it with the owner. They have said she has been very difficult to get in touch with and hasn't been prompt in returning e-mails or phone calls. I went with my mom on Saturday to do a wine tasting as we were going to pre-order some wine to give away as prizes / favors at the shower and they were going to make custom labels with our engagement photos on them so we wanted to taste the wine first - my mom called several times last week and never got a call back so we just decided to go there - she left a message on her voicemail and e-mailed the owner to tell her we would be there at 1PM. We arrived and they were setting up for a wedding. The door was locked and vendors were dropping stuff off outside for the wedding. My mom called the owner and she was at her house (next door) and was just getting out of the shower - at 1 PM?!!! She made a bunch of excuses and we told her we'd be back at 2:30. When we went back at 2:30 she still wasn't there and a photographer who had arrived for the wedding that was there went next door and got her. Luckily we were able to taste the wine and it was actually good, (thank god) and we are still going ahead with having the shower there next weekend since my mom and sister don't think they can get a back up location on short notice and get 40 guests to a different place either.
I hope she isn't just brushing my mom and sister off because this is just a shower and she is not getting as much money as she would from a bigger event like a wedding, although it didn't seem like she was there for those wedding vendors who were dropping stuff off either though... there is a wedding there the same night as my shower too though, so she has people coming after we leave to have a wedding that night next weekend too... It still cost my mom $300 to get the place for the shower so it wasn't exactly a cheap location for a shower!
Has anyone used this venue for anything? I know they are very new - I hope she gets her act together for the future and maybe hires some help - I think she needs an assistant to help her get organized or something! Hopefully if you are thinking about this venue you will have a better experience! Maybe she is different for bigger events too...
I'll update after next weekend to let you know how the shower actually went!
