VENDOR REVIEWS---detailed!

rollo598 · July 2009

Our wedding was 5.20.09 and such a great time! We had so much fun and both of our parents are still receiving phone calls about what a great time it was! Millcreek Barns:BMy experience with Millcreek was very good; however, my mother-in-law and the florist did not have any nice things to say about Kirby. I guess he was very hot and cold with him and he wasn’t willing to negotiate on the time we were to get in the barn (I asked to get in at 11:30 am and he was absolutely not budging) and he did charge us $300 for a half hour that we were late getting out (in all fairness it stated those charges in the contract). I will say that I love Amy and her personality seems far more suited for this type of business and it seems as though Kirby should be the behind the scenes kind of guy. He flipped out about them hanging chandeliers and the candy sign for the candy buffet; he also flipped out about our initials that were on huge wooded signs (originally we were going to put them in the front of the barn by the old windmill fixture but Kirby flipped so they put them at the edge by the fence turning into the barn). We brought all of their own items needed for decorating the grounds (including extended ladder and such) but he was still pretty rude about it all I guess. There was some little girl that seemed to take Kirby’s place at the end of the night and I overheard her calling and saying “there just now taking the flowers down”…it was funny, she didn’t look a day older then 16. Things to consider: Ø The grounds and what flowers will be planted, the flowers might not be as plentiful as you would like. Ø Having heaters on standby, I only heard of one person that said they were chilly but everyone else was on the dance floor and in the bar area and they were fine (I had my mother double check on grandmothers and such who would have been honest for sure). Ø I highly recommend having transportation for guests that are out of town (all of mine were), it helped make the night carefree and everyone wasn’t worried about going back and fourth, I used the Ramada’s free transportation and hired out an 25 pp limo bus to go back and fourth to the Blvd Ø Have an after party planned because the DJ has to stop at 11 pm and you need to be out of there by 12 pm and if you have family and friends who love to party then you’ll want to go somewhere after (we went to our hotel suite and down to Lake Michigan). Ø Think of a day of coordinator if you haven’t already decided on having one, she really helped moved things along and I hired her in a panic 3 weeks out! The grounds were pretty but I went the night before the wedding with one of my bridesmaids we actually started weeding some of the flower beds (again, we were only the 2nd or 3rd wedding so those items might be taking care of by the time of everyone else’s wedding).The dj was worried about the sound system getting to the dining area but it was absolutely perfect, no worries at all. Our officiant found a podium and wireless microphone for the ceremony and that was a last minute addition and it was a good move (she suggested it). I didn’t decorate the arbor besides with ferns and small tins with daisies lining the aisle, the setting speaks for itself.Makeup: Julie Strating:A+AWESOME, CANNOT SAY ENOUGH Wonderful things about her.DOC: Amber Hodge:A+She was a late decision and she was incredible! She is so calm, sweet and organized!Officiant: Cherly Hooten: A+She went above and beyond and was great with creating a ceremony specific to what we wanted. She offered suggestions but wasn't overbearng at all. Caterer:CK KitchenABob (owner aka Rob H.) was freaking awesome in his responses, worked around our budget and was so quick with email responses.....loved him! The only bad thing is his display was great in the pre-event meeting and wasn't all that great at the wedding. I didn't expect too much but I was a bit shocked when i walked in an the appetizers were just sitting on a table in trays (no flowers or anything). And I was a bit taken by the way the desserts were set out for 30 minutes and then put back into the packaging and left on the candy buffet until I said something...that was just tacky.DJ:BMusic Unlimited (Tim)He was the owner and very nice in person. ...he didn't have the music we were going to walk into and wanted to charge to much for our ceremony but he kept the floor packed. Wasn't very good on the follow-up but it is his hobby biz. Great guy, just wasn't as organized as I would of like him to been. Bartenders:Sue Luther: With a TWISTA+AWESOME! Quick, never a line, moved, moved, moved!Transportation: Royal ExcursionARoyal ExcursionFair price, great service and went above and beyond to accomodate us.Hair and decor was provided by a family friend(s). Hair lady was from Indiana and flowers by Roses of Warren in Romeo, MI. Email me if you have any additional questions or would like to see pics, I am more then happy to answer them! rollo598@yahoo.com

KimL141 · July 2009

I would love the contact info for your caterer and bartenders. Thanks! KimL141 @ aol . com

rollo598 · July 2009

Since writing this review, I have received emails from the owner and feel that I should share the responses since they lack professionalism. I did not forward the review to her and thought my review was fair and her responses were brash to say the least. To view the posts look under the Detroit boards under the sane name I post here. Thanks and happy planning! http://talk.theknot.com/boards/main_frame.aspx?page=ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=88&MsdVisit=1

kada626 · July 2009

wow, thanks for your review & I'm sorry you had to go through that. Her emails afterwards are very childish & I'm sure she will lose a lot of business because of them. I think your review sounded very fair and I think your score of a B is very generous. That place is a barn, maybe they forgot that. Whatever happen to pleasing the customer? They don't seem to be very accommadating to begin with but those emails are over the top. I think being charged $300 for a half hour is completely ridiculous also.

Spartan5 · July 2009

Wow. I can not believe that someone who works in a business where customer service is so important would behave in such an unprofessional manner. Your review was more than fair and I'm sure any brides that are having their weddings there will find it very helpful.

lalou99 · August 2011

Thanks for posting rollo598. I would just like to add my experience to this thread because it mirrors rollo598's experience quite closely. I recently held my wedding at Millcreek Barns as well. To say that Kirby is rude and a pitiful businessman is an understatement. Beginning from our first walkthrough to post wedding bills, he was a challenge to work with and was inflexible every step of the way.

-I scheduled our first walkthrough for a Sunday in February (emails to prove it). After driving from Chicago to Watervliet in a literal blizzard, he had the date wrong and wasn't around to show us the space. That wouldn't have been so bad, I understand human error, but he insisted that it was my fault and was totally rude (Amy later apologized for their mistake by email). Luckily we could walk around the space and see in the windows so the trip wasn't completely wasted.

-We envisioned a wedding with much more detailed decor from my company, Kehoe Designs and that seemed to offend him. He then charged us to adjust every tiny little thing...flags, paper lanterns, chairs, ceremony seating, you name it! He even charged money for "clean up" of an outdoor cocktail hour that was completely tables/bars/decor that my company brought in and took out...he had absolutely nothing to clean up.

-For being the "artsy" owners they seem to be, they don't seem to have any respect or appreciation for anyone's vision but their own. I believe they usually have pretty simple weddings there with not much decor because they seem to think that an entire venue can be cleaned up in a half hour. I wasn't about to pay to have the space until 1am and kick my guests out at 10pm just to make sure my decor crew could take everything down by their ridiculous 1am exit time. I understand guests leaving by 12:30am-1am for noise issues, but if they had any experience in larger scale weddings they would understand that teardown takes some time. I paid the extra $500 for overtime for my clean up crew without argument because it was in their contract and I expected the charge to come, but they need to reevaluate what they are asking for with a 12am standard exit time for everything (not just guests). This is one of the biggest days of their clients' lives...it's a party. After months and months of planning, who wants to end the event at 10-11pm just to make sure the venue staff gets home by 1am?? Welcome to the industry people--by opening a business in the events industry, you should expect some late nights.

-They do have a beautiful space, but I honestly don't know that being there was worth it to have to deal with Kirby. I would give all of my vendors 5 stars--they were amazing. DJ Guy Voss, Events Without Boundaries Catering (as good as any I have seen in the industry in Chicago, if not better), photographer Lindsey Shae, Skip from Millburg Trading Post for alcohol. Kirby Briske at Millcreek Barns I would give 1 star...and that's only because I liked the space for my style of wedding.

I will post pictures when I get them so you can see the detail I'm referring to!

nbanks33 · April 2014

Unfortunately I had a really terrible experience with this business, With A Twist, and Sue Luther.

I had originally contracted With A Twist back in January 2013 to provide bartending services at The Blue Dress Barn for our August 2014 wedding. I signed her agreement and placed a $100 deposit with the vendor. The agreement not address her cancellation policy. We discussed her policy on the phone and she said if we needed to change our plans it wouldn't be a problem.

Fast forward to September 2013 where we changed both our date AND our venue. I tried endlessly for 6+ months to get Sue to confirm our changes to the agreement via email and phone. I emailed her 13 times between September 2013 - February 2014 to get this change in writing. Sue was completely unresponsive and we never received confirmation that she could accommodate the changes. We requested a refund of our deposit in March and she finally responded that we were confirmed. At that point we had already booked another bartending service who has been super responsive and professional. At this point Sue is refusing to return our $100 deposit and has been ignoring my phone calls and emails in order to do so. While I realize that many deposits are non-refundable in the wedding business, she did confirm that ours was refundable if our plans changed and nowhere in her agreement does it state otherwise.

With A Twist and Sue Luther have been a nightmare to deal with. She is unprofessional and unresponsive. We are working with 18 different vendors for our upcoming nuptials and With A Twist has been my only headache. Although the options are limited in the area, I urge any brides to look elsewhere. It's not worth the stress of trying to track a vendor down. Other services in the area will treat you better and offer much better pricing.

I was hopeful that Sue would do the right thing and refund the money as promised. After countless unanswered calls and emails, I really just want to warn any brides out there that are considering her services.

VENDOR REVIEWS---detailed!

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