Gripe about The Pearl

asoho0704 · November 2011

Hey girls,

It's been a few months since I've been on, but I'm starting to get pretty pissed off here. I read on here before I even booked that Trish from the Pearl could be difficult to get in touch with, but I've emailed her 3 times over the last 3 weeks (giving them sufficient time to get stuff situated post-hurricane) and haven't heard a word back. I'm pretty furious, because I need cost estimates for some things, becuase we're paying for our wedding ourselves.

Anyone who has worked with Trish before have ANY suggestions on what might work the best to get in touch with her? This is just a pain in the ass.

Thanks!!
Anna

OBX2011 · November 2011

Hi Anna!

Long time no see

A few of our girls got married there....I am sure they will pop in to offer some help.

Sorry you aren't having any luck with Trish....but this seems to be a pretty common thing with The Pearl. I am sure it will all get worked out

sarahebrown · November 2011

Hi Anna,
I was married at the Pearl last month. Sadly, I know exactly how you're feeling right now. I had a terrible time with communication with Trish all during the months of planning! I would email and not receive a response for weeks, sometimes not at all.

Here's is what I did: I used my Outlook email which gave options for "read receipts". That way, I could track when the email was opened by them. When I didn't receive a response, I would email again and detail the times/dates that emails were sent and received. THAT seemed to get their attention! I also called them with lists of questions and didn't hang up the phone until I had all my answers.

It sucks that they seem to have so much trouble in responding in timely-fashion to their brides and that I even had to resort to stupid record-keeping, but it was only way to keep myself sane! I know that it's also "off season" for them now, meaning the restaurant is closed for the season. It's essentially a family-run place, so when they are on vacation or out for extended periods of time, they don't have anyone in the office to help. This was a recommendation I made to them after my wedding, that they hire someone to work in their office to handle coorespondence with brides year-round.

BUT....if it's any consolation, after all the drama, my wedding was WONDERFUL. They did everything I had asked for and I was very happy with how it turned out.

Maybe I can help answer whatever question you need to know in the meantime? Feel free to send me a PM. I definitely did my homework, so I might know more about the place then they do! LOL

ms_teach · November 2011

I was in the same boat for our June wedding. I agree with Sarah that things went very well on my wedding day though. I think it sucks that they are so bad with the communication because their venue really is great. When we couldn't get an answer by email, we would call and talk to Trish personally. I ended up handing all of that over to my husband because he is much better with that than me. I would get frustrated too easily with it.

Trish flat out said she didn't respond to our emails because she "didn't want to go back and forth and knew we would be able to find something that worked in person." That's really unhelpful IMO.

I still have my wedding files on my computer, so you're also welcome to shoot me an email or PM with questions. I might be able to help get you some piece of mind while you wait to hear from them. My email is christi AT ballstate DOT bsu DOT edu. I'm also on the FB group if you want to get with me there.

asoho0704 · November 2011

Thanks for all your input girls!! At least it's not just me, I was going nuts for a minute. I guess I'm probably going to write down a list of questions and call her. I keep asking her about what it will cost (ballpark) for certain quantities of beer/alcohol? And what beer they offer - is it a bottle or tap? And I sent her a picture of how I want our wedding cake to look, and no response to that either. My other question for her was about what the vegetarian alternative is going to be to the meat-filled meal?

I was also promised pricing from my florist, and still have received nothing (bells and whistles). Doing an out of town wedding is turning out to be a huge pain. And I'm pretty low maintenance. sigh.

I'm in complete agreement that they should hire a wedding coordinator for the Pearl. If they can't handle answering a simple email, that just becomes unacceptable.

Also - one last question: I booked a block at the Sea Ranch, but am also going to book a block at another hotel to give my guests options. Do any of you have any good suggestions?

OBX2011 · November 2011

I would recommend a local hotel to help stimulate OBX's economy.....forget the big players like Hilton, Holiday Inn, etc.

We blocked rooms at The Nags Head Inn--remodeled in 2009 and they include local artists work throughout the hotel. Also used ShuttersOnTheBanks and our guests loved both hotels and were very happy with their stay.

Definitely keep supporting local OBX!

sarahebrown · November 2011

Anna,
Here's the answers to your questions (to the best of my knowledge)

What it will cost (ballpark) for certain quantities of beer/alcohol? And what beer they offer - is it a bottle or tap?
We had an open bar up to $700 for 50 guests. We only went $12 over that. We did have some non-drinker guests however. They don't offer beer on tap, only bottled. I believe they had domestics like Bud, Miller and maybe Heineken or Corona. (I didn't drink beer so I can't remember exactly)

And I sent her a picture of how I want our wedding cake to look, and no response to that either.
We actually used Great Cakes instead of having them do our cake. Christi (above) had them do their cake so I'll leave this to her.

My other question for her was about what the vegetarian alternative is going to be to the meat-filled meal?
Are you doing buffet or plated? If buffet, they have 3 different stations. One of the stations is a pasta station made-to-order and guests can chose what goes into their pasta- so if they are vegetarians they can have pasta with veggies & tomato sauce for example. The sides of mashed potatoes & their house salad were both delicious so those could be options too.

I was also promised pricing from my florist, and still have received nothing (bells and whistles).
I met with Dorothy from Bells & Whistles and she was hard for me to get in touch with also afterwards. I hope she gets back to you soon. Did you already pay your deposit?

Also - one last question: I booked a block at the Sea Ranch, but am also going to book a block at another hotel to give my guests options. Do any of you have any good suggestions?
Our guests stayed at either the Sea Ranch, Best Western, Days Inn or Ramada Plaza Nags Head. Just so you know, all our guests LOVED Sea Ranch. No complaints whatsoever.

Hope that helps a little! If you have more questions, feel free to ask!!

asoho0704 · November 2011

THANK YOU so much for all of this info! We will likely have 70-90 guests, and most are drinkers, so I'm ok with the ballpark figure being double that plus a little more.

Also, we were told that the cake was included, and we're trying to save $$ where we can, so I'll likely just go with them for the cake.

And, what's weird is that when I asked her if we could do buffet style, she said that she only does plated dinners because they offer it for the same price.

sangriaMaria · November 2011

I believe Sarah's cake was SUPPOSED to be included but Trish never folllowed through on it and never placed the order. She had to place the order herself. Keep on top of them.

sarahebrown · November 2011

Anna,
You're welcome! I hope this helps you feel a little less stressed.

Maria is right. My cake was supposed to be included, but Trish never placed the order. So we ordered directly through Great Cakes instead and deducted the amount from The Pearl we had already paid.

So the buffet and plated COST the same but are very different in choice of entrees, etc. I believe Christi used the plated style so maybe she would better answer what her vegetarian plates included. That's weird though that she didn't give you the choice. I wonder why....

Definitely stay on top of her as much as possible. And, when it gets closer to your day, remember to bring copies of your seating chart, etc with you. Christi and I both had issues with her saying she "never got" those lists which we emailed to her. Just be safe and have copies of everything. It will make it all easier.

Have you decided what you are doing for your ceremony? If you need any info on the ceremony space, Pearl's provided decor, etc let me know. I uber-planned so maybe my OCDness can pay off for you

ms_teach · November 2011

What it will cost (ballpark) for certain quantities of beer/alcohol? And what beer they offer - is it a bottle or tap?
Our drink tab was $854 for 21 people. We did a toast, wine, beer (all bottled), and liquor.

And I sent her a picture of how I want our wedding cake to look, and no response to that either.
I used their cake since it's included in the cost. They only offered three flavors, none of which I wanted, so they did make a red velvet one for us. It was honestly the best cake flavor and perfectly moist. The icing work could have been smoother, but it worked. There are pictures in my married bio link under my picture. I'll warn you that we didn't nail that down until right before the wedding and I was getting nervous about it, but it worked.

My other question for her was about what the vegetarian alternative is going to be to the meat-filled meal?
She did say there would be a veggie option, but we knew all of our guests would eat meat so we didn't get the details. I had wanted stations so everyone would have choice/options to taste more but she said with the size of our wedding plated made more sense. We did fish (Whatever is caught that day so you can't pick. Ours was swordfish) and chicken. They initially wanted to do normandy style, but we chose to go with a breast in sauce. We also had mashed potatoes and long stem broccoli. We did three passed appetizers- crab cakes, asparagus wrapped in ham, and salmon.

Also - one last question: I booked a block at the Sea Ranch, but am also going to book a block at another hotel to give my guests options. Do any of you have any good suggestions?
We did the Sea Ranch and the Nags Head Inn. Nags Head Inn is my absolute favorite out there. Some of our guests also chose to stay at the Hilton. Sea Ranch was the cheapest.

I hope that gets you some answers while you're waiting. I don't miss the planning part at all, but we're here to help!

asoho0704 · November 2011

Ugh - if anything, this makes me feel WAY more nervous. Thanks to everyone for their input. If there is one thing that really gets under my skin, it's someone who doesn't do their job, which it sounds like Trish does not. Is there anyone OTHER than Trish that I can talk to at The Pearl?

I really do appreciate all the info though. I didn't know the cake came through a 3rd party vendor! Can I just go straight to them with my cake requests/design and everything? The problem is, I don't even know what is put aside cost-wise for the cake? The contract I have is simply a forwarded email from another bride that she replaced her information with my information, and it doesn't say anything about a cake, though Trish did inform me that the cake was included.

Would it be ok to just go straight to Great Cake and explain the situation and work through them? That's at least one less thing I'd have to hassle about with Trish.

Thanks again, you guys are so helpful!

sarahebrown · November 2011

Anna,
I hear you about people not doing their jobs being very annoying, especially for all the $$ you are paying!

The cake which Christi got did NOT come through a 3rd party vendor actually. It is made by The Pearl's chefs. My cake WAS ordered through Great Cakes but that was an entirely seperate purchase. So, if you are going through The Pearl, unfortunately you will have to deal with them about the cake flavor, etc. I decided to go through Great Cakes because I just liked them better and wanted a specific design. Because we did it this way, our price per person for The Pearl was $40 rather than $45.

You can do whatever you like for your cake, just be aware of the cost difference and make sure that's what you want.

asoho0704 · November 2011

Sarah - thank you! Is there any chance you can Private email me on my yahoo account? It's asoho0704@yahoo.com. I just have a few questions for you since you seem to know a LOT more than I do!! Ha!

mrsschwab10911 · November 2011

No problem! Sending you an email now.

sangriaMaria · November 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_north-carolina-outer-banks_gripe-pearl?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:598Discussion:0d655f9f-bfac-467f-a900-7dc2227cffcaPost:e912cc7b-e701-48e1-b796-bed10b624d36">Re: Gripe about The Pearl</a>:
[QUOTE]No problem! Sending you an email now.
Posted by mrsschwab10911[/QUOTE]

I know who you are...

ms_teach · November 2011

Sarah is right, my cake came through The Pearl itself. I actually contacted Great Cakes a month before our wedding when I was having trouble getting details nailed down with Trish. They were going to squeeze me into their calendar, but the cost different compared to what Trish charged for what I wanted made it sort of crazy to go elsewhere.

Trish is the chef's wife and they own the place, so I doubt there is anyone else who could help there. I was really nervous leading up to my wedding and Sarah and I have talked about it as well. Take a deep breath and know that they really do go above and beyond on the day of the wedding, but the planning part IS ridiculous. I told my husband I'd do the whole wedding over again, but not the plans.

sarahebrown · November 2011

Anna,
Any news from Trish yet? I think I may know why if you haven't heard from her. Sending you an email with details.

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