Double Booked Reception Hall notified 3 days before! Unbelievable story! My Special Thanks to Vendor

HAMO · September 2011

Double Booked Reception Hall notified 3 days before! Unbelievable story! NO WHERE TO GO! Destination wedding with 200 confirmed guests for June 19, 2010. I couldn’t be more excited, I was getting married on my parents 45th wedding anniversary in Marblehead OH, the very aisle they walked down 45 years prior! We have been planning this wedding for over a year, but in reality I have been planning my wedding since I was a little girl! We were so excited! In June of 2009, we signed a contract for a beautiful lake-view reception hall with the Marblehead Lighthouse next door. I immediately began taking pictures and measurements of the hall to begin customizing our elegant wedding décor, including custom Marblehead Lighthouse favor glasses for our guests. I made several trips to Marblehead to get more pictures and take more measurements while working with the hall director over the course of the year. The director and my husband, Brian, would tease me for my attention to detail. What can I say; I was planning every detail of my perfect wedding! Everything was going so perfect too. I had all of my customized décor, favors with etched images of the lighthouse, vendors, and every last detail set, paid for in full, and ready to go well in advance of 6-19-2010. It was finally time for me, the DIY Bride, to begin setting up the hall and relaxing the day before my big day, but little did I know that was all about to change! Wednesday afternoon, just 3 days before my wedding, I was told “You are not getting the hall!” I instantly went into a panic.. pure hysteria!!!! Time was ticking… and not in my favor. MY dream instantly became a NIGHTMARE!!!!!!! Special thanks to the following who helped us still have a wedding: · My family and friends...who instantly stepped up to the plate to help in every possible way! · Johnson’s Island Club... We are soooo grateful to the Johnson’s Island Club for allowing us to use it!! They are a private island clubhouse that does not rent the lodge to the public. They were so kind to make an exception with our given circumstances. We are forever grateful to Johnson’s Island Club... They made the day happen! · Your Perfect Day, April Gladieux... Fortunately, I had already hired April as the Day of Wedding Coordinator. When everything went down 3 days before, it was pure HYSTERIA!!!! I really thought we weren’t going to be able to get married that day. We had 200 guests coming in from out of town—including Los Angeles, Phoenix, Rhode Island, Idaho, and even London, England! Having the wedding in Marblehead, Ohio, it was basically a destination wedding for us. So, I called April with the bad news and though I had only hired her for the “day of wedding”, she immediately dropped everything and started calling around to help us pull off the wedding!!! April jumped in with us to help plan a new wedding in basically 48 hours!!!! This included helping us find a new hall that was hopefully somewhat close to the hotel that all of our guests were staying in. Once we had the location, we had to re-do the décor, seating plan, etc. Despite all the drama and pure SHOCK, we are so happy we decided to hire Your Perfect Day… and even happier that April was so helpful through the whole process. She even brought in extra help! I started rambling off things that needed to be done due to the change and April had already thought of most things and things I hadn’t thought of.. i.e. she brought in her own personal microwave because the chocolate fountain vendor needed one to melt the chocolate beforehand. April did a lot of behind the scenes work to assure everyone—including vendors and guests—were redirected to the new location! She even went back late the night before the wedding with my family to wrap the screened porch area we had to expand into for seating, so the décor wouldn’t be ruined with the storm coming in. We can’t THANK her enough for all the hard work and dedication she put into our wedding!!!!! APRIL WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY!!!! We would highly recommend her for your event! · Decorative Sound... Totally amazing! Michael, the owner, actually suggested places for me to call when we were searching for a new venue. He even suggested Johnson’s Island Club as a possibility. He definitely helped us along the way of the drama!!! Decorative Sound also went above and beyond the call!!!!! By far the most important part of the reception that keeps the party going. We heard constant compliments and continue to still get compliments on the BEST DJ our guests have ever seen!!!!! OMG, ironically, is now our favorite song… Again, THANK YOU so much to Decorative Sound!!!! · Marblehead Lighthouse Resort... for doing our wedding rehearsal dinner and providing lodging for our guests! We couldn’t tell you how many compliments our guests gave about the location/atmosphere the Lighthouse Resort provided for lodging. We also really appreciate all the new venue recommendations, support, and help along the way of the drama!!! Joe, the owner, at Marblehead Lighthouse Resort was so caring and went above and beyond by trying to call possible venues. He even had his family members calling places too! AMAZING! Again, THANK YOU so much!!!! · Richie’s Limo Shuttle Service... Stepped in at the last minute with a large shuttle bus to get our guests back and forth from the hotel to the new venue island location, Johnson’s Island Club. Richie, the owner, also went above and beyond by helping with venue recommendations and actually calling these possible places along the way of the drama just trying to help!!! We can't say THANK YOU enough!!!! · Todd Productions... THANK YOU TODD & SARA!!!! We didn't really notice Todd Prod sneaking around with the video all day, yet they captured all the important parts… AND put it together in an exciting presentation!!! AMAZING!!! .. love when the video moves and pauses with the beat of the music… Despite all the drama and pure SHOCK I was in during that time, Todd Prod managed to create something that will allow me to watch the moments again and again when I am ready, so I can recreate in my mind the experiences and feelings I missed out on due to the drama!!!... WE are sooooo happy we decided to hire a videographer… and even happier that we found the most talented one!!!!! It is great to watch a video that seems like 5 minutes yet is much longer… and keeps you wanting more… All our family and friends continue to comment on how awesome the video turned out!!!! Thanks again, Todd!!!!!!! · Candlelight Occasions... For adding additional decorations to our wedding reception!!!! We couldn’t tell you how many compliments guests gave about the décor, especially those ceiling swags!!… With the unexpected drama and quick change of venue, I felt at a loss for all the details that were discussed and planned. It was amazing that Candlelight Occasions were able to re-create something different so quickly on the spot! I literally told them, "Just do whatever you think!" And Candlelight Occasions did an awesome job coming through!!! · Beautiful Blooms by Jen... for doing wedding ceremony flowers!!!! Everything looked beautiful! It definitely took the stress off of us (for the flower side of things at least!) by making sure everyone was ready to go by pictures! Beautiful Blooms by Jen definitely has that special touch!! Love the detail of the accents added to each boutonniere, corsage, and bouquet! Amazing! · Troyer's Dutch Heritage Catering... for catering our wedding reception!!!! We couldn’t tell you how many compliments our guests gave about the food… Dutch Heritage did an awesome job!!!! They changed plans on the spot and adjusted with the last minute changes. So, so glad Troyer's Dutch Heritage Catering were there to help us pull off this crazy wedding despite the unexpected unbearable heat in our new venue that didn't have air conditioning on this unbearably hot summer 95+ degree day.. So we definitely know it was much hotter inside! Thanks again for your hard work!!! · Mutach’s Market of Marblehead... for their donation to our wedding! Luckily the Johnson’s Island Club opened their private lodge for us, but unfortunately we couldn’t use the water there. We would like to thank Mutach’s Market of Marblehead... for being so kind to donate water for our day! We greatly appreciate it! · Lowe's of Fremont, Ohio... for their donation to our wedding! Luckily the Johnson’s Island Club opened their private lodge for us, but unfortunately there was no air conditioning. We would like to thank Lowe’s for being so kind to donate the use of their fans for our day! We greatly appreciate it! AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE ELSE NOT MENTIONED ABOVE! Bartenders, Hair/makeup/nail artists, Marblehead Lighthouse, etc. We couldn't have pulled it off with each and every one of you! With this awful experience, I have now been inspired to start my own business, Jump House Entertainment-Ohio Event Rental (listed on the knot), that rents affordable elegant wedding decor items, linens, jump houses, etc. I have started helping other brides, like all our wonderful vendors helped us. Wish me luck! I figured after what we went through, there is nothing I can't handle for helping other brides! If you would like more info on any of the vendors I have mentioned, please don't hesitate to contact me at hollyaorr@gmail.com. The best compliment we can give our vendors is to send a referral, so be sure to mention the recommendation! Thanks for reading about our crazy story! Holly

Simply_Caitlin · September 2011

Holy cow! That is AWFUL! That's wonderful though that you were able to pull it all off on such short notice. Congratulations.

Jookie77 · September 2011

I'm sorry all that stress happened to you before the wedding but I'm glad it turned out so well. Thankfully you hired great people who helped you pull it off. Congrats on your wedding!

MWright816 · September 2011

I share your frustration! I'm 99% sure that the hall you're talking about is St. Mary's. I have them booked for my wedding next summer. They just called me and said that the gazebo in the back that we are supposed to get married in, is being turned into a shrine. So we have to have the ceremony "off to the side". Which I'm really not into. So now I'm trying to decide what to do. Believe me, I share your pain.

HAMO · December 2011

Thanks everyone for your responses... we are just trying to focus on the fact that we got married! .. but it is hard to forget everythng we were robbed of from our wedding experience.... And yes MWright816 you are correct... They are fraud!!! I wouldn't trust anything they say!!! I have been contacted by others with problems too!!!! stay away!!!!!

Double Booked Reception Hall notified 3 days before! Unbelievable story! My Special Thanks to Vendor

Re: Double Booked Reception Hall notified 3 days before! Unbelievable story! My Special Thanks to Vendor

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