Hello!I just got married three weeks ago and since you all have been a source of information for our wedding planning, I wanted to give feedback on the one vendor/venue that was difficult to work with. We married at our church and 10 months prior to our wedding date, we signed a contract with an up and coming reception venue in Mesa, Lavender and Old Lace. For those of you that live around this area, it is not well known but it is a beautiful location and affordable. We thought it was the perfect site. We met with the site owner who was very accommodating and we signed the contract. Fast forward to a week before the wedding, I called her to confirm our date and we scheduled a time to meet. She was unavailable so she sent her niece to work out the details. At this meeting, we discussed the details for our reception of 175+ people. Figuring out the details was at first stressful because she said we only had two hours to set-up which was not enough time (it is not an all-inclusive location) but once my mom talked to the owner, she was again accommodating. Phew. Set-up went well....we arrived to the reception and the place looked beautiful. Unfortunately, the owner who according to the contract, would be on-site the duration of the event was MIA. No one could find her...the DJ looked for her, my mom, and my Pastor's wife. The caterer was trying to find stuff in the kitchen along with my mom...the DJ was trying to figure out the sound system and lighting...and she was just gone. When we did finally find her, she was rude to everyone. An example of how bad she was? When my mom and Pastor's wife were looking for toilet paper for the bathrooms, she acted annoyed with them then told them where to get it and had them change it! Every one of the vendors commented how rude she was?
Post-wedding she has now accused our caterer of stealing her salt and pepper shakers and took money out of our deposit to cover the costs (without talking to us first about it). My mom herself looked for those shakers and we never found them or used them. Our caterer has been used for 6 weddings in the last 2 years with relatives and friends and he has never been accused of stealing. It has all been very frustrating. This is a beautiful venue...gorgeous....but I would not recommend it unless they get new management. She was the most stressful vendor we worked with.
Other vendors that we used that I would highly recommend?
- Teffanie Brasch with Face the Music Entertainment - DJ
- Kelly Reiter with KR Photography
- Fleur de Lis Cakes
- Amanda with Butterfly Petals - florals
- Photo Fun Booth
Hair was done by a friend that works for Toni and Guy in Scottsdale Fashion Square. If you want her contact information, just let me know. She is really good and very affordable. My makeup was done by a friend. I ordered invitations off of Etsy. And my caterer is a family friend that does it on the side. If you have any questions or want contact information for any of the vendors, please let me know. I'm sorry this is so long!