Bad reviews on venue

With any type of event, hotel or holiday venue you are going to get bad reviews as well as good ones so I wouldn't take a couple of bad reviews as a reason to cancel your venue. However, if you're really worried, then bring the bad reviews up when you see them tomorrow and ask for their side of the story. There are always two sides to these things after all.

I'd ignore the review about the staff not fetching the bride, sounds a bit blamey to me!

The one about cancellation for exclusive use is a concern though. It seems very expensive for 8 people.

I think you should ask them about that review and what happens if they get a big corporate booking or another wedding wanting exclusive use.

Yeah, I think that I will ask about that! Also as someone else posted a review that they had booked an afternoon tea and also had it canceled (with 24hr notice!) because of an exclusive use booking (they did have the afternoon tea rescheduled and got a complimentary 1 night stay). Now an afternoon tea is not the same as a wedding but I wouldn't want to even have to worry about the possibility of something like that happening.

The venue is £980 for room hire & £130 per person which includes canapes, champagne, water, half a bottle of wine per guest, a three course menu, having a wedding coordinator, tea, coffee & truffles, etc. So I guess it would actually be just under £2300, not £2400.

There is also a smaller package which is £90 per person but I don't think the room hire would change.

It is an expensive venue but it looks absolutely stunning, so I would be ok with it as long as the wedding then turns out absolutely perfect (at least in terms of what their responsibilities are).

There will always be bad reviews even for the best venues

i would worry about the cancellation

but mostly that seems very expensive for only 8 guests

im paying the same for 50 people in the day and 90 of the evening

Our venue has some bad reviews but that's mainly about accomodation, all reviews for weddings are good. Those reviews would be enough to put me off tbh, I know some people complain for the sake of it but surely most people would only complain about their wedding venue if they really weren't happy. A venue at that price for 8 guests midweek should be providing excelent customer service.

This one sounds odd I doubt the staff forgot, they could of easily been called to sit for the ceremony 20 mins before the start and then the extra 15-20 min delay could of been from the bride herself - many times I have seen the makeup over run putting the wedding start behind.

Cancelling at last min sounds cold harsh business, I have seen this practice with wedding photography where someone would book a 3 hour coverage and then cancel in favour of a full day wedding. Its a tricky one as im sure you would not want the venue to go bancrupt (not defending the practice) and for all you know somone else could of been cancelled in favour of your bigger event.

That is one of the reasons I wanted to have it on a weekday. Apart from probably most everything being cheaper, I also didn't want to risk not being able to get a good photographer because on a weekend they'd no doubt book a full day job over our wedding (which will need 2-3 hours coverage).

Indeed...why not blame the registrars as they see the bride just prior to the start of the ceremony...

Peter

I would ask them about the bad reviews. If they get all defensive I would worry but they should want to be open about it. I would expect them to explain it and also tell me what they had put in place to stop it happening again.

I will say that your wedding seems very expensive for only 8 guests.

I would take trip advisor reviews with a pinch of salt, my sister is a travel writer and she has been asked to write reviews for trip advisor, sometimes for places she has not been to, they also pay her for these. It's easy to focus on the negatives for any business as they are the ones that stick out, plus some people like to complain just to see what they can get out of the company they are complaining about (I work with a woman who does this all the time!). I cannot find any reviews at all on the venue we have picked for our wedding, but that has not put us off, I know they are nearly fully booked for this year alone with limited availability for summer next year too and the staff have been amazing so far.

If you are worried about them cancelling "last minute" have a look at your contract, read what it says in there about cancellation from the venues side.

As others have siad I wouldn't worry about the review of the bride being 'forgotten' it all sounds a little over-dramatised! Maybe she didn't comunicate very well to the staff what she wanted them to do in the first place!

I also agree with everyone about the venue being pricey!! But this does depend on where abouts you are in the country etc.

With regards to them cancelling at short notice there should be something about this within the contract and they are as bound to that as you are! Maybe take out wedding insurance and chat to somebody about this being covered?

But I would definately have a chat with the venue about the bad reviews as they should be able to put you at ease, providing they know they have done everything they can!

Good Luck x

That's right and the chances are it could well say something like -you cancel you have to pay 100% and if they cancel you get your deposit back.

Just remember- with trip advisor, most people feel obliged to post reviews in bad experiences not good ones!

Thanks ladies. You've made me feel a little better about the reviews!

The venue is a historic house near Edinburgh and I would say it's a luxury venue. They have packages costing £15,000!

Anyway, we are going to look at two further venues on Saturday and have discovered another one we are definitely considering so we will see what we decide for. While we would be willing to pay for this one if it's absolutely perfect, I would of course not mind finding one just as nice for less money

Even though we just want to have a small wedding, we do actually want it to be special as (quoting my fiance here) "we only have one shot at this so we need to get it right. it should be everything we want" Not like we'll have another wedding.

This, I always thought it was the registrars' job to fetch the Bride.

We saw the venue today. It is absolutely stunning. I did mention the whole cancellation thing to her. They did say they would cancel an afternoon tea for an exclusive use wedding, but they would never cancel a non-exclusive use wedding for another exclusive-use booking.

The lady showing us around was lovely, and we even got to see a few of the rooms and suites they have for guests to stay at (it is also a hotel).

Really love the venue, but it really pushes us to the boundaries of our budget ... Although I did just get an absolute bargain on my wedding dress. Haha.

Well, we are looking at a few more venues, I think, so we will see which one we decide to go with. If there is one that is just as lovely, but more affordable, I think we might go with that one, but it is just beautiful!