Alstede Farms

nt pictures. It was supposed to be one of the best days leading up to our up coming wedding but instead was a nightmare. I called the farm last week to get more information and what we needed to do in order to take our pictures. I was told by Melinda that we could either do a contract which would ensure no one would be in the area as we took our pictures or we could go during farm hours. I asked several times and confirmed what was the latest time that we could be there. I was told that the best time would be 5 pm and we would be able to take our pictures up until 6:30 but would have to walk back because the tractors last pick up is at 6:00 pm. We decided to take them during the normal business hrs. We arrived at the farm a few minutes late and were told we would not be allowed in because we missed the 5 o'clock time slot. It took us 10 mins to be able to get in after my FMIL and FH spoke to the gentleman. He was extremely rude and refused to let us enter. After a few mins and explaining that we had spoken to the event manager just a few days prior we were finally able to get in and ran to the tractors to hop on to get to the sunflowers as fast as possible. It took us another 20 mins do to some issues with other people that were trying to get on after the gate was closed. We finally arrived & again ran to the area in order to try & get as many pictures as possible with the already short amount of time we had since it took us about 30 mins with all the issues we were having. A gentle man came over to us not even 5 mins later telling us we had to leave. I begged him to please let us take our pictures. Apparently Melinda was not aware that we were there even though I had a 20 min conversation with her just a few days before and said she had never spoken to me. Why would I lie about this. The gentleman left and we continued with our pictures. We called the office to figure out was going on. During this conversation I was basically told I was a liar and never had a conversation with Melinda. Not once did I ever raise my voice at them and yet was yelled at and told to leave the farm. My FMIL took the phone because I began to get very upset and tried to figure out what we could do so we could finish our pictures that I have waited so long for. We were told that Melinda had left for the day and that it was time for us to leave. About 10 min later Melinda came down & immediately started yelling at us. I stayed calm even with tears in my eyes trying to figure out something we could do in order to finish our shoot. She continued to scream at us and told us "I was at home and had to come here to deal with this shit" at that point I just began crying. I was always told you won't really remember your wedding day but you will always remember the days leading up to it. For me I will always remember the way alstede handled themselves and how my FH, family and I were treated. What was supposed to be one of my special days leading up to our wedding day with the love of my life ended in tears and heart break. I will not be returning to this farm & do not & will not recommend it to any family/ friends. There could have been a better way to handle the situation. There may have easily been miscommunication but that is no way to treat someone.