This was to be a special day for my daughter and her new husband. This was a day that after over a year of planning by experienced event planners, a generous budget and some of the... best vendors in the Orlando area ended in tears, frustration and unfortunately not the memories of the wedding of their dreams that my daughter and her fiance had planned.
5 months prior to their wedding the couple were informed that terrace wedding start times were being moved from 6 to 5pm and ending at 10pm due to sound issues and the surrounding area, mind you the wedding invitations had already been printed, the happy couple agreed to the change because their vision had been an urban roof top vibe and the Museum agreed to reimburse them for the cost of reprinting the invitations.
From the time the contract was signed until the day of the wedding the happy couple were in contact with the event staff at the museum.
On the day of the wedding upon our arrival we were a little concerned due to the number of patrons who were still in the wedding ceremony space.
As we moved into the cocktail hour I became alarmed again as we had contracted for the live animals visit during the cocktail hour as a special touch for our guest. After 20 minutes of searching for the animals I decided to hunt down our day of coordinator, Helen, who informed me that the animal handler had called in sick.
She then stated that she did not want to upset my daughter by telling her this prior to the ceremony. My daughter is an event planner at one of the most exclusive country clubs in Orlando and I retired as the Recreation Superintendent for the most highly recognized Parks and Recreation Departments, our motto has always been "NO Surprises"!!!
My attention next went to the flurry of activity on the terrace which is where the reception was scheduled. As the time ticked on, I became aware again of the delay with the DJ, this delay caused a 20 minute delay of the reception and the bridal party entrance.
The Reception area was BEAUTIFUL!! Dinner, first dance and wedding toasts went off without a hitch.
Guest were invited onto the dance floor and 5 minutes in the power to the DJ went out causing a 10 minute delay. Power was restored, 5 minutes in and the power goes out again. This continued over the next hour resulting in figure pointing between the DJ and the museum staff, my daughter losing it, and terse words between myself, the DJ and the museum staff. What was suppose to be their special night, filled with wonderful memories, will for a long time be remembered as the night the music stopped, and stopped and stopped.
At about 9pm the museum staff offered to move the reception into the Dino room until 11pm adding an additional hour to the reception for time lost. They also refunded all funds associated with the venue rental as did the DJ for services provided.
Long story short, it wasn't about the money, it was about the MEMORIES, which can NEVER BE REFUNDED or RECREATED! No one has yet taken responsibility for the events that occurred with my daughter's wedding, I guess their idea is to just throw money at the situation and hope that it just goes away.
Anyone who decides to have your wedding on the terrace at the Science Museum of Orlando please ensure that adequate power is provided to the DJ in the new location and that enough time has been allocated from the time of the museum closing to the start of your wedding because the current schedule is not realistic