River Paradise Weddings

ng and beautiful but its downhill from there. Below are a few details of how this went: 1) She asked us to mail her the money PRIOR to even issuing a contract. Seemed backwards but ok, fine. We decided to take her a check (thinking we would sign a contract in person, hand over the money, get a receipt...like any normal transaction would go). Contract/receipt did not happen. She took our check and hurried out of the door. 2) A few days later, she contacted us stating that she LOST our check. She assured us that this was the first time, so we trusted in her word but we had to wait 90 days for that money to get redeposited back into our account since it was a cashier's check. 3) After this incident, we still had no contract to assure us of our date and we had to ask repeatedly for one for months! She kept making excuses about having family or email issues or was out of town etc. When she finally did send us a contract, it was carelessly edited and had the wrong dates on it. We asked for a correction and she responded by asking US what our dates were, before she made the final contract. This was quite a surprise since she kept reassuring us verbally that our date was locked in. Note: try making invites with the venue in limbo...not easy. 4) She set a final date for us to pay in full and on our way from Abq to make the payment, she contacted me saying that she had booked a hair appt. after we spoke that morning, and wouldn't be able to be there. She insisted we leave everything under her door and got defensive when I told her that we just wanted a receipt for our records. She accused us of not being understanding and expecting too much. She ended up suggesting that we cancel the venue because we were "being difficult to work with" and she could not work "with people like us". So here we are, 1.5mos away from the wedding with invites made/sent, tables/chairs rented, hotels booked but NO VENUE! This is not supposed to happen to anyone. The only reason we tolerated so much was because we absolutely loved the place but it wasn't worth it in the end. Later, she followed up with a text stating that because it is not her primary source of income, she runs this business casually and just could not meet our high business standards. I'm not sure how expecting normal standards is demanding, but apparently it is for her. So if you expect consistency, follow through, and to be valued on your special day, this is NOT the place for you. Hope you all are wiser than we were and just go somewhere else.

more amazing view. When it says this location is on the river, they aren't kidding! The river can be seen in all my wedding photos and the guests loved the atmosphere. The property is well maintained and everything was perfectly groomed on the day of the ceremony. The venue director was prompt at returning my calls and recommended a wonderful company that catered the reception. We paid to stay an extra night in the home, and it was well worth it. The weather was beautiful and, although there were many sleeping accommodations available, staying on the screened porch was so relaxing. There is nothing like being on the river, and this property is an ideal location for it. Five stars and two thumbs up for sure :)