Salt & Sparrow

My wedding at Inn of the Seventh Ray was in March 2023 and it's honestly taken me over a year to process how things went so downhill. We met with the wedding coordinator, Amanda, for a tour in late October 2022. She was nice and provided quite a bit of information up front. She sent us a proposal shortly after our meeting, we accepted and sent in the deposit within a week. At this point, knowing we had only four months to get our wedding planned, we were eager to learn about timeline of our next steps... We didn't get a link to our "planning portal" from Amanda until December. I inquired with Amanda about when we'd need to come back for a tasting to get our menu finalized. She didn't get a tasting scheduled until February, two weeks before our wedding date. During a last minute meeting with Amanda discussing decor details, she asked if I planned to use the venue's wedding backdrop stand for the ceremony, I had not even been informed that was an option. I had already spent money buying and assembling my own. On the day of my wedding, things started out smoothly. I arrived, got changed in the" bridal suite" (a curtained off area in the Women's restroom that all restaurant guests will have access to), had photos taken before my guests arrived, ceremony went well. Then things started to take a turn. On Amanda's schedule of events, there was a time slot for her to make a "bride & groom announcement" after the ceremony, that never happened. We got seated for dinner at the creekside area and after a bit of time, Amanda let me know that she had to leave early due to an issue with her child. Of course, I was understanding of this. She left another gentleman in charge for the remainder of our event time. My mother asked Amanda specifically, "who is going to pack up the belongings from the bridal suite before our departure?" As the bride with a designated wedding coordinator, I assumed this would be taken care of for me. Amanda replied to my mother assuring her and I that all personal items from the suite would be loaded into mine or my mother's car before leaving. Fast forward to the next morning, I noticed there were a few of my things in my trunk but not all. I immediately called my mother and she also had a few things but still missing items including my hair straightener, the shoes I had arrived in, and best of all my garment bag for my wedding dress, my bouquet, and my veil which was borrowed from my cousin. We went straight back to the venue, Amanda was not there so we located the gentleman that was left in charge the night prior. He said he hadn't seen anything. Amanda said she'd be back there later and would look for my things. At this point, we had to head home and prepare to leave the country in less than 24 hours for our honeymoon. After pestering Amanda, she texted me saying she had the garment bag and bouquet but nothing else. She said she'd send photos of what she had and said she would check the venue again. Never got the photos, never reached out to offer a date/time for me to meet with her and get the things of mine that she did have. After weeks of pleading for answers as to what happened with my belongings and if this had happened ever in the past, Amanda replied to me saying that the venue is not responsible for my lost property. Needless to say, I never recovered any of my lost/stolen items, even the ones she had claimed to have found. To say I'm disappointed in the service provided by Amanda, which the venue forces you to hire, would be the understatement of the century. If you too are forced to have her coordinate your wedding, be careful and don't trust that she will do her due diligence.

Amanda did not even show up to our fucking wedding. She said she had informed her assistant of everything, who she sent to the wedding, but first, that's not acceptable. If someone pays you $1,000 to be at an event, you go to the event. Period. Second, she had NOT told her assistant everything. For one, she did not tell her my wife was allergic to gluten, and the cake which was fed to us had gluten in it making my wife sick for the entire week of our honeymoon. Second, and most important, there were elderly people who could not make it to the wedding for whom Amanda said she would set up a Zoom meeting for so they could watch it. Some of these people are no longer with us, so this was their ONLY time to see us married. But since Amanda couldn't be bothered to come to the wedding, the Zoom meeting never happened. Not in any way they could really see or hear, anyway. (There was absolutely no sound, and the point of view, as set up by her assistant, was directly behind the bride, so no one could see anything.) She made a whole host of other mistakes, including the fact that she never, ever showed up to a meeting. The only way we got her to join us was by calling the restaurant, which required us to use her. (Never use any restaurant which requires the use of her, by the way.) So yeah, never use this wedding coordinator, nor any venue which requires you to hire her. She will pretend to care about you, but will blow you off once she has your money.

If you want the best of the best of the best, you have to call Salt & Sparrow for your wedding! Not only is the owner an absolutely lovely person, but her team is equally amazing! They work within your budget and are super creative. Amanda and her team communicated with us every step of the way and really took the pressure off of us. We just had to show up and they took care of everything else. Our wedding was perfect, thanks to Salt & Sparrow.

Amanda was an incredible coordinator for our wedding at Inn of the Seventh Ray. For the planning process, she was communicative and accessible for any of my questions or concerns. The weekend of my wedding was the historic winter storm here in Los Angeles. I was so worried, but Amanda handled everything with grace. She rearranged our entire floor-plan to make sure our guests stayed dry. She coordinated with our many vendors effectively, handling all necessary adjustments for inclement weather. She supported our wacky wedding choices and helped make them successful. She even brought us champagne when we were annoyed with our family! You'll be lucky to have her on your team.