The White Home

We worked with Hospitality Butler and the White Home and would not recommend their services due to overall dishonesty. Tent rental: We found out that we should expect heavy rain for our outdoor wedding. We contacted Matt immediately to help us arrange a tent but he told us he was too busy on Monday and would get back to us. By Tuesday (for a Friday wedding), we decided to take it upon ourselves to find a tent. We finally found a company that would be able to provide on our day—they estimated that the tent would cost about $1300. We brought this to Matt and he told us we could not use outside rentals at our venue. He sent a quote for an in-house rental (his own company) for over $3800, almost 3 times the cost of the other vendor’s quote. When we questioned Matt as to why the tent through his company was so much more expensive, he discounted the rate to $2800, but even that price was more than double the other vendor we'd contacted. Charged for fake services: We were told that with alcohol being served at the wedding, we would have to pay to have an undercover officer from the Rock Hill PD for 4 hours during the reception. This was fine with us, until we realized that there wasn’t an officer at our wedding. We reached out to the PD to confirm there was someone working but they said there were no requests from Matt since May, and no requests at all for our wedding date. There was never an attempt to provide the service that we were charged for and when we brought it to Matt’s attention he argued with us and claimed that he had requested an officer but there was “a miscommunication”. Even with a miscommunication, an honest wedding planner and venue would have realized there was no officer and remove the $200 charge from our bill. Condition of the venue: When we arrived at the venue on the day of the wedding, there was no cold water and the sink was clogged in one bathroom. The sink in the bridal suite was leaking during the event and eventually fell off the wall, missing one of our guests' feet by inches. When the guest told Matt about the problem in the bathroom, he yelled at her, accusing her of sitting on the sink causing it to fall. Though the sink installation is solely the responsibility of the venue, Matt acted as though he was doing us a favor by not making us pay for repairs. Missing/stolen items: We were responsible for buying alcohol for our guests and planned to take any leftover with us. We were upset to find out that $400 worth of the purchased alcohol “went missing" the night of the wedding. Though we contacted Matt about it, he made no effort to help locate the missing items. He told us he “had done everything he could” but when asked what he actually did to help find the alcohol he had no answer. We then asked the bartender, who asked us to not tell Matt that we had spoken because Matt told the bartender not to talk to us about the missing alcohol. When we asked Matt if he could review the security cameras on site, we were told that only two cameras in the venue actually work and neither of them would show the area that our alcohol went missing from. Not only did Matt make us feel like an afterthought for our own wedding, but he also was rude and argumentative to us and our guests and obstructive when we simply tried to locate our missing property after the event. In hindsight, I feel that we were too trusting in the Hospitality Butler to provide us all of the services we agreed on.

While I had an amazing time at my wedding, the planning period and post-wedding experience have been an absolute nightmare. We worked with Matt Starnes, who over-promised and under-delivered. During our first meeting, Matt assured us he would handle everything, including coordinating with vendors for us - he didn't. During the planning period, I had to personally seek out and hire all but one vendor because the referrals from Matt were unresponsive. To which Matt made no effort to help me get in touch. This was incredibly stressful. To top it off, his communication was inconsistent - numerous [and important] emails went unanswered. When I confronted him about that, he was extremely argumentative instead of simply apologizing. If you receive a quote for rentals from him, I suggest getting your own quotes from outside resources. The White Home forces you to use his rental company and he charges 2-5x as much as every other company. It's disappointing to know that other people have paid his ridiculous prices without shopping around. Even after a "discount", the price was still twice as much as another vendor we spoke with. Unfortunately, due to a short time-frame and a storm coming in on our wedding date, we had no choice but to pay for it. Another instance was, due to liquor being served at my wedding, we had to pay for an off duty officer to be present per the venue contract. After our wedding, we contacted the Police Department and they informed me that a request was never submitted for my wedding date, and there was no officer there that night. Again, when confronted, Matt was argumentative and would not take accountability for missing this important detail. In the end, many of my vendors would most likely not work with him again due to his attitude, and several guests told me that he was incredibly rude and unwelcoming. e next day we were told by Matt Starnes that the sink had been ripped out of the wall by a drunk guest sitting on it. After calling around to several guests, I found out that the sink was leaking all night as a malfunction due to the property not being inspected properly prior to my wedding. My 8 month pregnant guest was wiping the floor when it fell missing her feet by a few inches! Matt should be happy it didn’t fall on her feet, but instead he yelled at her in front of a group of guests and questioned her as if someone that pregnant and sober would be able to sit on a sink. In response to Matt’s response, a great portion of what he said is untrue and I have several email chains I’m happy to share if anyone needs further information. What he also fails to mention is that $400 worth of my paid for alcohol “went missing.” Matt made no effort to help locate the missing items. He told me “he had done everything he could” but when asked what he actually did to help he had no answer. When confronting the bartender they asked me to not tell Matt they spoke to me because he told them not to talk to me. All items were allowed to leave with one person and Matt did not follow direction or ask permission, so that is also a breach of contract.

The White home was our venue for our April 2021 rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and reception. Full disclosure, this property is special to our family, as they have worked (and continue to work) with Historic Rock Hill to preserve and restore the property. The property is gorgeous, with beautifully maintained grounds and landscaping. The house itself is a beauty, with full-width front porches and plenty of southern charm. The inside has been restored an acts as a museum for both the property and Historic Rock Hill. The house has 3 bathrooms on the ground floor for guests, and dedicated suites for the bridal party and groomsmen to get ready on-site. It has on-site parking for the event, with overflow across the street if needed. It is also within walking distance of downtown Rock Hill, so you and your guests can enjoy Rock Hill without needing a car. We worked with Hospitality Butler events to plan and organize everything. (15/10 We definitely recommend!) We held our rehearsal dinner outside on the back lawn with lights strung through the trees and food served buffet style. We'd originally planned on having our ceremony the next day outside on the brick patio and our reception on the back lawn, but the Spring weather had other ideas. We still had the ceremony outside on the brick patio, but under a tent, with additional lighting, which added to intimate feel. It was absolutely perfect. Our reception and happy hour were moved to inside the house and allowed everyone to explore and enjoy it. We might be a little personally biased, but you should definitely take a look for yourself. We're pretty sure you'll agree with us!

My husband and I could not have been happier with our wedding day at The White Home!! Matt and his team were amazing and ensured our day was absolutely perfect! We wanted something different that wasn't your typical banquet hall or golf course. It was unique and all of our guests ranted and raved about the venue. We were planning a full outdoor wedding with no tent, and the forecast called for rain! We are SO thankful that we didn't spend the extra money on a tent since we were able to have our reception inside the home. It was amazing!! Our rain plan allowed us to flow in and out of the house all day between rain showers. The venue cost, plus rentals equal an amount you'd pay for a cookie cutter wedding at a banquet hall with moderate food. This allows you to design your own wedding and pick vendors of your choice. If you are looking for a unique venue with history and elegance, book The White Home.