I don’t want to deter anyone from using Woodhaven, but just know you may have to stay on top of your ‘event/wedding planner’ if you want things done. The venue is no doubt beautifu...l, but the honest reason we picked Woodhaven is because my aunt is a member & they offer discounts to family. Weddings are extremely expensive & when you can catch a deal, it’s worth it. We did not end up getting as much of a deal in the long run. I don’t think it was made very clear at the beginning how the discount was applied but as a first time bride, I guess I just didn’t clarify or ask the right questions. I don’t know.
Day of the wedding, I was very disappointed. It ended up working out of course. But my ‘wedding planner’ was M.I.A. at the start of my wedding because she had “an emergency” with the other event she was working that night. My wedding started at 6pm, naturally guest start arriving between 5:30-5:45. The signs that were supposed to be out by the seating area were not put out- this is something my ‘wedding planner’ said she’d take care of hours ago. Not a single staff person from Woodhaven was present to direct my wedding guest to the outside seating area. The guests were coming into the building, where my wedding party was waiting for direction from my ‘wedding planner’ on what to do. MY HUSBAND & PHOTOGRAPHER WERE DIRECTING OUR GUESTS WHERE TO GO SIT OUTSIDE. I’m not sure why it had to fall on me to text the ‘wedding planner’ to come do her job. I say that because, what bride honestly has any idea where their phone even is 15 mins before the wedding is supposed to start?! Luckily my vows were on my phone, so I knew exactly where mine was. But it still blows my mind that it fell on me to communicate with the ‘wedding planner’ that people were showing up & they’re gathering inside. That’s no shade to my family either. That’s 100% shade to Woodhaven!
I handled the situation with the discount calmly. The ‘wedding planner’ called me a few days after the ordeal with the discount, to ask how I wanted to handle food while we were getting ready. BTW, you can’t bring in outside food and bev- this wasn’t made clear to me either until 2 weeks before the wedding. During that phone call she brought up the situation about the ordeal with the discount. Firstly, she has no idea how to handle conflict or problem solve. Secondly (and this goes with #1), she has no customer service etiquette. She continued to defend her actions and cover her butt, even though she’s the one that brought it up. I didn’t say anything about it. I actually told her I didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
Woodhaven, even with the “discount”, is still very expensive. Like I said, the venue is beautiful & the food is good. With that being said. I spent a lot of money to not have my ‘wedding planners’ full & undivided attention the night of my wedding. I’m not asking her to hold my hand. But I am asking her to SHOW UP WHEN MY WEDDING IS STARTING AND DO HER JOB! Not only was she behind, but she was defending her actions, not apologizing for her mistakes. Again- lack of conflict resolution & customer service skills. It’s my wedding day & you weren’t there & didn’t do what you were supposed to do. It’s been a month since my wedding, & I still haven’t gotten an apology for that. I don’t expect to.
BTW, this other event was a birthday party. So I guess that was more important than the very expensive wedding that was going on.
& their DJ- ehh. The party did not live up to the hype!