A Beautiful Place, but be Cautious
We chose Flying Flags as our wedding venue based on a number of factors: my family had frequently stayed there in the past, it was centrally located to our families, and my then-fiancé and I had originally met while working at an RV park. It seemed like a perfect place, especially given the $4000 rental cost for the entire venue; pavilion for dinner, beautiful patio for reception, and a spacious lawn for the ceremony, all located within the space of a high school gymnasium. The beautiful “country-chic” vibe of the place also matched our desired theme perfectly, and we were very excited to be one of the first weddings to take place at this venue.
We are also lucky to both work in hospitality, and have worked at a resort similar in size to this one, so we were very well versed in how large groups and weddings are supposed to be handled.
I will start with the positives; the property is immaculate. As with most resorts, we were required to rent a minimum of ten accommodations, whether they be RV sites, cabins, or rooms at the adjacent Sideways Inn, which the company—Highway West Vacations—also owns. We chose the cabins, and were very impressed at their size and proximity to everything we needed. We hosted a casual welcome dinner at the Bocce ball court behind my cabin—ranch cabin 719, Palomino—and enjoyed the private pool reserved only for the ranch cabins.
The pavilion itself is a beautiful barn-like structure with exposed ceilings and large doors and windows. The floor is a bit disappointing; it has this odd off-center compass design that was damaged by a previous guest before our wedding, which only made it look uglier. Luckily, their chairs and tables are absolutely beautiful, so much so that I didn’t feel the need to cover them with tablecloths. We were also floored by the Mexican Taco dinner option we chose, which was served on white ceramic plates and silverware they provided us. We opted for a cash bar, but did serve water, iced tea, and coffee during the whole reception, as many of our guests actually do not drink.
The patio is an open space with string lights, picnic tables, a bocce ball court, and an adorable bar made of an old vintage bus. There is an Airstream converted to be a sausage truck, which we did not use. On the edge of the patio is an ugly truck “stage” that is roughly four feet high; while I suppose some guests may like it, I would suggest they remove it or renovate it, as the ugly, rusted jalopy does not fit in at all with the fresh vibe of the rest of the property. There were also many wine barrels and rocking chairs, which all together made the setting extremely comfortable and inviting.
There were, however, many things that did not make our experience at the Flags very positive. From the beginning, we ended up working with roughly five different “planners”. The man we toured the venue with—whose glowing review of it was part of the reason we chose the venue—was no longer working there within two weeks of our tour. We went through so many people, I was incredibly anxious come our wedding month that someone else would quit/be fired. Their front desk staff are notorious for not answering the phone—I had that issue with them as a guest in the past few years—and were somewhat clueless regarding many aspects of our group. I had to personally email Alyssa, the on-site salesperson, to put my guests’ information on the cabins, as they could not get past the automated front desk message.
The cabins, while beautiful, were unfortunately not worth the $234/night price tag. No one came to service any of our cabins during our stay. No new towels, no fresh sheets, no trash service. That was very disappointing; it was my wedding day, so it was not on my mind to think to call the front desk—on my cell phone, as the cabins did not have phones—and ask to have my bed made. My sister’s cabin did not have a shower curtain, and both my aunt’s and mother’s did not have any towels. We had to pay occupancy tax, like any other hotel, so there is no reason for the cabins to not be treated as any hotel room would.
The entire planning process was a roller coaster experience. We were told, about seven months in, that the man who had toured the venue with us was wrong, and that they did not include any flatware in our catering, despite their website and WeddingWire posts stating they did. They said in order to play music outside we’d have to pay $500 to “alert the neighbors”; they informed us of this around three months prior to the wedding. After we refused to pay such a large amount to play music outside, they then countered that music had to be inside only—the pavilion is not enormous, about 30’ x 20’—meaning our beautiful outdoor patio could not be used. All of this, I found out on September 30th. I found myself, a mere 20 days out, looking for a back up wedding venue. Luckily, they finally sorted things out, and our reception was permitted to be outside.
On several occasions they tried to change things that our contract strictly said we could have. Our contract stated we could all check-in at 3:00 PM, though their new time is at 4:00 PM. I informed them that my contract stated 3:00, and that they would simply have to honor it. Yet, when my uncle tried to check in, they told him to wait until 4:00. After a call to their staff, they were able to check in early. However, those sort of issues should not be brought to my guests, who are there on my behalf to enjoy a weekend, not to be involved in the confusion.
The worst part of the entire wedding was, without a doubt, their lack of communication, especially in the weeks leading right up to the wedding. Alyssa, who is the on-site coordinator, is very slow to respond to emails. I did not hear from them at all from September 30th till October 12th, despite sending them a few emails. I was very disappointed to hear that they had “forgotten” to ask for my head count two weeks prior, and thus would have to pay the price of what we had estimated four weeks before the date. We ended up having to pay for about 15 meals that no one was there to eat. We also did not get all of the extra food at the end, with only a mere two take away boxes full.
To make matters worse, in addition to “forgetting” to ask for our head count, they never asked me to pay the balance, or inform me on how to pay them. It was on the morning of the wedding, when I was buzzing around trying to set up, that Alyssa asked for the payment. I was beyond frustrated; on the most important day of my life so far, I did not want to think about paying my bill. If she had forgotten to get it prior, then she should have waited until after my wedding. It was completely unreasonable to expect me to stop by her office to swipe my credit card a mere three hours before the ceremony. To add insult to injury, as my planner and I worked to quickly arrange the venue, some other couple was lingering around, planning their own wedding. I would not have cared if they came through when we left to take pictures, but having some strange group walking through my venue—which I paid to have all to myself—with their clipboards and binders out, on my most stressful day.
My fiancé and I planned our entire wedding on our own, with the help of a friend who acted as wedding planner/day-of-contact for our wedding day. If you are looking at this venue, I highly recommend you hire a planner early on, or be prepared to be constantly checking up on the staff there at the Flags. The management company is located in Los Angeles, and while Micaela, the sales coordinator who we signed the contract with, is incredibly responsive, the on-site staff can be a bit standoffish. Tracy, who came into our wedding very late in the game, was a very big help in actually planning the event. Alyssa had focused on dollar amounts and regulations, whereas Tracy was focused on the timeline, arrangement, and overall game plan for our wedding.
Overall, I recommend this venue, but with caution. They are very new, and unfortunately they did not appear to be organized enough to plan a seamless wedding on their own. Their own communication is lacking; if they are able to pull everyone together onto the same page, I believe that this venue will be a fantastic place to host a casual, beautiful wedding. While we did encounter many negatives, our wedding continued perfectly, and all my guests enjoyed their time spent celebrating with us. The room for improvement here is vast, and I do believe that they will learn a lot from our experience there with them.