Do not throw your wedding here
It is the Tuesday after my wedding and I cannot begin to explain how disappointed I am in SCB.
First, I have had three, yes THREE, different event coordinators in the less than year I have been planning my event with and not once did the new coordinator reach out to me to inform me of the change. I had to stumble upon it as weeks had gone by with no answer back to my emails.
Second, I was told initially that I had to choose off of a list of caterers and that all billing had to go through the venue and because so, there was a service fee for doing this. (aka BS way to get a few more dollars out of the customer.) Come one month before the wedding I am told by the caterer that now SCB does not require them to bill through SCB so I can pay direct. GREAT! No b.s. service fee, however, why is the caterer telling me this and not the venue?! When I followed up with the venue I didn't receive a response. Surprise surprise. Oh and I was charged the b.s. catering fee.
Third, When I was finally able to get into the venue two months before to do a final run through I had worked out all details with the events staff there. There would be garbage cans provided, tables enough to fit 70 people, kegs would be moved from sight that were in the brewing room, signs would be placed along the pathway from the private events room to the warehouse where the event actually way, crap huddled in corners of the warehouse would be moved, lights hung, and I was told that I would receive a drawing of the layout we discussed. Once again, no communication, no layout drawing, nothing. Once I asked for it, over a week later I received the response of, "oh I didn't know you wanted a drawing." YOU OFFERED IT TO ME SO YES I WANT THE DRAWING.
Fourth - Wedding day - Initially I was told that I only had a two hour window to set up for my event. Big tip SCB - weddings take HOURS to set up! This isn't your yoga events where you just need a clean floor, it is a damn wedding. Decorations, tables, band set up, flowers.. if you offer weddings you should not have any other events there that day so people don't have to rush to get things done. Luckily when I called to see if the band could set up earlier they said they didn't end up having an event earlier in the day so the band could set up whenever. Ok - maybe the coordinator there should have called me to inform me we could set up early once they knew they weren't having an event that morning? Just a suggestion.
My wedding coordinator called me in a panic at about 3pm (wedding starts at 4) because the venue didn't have all the tables promised. They only had 6 when I needed and was promised 7. When my coordinator asked where the other table was all she received was, "oh it is probably somewhere but i'm not sure where exactly." I'm sorry, but how do you lose a ten person farm table?! The general lack of knowledge and care exhibited by the staff the day of was disgusting. No one knew anything and worst off, when my mother, the mother of the bride, was looking for a recycling bin to throw something out she was rudely scolded by a member of the SCB staff for putting something in a recycling can that apparently was not a recylcing can. Well what do you call a big blue plastic bin that in any other situation would have been a recycling bin then? The rudeness is ridiculous, and I don't think I need to tell you how you should have handled the situation.
Next - I walked into the venue and what did I find? Random crap in the corners of the event hall that I was told was going to be moved. Now before you say, "oh well you were there early they probably just hadn't had time to move it yet." wrong. I was there at 4pm when my wedding was supposed to start. The event staff had all day to move that I should not have had to hunt someone down to do so. In fact, I didn't. The amazing catering staff saw me looking around and quickly offered to help with that. Once again, why is the caterer doing better than the event staff here?
The most frustrating thing was when I looked at the wall which was supposed to be the nice brick with iron signage along it, there was a wall, floor to ceiling, with all of the kegs that were supposed to be moved from the brewing room, out of sight. Were they out of sight, nope! Piled high, wrapped in plastic, along with random plastic keg bottles. I was disgusted, however the tables had already been placed so there was no way to remove them. They didn't ask if they could place them there, they just did it. and it was hideous. There is a difference between tasteful industrialism and trash and this was trash. Also, before I forget, the signs they promised, going from the private events room to the warehouse were no where to be found as well.
Lastly - the cold. Now it has been very cold lately. This has been no surprise and there is always the weather.com available to see what the weather is going to be like on any given day. Now, given that, you would think the event staff would have been monitoring this given the warehouse DOES NOT HAVE ANY HEAT, which I found out that night. My poor grandparents were so cold their teeth were chattering and they had to LEAVE my wedding! Never once was I informed that the warehouse had no heat. SCB you should have had the decency to inform me of this so, since you weren't going to offer space heaters, I could have gotten some! You already wanted to nickel and dime us, lighting that was already strung in the brewery room was extra to literally just turn on. It was $75 just to rent the outdoor heaters from them. Why don't you get your stuff together so you can charge more for better service and not nickel and dime us??
There were plenty of other actions from the brewery that left me baffled but I think overall you get how poorly they conduct themselves. To top it all off, there is a non-negotiable 20% gratuity. SCB you did not deserve a dime of that tip.
You have a beautiful venue which can carry you, however, your events staff and attention to detail is atrocious. It is not hard to answer emails in a timely manor, follow up with your contacts for events, and be proactive! The best service starts with those three simple things, and I should know, I do customer service and sales for a living. I am so incredibly disappointed.
