As soon as I seen the inside of this theater I knew my reception had to be here, no other place in Hannibal compares to this theater. The star theatre located in downtown Hannibal, MO did an AMAZING job on my halloween wedding. The decorations, staff, food, everything turned out perfect!

It was a beautiful place to have a reception but there were alot of hidden costs and we could not get a hold of her on many important occasions.

My friends booked The Star Theater for their wedding ceremony and reception. The couple chose this venue for its vintage charm and ultimately traded that for dealing with an unprofessional, passive-aggressive woman who actually managed to cause contention and stress for an already high-stressed weekend.

Michelle (the event coordinator for Star Theater) failed to remain professional and take any responsibility for her lack of communication which included: arguing with the couple about the head table set-up, changing the set-up and Rehearsal times 10 days before the event which caused everyone to readjust their plans because we were all from the St. Louis area, not keeping verbal promises that resulted in stressful last-minute changes in seating arrangements handled by the bride and her party without the help of Michelle, verbally bashing the bride in front of guests on the day, passive-aggressively arguing with the officiant in front of guests, placing blame on the bar staff for her miscommunication about the liquor cap, and being unreliable about picking up the decorations the following day.

If you are an event coordinator, your priority should be making sure everything runs smoothly, fix snafus quietly, and most obviously not to place blame on the paying customers and their guests (Customer Service 101). At every turn, Michelle caused more strife than good for this event. It’s an unfortunate way to conduct business. Again, the venue is lovely, but if you are looking for a stress-free easy set-up with open communication—run away.

Let's talk about the common theme with Star Theatre - beautiful venue, poor experience.
I day of coordinated for my dear childhood best friend's wedding this past weekend. The ceremony was beautiful at the church she grew up in, and the Star Theatre was decorated exactly how she wanted it- she could not be happier with the set up. However, upon arriving to the Theatre we ran into multiple issues.
The photographer sat down at the bar and asked for a glass of water - the bartender said "$2 for a bottle of water" and he asked if they take cards and she said to him dripping in sarcasm "We have this magical machine right out there in the lobby that takes cards and gives you cash! This is a cash bar." Mind you, there was a drink station in the corner maybe 10 feet away from the bar with 3 gallon beverage dispensers that had tea and water -but instead of directing guests to that, they took every opportunity to charge guests for bottled water.
The parents of the bride had purchased kegs of beer to be available for guests until it ran out and then it would be cash bar. It was not made known that there was kegs and when guests approached the bar and asked what beer they had they offered bottled beer for purchase. Guests had to specifically ask for the beer the bridal party had provided and not many guests knew it existed.
When it came time for the toast and signing of the marriage license I asked staff if they had bussers or if I should buss the head table - they said they would send someone up to the front of the room to take care of it. No one came so I went ahead and cleared the plates from the head table so that there would not be dirty plates in the photos/video for the toast and while the couple signed their marriage license. Which brings me to my next point – so very understaffed – two servers for 150 guests. The server per guest ratio was most definitely an issue.
The bride had picked out an extravagant cake and the couple who created it travelled over an hour to be at the reception to help cut and serve their masterpiece. Michelle and her staff had already cut and started setting out the sheet cake an hour before the couple even got to ceremonially cut their 4 tier cake. So when the bride and groom cut the cake and had their first piece all of the guests had already eaten cake. The baker wanted to cut the 4 tier cake on the cake table at the front of the room and Michelle insisted that the cake (4 tier) be moved to the kitchen to be cut because it was too messy - even though the baker reassured her that she is a professional and is capable of cutting and serving cake without making a mess.
As if the cake wasn't as issue the whole night - it gets better. Later on in the evening I asked one of the two servers if there was any cake left – I hadn’t gotten to have any earlier. The server I asked was obviously annoyed by my request but said “sure” and went into the kitchen and a few minutes later returned with a piece of chocolate cake on a plate with a fork. So I go sit down and have my cake and not even 5 minutes later – Michelle sends her all the way across the reception hall to my table with the entire bottom tier of the cake. She stands there with this 9” x 9” cake tier with two forks stuck in the top and very snarky says “would you like MORE cake?”
I knew she was being facetious being that there was no knife to cut the cake and no a plate to eat it off of. The passive aggressiveness orchestrated by Michelle and her staff was very unprofessional and made for a tense and stressful evening.

Let me paint you a picture. A bride and groom pay a large amount of money to have their big day at this beautiful venue. A venue that heavily incorporates their love of old Hollywood and theater. Excitement begins. Excitement is quickly replaced with stress, confusion, and frustration due to the owner, Michelle. After visiting the venue and speaking with Michelle they learn they will be able to incorporate a large number of booths into their seating arrangement. Michelle verbally confirms this. Fast forward to the day before the wedding. Wedding party arrives early due to Michelle’s lack of flexibility and the need to be out at 5 pm. Booths are no where to be found. (Minus a few half booths). The entire seating chart is now ruined. Michelle accepts NO responsibility and completely failed to communicate this to the bride and groom. Michelle “claims” to have informed them both of this. Lie #1. Wedding party then works to alter the seating plans. As this is happening, Michelle proceeds to make snide remarks and facial grimaces about how pushing tables together won’t look good. And condescendingly laughs while saying, “Trust her. She’s done this before.” Your trust means shit when you repeatedly fail to communicate with your clients. We then move the remaining half booths to other areas as we are now forced to only use tables for seating guests. We return the day of the wedding. The booths that we painstakingly moved are NO WHERE in sight. Michelle just up and moved them because SHE didn’t like them and is incapable of relinquishing control. (I forgot this was her wedding day. And that she’s paying herself). She made an executive decision without consulting with the paying party and did not THINK to communicate this. When confronted about this Michelle “claims” to have told all of us (7 human beings. 14 ears) that where we put the half booths was a fire hazard and she “told us” they couldn’t be there. So in place of these “fire hazard booths” now sat a giant effing booth. Okay. I could go on and on, but just know that if you are looking to work with someone with the following attributes: incompetence, neglect, inability to relinquish control, and F-level communication skills, look no further than The Star Theater. Accurately named. Because, one star.