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Quality of service
3.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time
2.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism
2.5 out of 5 rating
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Value
4.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility
4.0 out of 5 rating
BlackStock offered a beautiful venue with great wine, and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect view and weather. However, it wasn't without its quirks.
When we originally decided to use the venue, we spoke with four different people that were the "events coordinators," and the last time we spoke with someone, there was no on-site coordinator - just the manager. This posed a problem as each of the persons didn't have any of our records to review. Thank Heavens folks from TK said to make sure we had a three-ring binder of everything as we just opened up our binder when we needed to answer questions (again.)
We opted for the premium wine pour for four hours. When you have a wedding at a winery, you must choose a wine pour for your guests. We wanted to make the most out of it and chose the best option. Our wine pour started around 6:35 p.m. or so and lasted (according to our guests) until around 10 p.m. Of course last call was announced at 9:15 p.m. There was one wine pourer for roughly seventy guests (slightly less not counting the few children.) At one point, there was a line eight deep for people waiting for wine. Luckily, our guests were only close family and friends so they didn't mind. What I was told by several guests is they thought it was kind of tacky for a winery to be doing half-pours and then trying to sell the guests the wine they produced. Some of our guests didn't mind at all and ended up buying bottles of wine, but others just thought it was tacky.
No one took care of the head table. The groom had to leave the table during dinner to get wine for the head table. While this isn't a big issue, it's something that should be considered in the future.
A thorn in my side was the mandatory coordinator fee (we paid $500 as that was the fee when we signed our contract, but as of date, it has been bumped up to $750.) This fee is the "use of the bridal cottage" (wish they had some bottles of water in it!) "setting up of chairs," and "prior to, rehearsal, and day of coordinator." When we were there, Dianne's Delightful Weddings was the coordinator for our wedding. We thought things would be great due to what she told us at our rehearsal, but they were anything but. Our minister stepped in to actually conduct the motions. He mentioned that after the ceremony, he sought out the owner of the winery to lodge a complaint about Dianne, the Coordinator and said he had never worked with someone so rude an unprofessional. When we were married, she congratulated us by MY MAIDEN NAME!
While I won't admonish BlackStock as a venue, just remember to keep records of everything even if it's small little phone or e-mail conversations. Print out the event guide/contract you agree to as important info can and does change pertaining to vendors, etc. at the wwinery.
BlackStock truly offers a beautiful venue for weddings, and the few tidbit issues we had minor compared to other problems we had.
BlackStock offered a beautiful venue with great wine, and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect view and weather. However, it wasn't without its quirks.
When we originally decided to use the venue, we spoke with four different people that were the "events coordinators," and the last time we spoke with someone, there was no on-site coordinator - just the manager. This posed a problem as each of the persons didn't have any of our records to review. Thank Heavens folks from TK said to make sure we had a three-ring binder of everything as we just opened up our binder when we needed to answer questions (again.)
We opted for the premium wine pour for four hours. When you have a wedding at a winery, you must choose a wine pour for your guests. We wanted to make the most out of it and chose the best option. Our wine pour started around 6:35 p.m. or so and lasted (according to our guests) until around 10 p.m. Of course last call was announced at 9:15 p.m. There was one wine pourer for roughly seventy guests (slightly less not counting the few children.) At one point, there was a line eight deep for people waiting for wine. Luckily, our guests were only close family and friends so they didn't mind. What I was told by several guests is they thought it was kind of tacky for a winery to be doing half-pours and then trying to sell the guests the wine they produced. Some of our guests didn't mind at all and ended up buying bottles of wine, but others just thought it was tacky.
No one took care of the head table. The groom had to leave the table during dinner to get wine for the head table. While this isn't a big issue, it's something that should be considered in the future.
A thorn in my side was the mandatory coordinator fee (we paid $500 as that was the fee when we signed our contract, but as of date, it has been bumped up to $750.) This fee is the "use of the bridal cottage" (wish they had some bottles of water in it!) "setting up of chairs," and "prior to, rehearsal, and day of coordinator." When we were there, Dianne's Delightful Weddings was the coordinator for our wedding. We thought things would be great due to what she told us at our rehearsal, but they were anything but. Our minister stepped in to actually conduct the motions. He mentioned that after the ceremony, he sought out the owner of the winery to lodge a complaint about Dianne, the Coordinator and said he had never worked with someone so rude an unprofessional. When we were married, she congratulated us by MY MAIDEN NAME!
While I won't admonish BlackStock as a venue, just remember to keep records of everything even if it's small little phone or e-mail conversations. Print out the event guide/contract you agree to as important info can and does change pertaining to vendors, etc. at the wwinery.
BlackStock truly offers a beautiful venue for weddings, and the few tidbit issues we had minor compared to other problems we had.
