City Cruises - Washington DC Reviews

My husband and I had a fairly spontaneous wedding, we didn't even know where to start and the City Cruises Washington DC team helped us with all the logistics, achieving a dream wedding, from organizing the program, the music, an exquisite menu and decorating ideas, as well as suggestions for the cake and photography.
We are especially grateful to Header and Talia, they did an incredible job, we had fluid communication the entire time and they were very professional.

Planned my wedding on the Capital Elite Yacht for our small wedding of 40 guests in exactly one month. Rachel did a wonderful job coordinating the most cost efficient option for us and we were able to personalize so much of our big day. My groom and I were very pleased with how everything looked and ended up. Our food was delicious, we were able to upgrade to a carving beef station since we had seafood allergies on board and our guests were waited on quite well. DJ Fred was in touch with us beforehand and did everything we requested. The only hiccup was parking, which we thought we had figured out using the parking garage under the Safeway until that was full and a family member had to panic for parking fast. The wharf is under construction and to my knowledge, working on adding better parking. We both highly recommend the capital elite for a small wedding, because how many people can say they got married on a private yacht?!

The staff is absolutely amazing and very attentive to me and my guests. Shakia the manager, Anthony, and Emily were all so great. Amazing service! Food was also very delicious. They anticipated all of our needs and was very kind, gracious, and professional.

I never imagined my wedding to be so amazing!! We had SO MUCH FUN on our wedding night, and sailing around the Potomac made it absolutely magical! The staff on the boat are absolutely accommodating, and made for the most magnificant wedding we could ever ask for! Our friends and family are still raving about how much fun they had, and how unique of an experience it was so have the reception on a ship!! We are forever grateful to the staff for making the night one to remember!! They arranged the entire night, from the ceremony to all the components of the reception! It was nice to have our own Dj in our section playing our favorite songs, as we danced the night away! I highly recommend this vendor!!

It was perfect! So low stress. Everything was taken care of for me. The food was exceptional. The drinks were good. The staff was great. So happy with my choice do host my wedding this way.

Thank you Emily Morgan and Elite Private Yacht Charters for making our Wedding celebration perfect! Our time aboard the Capital Elite created the perfect memory for us and our guests that we will cherish forever. Chef Matt was AMAZING and the staff aboard could not have been more sweet and accommodating. Even the Captain was heavily involved in making sure our needs were met. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making our day perfect!

They were great and super attentive and were able to accommodate every need that we had. We had a couple people at the wedding who were gluten free and they made sure to provide a gluten free meal for them. DJ was great and the staff was wonderful! All of this was put together within two months! I would highly suggest a boat wedding! View of the Potomac was great!

I loved how intimate this venue was. National Elite yachts is the perfect venue for a small or mid size wedding and loved how modern their decor was. The staff was very attentive to all of our needs from the time we signed our contract and the entire 10 months leading up to our wedding.

Charlie and I are seniors Getting married for the final time. Our goal was to provide our guests with something unique and memorable. Odyssey yachts was just the ticket. Emily, our coordinator, was fantastic, the food was delicious, and the staff was more than accommodating. Our guests had a wonderful, wonderful time. We are so glad we went with this option.

I was a wreck leading up to my wedding day (most brides are), the staff was really calm and assuring. I am a bit of a perfectionist and they handled everything perfectly. The food was awesome, the staff was always right there making sure every moment was perfect for me. We will be having our anniversary event on this yacht as well. We had guest who came from the UK, Canada, Nigeria, and in the states. Everyone truly enjoyed themselves. Thank you so much for making our day one of the BEST ever!

I can't say enough positive things about the Elite Yacht Charters. Although it was expensive to charter the boat, the other fees were reasonable for the DC area, and having a smaller (under 50) intimate wedding allowed us to still have the elegant, non-traditional wedding I had envisioned.
Initially, Heather was very friendly, helpful, and accommodating in meeting with me to tour the boat a couple of times. When Elena took over with our planning since she would be with us on our wedding day, she paid excellent attention to detail. She was helpful and adaptable when we came early for our first look photos. She contacted all of my vendors, making my planning easier.
We were happy with the decision to hold our ceremony on board, for an additional hour before cruising. Elena organized the guests so that I had an 'aisle' to walk down and the DJ played our songs seamlessly. After our ceremony, we used the boat's internet radio, which was easy for planning and I'm thankful we didn't rent a DJ because a 3 hour cruise goes very quickly and it would have been a waste.
Dinner was excellent. We chose the buffet option. I was worried without testing the food first, but the staff made my husband and I our plates with every selection, and all options were good. Our guests kept telling us how great the food was as well. The staff was very attentive with clearing the tables of drinks and bringing new ones to our guests. They also brought cake slices downstairs to everyone after dinner.
Marquita was the main staff member on the boat to take over from Elena once we cruised. She was amazing as well. She periodically asked me what I needed and kept our schedule of events smooth.
Only one thing disappointed me slightly, and that was the fact that I had thought we would travel to the monuments. Apparently, the boat doesn't fit under the 14th St. bridge. I wish I had know it, but wouldn't have changed the venue over it.

Elena and Jennifer were wonderful. The entire experience was fabulous. My wedding ran smoothly and without issue. They anticipated our every need. They had wonderful ideas and suggestions. They listen carefully to what we wanted and surpassed our expectation at every turn. It was a fun, carefree, phenomenal day! All of our guest said it was one of the best weddings they had ever been to. Everyone said how marvelous the food was! The crew on the ship was amazing. I could not have asked for a better day!

Our wedding ceremony and reception on the Odyssey in DC was magical. This was my second wedding and never thought that it could ever come close to feeling as if it was the first. Elena Dixon, the wedding coordinator of the Odyssey, surely made me feel like I was a bride for the first time. The food was fabulous and the views magnificent. If you are looking for the perfect place to get married , you must consider having it on the odyssey. You will cherish the moments forever , like I will.!!

We booked Elite Yacht Charters for our Wedding Reception and we could not be happier with the service and overall experience. From the moment we first met our reception coordinator we knew it was the right fit. Jennifer and Elena were both a pleasure to work with - being extremely upbeat, sensitive to our needs and had an extreme attention to detail. Especially when it counted the most she made sure we were taken care of and all of the details were met so we would not need to stress about them. Jennifer did not hesitate to go the extra mile when our desert caterer did not make the delivery. She dropped everything and drove in D.C. traffic to pick up our cupcakes and deliver it right as we were taking off from port. Her commitment to making sure we were happy and satisfied only was the tip of the hospitality and customer service the entire staff gave us. There was not a moment of the entire event we were not blown away by the staff aboard. Marquita was the Restaurant Manager on board and she was amazing! From the time we stepped foot on the ship we were greeted from each and every staff member with a warm welcoming smile that we could feel and see resonate to each and every one of our guest. They took the time and had the patience to deal with every single one of our guest with joy and happiness that was truly a beautiful experience for everyone to participate in. Not only was the staff a pleasant surprise to have aboard, but the food was phenomenal. We could not give enough credit to the chefs who served us with excellent tasting food along with well-timed service. Elite Yacht Charters truly went above and beyond our expectations and will be not only spoken about in high regards for years to come, but also will be remembered by our families and friends as making the already very special day that much better.

Our experience with Odyssey was great. The staff was very accommodating in scheduling, food choices, and working with our wedding planner. And the cruise experience was great! The views from the Potomac River are wonderful, and best of all, the wait staff was very efficient and helpful.

The Spirit of Mt Vernon was an amazing experience for our daughter's Bat Mitzvah. The food, the staff, the ambiance were all top notch. If there was anything we needed (before the event, during the event...), the Spirit staff was quick with an answer. If there were any questions/concerns, the Spirit staff accommodated our needs.

You can't go wrong by booking with Elite Yacht Charters. Negotiate for what you want. The services provided by their staff are great!

We experienced a wonderful wedding event on The Odyssey. Julie and Jennifer and their colleagues gave us great, attentive support throughout the planning process. Jennifer was supremely communicative, flexible, and helpful leading up to and during our event. The staff made an extra effort to have the dining room be as beautiful and comfortable as possible. DJ Rob was extremely accommodating and well-prepared for both the ceremony and dance party that followed. We appreciated that Captain Matt was such a good sport about surprising our guests as the facilitator of our vows. He even welcomed the kids to come visit during the cruise. We continue to receive positive feedback from our guests months after our wedding party - they loved the food and overall kindness of the service staff! We are very grateful to the entire Odyssey team for all that was done to help us throw such a super party on The Potomac River!

Jennifer and Tegan were amazing to work with. They were flexible and very accommodating. I felt very confident that our party was going to be a great success. They had answers and suggestions to all my questions and concerns. They made planning my daughter's bat mitzvah easy. We loved having it aboard the spirit of Washington.

Excellent staff, extremely helpful. Everything went off without any issues.

We had our wedding and reception on the Capital Elite Yacht on July 4th in Washington DC. The boat was in EXCELLENT condition. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful and the service was amazing. Oh, and the food was delicious... I couldn't be happier with my experience!

Growing up, I wasn't the type of girl who had planned out the perfect dream wedding. My event was planned out withing three months... from picking out my gown, bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dress, the works. The wedding coordinator made it so easy to get everything just in time! It helped to have everything done on the Odyssey, such as wedding venue and reception. Everything turned out beautiful, and breath taking. It absolutly turned out to be one of the best days to of my life. Most of my friends and family still talk about how wonderful it was, and how delicious the food was. The staff on the odyssey was extremely professional, and made my day unforgettable. I wish I could hit my rewind button and relive my experience!

The Odyssey was a fantastic venue for the ceremony and reception. Guests loved how different it was from most weddings, and the food and service were fantastic.

Our son’s Bar Mitzvah was AMAZING. The entire experience - contracting, planning, and execution - far exceeded my very high expectations. The team of professionals managed by Linda Circo was such a pleasure to work with. Every last detail was managed, which allowed our family and friends to experience DC in a completely unique way and have the best time ever! The Chef was extremely flexible and provided special food/stations to accommodate dietary restrictions. The decorations were fantastic. The boat was transformed into an elegant venue that catered to our guest’s needs and wants. The staff worked smoothly with my outside photography and musical vendors, who each provided comments of the ease of working with the team. We are already looking to utilize the Odyssey again for our next simcha. Bottom line, we were blown away, our guests were impressed, and my son had the time of his life.

My husband and I had our wedding onboard the National Elite Private Yacht sailing out of National Harbor, MD on August 30, 2014. First, I am incredibly critical and OCD, so a 4.9/5.0 is pretty much an off the charts review coming from me. Jennifer and Tegan were absolute perfection in assisting us with all the details and then running the show wedding day. They were responsive, helpful and accommodating from day one. We were (i.e I was) pretty high maintenance with special requests and they remained incredibly professional and made sure our requests were honored when permitted. There was only one request that could not be honored (hence the 4 1/2 stars for flexibility of the company).

We have zero complaints about any aspect of this wedding, and it was incredibly memorable for both us and our guests. Everyone loved the venue, and for those who did not want to commit 4 hours that evening, they were able to just attend the ceremony and leave before the ship set sail on the Potomac River. We had approximately 70 guests for the cruise and it was the perfect number. The ship could accommodate more, but I believe it neither felt empty nor crowded at this number. It did take quite a bit of time for everyone to get through the buffet, but nothing that was within the crews' control. This extended the time for our wedding events, so that we didn't finish the garter toss until about 30 minutes before we were back at dock! So it went by really fast for us and if I could offer one piece of advice for those who book this crew - add an extra hour of sail time and open bar if you want time to really celebrate with and enjoy your guests. It will be well worth it (though many non-party people did say it was just the right amount of time - so gauge your crowd).

It was a high-class wedding all around, and we have absolutely nothing but positive things to say about Jenn and Tegan and their fabulous boat crew. Fantastic memories!

Our guests could not stop raving about their experience. The food was wonderful (and I'm a former NYC foodie so I like to think my palate is at least somewhat refined) and the alcoholic beverages flowing. The staff bent over backwards to make sure things were perfect for us. Wonderful experience, particularly with so many out of town guests. Everyone raved about the music as well (thank you Mark)!

I worked with both Heather and Emily to plan our wedding on National Elite. They kept my nerves calm and walked me through the planning process step-by-step. If I had to plan my wedding all over again I would definitely select National Elite, the process was low stress and so easy to manage! The yacht staff were attentive and very professional. We opted to have a plated lunch and the food was AMAZING! It did take a bit longer than I’d like for the food to be served to all guests and some did not receive their desert, but that could have been due to us not having a longer time on the yacht. We decided to go with Elite’s DJ and he was also amazing. The only issue was the sound system didn’t seem to be wired throughout the entire yacht. It was difficult to hear in the dining area since he was stationed on the 2nd level. Overall, this was an amazing day, and I would definitely select National Elite 100x over!

If you desire an intimate, classy, and enchanted environment to exchange vows with the love of your life. The National Elite is the place for you! The staff treat you like family, Heather my POC was highly responsive and it felt like a sister was helping me plan my wedding.

Maggie

I had an amazing reception thanks to Spirit Cruises. Everything was wonderful and way more then I expected. The bartender kept giving me free drinks and he even made me a drink that matched the color of my wedding, purple!! I danced the whole night away. I don't think I have ever danced that much!! I had a wonderful time and there is not one thing I would have changed about that night!

This was our wedding rehearsal party. Everyone was impressed with the venue. We had people from Canada, South Africa, Florida, Colorado, California and New York who came for the wedding. It provided a very relaxed, fun, as well as a glimpse of our history, for all. It was very easy for me, the host, as everything was taken care of from food, to entertainment. I would highly recommend!

Odyssey was the best choice for our wedding venue. Cruising along DC monuments as we celebrated the most special day in our lives was just priceless.

Take the time to talk and visit on-site with the Wedding Coordinator. Our coordinator, Heather Moore, was absolutely fabulous in helping us find just the right personalized options to ensure a memorable wedding event.

Getting married on a boat is fun and amazing- but be prepared, because a non traditional venue has its own set of challenges (like bringing in your decor)!

Still, my guests had a great time and raved about the entire experience even when the weather wasn't cooperating.

The staff on the boat in particular were really great.

The only thing I found confusing was how many different people I was involved with over the entire process. For example, I thought I had one coordinator on the actual wedding day, and she was there for part of the time, but then another guy was the coordinator for the rest once the boat left the dock? But, this wasn't made clear to us at any point in advance so it came as a surprise because I had never spoken to him before.

Overall, though, they were great with my million questions in advance, working with our budget, and staying true to what we agreed in our contract and envisioned. It was really a beautiful and fun day and experience I will treasure forever. It is a lot of money, but we definitely got what we paid for--the food, especially cocktail hour appetizers, was great, and so was the open bar! The captain even let the kids steer the boat from their wheelhouse. The private yacht for just our friends and family, all in one place (no changing venues) was priceless, in my opinion-- especially with guests coming from all over the world getting a "tour" of D.C. in the background.

If you're also looking for a venue that will be very inclusive, and very little work for you on the wedding day, this is a great option. Elena and Jen were awesome, and I hope if you book with Elite that you get to work with them, too!

The Yacht was beautiful and the customer service during the cruise was excellent. The food and drinks were great. All my guests had an amazing time. The process with the staff was smooth for the most part and they were helpful when we had questions. One thing that I didn't like was we had to rent chair covers from their vendor which is twice as much as what my wedding planner could provide. They also arranged for my husband and I to park in their lot during our cruise but day of the cruise the guard at the booth had no idea who we were and didn't have any communication from them. Luckily he believed us and was able to find a spot. Overall it was a good choice and I would recommend.

Married on Odyssey III
April 29, 2016
"We had our amazing wedding, both ceremony and reception, on the beautiful Odyssey III at 10 am on Friday, April 29th. It was the perfect weekday morning wedding. Even though we only booked one side of the Carneros Room and there were other guests on the boat during our wedding, it felt so exclusive and intimate. Our guests traveled to our wedding from all over the world, from New York to Missouri, from the US Virgin Islands to Africa, so we wanted to provide them with a unique destination experience and a tour of DC all at the same time. Every single one of our guests loved the venue and raved about the food even to this day. Since it was at the end of April, it happened to be a somewhat rainy and gloomy day, but once you were inside the beautiful ship you would have never known it. Our guests were completely shielded from the elements but still able to have the morning sun shining down on them and look at the amazing views of the river, the monuments, and the DC skyline. Although everything didn’t go off without a hitch (on our end) the staff and team at the Odyssey were absolutely amazing at handling the schedule changes and craziness. All the staff went above and beyond. They made the day as stress free as possible and were completely understanding and patient with us. This made us feel like VIP on our special day. DJ Rich was amazing and a true professional. Working with Elena and Jennifer from the very beginning was awesome. They were knowledgeable, detail-oriented, organized, and made every effort to accommodate any special requests we had. We are so glad and grateful that we choose the Odyssey to have this one and a lifetime day! Tip: I highly recommend getting the boarding photos, they make the perfect wedding favors, our guests loved them, money well spent!!
- Crystal & Bacary

Great choice if you want to do something different and budget is not a serious concern. They take care of everything but if you want to make any changes it will cost you. Very professional and responsive!

We had our wedding onboard the Odyssey in March. It was a wonderful experience for all of my guests.

Cons: I was a bit concerned that the kitchen seemed unprepared to take the orders of each guests. I was made aware that some guests received their lunch much later than others. Also, I requested a specific but simple napkin fold in order to fit our programs and menus. The wedding planner informed me that the staff did not prepare the napkins as previously (and repeatedly) requested which delayed the guests from boarding the boat on time. Even though there was a snag the crew was able to expedite my guests onboard and the ceremony began on time.

Pros: Food was delicious. The live band was OUTSTANDING. Tegan and Amanda were always available, courteous, friendly, responsive and thoughtful. My guests are asking for another ceremony onboard the odyssey for an anniversary cruise! We would like to thank YESSLYN, our server, who gave us whatever we needed. Everyone loved the warm cookies as they exited the boat.

If we had to do all over again, we would choose the Odyssey!!! Nice job. Best wishes.

Great unique venue and went off without a hitch!

We had our wedding reception on board the Odyssey dinner cruise. The actual wedding reception was amazing! The service and on-board supervisors were fantastic and took care of our every request. The only part that was not as good was working with the Odyssey's event coordinator in the months leading up to the wedding. They were not particularly helpful, nor did they go out of their way to handle special requests.

This was a great way to show off DC and the monuments. However, on our day the river was too high so the boat couldn't fit under the bridge. That is our biggest dissapointment but the weather is not their fault. The planning process was long and somewhat difficult due to the response time. However, that person is no longer there. It is pricey but the meal, music, cake, a champagne toast, strawberries, and an anniversary cruise are all included in the price.
I wouldn't say the food was excellent but it was good. The cake comes from one of their two bakeries.

The dinner charter was pleasurable and the waiters were nice and courteous. Food was delicious. Yacht was 1 hour late and coordinator was not reachable by phone, neither the backup contacts.

We had a relatively small wedding about 50 people and we chose the Capital Elite which is one of the boats of Odyssey Cruises company for our reception. In my review, I am just copying the feedback e-mail I sent to our sales rep.

".... Overall it was great and primarily due to the magic decoration and flower arrangements. The flowers were just what I had dreamed of.

The kindness and smiles of the ladies serving also contributed positively to the experience.

The experience of working with you was also positive. If, I ever have to work with entertainment cruises, I would certainly love to work with you!

However, there were indeed things I did not like:

1) I was expecting the boat to be there the latest by 6:30 we rushed from the wedding ceremony just to stand waiting in the harbor for about 40 minutes. Those were one of the worse 40 minutes of my life!

2) Another, item I believe could have been improved were the plates. First, we had to pay extra to have white plates in a wedding party (in my view should have been standard) and then you did not have enough plates for all servings.

3) To make things worse you mix meat and fish in the same plate to serve European guests (fish goes with type of wine and meat with another) you cannot mix meat and fish in the same plate. I wish I had been consulted before that decision was made!

4) The cake was not decorated the way I had discussed with the catering company that was also disappointing, although I am not sure entertainment cruises has anything to do with it!"

My guests love the whole venue, but the complaints that we received is the coordinator wasn’t professionally dressed for the occasion, she made no attempt to let the guests know the drinks that were available to them and she expected the guest who was in charge of decorating the yacht to help her do her job. Cups for coffee were provided at the bar and guests had to go downstairs to get their coffee. On a good note the chef was professional and every interaction with my guest was pleasant.

First of all, I just want to say that I had my ceremony AND reception on the Odyssey. My hubby and I loved it very much!!!

Now, here's the catch. You need to be very careful with this venue. I had signed my contract before I found the other reviews here on wedding wire. I freaked out because I thought my whole wedding would be a disaster.

Here are the pros:
-The service provided by the crew and servers is beyond excellent. I haven't been anywhere where servers were this gracious, caring, and professional.
-The boat is beautiful, and so is the view
-The food is really good (compared to it being cruise food which is prepared beforehand)

Here are the cons:
-They only give you one hour to decorate the boat before the guests board. I have also heard from some people that if they have a lunch cruise, they sometimes arrive later so you actually have LESS than an hour to decorate.
-The event manage is very professional and nice, but is VERY hard to get in contact with. I've had times where I would have to send her a email and leave her two messages for her to get back to me.
-It is pretty expensive. I did, however, calculate how much it would cost me to have the same type of wedding at a hotel, and the Odyssey came out just a little bit less expensive. Remember, the band comes with your package on the Odyssey, and the band we chose (Chane Link) is GREAT!

I was VERY VERY self-conscious when I booked this venue. Here is what I did, and some tips for anyone interested in this venue:

-I booked my wedding on a Sunday. It's cheaper than the friday and saturday nights, and it ends earlier.
-I booked it on the last day of the winter special. (March 29) I got 15% off the ticket price for each guest, and I also figured that it would be right at the start of the Cherry Blossoms! (Pretty smart, huh??) Btw, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and it was beautiful!!!
-You HAVE to hire your own wedding coordinator. I would recommend Lisa Nelson from Elegant Event Planning & Design. She and her three assistants ran around for an hour decorating our half of the boat.
-I didn't want that many decorations, but I definitely wanted one flower arrangement per table, and candles and petals on the windowsills. You need to have candles, it was so beautiful when it got dark. Everyone thought it looked beautiful. I also had paper lanterns above the dance floor. My husband made clips out of pieces of wire hangers! haha
-As for decorations: if you definitely want to have MORE than the three assistants that I had. If I were to do it again, I would definitely have hired two more assistants. It's worth the money! (Lisa's assistants are very reasonably priced)
-Cancel their wedding cake & champagne package. It is $10/person!!! I ordered the premium bar, and I just ordered my cake from Victoria's Cakery in Fairfax. I just picked it up on Saturday and had my friend bring it to the wedding. I ended up paying $270 for a 150 person cake. Can you guest how much I saved?!? Hundreds!!!
-Make sure you tell them what you would like to keep after the wedding. I had them wrap my top cake, and give me back all of the decorations. Lisa actually asked me this in a questionaire she makes her brides fill out before the wedding. She made sure that the Odyssey crew do all of the things I asked.

All in all, it was beautiful and I loved every minute of it. It was raining days on end before the wedding day, then the sun came out four hours before our ceremony, and all the cherry blossoms were in bloom. I couldn't ask for more!
I would definitely recommend this venue just because it is so romantic and different to get married on a boat, but you definitely have to be smart and MAKE SURE that you have a wedding planner!!!

If any of you future brides have any other questions, feel free to send me an email!
tomichelle.brady@gmail.com

The sales person Christy is phenomenal. Tina, the wedding coordinator, single handedly made it a disaster. I knew there were problems from the start and tried to back out of the contract, but they wouldn't let us out. So we stayed in the contract with the promise that Tina would be working with another associate to put the details together. Tina has not yet responded to an email that I have written her. I took two hours to go to the boat and outline what we wanted, as well as, hired someone to make sure that things went according to plan on the boat on the big day. Nothing that I asked to have done from the champagne toast, to the serving of the cake, to the greeting of the guests was done as requested. The worst was when they wouldn't let us on the boat with out a ticket... I asked if they thought that I wore a wedding dress to every wedding I went to. We went home after the wedding and were organizing to find the top layer of the cake in a bag upside down (the entire cake was supposed to be served).

I gave them the feedback after the event and they didn't have the professionalism to say, we're sorry.

There are many reasons to have your wedding on the boat, because it is gorgeous in the evening. However, there are too many details that can and will go wrong to risk it with this crew.

I am giving 1 star because Mary (the general manager who I give 3 stars) made a very good job cleaning up the mess made by the other staff members that worked with us initially.
As soon as we signed the contract and made the initial payment, the customer service changed in it’s entirely.
1. My wife and I agreed to meet for the first time with our wedding coordinator (Jennifer Johnston) to review planning-related matters on a Saturday at 12:00pm. Jennifer left the office and didn’t notify us. Another wedding coordinator tried to cover Jennifer’s absence and couldn’t get ahold of Jennifer over the phone (she ended up arriving 1 ½ hours late). We were told it was a personal emergency (which we decided to believe)
2. We had a telephone conversation with Jennifer’s manager (Kimi) during the upcoming week to discuss the incident as it was unacceptable not to be notified and we were worried this would happen again. Kimi asked us to CC her in every email we sent to Jennifer moving forward, but we decided not to do so and move forward and trust Jennifer
3. We sent several questions and made a few requests to Jennifer during the upcoming weeks, that in most cases required a yes or no answer. Same thing, unresponsive and very difficult to reach out to her.
4. Working with Kimi was basically the same thing. She lied about having sent an amended contract to us when we mentioned we didn’t receive anything. She sent it “again” next morning, timestamped with that day’s date. The contract was done obviously last minute; several paragraphs were chopped off and the overall aspect of the document was very unprofessional. This makes the integrity of a person and a company to be questioned.
5. We found out after the wedding that the venue ran out of food during the first serving and that many of our guests couldn’t get a full meal. This is not acceptable! We spend more than half of our budget on the reception for a tiny and intimate reception.