Linden Place Reviews

Thanks so much for your thoughtful review, Sarah! It was truly our pleasure working with you. Congratulations and Best Wishes from everyone at Linden Place!

Dear Sheila,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful review of Linden Place! It was truly our pleasure getting to work with you and we are so delighted to hear that Linden Place lived up to your expectations! Congrats and Best wishes from everyone at Linden Place and we hope you will come visit some time soon!

Thank you, Ashley, for your thoughtful review of Linden Place! It was truly our pleasure working with you. Congratulations!!!

As the site administrator for Linden Place, I wanted to take time to formally respond to the above review of Linden Place and our wedding services. First of all, I am saddened to hear that Liz and Matt’s wedding week was a stressful one because Linden Place and I did everything in our power to make their important day enjoyable. I was delighted to hear from the bride’s father, the following week, that the wedding at Linden Place was a great evening, that our staff was helpful and that guests enjoyed their time at the museum. Throughout my years at Linden Place, I have always had a great rapport with my wedding couples and their vendors. This can be attested to by the number of “thank you’s” that I receive and the high satisfaction rate which can be noted on websites such as The Knot and Wedding Wire. I pride myself on my responsiveness to every question and concern of my brides, grooms and their families.
I would like to address the incorrect information supplied in this review:
1. Linden Place does not (and never has) include an “event coordinator” in our rental of Linden Place. While we do coordinate vendor services and check in with hired vendors to be sure that they are familiar with Linden Place and our policies prior to each event, we do not coordinate weddings or events at the museum. In fact, our rental agreement, signed by the bride and groom upon reserving Linden Place, specifically states this:
“All Caterers must provide a coordinator/hostess to organize details and festivities during the event. This person should be in the front of the house and work along with the band/DJ and kitchen on the timing of all events and formalities that take place during the function.”
This was discussed during a walk-through in the months prior to the wedding with Chef Roland, the caterer, and the bride and groom.
2. Chef Roland, the chosen caterer, was given Linden Place’s catering requirements (requirements by the state of RI) many, many months in advance upon first visiting our venue. He assured Linden Place, at that time, that he was licensed in the State of RI, which we found out, one week before the wedding, that he was not. This is an unfortunate circumstance caused by the caterer, not by Linden Place. I tried (not at all unprofessionally) to convey the importance of these requirements to the caterer, who later provided me with the necessary paperwork – problem solved. I also tried to assure Liz and Matt that Linden Place was doing everything in our power to make it all work out with the caterer. The caterer had many, many months to plan for this event and acquire the proper licensing. Because of recurring issues with caterers like Chef Roland and the necessity of preserving our good reputation, Linden Place is moving forward with a required, closed list of caterers for all future events.
3. I had personally spoken with the bartender and received all the necessary information and paperwork in the days prior to the event. I truly and honestly never had the discussion noted in the above review with the bartender. This is a mystery to me and I can only say that there must have been miscommunication with someone other than myself here at Linden Place. I apologize whole-heartedly for this and am sorry that it caused unnecessary stress. Bartending at this wedding was never an issue, so I am puzzled about this circumstance in its entirety. Rest assured I will be getting to the bottom of this. I am distressed at being called “a liar” by the bride, and wish she has approached me with her concerns.
4. During our final walk-through, the agreed-upon opening time was 2:00pm sharp. This, in fact, was a special arrangement for the groomsmen, as our usual set up time is two hours prior to the start of an event (in this case, 5pm, so the start time would be 3pm). Our staff was here at exactly 2pm, as planned. We offered this additional time at absolutely no cost to the bride and groom as a courtesy to them.
5. Linden Place, in my nine years here, has never been “a mess” before a wedding or event. We have a professional cleaning company that arrives before every event to clean the entire ballroom, kitchen, bathrooms and tent. There is absolutely no way that Linden Place was “a mess” on the day of this event. Communication with Linden Place staff has assured me of this fact.
6. Linden Place employs two hostesses that are on-site for every event. They assist the wedding party, caterers and other vendors, as needed, and ensure that events run smoothly at all times. Once again, Linden Place is very clear with the fact that we do not offer Event Coordination for our weddings.
In the end, Linden Place is not perfect. I fully recognize that obtaining necessary paperwork from Chef Roland before the final walk-through would have been the better option. It was a moment of pure confusion on my part, as Chef Roland had assured me many months prior that all the necessary paperwork would be provided. When he reneged on this, it prompted a quick response from me because of the legalities of having an unlicensed caterer at our venue.
I am sorry that this added undue stress for Liz and Matt. However, I ask that blame be put where it is due, which is not Linden Place, but with Chef Roland. I worked for many months communicating with the bride and always answered every request and question, usually within hours, not days. I truly believe that the “0” rating for responsiveness is completely inaccurate, as is the overall rating of Linden Place and our service level.