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Quality of service
2 out of 5 rating
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Average response time
1 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism
1 out of 5 rating
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Value
2 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility
1 out of 5 rating
Pinewood Wedding Difficulties & Recommendations
The Pinewood Wedding Center in Cambridge, MN is beautiful; however, for the cost of renting their site at just under $10,000 (literally), I recommend anyone planning a wedding there consider the following (long) list of difficulties we encountered (and yes, I emailed the ownership a list of suggestions after the wedding.) Sadly, I did not receive the open response I had hoped for to the no cost or very low cost suggestions that would help brides, grooms & their parents/families on the one extremely important dream day in their lives. The email was sent in the spirit of trying to help a very young couple get their business off the ground, especially since they advertise their site as being designed to encompass all the things they looked for (but could not find) in a venue when they were looking for their own wedding venue.
This list of suggestions is provided to help prepare others choosing this venue to arrive prepared rather than having to punt and go purchase these items on your own due to the venue not providing them or offering to assist with problem solving when asked if they had items available on site (e.g. when asked about an iron, we were told no irons were available on site, then when wedding party/or family members inquired about the availability of a steamer as a substitute, they learned that too, was unavailable). Another unfortunate aspect of our experience at Pinewood includes the fact that many of these suggested (low cost or no cost) "amenities" were not seen by ownership or staff as helpful on our big day; rather they were ignored, deemed unworthy of a response (I received a response from them, but unfortunately it did not address any of my suggestions or requests). Please remember, I have nothing to gain personally from this review - this info is intended to benefit others (just as my email to ownership was intended to benefit them).
Here is our family's list of suggestions for others who may choose Pinewood:
1. Take an iron and an ironing board-neither are available (the bridal suite and groom's suite are on different floors, so you may want to take one for each room).
2. Ditto the above with a steamer (or two).
3. Take 3-4 large fans: The Bridal suite/changing room is large, but has numerous mirrored make up stations that pump out an enormous amount of heat (it was a perfect 73 degrees outside on this wedding day!) There is no direct sunlight into that room, but it never got below 74 degrees in the room, frustrating the bridal party & vendors trying to do hair & make-up on perspiring bridal party members. The room temp hovered most of the day around 76-77 degrees (until we attempted to solve the problem on our own) and after having been met by ownership & staff with another "No, we don't have those" response when requesting fans. (Yes, the A/C was on, and I turned down to 67 degrees.) When fans were requested, but unavailable, we left the site to purchase some on our own, opened up the bridal suite doors to blow cool air into a hot room, which helped “cool" things off to 74 degrees.
4. If you choose to open up the bridal suite glass doors leading to the small outdoor deck to attempt to get a cross breeze, take your own door stops, those weren't available either when we asked.
5. Take several very large coolers and ice should you choose to bring food for the bridal party to eat throughout the day. The bridal suite has a small dorm-sized refrigerator in it. Although the bride's parents provided ample food & drinks for all throughout the day, large quantities had to be thrown out due to lack of available refrigeration. Drinks were room temperature (74 degrees) and no ice is available. The Groom's suite has a small apartment sized refrigerator (larger than a dorm-sized fridge) and was able to hold some of their uneaten food & drink (albeit it is a rather small refrigerator too).
6. Take curtains (quite literally) for the groom's suite. The huge glass window (floor to ceiling, I believe) are not covered and when these wedding party members are changing clothes, those walking by can (again, quite literally) see straight into the room during the daylight & evening hours. This room is located on the main path leading to the outdoor ceremony area...it's, a beautiful place, but without several crucial details such as this having been attended to, it leaves some people (wedding attendants changing clothes and wedding guest passersby) feeling quite exposed, embarrassed, and/or vulnerable.
7. Take your own bottles of water, paper cups, paper plates, napkins and plastic cutlery to use throughout the day as the site provides none of these things (easily available at any local Dollar General or similar store). Although both suites have cupboards in them, they were stocked with lightbulbs, and when various members of the wedding party asked about the desired items, the familiar response came again "No, we don't have those, but we have a water fountain on 1st floor you can use."
Note: There is a sink w/running water in both suites and a drinking faucet on the 1st floor near the restrooms (a bit inconvenient for the bridal party suite located on the 2nd floor).
Secondary note: They do provide paper towels, toilet paper and kleenex in both suites.
8. If your ceremony is held outside &/or your wedding pictures will occur outdoors, beware of the landscaping selected for their walking paths: Wood chips. My suggestion is for Pinewood to lay down an inexpensive pea gravel to avoid having the bride (and her attendants and family members) spend an inordinate amount of time trying to disentangle the wood chips out of the bottom of her dress, the train &/or her veil. If outdoors, reasonable people expect their dresses to get dirty at the bottom, so that particular aspect was not problematic - they expected the bottoms of their dresses to get dirty. But the wood chips were problematic throughout the time outdoors (they are on all walking paths and the ceremony area where most pictures will likely be taken).
9. Bring a small step stool (or perhaps two - one for each wedding party suite) to be used by young Ring Bearers, Flower Girls and Junior Bridesmaids of short stature. The toilets, sinks to wash hands, etc. are adult-sized and not designed for smaller guests/participants (this is totally understandable); however, when the ownership &/or coordinators were asked if a small step stool was available for a small ring bearer to use, the response was "No, we don't have that here.” Once again, there were no offers to help problem-solve or assist in any way.
10. Consider hiring an outside coordinator/planner or put a trusted, detail-oriented family member/friend in charge of wedding details prior to and while at the site. Since the bride and her parents were a bit "distracted" on their big day, several unfortunate things occurred:
a) Ceremony programs were not passed out (or given to the ushers to hand out to guests). In fact, this item was never addressed by any of their coordinators on the wedding day and the Bride and her parents forgot (it turns out they don’t plan weddings for a living and they got a bit distracted with other details needing attention). It’s not exactly earth shattering, of course, but we’ve been left wondering why none of their various coordinators/staff ever inquired about ceremony programs.
b) No site coordinator was available when the ceremony began to assist the wedding party with last minute concerns. As a family member/participant that walked down the aisle, I managed to have a groomsman hand me his sunglasses at the last minute, pass out kleenex to bridesmaids & family members, provide instruction to an usher with a last second question, and had to instruct the wedding party on trying to “time” their departures down the aisle, walk slowly, etc. To be fair, the wedding coordinator may have arrived after I walked down the aisle.
*Note: The wedding coordinator was very attentive to the Bride and asked numerous times throughout the day how she was doing (this did not occur for other wedding party attendants or family members). I suggest adjusting your expectations as a wedding party attendant or family member to address this issue w/Pinewood in advance (or procure a detail oriented family member to perform this type of task). This aspect was not included in the nearly $10,000 cost involved on our particular wedding day. Another crucial customer service feature (and suggestion I have for Pinewood) is for the site’s various coordinators to ask how all family & guests are doing AND if they can help them (and then, of course, actually follow-through with some helpful problem-solving during the time it is needed - on the wedding day).
c) Last minute additions for a few decor items (presented by the bride upon arrival at 9:15 a.m.) were not welcome by the coordinators. The bride had been surprised the night before at the rehearsal dinner with five 16x20 engagement pictures in large embroidery hoops hung with twine. The bride so enjoyed this surprise gift and wanted them displayed at the wedding venue (near the card basket/gift table, or on the guest book table, or on the wedding cake display table). The venue has white (mostly blank) walls that would've highlighted these (very light-weight) pictures beautifully. While this is not an exact quote (as I was standing off to the side during this interaction and only clearly heard a part of the response), the coordinator's response was something to the effect of "I think we have enough [decoration]." The bride acquiesced, but was clearly disappointed and needed to go upstairs to start getting ready for her big day so she left this matter alone. (My regret is not returning later and quietly approaching the coordinator myself with this request and emphasizing that I could prop them on the backs of any of the above mentioned tables, by leaning them against a blank, white wall so they wouldn't fall down.) Given the situation, I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't just do this on their own now that I’ve tipped you off! These types of things can easily be done by owners & coordinators dedicated to pleasing a bride with reasonable accommodations & legitimate requests (I want to be clear this is not a demanding, selfish bride - she was not making outlandish demands of the owners/coordinators).
d) Insist on and plan to have a rehearsal built into the early part of your wedding day - unless you would like to spend the extra $2,000 dollars required by Pinewood to rehearse the day before your wedding. No on-site rehearsal was planned and although the wedding party ran through the verbal ceremony instructions the night before, it was not done on site at Pinewood. Another easy (free!) fix would be to include a rehearsal run-through at the site, earlier in the day (although many things must be attended to on the wedding day, it sure would've helped things to run more smoothly during the ceremony if a brief rehearsal was included in the nearly $10,000 price tag.) My suggestion to the ownership & staff was/is to be aware that wedding ceremony & reception details like this is their everyday business - the bride, groom, and their families do NOT do this every day. Hiring their site coordinators did not include their attention to these types of details.
11) My overall message to the ownership & staff was one of "I'd like to make a few low- or no-cost suggestions to improve your renters & guests experience while at your venue." I have nothing to personally gain with this (lengthy) review other than to hopefully assist those who choose Pinewood as well as those who work at Pinewood. It was and is presented in the spirit of wanting to help them grow their young business through the provision of several constructive suggestions (along with my thanks and appreciation for the things that went as planned). Although I wish my feedback had been received in that same spirit, it wasn't until I shared my intentions to post reviews on relevant wedding websites, that I got an email informing me that my suggestions and concerns had been discussed (“[we] had the opportunity to discuss those recommendations you sent at our team meeting yesterday.”) No specifics were given regarding what was discussed or how it might be helpful.
I asked them to please seriously consider these additional items since they were issues for us during the course of our day at their venue:
1) Perhaps scotch-guarding their mostly all-white/cream furniture (a spill the approximate size of my closed fist) had occurred on a couch. At the end of the night when I was assisting with clean up, tear down, etc. I was approached by one of the coordinators. I was informed that they would try to get the stain out, that they took pictures of the stain, and may be keeping the damage deposit if the stain could not be removed. In their email response to my concerns, Pinewood stated that they plan to return the damage deposit to the Bride as they were able to remove the stain.
2) Perhaps Pinewood owners and staff could consider adjusting their expectations for spills/accidents when large numbers of visitors gather in the same location (perhaps expect 1-2 spills/accidents per event?), and particularly when children are also guests.
3) Possibly Pinewood could consider attempting to differentiate between accidents and intentional or reckless behaviors from their guests. I want to be clear with this item because it is a relevant factor: There were no seriously intoxicated guests at this wedding and you'd be surprised at the low number of guests who drank alcohol (this was a wedding with a predominantly conservative evangelical Christian group of guests so it wasn't exactly a wild, out of control group!) I share these details so that those choosing this site can adjust their own expectations in advance as to how Pinewood may respond to any spills that may occur during your big day or should you have any slightly intoxicated guests. Now that you know of their response to our wedding guests, perhaps you can attempt to address this factor with Pinewood in advance of your event and reach a reasonable agreement with them regarding their beliefs about and responses to spills/accidents (as well as intentional recklessness that causes actual destruction.) In all fairness, I would want my guests to treat my furniture respectfully, too, so I don’t see any problem with that. I regularly host large parties/gatherings myself and accidental spills will occur.
4) Consider that those partaking of the food & drink (per the contract, I believe) included various owners & staff (I'm uncertain of the types of beverages the staff had, but their response email assumed that I was stating alcohol was consumed by staff - something that I never thought or stated in my email). As a result, it was unable to be determined what stained the furniture or who spilled.
I have additional suggestions, but I've certainly kept you long enough and hope that you find this information helpful and that it is received in the spirit in which it was intended. I wish you happiness (that includes reasonable expectations!) on your big day. Happy wedding planning to all. Enjoy it- for it is the ride of a lifetime!
The Pinewood Wedding Center in Cambridge, MN is beautiful; however, for the cost of renting their site at just under $10,000 (literally), I recommend anyone planning a wedding there consider the following (long) list of difficulties we encountered (and yes, I emailed the ownership a list of suggestions after the wedding.) Sadly, I did not receive the open response I had hoped for to the no cost or very low cost suggestions that would help brides, grooms & their parents/families on the one extremely important dream day in their lives. The email was sent in the spirit of trying to help a very young couple get their business off the ground, especially since they advertise their site as being designed to encompass all the things they looked for (but could not find) in a venue when they were looking for their own wedding venue.
This list of suggestions is provided to help prepare others choosing this venue to arrive prepared rather than having to punt and go purchase these items on your own due to the venue not providing them or offering to assist with problem solving when asked if they had items available on site (e.g. when asked about an iron, we were told no irons were available on site, then when wedding party/or family members inquired about the availability of a steamer as a substitute, they learned that too, was unavailable). Another unfortunate aspect of our experience at Pinewood includes the fact that many of these suggested (low cost or no cost) "amenities" were not seen by ownership or staff as helpful on our big day; rather they were ignored, deemed unworthy of a response (I received a response from them, but unfortunately it did not address any of my suggestions or requests). Please remember, I have nothing to gain personally from this review - this info is intended to benefit others (just as my email to ownership was intended to benefit them).
Here is our family's list of suggestions for others who may choose Pinewood:
1. Take an iron and an ironing board-neither are available (the bridal suite and groom's suite are on different floors, so you may want to take one for each room).
2. Ditto the above with a steamer (or two).
3. Take 3-4 large fans: The Bridal suite/changing room is large, but has numerous mirrored make up stations that pump out an enormous amount of heat (it was a perfect 73 degrees outside on this wedding day!) There is no direct sunlight into that room, but it never got below 74 degrees in the room, frustrating the bridal party & vendors trying to do hair & make-up on perspiring bridal party members. The room temp hovered most of the day around 76-77 degrees (until we attempted to solve the problem on our own) and after having been met by ownership & staff with another "No, we don't have those" response when requesting fans. (Yes, the A/C was on, and I turned down to 67 degrees.) When fans were requested, but unavailable, we left the site to purchase some on our own, opened up the bridal suite doors to blow cool air into a hot room, which helped “cool" things off to 74 degrees.
4. If you choose to open up the bridal suite glass doors leading to the small outdoor deck to attempt to get a cross breeze, take your own door stops, those weren't available either when we asked.
5. Take several very large coolers and ice should you choose to bring food for the bridal party to eat throughout the day. The bridal suite has a small dorm-sized refrigerator in it. Although the bride's parents provided ample food & drinks for all throughout the day, large quantities had to be thrown out due to lack of available refrigeration. Drinks were room temperature (74 degrees) and no ice is available. The Groom's suite has a small apartment sized refrigerator (larger than a dorm-sized fridge) and was able to hold some of their uneaten food & drink (albeit it is a rather small refrigerator too).
6. Take curtains (quite literally) for the groom's suite. The huge glass window (floor to ceiling, I believe) are not covered and when these wedding party members are changing clothes, those walking by can (again, quite literally) see straight into the room during the daylight & evening hours. This room is located on the main path leading to the outdoor ceremony area...it's, a beautiful place, but without several crucial details such as this having been attended to, it leaves some people (wedding attendants changing clothes and wedding guest passersby) feeling quite exposed, embarrassed, and/or vulnerable.
7. Take your own bottles of water, paper cups, paper plates, napkins and plastic cutlery to use throughout the day as the site provides none of these things (easily available at any local Dollar General or similar store). Although both suites have cupboards in them, they were stocked with lightbulbs, and when various members of the wedding party asked about the desired items, the familiar response came again "No, we don't have those, but we have a water fountain on 1st floor you can use."
Note: There is a sink w/running water in both suites and a drinking faucet on the 1st floor near the restrooms (a bit inconvenient for the bridal party suite located on the 2nd floor).
Secondary note: They do provide paper towels, toilet paper and kleenex in both suites.
8. If your ceremony is held outside &/or your wedding pictures will occur outdoors, beware of the landscaping selected for their walking paths: Wood chips. My suggestion is for Pinewood to lay down an inexpensive pea gravel to avoid having the bride (and her attendants and family members) spend an inordinate amount of time trying to disentangle the wood chips out of the bottom of her dress, the train &/or her veil. If outdoors, reasonable people expect their dresses to get dirty at the bottom, so that particular aspect was not problematic - they expected the bottoms of their dresses to get dirty. But the wood chips were problematic throughout the time outdoors (they are on all walking paths and the ceremony area where most pictures will likely be taken).
9. Bring a small step stool (or perhaps two - one for each wedding party suite) to be used by young Ring Bearers, Flower Girls and Junior Bridesmaids of short stature. The toilets, sinks to wash hands, etc. are adult-sized and not designed for smaller guests/participants (this is totally understandable); however, when the ownership &/or coordinators were asked if a small step stool was available for a small ring bearer to use, the response was "No, we don't have that here.” Once again, there were no offers to help problem-solve or assist in any way.
10. Consider hiring an outside coordinator/planner or put a trusted, detail-oriented family member/friend in charge of wedding details prior to and while at the site. Since the bride and her parents were a bit "distracted" on their big day, several unfortunate things occurred:
a) Ceremony programs were not passed out (or given to the ushers to hand out to guests). In fact, this item was never addressed by any of their coordinators on the wedding day and the Bride and her parents forgot (it turns out they don’t plan weddings for a living and they got a bit distracted with other details needing attention). It’s not exactly earth shattering, of course, but we’ve been left wondering why none of their various coordinators/staff ever inquired about ceremony programs.
b) No site coordinator was available when the ceremony began to assist the wedding party with last minute concerns. As a family member/participant that walked down the aisle, I managed to have a groomsman hand me his sunglasses at the last minute, pass out kleenex to bridesmaids & family members, provide instruction to an usher with a last second question, and had to instruct the wedding party on trying to “time” their departures down the aisle, walk slowly, etc. To be fair, the wedding coordinator may have arrived after I walked down the aisle.
*Note: The wedding coordinator was very attentive to the Bride and asked numerous times throughout the day how she was doing (this did not occur for other wedding party attendants or family members). I suggest adjusting your expectations as a wedding party attendant or family member to address this issue w/Pinewood in advance (or procure a detail oriented family member to perform this type of task). This aspect was not included in the nearly $10,000 cost involved on our particular wedding day. Another crucial customer service feature (and suggestion I have for Pinewood) is for the site’s various coordinators to ask how all family & guests are doing AND if they can help them (and then, of course, actually follow-through with some helpful problem-solving during the time it is needed - on the wedding day).
c) Last minute additions for a few decor items (presented by the bride upon arrival at 9:15 a.m.) were not welcome by the coordinators. The bride had been surprised the night before at the rehearsal dinner with five 16x20 engagement pictures in large embroidery hoops hung with twine. The bride so enjoyed this surprise gift and wanted them displayed at the wedding venue (near the card basket/gift table, or on the guest book table, or on the wedding cake display table). The venue has white (mostly blank) walls that would've highlighted these (very light-weight) pictures beautifully. While this is not an exact quote (as I was standing off to the side during this interaction and only clearly heard a part of the response), the coordinator's response was something to the effect of "I think we have enough [decoration]." The bride acquiesced, but was clearly disappointed and needed to go upstairs to start getting ready for her big day so she left this matter alone. (My regret is not returning later and quietly approaching the coordinator myself with this request and emphasizing that I could prop them on the backs of any of the above mentioned tables, by leaning them against a blank, white wall so they wouldn't fall down.) Given the situation, I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't just do this on their own now that I’ve tipped you off! These types of things can easily be done by owners & coordinators dedicated to pleasing a bride with reasonable accommodations & legitimate requests (I want to be clear this is not a demanding, selfish bride - she was not making outlandish demands of the owners/coordinators).
d) Insist on and plan to have a rehearsal built into the early part of your wedding day - unless you would like to spend the extra $2,000 dollars required by Pinewood to rehearse the day before your wedding. No on-site rehearsal was planned and although the wedding party ran through the verbal ceremony instructions the night before, it was not done on site at Pinewood. Another easy (free!) fix would be to include a rehearsal run-through at the site, earlier in the day (although many things must be attended to on the wedding day, it sure would've helped things to run more smoothly during the ceremony if a brief rehearsal was included in the nearly $10,000 price tag.) My suggestion to the ownership & staff was/is to be aware that wedding ceremony & reception details like this is their everyday business - the bride, groom, and their families do NOT do this every day. Hiring their site coordinators did not include their attention to these types of details.
11) My overall message to the ownership & staff was one of "I'd like to make a few low- or no-cost suggestions to improve your renters & guests experience while at your venue." I have nothing to personally gain with this (lengthy) review other than to hopefully assist those who choose Pinewood as well as those who work at Pinewood. It was and is presented in the spirit of wanting to help them grow their young business through the provision of several constructive suggestions (along with my thanks and appreciation for the things that went as planned). Although I wish my feedback had been received in that same spirit, it wasn't until I shared my intentions to post reviews on relevant wedding websites, that I got an email informing me that my suggestions and concerns had been discussed (“[we] had the opportunity to discuss those recommendations you sent at our team meeting yesterday.”) No specifics were given regarding what was discussed or how it might be helpful.
I asked them to please seriously consider these additional items since they were issues for us during the course of our day at their venue:
1) Perhaps scotch-guarding their mostly all-white/cream furniture (a spill the approximate size of my closed fist) had occurred on a couch. At the end of the night when I was assisting with clean up, tear down, etc. I was approached by one of the coordinators. I was informed that they would try to get the stain out, that they took pictures of the stain, and may be keeping the damage deposit if the stain could not be removed. In their email response to my concerns, Pinewood stated that they plan to return the damage deposit to the Bride as they were able to remove the stain.
2) Perhaps Pinewood owners and staff could consider adjusting their expectations for spills/accidents when large numbers of visitors gather in the same location (perhaps expect 1-2 spills/accidents per event?), and particularly when children are also guests.
3) Possibly Pinewood could consider attempting to differentiate between accidents and intentional or reckless behaviors from their guests. I want to be clear with this item because it is a relevant factor: There were no seriously intoxicated guests at this wedding and you'd be surprised at the low number of guests who drank alcohol (this was a wedding with a predominantly conservative evangelical Christian group of guests so it wasn't exactly a wild, out of control group!) I share these details so that those choosing this site can adjust their own expectations in advance as to how Pinewood may respond to any spills that may occur during your big day or should you have any slightly intoxicated guests. Now that you know of their response to our wedding guests, perhaps you can attempt to address this factor with Pinewood in advance of your event and reach a reasonable agreement with them regarding their beliefs about and responses to spills/accidents (as well as intentional recklessness that causes actual destruction.) In all fairness, I would want my guests to treat my furniture respectfully, too, so I don’t see any problem with that. I regularly host large parties/gatherings myself and accidental spills will occur.
4) Consider that those partaking of the food & drink (per the contract, I believe) included various owners & staff (I'm uncertain of the types of beverages the staff had, but their response email assumed that I was stating alcohol was consumed by staff - something that I never thought or stated in my email). As a result, it was unable to be determined what stained the furniture or who spilled.
I have additional suggestions, but I've certainly kept you long enough and hope that you find this information helpful and that it is received in the spirit in which it was intended. I wish you happiness (that includes reasonable expectations!) on your big day. Happy wedding planning to all. Enjoy it- for it is the ride of a lifetime!
User4772965 Sent on 10/04/2019
