Managing Poor Communication with Vendor

Is there another person you can speak to that would be able to take over and help you? My ceremony venue contact was terrible at responding. So he eventually said there's someone else that can be contacted that I can work with instead and since then it's been smooth sailing.

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I'll look into it.

Ugh. I am in the same situation with our caterer. We had to go with one of two places that our venue offered, which is no big deal, but the one we chose the lady never answers us! I've been bounced back and forth between 3 different people, who will all be there the day of but its annoying. They take forever to respond and when they do they do not even answer all my questions. I know the owner of our venue told me to let her know if I have any problems with them and she will email/ call them personally. I have done that once. I was also communication with them from 2.5 years out from the wedding. Well tomorrow marks our year mark and I've been trying to reach out to them for a month now. If I don't hear back from them by the end of the week I will be reaching out to the venue owner about it and getting a direct number for who I should be talking with or having her call them. I can fully understand that when we were 2.5 years away from our wedding they had other events and weddings that needed to be handled first but taking a month or more to respond is a little ridiculous to me. In my case I know they will come through because the venue only works with them so its not like they wont show. In your case I would give it a couple days and then email and call again and tell them who you are and that your looking for your contract so you can secure your date and that if you don't hear back from them by whatever date you will assume the date is booked and move on.

I'm sorry you're going through that, sounds really frustrating! If you really want the venue, I would have an honest conversation with her about your expectations going forward before signing. I really hope it gets better!

That's a hard one, for sure. I think it depends on the level of involvement you need from her. Is it an all inclusive venue where this woman is acting as the coordinator and you need to make a lot of decisions with her? If yes, then I'd definitely ask to work with someone else or set your expectations with her as far as communication.

Our venue was just the space rental so I really didn't need to communicate with the venue that much until closer to the date to send in final payments and verify times and such.

You also may be able to hire a coordinator outside of the venue to work with the venue and deal with it all so you don't have to, if it's allowed in the contract.

With your wedding two years away, she may feel like there isn't a hurry and has put you on the back burner for now as she deals with closer weddings (no excuse, but happens often in this industry.)

Good luck to you!

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Yeah, I totally understand that the wedding is about 2 years away but I just want to secure the date then I swear I'll get out of her hair for another 10 months or so. It is all inclusive though, so ceremony, reception, catering, and rentals all come from there. I think she manages the cafe in the museum as well so I understand that she's busy. My fear is that she's the only person managing events at the museum and I'll have no one to complain to about her and no one else to work with should she become a problem.

Honestly, I'd think a lot about how much this might bother you throughout the process. Daughter loved all of her vendors, but from the very beginning her HMUA was TERRIBLE about communication. It could take more than a week to get a simple response to any question. Scheduling the trials with her was a nightmare: "I only do trials MWF, but not any of those MWF's..." This continued throughout the process, right up through the week of the wedding. She did great work and when you're with her in person, she's as sweet as she can be, but dealing with her was super stressful for daughter for the full year they were in contact. In hindsight, daughter would have chosen someone else. When people show us who they are, we should believe them. This venue isn't "perfect" if working with this woman is going to drive you crazy for the next two years (unless there is someone above her or another contact you can go to, if/when necessary). Good luck!

If you don't have a signed contract or a paid deposit then move on. Don't even bother talking to her about this either. Regardless of how far away your wedding is, you don't treat a potential customer this way.

My venue changed management and staff after I already met with the first, that was stressful.