Sarah H.
Yelp
We booked the Sagamour house & courtyard for our vow renewal/wedding. Kelli was great in the beginning but as soon as we booked & paid in full, it went downhill fast. She is scatterbrained, unorganized, unprofessional, horrible at communication, and we couldn't seem to get any straight answers. She told me email was the best way to get a hold of her but she never responded to a single one. The Sagamour house didn't come with bathrooms or a changing room. We were told we could probably use the bride's room in the main building b/c our event was earlier than the other event booked in the main room & it was a Christmas party so they didn't need it. Then we were told that we couldn't use it, then the week of, Kelli called me and said, "Don't forget you have access to the Bride's room." The day of the wedding we went to use it & it was full of boxes. Kelli told us we never told her we wanted to use it or she would have cleaned it out. We were told we could get Sangria from La Diosa and to let her know how many bottles we needed, which we did. 15 minutes before the wedding started she told me I had to get my own sangria and bring it in so we ended up not having any. We were told we could get in as early as noon. I had 2 friends there at 12:30 to set up and they waited an hour b/c nothing was ready. They set up the reception but we're constantly told the ceremony site at the courtyard wasn't ready. We were there by 2:45 to start pictures on site at 3 and were unable to take any pictures at the venue b/c nothing was ready. Kelli told us the patio furniture couldn't be moved off the patio b/c they were making wine in the storage room but they'd be done by 4. At 4:30 my husband and I start moving the patio furniture ourselves so we could set up as the ceremony started at 5. Kelli was a jerk about it. She kept telling us it was too early to set up & was making snarky remarks. At 4:40 she brings 2 tables then later 1 tablecloth. We kept asking for a 2nd one. She said I didn't order enough which is not true, & we finally got the 2nd tablecloth at 4:50. My husband, MIL, photographer, pastor, & I were setting up the ceremony site in front of our guests who had already started arriving. Some staff did move some of the furniture off the patio but the rest was stacked up and left in a pile. We originally thought we would have 30-40 people max. Kelli suggested 4 tables w/ 10 chairs each then add a 5th if needed. I told her during the planning process we had way more guests RSVP than we expected. She never expressed any concern about it. The day of, we only had 8 chairs at each table & honestly I have no idea how 10 would have fit. We planned on opening the garage door and using the driveway as well. Right before the event started Kelli told us to let her know when we were going to open the door so she could turn the heat off. We didn't know there would be no heat. We decided to leave to door closed & all stay inside. We ended up having 30 adults & 24 kids & not all stayed for the reception. At the end of the night I was charged an additional $100 for having too many guests. I was never informed of this when I told them of my final RSVP numbers. The entire night we got multiple complaints from guests about how rude Kelli was to them & their kids & how unorganized the event was. I called & spoke to Emily about the incident. She was amazing. She was there the day of our event, witnessed some of it, & was expecting this phone call. She said she had mentioned to Kelli that she thought the patio furniture was supposed to be moved and Kelli told her that I said it was fine to leave it. Not true! She said Kelli doesn't do well under stress and was frantic that day. She listened to my experience and said she would talk to Sylvia & call me back after the new year. She called me back within the hour to tell me Sylvia was appalled. They wanted to assure me that this was not how they did business & Kelli would be let go immediately. They offered me a complimentary dinner at La Diosa. A week or so later I get a vague apology email from Kelli saying she hopes her & McPherson's can make it up to me. Sylvia was copied on the email. My first thought was she was told to write the email to keep her job. Sure enough, she is still working there after we were assured she would not be any longer due to her horrible actions. She's definitely in the wrong kind of work. In all my 10+ years of working in bridal, I've never dealt with an employee as horrible as Kelli or a business who allows that. It's such a shame as the venue is eclectic & fun & the wine is amazing. Something Lubbock needs badly. But Kelli is awful to deal with. I did not get what I paid for nor did McPherson's fulfill their side of the contract & I got no compensation for it, either. I wouldn't suggest to any bride to be to have a wedding here. Not worth risking a disaster for the huge investment a wedding costs especially as long as Kelli is employeed there.
