Danica Joy I.
Yelp
Unprofessional, lack of communication, will nickel & dime you until the very end
I booked Sept 2022 (8 mo prior to my son's birthday). Everything seemed fine at first. We spoke to the director, Sissy who made it seem like they had their stuff together & had vendors to make your event more affordable/organized. We tried to book later in the afternoon, because I mentioned mornings may be difficult for a 1 yr old's nap time. Sissy mentioned that times can be moved.
We booked the day of to ensure that we started a payment plan. I sent detailed pictures & descriptions of how I wanted the place decorated. Linens, balloons, decorations, etc. We spoke back & forth between Sissy & the venue manager, Kasandra.
We reached out in March to move our time to what we originally wanted. Sissy had said she booked a wedding after our event so she couldn't give us our original time. No communication to us. We asked if there was any way they could accommodate due to this inconvenience. We were told the only thing was an earlier set up. Fine, I took it. 9 am-11am was our original set up so we requested for an 8am set up. Emails not answered. Phone calls ignored. It's now May & I'm requesting fine print for early set up to be 8am. Nothing mentioned about 8am until days before the party stating this was only a "courtesy" to us and that our proposal stated 9am setup. I think she forgets that she offered us an early set up due to booking a wedding after us.
We have no idea where Kasandra is throughout the entire process, but she seemed like the only kind person who cared about the details of our baby's birthday when we first started emailing. We get a call from Lexie, the new venue manager? she was added into our portal May 11th (party starts June 4th). We spoke about decoration details like I had emailed Kasandra about. She scheduled a final walk through w/ Sissy May 18th.
During our final walk through I assumed decorations that I have spoken about with her were noted & a sketch of the chiara walls + balloons were complete. WRONG. Sissy was not present at our final walk through. When Lexie met with us, every detail that we had spoken about over the phone was out the door. She kept asking for the same details & mentioned that she must have left her notes somewhere else. When I asked for a draft sketch of decorations of the chiara wall + balloons, she asked if she could just draft one right there & then. Pretty unprepared for a "final walk through". We then looked at the layout & she wrote on the draft layout of where we wanted everything placed. We also requested for the 2 games that came with the venue & borrow 2 easels. After our meeting, I asked if we could have copies of the layout & the draft sketch. She told us she would email it to us. I emailed again to ensure I had everything in black & white asking for details. We got a response from Sissy May 19th asking us to schedule a final walk through. We asked if we really needed ANOTHER final walk through since we just had one the day prior - they apologized for the miscommunication
Throughout 2 was, I've tried to finalize colors & balloon organization through email. Completely ignored. Even sent pics to be detailed. My husband had to txt Lexie because that was the only way she was going to respond to anything. Everything we had sent, all the details we had talked with Kasandra about, nonexistent to anyone else.
When it finally came to the chiara painting details, Lexie stated she would let me know when she was going to HomeDepot to look at the paint colors. She wanted to FaceTime so I could see the colors. No communication ahead of time. A call out of nowhere as I was driving on the freeway. Again. Apologies were given for not communicating ahead of time & that she wanted to FaceTime me colors, but I couldn't because I was driving.
literally LESS THAN 24 HR, we get a text SATURDAY 3:33pm stating that linens are not included. how in the world was this not addressed a whole 8 months?? Can't tell you. But it was being addressed 3:33pm on a weekend just hrs before our event. We addressed the email we sent about linens back in Oct 2022 to Kasandra. Sissy explained it was a "misunderstanding" it would be $18 for each linen per table. How convenient to tell us this on a weekend late afternoon where places close around 5pm. Of course we had no choice but to purchase them for $270. She also tried to charge us an extra $150 for set up and break down of tables at 9pm. We decided to do the set up & break down ourselves.
I get it. It's a beautiful facility that is more affordable compared to others. If you want to book with them. GET EVERYTHING IN BLACK & WHITE. ITEMIZE EVERYTHING. Don't use any of their vendors, use YOUR OWN. If you have to use this place, just use them for the space & take care of everything yourself because that's what you'll be doing the entire step of the way - babysitting every tiny thing, constantly reminding them because of their misunderstandings