{Venue Nightmare} Radonich Ranch and Vignette Events
August 5th, 2010 by Allison Silber
When I first found Radonich Ranch, I brought it up to a friend of mine who had actually gone to see the place but decided against booking because of the early curfew and the fact that she couldn’t deal with the coordinator of the venue, Marky Carr. I should have been thoroughly warned at that point.
I called Marky, the owner of Vignette Events and the contact for Radonich Ranch, on a Thursday and received a call back on Sunday. We talked again on Tuesday (after trying to get a hold of her) and set up an appointment. She knew how interested I was, what I wanted to do with the place, and that I was ready to book. I asked about the fire-pits (didn’t want that to be a problem) and she said she would check with the owners and find out in a few days. No problems there right? Wrong. A few days turned into a week, and after realizing that I hadn’t heard back, I called her and left a message. And then another, and another, and another. After 6 voice-mails and a lot of phone calls over the next several days, she finally called me back saying that the owners take a long time to respond but finally they said yes to the firepits. I gotta say, it was driving me crazy, I mean 2 weeks of no communication to a potential client?? Ummmm heeellllo!
We arrived to the venue and the feeling I got after meeting her was that she a) didn’t care that much about my wedding (or weddings for that matter) and b) she certainly didn’t care if I was going to book. Everything she was showing us was done a certain way, she uses this thing for this and that thing for that. She has the protocol to her cookie cutter wedding that she hosts and that’s the end of the story. Bye Bye creativity.
During the tour there was a point when I guess she thought we were no longer interested so she got up and said “good luck on finding a venue” and walked inside to grab her purse and belongings to go home! Yep, fully left us stranded mid-tour! I was absolutely appalled.
Before leaving, I decided to bring up the points that I worried about in an effort to iron everything out. I brought up the care-factor, customer service issue and phone issue. I understand not wanting to hear those things about yourself, but at some point you have to step up and take some damn responsibility for your actions. Instead, she became defensive saying she was busy with other weddings, the owners don’t respond fast, I was being rude, etc. Never once did she take responsibility for anything nor did she apologize!
She called me not too long after to tell me that she was shaken up and upset about it all. Umm-who calls a potential client and complains about how shaken up they are?? She continued to attack me for how I was being rude. WOW. Guess what I did?? I effing took it all and I fully apologized like 1,000 times!!! I even meant it. I didn’t want this to come between us due to the wedding I was dying to have there. It was part of my “dealing with her being crazy and having an amazing wedding anyways” plan.
The next morning I e-mailed her letting her know we loved the place and decided upon it. I again apologized a bunch and said I hoped we could just get through it all. And what was her response:
August 05, 2010 at 6:50 am, Venue: CHECK? « Engaged & Inspired said:
[...] UPDATE: Radonich Ranch turned into a nightmare of a situation and I ended up not booking my wedding there. Read more about that here: {Venue Nightmare} Radonich Ranch and Vignette Events. [...]
August 05, 2010 at 6:51 am, Cindy said:
Yikes! You are totally in the right. I’m sorry you were treated so horribly. I know you guys will find a place with someone who wants to work with you, not against you!!
August 05, 2010 at 6:53 am, {Help} Narrowing Down the Venues! « Engaged & Inspired said:
[...] UPDATE: Radonich Ranch and Vignette Events turned into a nightmare of a situation and I ended up taking this option out entirely. Read more about the details: {Venue Nightmare} Radonich Ranch and Vignette Events. [...]
August 05, 2010 at 6:55 am, Allison O'Grady said:
Thanks Cindy! We are definitely looking for something better. It definitely sucks when you have everything created in a space and it gets ripped from under you!
August 05, 2010 at 6:56 am, Claire Gallam said:
WOW. Just wow. Reading that made my heart drop. First of all, no bride to be deserves to be treated this way. This is your BIG day, something you care so much about. Sure she may have a lot of her plate, but she needs to put all that aside and share in some of your excitement. As someone who has been doing that for 20 years, you’d think she get that. You’re a bride, you’re excited, and guess what, YOU ARE ALLOWED to be!! You were, by no means, off in how you responded. If you are going to put a lot of money, time and your wedding into this woman’s hands, you absolutely should be able to voice a few preliminary concerns that revolve around it. People have bad days and off days, so I give her that maybe it was one of those. But the no response and emotionless email back is not right. Finding a venue is one of the biggest decisions you have to make, and one of the things that shouldn’t cause you any stress after booking.
Like you said, we all pour our heart and souls into weddings and we just do it because we love it. I’ve tooled with the idea of going into wedding planning and it upsets me that she has a job that any of us would die for! If you no longer have that same spark, passion and love for it, maybe it’s time to reconsider? Maybe i’m being too blunt or bitchy, but I definitely think strongly towards that.
Anyway, I’m so happy you found a new venue. You don’t need the stress or toxicity planning your wedding! There’s enough stress as it is!
August 05, 2010 at 7:21 am, Jenni said:
This clearly demonstrates poor customer service. I think in any field like weddings, retail, or tourism customer service should be paramount. I’m so sorry you had to go through this! My venue coordinator was lovely and if she had put me off by yelling at me I would certainly take my hard-earned money else where.
August 05, 2010 at 7:23 am, Allison O'Grady said:
totall agreed! its a big deal, especially in highly competitive areas. I’m jealous of you! I wish my girl was nice and I could be excited about everything!!! But it is true, its my money and she doesn’t deserve any of it! Thanks!
August 05, 2010 at 7:28 am, Allison O'Grady said:
AWW thanks so much, and you are SOOOOO right. finding the venue is stressful and crazy enough for something to happen like this on top of everything. I couldn’t believe it and I obviously don’t want anyone else to go through all this either. :( My heart breaks thinking about not having the wedding there but if the venue comes with her in the package, it can’t be worth it!
And uhhh YA! I would kill for her job! That venue has beyond potential and she could have a hay-day every weekend with that place! weddings are all about passion now, and she doesn’t have it.
August 05, 2010 at 7:36 am, Becca said:
Thanks for posting this because I was *this close* to booking with Marky. I came upon your blog from googling Radonich and am so glad I did. Perhaps she’ll feel the effects from this and change her business practices. It really is a gorgeous venue.
August 05, 2010 at 8:02 am, Rachel said:
Holy cow, I was upset for you reading this. You dealt with her well, too well even, and for her to spurn your wedding and your business is unreal. You’d think someone would call the owners and inform of them their event coordinator is killing their business.
Hopefully one day soon, you and the husband will flip through the fantastic pictures of your big day with great memories and laugh at the day menacing Marky tried to stand in your way.
August 05, 2010 at 8:05 am, Allison O'Grady said:
I wish I even knew how to contact the owners at all! I have a feeling they have no idea what is happening with Marky and her business practices and that they are probably just very nice people with a gorgeous venue!
HAHA your comment made me laugh so hard Rachel. I really do hope that day comes and that is the reaction I have!
August 05, 2010 at 8:47 am, Rosanna said:
Well, welcome to… my story! I’ve had the same exact experience with wedding planners in Ireland. I had to interact with SEVEN of them before finding one who isn’t that creative but at least she is going to let me be as creative as I am.
Somewhere between the lines, wedding planners and venue coordinators have the expectation that brides want “regular weddings”. Helloooo? There is NO regular wedding!
That’s why they are called “planners”, “coordinators” and “managers” btw, because creativity isn’t their thing. And it’s all right AS LONG AS they understand that some brides do care about *design*.
That’s why I’m a wedding designer.
August 05, 2010 at 8:49 am, Rosanna said:
Btw contacting the owners is a moot point! Why? Because they are obviously all right with the coordinator cranking out “regular weddings”, it brings them all the money they need, and they want no hassle. If they were different persons they would have fired her already. But they haven’t, and that tells us something :)
August 05, 2010 at 9:27 am, Alicia @CharityWedding said:
The best thing that can come out of this is that you have potentially saved other brides from this disaster. While I think the venue is extremely crucial it really is just a backdrop for all the amazing possibilities you can dream up. I have seen some pretty spectacular weddings in less than desirable venues. What is more important is peace of mind on your big day and feeling like you are getting exactly what you want. This lady sounds absolutely crazy and she should be ashamed of herself. Let her be miserable in the barn and you will be having the time of your life elsewhere. Her biggest mistake: she didn’t realize you were a blogger! Good for you for airing her horrifying personality.
August 05, 2010 at 9:35 am, Christie said:
So sad to hear. At least you have the bright side of knowing that you won’t have to work with her during the months of planning your big day. It’s for the better you will find something so spectular! We had similar struggles while trying to find a venue and supportive staff. Keep pushing on you will find the place.
August 05, 2010 at 9:37 am, Allison O'Grady said:
true true. I definitely want others to know about this situation to save them from it as well.
I tried telling her about the blog but she didn’t seem to care and just kept saying that she was so much better, so wahtever. I feel bad for having it get to this point, but at least I can help warn others that their hard earned money can be taken elsewhere to someone who appreciates it!
Definitely want peace of mind-no need to be stressed and upset on the wedding day!
August 05, 2010 at 11:52 am, Kate/MagnoliaRouge said:
That is truly outrageous… I think you’re far better off out of there. It’s a shame when you loved the place but your memories would be tainted with her nastiness always. She has shot her owners business in the foot really as word will get around. No one wants to deal with someone like that. Why would you? I hope you have smooth sailing from here on in!!
August 05, 2010 at 6:30 pm, Lizzie said:
Very well written girly! They are totally losing on this one, your wedding is going to be amazing and featured everywhere. So no promotion for them! I think after your experience it’s actually good you didn’t book this place because why promote such a non-creative, unorganized and out right mean coordinator!
PS
I’m very excited about this possible new venue! Yeee!
August 06, 2010 at 6:20 am, Mallory said:
Allison. Oh my goodness. Halfway through reading this I was ready to get on the phone and yell on your behalf! It’s almost impossible to fathom– and I’m sure it was just as awful to apologize to her when she was clearly in the wrong. Being a bride is such a vulnerable feeling sometimes. A Wedding Day has so much at stake, especially when you’ve invested the time and the creativity to make it so personal.
I think it’s horrible on two levels. 1. They didn’t treat you like a potential client, and let’s be honest, the venue and the catering are where the overwhelming cost of the wedding is accrued. You need to ensure that your return on investment– the lifelong memories, the family that will talk about your Big Day at every major holiday FOR DECADES– is GUARANTEED to satisfy your wants and needs. 2. This is symptomatic of The Wedding Industry being just that– an industry that stamps out weddings as efficiently and as routinely as possible.
I didn’t think I cared too awfully much about Being Treated Special as a bride-to-be, until we ran into our first venue that treated us like we were incredibly inconvenient for requesting small alterations to their cookie-cutter packages. (A family recipe used for the cake? Oh, I am such a terror!) Halfway through the meeting I smiled politely and told the woman who made it clear she had taken time out of *her* busy day to show us the space that I was grateful for her trouble, and had no further questions.
We decided on the spot to find a space that was just as excited about us getting married as we were.
And we did. It was the next space we looked at, and the gentleman who showed us around told me that if I wanted hippopotamuses at the wedding, he’d find a way to make it happen for me. They treated us like family, and as he shook our hands he told us he was honored to host our wedding there.
I promise, promise, promise that there is a space out there like that for you. I’m sure it feels a little hopeless now, and you have a very sour taste in your mouth for the whole process. Just remember she had one thing right– you’re creative and determined and your wedding IS going to be absolutely amazing.
It’s going to be everything you always hoped, despite that awful, wretched woman. And really, that’s the best revenge. :)
August 06, 2010 at 7:35 pm, Glamour and Grace said:
Oh wow! That is crazy! I am so sorry you had to deal with that! No business person should ever treat a client like that! But I totally feel you on the non creative, cookie cutter weddings. When I was looking for venues I actually had the guy who mostly does the catering part insult my color choices! I also wanted to do an all dessert reception and he asked if I was wanting that just to save some money (in a rude way). He then proceeded to ignore my mother and mine’s calls and when we finally got a hold of him, he couldn’t remember anything about my wedding. Needless to say, we did not go with him. I was so worried about finding another place, but we ended up finding the absolute perfect place that was way better than any other! So hang in there, you will find your great space! Just continue to be true to yourselves and it will be awesome!
August 10, 2010 at 10:59 am, {Our Wedding} Finding The Venue « Engaged & Inspired said:
[...] UPDATE: As much as I LOVED this venue for our wedding, everything took a sour turn and the venue ended up turning into a nightmare…..Read about the Radonich Ranch venue nightmare here. [...]
August 10, 2010 at 6:08 pm, Jackie said:
Wow Alli, what a horrible experience. You definitely don’t need a woman like that to deal with on making everything special for your big day. I’m sure there are way better places out there! I know you will find it!
August 12, 2010 at 12:33 pm, Elizabeth said:
I really don’t know how you had such a horrible experience with Marky and Vignette events. I had an amazing wedding with a totally different experience with Marky at Vignette Events. I am not saying your perceptions of her are incorrect, but you are only one side of the story. I do not believe there is truth to Marky not allowing your creativity. She has had a lot of weddings at the ranch, each one of them being very different and unique. She fulfilled every request I asked for, even finding vintage champagne saucers I wanted instead of the regular boring champagne glasses to add to the look I was going for. I don’t think it’s fair to go on and on about how unprofessional she is. I found her to be extremely open to hearing and following through with requests and prompt at responding to my emails, even when my wedding was a year away. She haS MANY options for decorating and of course she shows them to you so that you may have options or get your own ideas for what to use. I don’t think she would ever force you to use what she has. It is not fair to say that she doesn’t care about weddings and that they are her 9-5, I definitely had a different experience with that. She made me feel like I was the only bride she was working with , even though I know she has many more to deal with. She followed up with everything, checking in with all the details I wanted, to make sure my day was my vision. She sure made me feel special every time I met with her-the initial meeting, when I took my mom & grandmother to view the place, follow – up meeting with my parents, the rehearsal, and the day of my wedding. Usually you don’t have that many meetings at a sight, but every time I asked to go to the ranch and meet with her, she did and served tea and cake every time. I hope that when other brides read this blog, you will take into consideration that this is only one side to the story. I know it is a great venue and I will always remember how amazing my wedding was at this sight. Marky Carr is a wonderful coordinator. She made everything simple, especially with my family living far and my fiance(now husband) living across the country. Radonich Ranch is an amazing place to have a wedding and I recommend Vignette Events to anyone who enjoys amazing food, flowers, venue, and a wonderful hostess!!
August 12, 2010 at 1:47 pm, Allison O'Grady said:
Of course I know not everyone has had an experience like that, and I am definitely glad that you were able to have your wedding there without any problems at all.
I love the venue so much, and I love that she has so many props and things to make the day awesome! That’s partly why I am even more upset that things went down the way that they did.
The point is that I was merely bringing up some preliminary concerns that I had had. She could have easily reassured me that she does love wedding, works to make the day unique, and really does deal with clients in a timely manner, but instead she decided not to comment at all.
And I even apologized many many many times for even bringing up the concerns in the first place saying that I will just trust her and I will just deal with it.
So, no i’m not embellishing and no i am not lying. And personally, I wrote this because I feel it is important in an industry like this, with so much importance on the product coming out prefectly, that this experience should be known about.
Maybe she was having a bad day, and maybe there were a ton of other factors. I get it, but I definitely tried very very hard to work it out and she just had no interest at all in handling it with me.
So too bad for her and too bad for me. This whole thing sucks, and i would have loved to book that venue. But, such is life, and such is my experience with Marky.
August 13, 2010 at 9:31 am, A Venue Tribute « The Charity Wedding said:
[...] an ideal date in mind but I do know she is having major venue drama. From distance, to budget, to horrifyingly rude wedding planners she has met endless struggle. Now from experience, I know when she does find one and of [...]
August 19, 2010 at 9:47 am, Venue Update and Some Random Inspiration « Engaged & Inspired said:
[...] But in this world you get what you pay for, and at least I won’t be treated like I was at Radonich. I’m trying to work it all out to cut some other things, discount a few things, etc. but we [...]
August 23, 2010 at 10:24 am, Venue: CHECK! « Engaged & Inspired said:
[...] what the real kicker about this whole thing is, it is actually only a few hundred dollars more than Radonich Ranch would have been! Can you believe it?? I got something one million times better, for just about the [...]
August 28, 2010 at 12:36 am, Renee said:
My experience was somewhere between yours and Elizabeth’s… Things started out really well. The coordinator/caterer was really helpful and sweet…but the last few weeks before & during the wedding didn’t go quite as expected. I’m not sure if it was my smaller than originally expected guest count that turned her or what, but I feel the coordinator did not put in as much effort that I thought she would have… A few things that really bothered me, other than the minimum guest count (not mentioned in the contract) and some of our email exchanges, were cold food (though the beef was excellent) and a missing menu board. Thinking about it, I can’t stand the fact that my guests had no idea what they were eating! When asking my family, it was even harder to hear that guests were asking about it! I was hoping no one had cared or noticed. Then there was an issue with stuff we had brought up for the wedding… A hutch for cakes, napkins and various other decor items. We were told we didn’t have to worry about taking everything with us the night of, we just had to have someone take the alcohol… Well, as soon as we were gone they tried to make my family take everything! I couldn’t believe it! Anyway, the wedding was nice…The location was beautiful…It just could have been better & less stressful.
June 29, 2011 at 2:00 pm, Jason Spencer said:
When I first came across this blog post, I had done a Google search for Radonich Ranch. I am a wedding DJ and Master of Ceremonies that has experience working weddings in the greater Bay Area for over sixteen years, though somehow I had not worked with Marky at Vignette or on the property at Radonich Ranch.
I was slightly terrified after I first read this, mostly in part to how I work with couples to ensure a level of creativity in one of the biggest milestones of their life together. I was afraid that the “cookie cutter” elements you described would supersede anything that we wanted to incorporate. But the truth is, I had a very different experience, and despite being a vendor and on the other side of the equation, I wanted to share with your readers.
Initially, the couple I was working with had hired me because I do some event direction, which would alleviate the need for Marky to manage a timeline beyond knowing what time the meal would start. I generate my own entertainment itinerary, and every vendor (photo, video, venue, bride & groom) gets their chance to address any concerns well in advance of the wedding day.
However, about four months prior to the event, the couple called me to inquire about a “day of” coordinator. Personally, I think that hiring an individual to only manage the events that day is a bad decision. I checked availability with one of my favorite vendors, and I put them in touch. I knew she had experience with Marky and at Radonich Ranch, and we already work well together. I knew that if they brought her on board, then I would soon be working with a team of individuals that have a deep understanding of the emotions brides and grooms go through. Together, we also recommended live musicians for the ceremony, and a few other elements.
To some degree, this lowered Marky to catering and the on-site contact for the venue. Her role as a coordinator was passed on to a planner who does that – and only that – for a living. This also limited my interaction with Marky, as most communication was done via the planner.
Marky was very cordial with me during my site visit (again, my first time there), and in the weeks prior to the wedding. Working with her on the day of seemed to be pretty flawless, and we did have our share of issues to contend with. Specifically, it had been raining until about two days before the wedding, so there were some soft spots on the ground. The guests were also being shuttled in, and one of the two busses broke down on Highway 17. We ended up starting our day about 25 minutes late. Because the coordinator and myself had our itineraries in hand, we were able to work with Marky to ensure that the food would still be prepared at the correct times.
While I can’t say that I have had the same experience, I must admit that I am saddened each time I hear of situations like yours, Allison, or even Renee’s. The little things overlooked can have a big impact, but not even getting the response you expect can be worse — especially if you are just getting the ball rolling.