If you want a truly honest review, read this.
My husband and I had our wedding reception at YMG last year. The experience of planning the wedding with the venue, in my opinion, should also be taken into consideration when writing a review.
The planning process was a nightmare! One of the owners who meets with you initially to get you to sign a contract is a real talker. Everything is "Oh no problem" "Yes we have that or we can get it" "No worries, whatever you want!" "Not a problem", etc. Turns out, many things were indeed a problem, and promises made during our initial consultation and signing were not honoured (even if it was written in the contract). There were MANY extra fees for things that were of course not mentioned when we were first discussing things. We were very explicit when asking about prices and what is included in a given price and what not. But of course, when going back to the drawing board to finalize menu, pricing and the contract- these things were no longer included, or cost more. Not to mention, the first woman we had as our planner was AWFUL. She was extremely rude, and not willing to work with us on anything. Her opinion was all that seemed to matter. Thank goodness she left the company and we got to work with someone new- who was better. Advice: PUT EVERYTHING IN WRITING right from the beginning (but just know that even then, it will not be guaranteed as they only refer to the contract and its importance when it is relevant and beneficial to them).
We had a very specific soup we wanted, and requested for our menu tasting. It was gross at the tasting, to which they were very apologetic and agreed to have us in for another tasting to try again. They asked us exactly how we wanted it and how it is made. During our second tasting they pulled through and the soup was amazing- we were so excited! The other food was great too- no complaints. However, the night of our reception we were served the soup from the first tasting. We were EXTREMELY frustrated and disappointed. Why have us in for a second tasting if you're not going to produce what we agreed to for the night of?
There also seemed to be a huge lack in communication between employees at YMG. I was at the venue the Friday (wedding was Saturday). I spoke to the venue manager or whoever this man was that was involved with things on the day of, and asked if we can leave some things there and come get them in the morning as we did not have vehicles and were staying in a hotel. He said no problem as long as everything is gone by noon on sunday. Great! We were there before 10am and cleared everything out. The week after the wedding, do I not get an email scolding me for leaving stuff there? "No one told you you could leave stuff there, everything is to be cleared out the night before, bla bla bla." On top of that, they tried to charge us all of these extra cleaning fees and what not. After I explained who I talked to, the charge was reversed (with no apology or anything may I add).
These are only a few of the very large list of things that caused us headaches throughout this planning process.
Although, I must say, the night in general was great (besides the gross soup, guests having to wait an unnecessary amount of time for wine to be poured, and lack of service at our espresso station that we paid EXTRA for and were promised EXTRA staff). - because at that point what else are we supposed to do but try to enjoy? The venue is beautiful and different and they are able to provide great food. We had a fantastic time, thank you to our vendors and entertainment. Just be aware it is quite expensive, and there are other venues that have the same look as YMG that provide a much better planning experience and customer service.
I hope other people that have had similar experiences speak up and write a review, so hopefully other couples in the future do not have to go through what we did.
