Abernethy Center

Reviews 3

CH

chelsea Hugo

When we first booked the Abernethy center we were extremely excited since it was such a beautiful venue and the wedding planner Elizabeth we spoke to promised us that even though we were going to be an out of town couple everything would run so smoothly. However what we didnt know was that this place was going to be the biggest headache of our wedding planning. Once we agreed upon a contract and gave them our nonrefundable deposit things started to go astray. We would try to email our planner Elizabeth to get together with her to do planning anytime wed be in portland (which wasnt often since we lived about 7 hours away) and every time we werent ever able to meet with anyone from the abernethy center. It was frustrating but we understood they had other weddings and tried to let it go. We tried to request if we could do a food tasting since they originally told us it was included, when I tried to inquire about it though they informed us they would charge me $100 a person to do it! We said no way it was a high price to pay especially since they never mentioned once it would only be included if we did it at one of there twice a year meetings for couples. There were also lots more hidden fees we were unaware of that we would soon learn about. Once again I tried to contact our Wedding planner Elizabeth to meet one of the weekends we would be down visiting for our final details meeting, she said she couldnt do to the fact shed be at the wedding show all day, we tried to ask if we could meet with someone else then and she told us we werent able to. We went to the wedding party show and stopped at the abernethy booth and asked for Elizabeth to say hello, only to find out she wouldnt even be there till that evening. Frustrated that we were lied to and that things just werent working out with Elizabeth we asked if we could get a new wedding planner. At first they said of course and it wouldnt be a problem at all and that our new wedding planner would call monday. Come monday I never got a call. Tuesday however I got an email from Elizabeth asking when we could set up my details meeting, at this point I was so furious obviously my request for a new planner went unheard. Called their office and complained once more they finally got me a new planner or so I thought. They then Emailed me and said I HAD to work with Elizabeth I didnt have a choice. After trying to argue I finally gave up they werent budging. After that the wedding planning was a hundred times worse I was sent many passive aggressive emails and felt even more frustrated it was a constant hassle to work with her. Thank heavens they give you a different day of coordinator, we received such a wonderful girl who made sure everything went perfectly and was so kind. The venue itself is beautiful and the food was delicious. However I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE FOR AN OUT OF TOWN COUPLE. It was way too much hassle and stress to deal with left us constantly wishing we would have just went somewhere else.

JE

Jessica Murders

Where do I begin? Everything went wonderfully until we put our nonrefundable deposit down for Abigails Garden. Our coordinator, Elizabeth, was less than friendly after we signed the contract. We were from out of town and had driven three hours to the venue to meet with her to go over exact details and questions we had. Before our meeting, she had emailed me the list of services and decorations they offer saying I needed to complete it before our meeting, dismissing the fact that I had questions. She acted like we had been married before and we should have known what to expect and what the certain services were they offer. Upon arrival, she tried to conclude our questions within less than ten minutes in her office. She could not show me pictures of the majority of items on what is available (chocolate fountain, spot lights, lanterns, ect.) because she didnt have any. We told her we werent going to do the bar (you have to pay for the bar, bar tender, alcohol, and on top of already buying the alcohol it is $10 per glass anyway) and it kept popping up on our invoice. I had to ask her twice to remove the bar service. Our head count was supposed to be due two weeks before the wedding and she instead needed it twenty-one days before. That being said, I had two empty seats I paid for that I did not get refunded. Elizabeth told me the bridal suite was not for prepping with makeup and hair and that my salon could not come out to the property - it was only for changing into your dress. Lindsay was the saving grace of my wedding. She was the go-to person on the day of, and she is fantastic. She asked if I had my salon coming to get us fancy, and when I told her Elizabeth said that was not the purpose of the bridal house, Lindsay made it clear it was an option. There is obviously some disconnect between the staff, or certain services are offered to some couples and not others. Even though I paid for the bridal house, I was not able to utilize it properly because of Elizabeths misleading information. Elizabeth made my husband and I feel insignificant and she was very unpleasant to deal with. It got to the point where we just wanted our wedding to be over with so the Abernethy Center wasnt anchoring us down with negativity. I would give this place one star if not for Lindsay, the beauty of the venue, and the good food. I do not recommend this place, specially if you are from out of town and/or you dont want an insanely extravagant wedding. It was an absolute nightmare.

KA

Kayli Sturges

I was in a wedding here recently and everything seemed to be going great until we met the "manager" of the ballroom area. She first introduced herself by yelling at the entire bridal party. I walked into the bridal suite while this was happening and was not sure why she was yelling, something about alcohol. I looked around the room and saw no alcohol in the room. Then, after we were finished with the ceremony, the bridesmaids and I briefly returned to the bridal suite. We noticed that all of our purses and bags had been searched through, with things thrown on the floor. Apparently one of the bridesmaids had some outside alcohol in a bag, and the entire bag was taken. None of us were in the room while our bags were being searched since we were all in the wedding ceremony. Later, I asked a server if I could see the manager. I explained to her that an employee had searched through our personal belongings during the wedding ceremony. I also explained that while one bag did have alcohol in it, the rest of our bags did not and we felt like our privacy was invaded when somebody came into the room while we werent present to search through our things. At first she tried to lie about it, and then she said "If somebody hadnt broken the policy then I wouldnt have searched through your bags and purses." So it was the manager herself that searched through our belongings! I tried again to explain that this was an invasion of privacy and her only responses were to accuse me of bringing in alcohol (it was not me) and ask why the culprit would not speak to me herself. I tried again to explain that it was not about the alcohol, but the fact that ALL of our bags and purses were rifled through. All she would say was "What do you want me to do about it now?" I have never encountered such a rude person in a hospitality environment. The strict no-outside-alcohol policy would not have been a problem in itself, but the means to enforce the policy are outrageous and violating. I would never recommend this venue to anybody after experiencing such a violation of privacy and a mentally unstable and rude manager.

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