The Event Center at Boone County Distilling Co.

Mother of the bride

We met with Susan about 16 months prior to my daughter's wedding. She promised to have a lot of flexibility which was a selling point for us. Basically, she was willing to help with anything we needed to make the day special (or at least that's what she claimed at that time). One example was that we could choose a caterer of our choice (as long as it was from a company and not food brought in from home). We liked this b/c may daughter had a caterer in mind that was special to her and her fiancé. It wasn't until a month before the wedding that the stipulations around this changed. We could still use our caterer but we had to pay a 500.00 cleanup fee for this, which was NEVER disclosed to us. I argued this fee, proved the agreement via emails and was still told that this was a standard fee for them. She referenced a clause in the contract that basically said they could change anything at anytime. So...fine, we paid the fee and let the venue clean up the mess then since that was what we were paying for. I was afraid to argue it too much and cause tension for my daughter that close to her wedding. The fees changed as well over the course of the 18 months. We ended up paying almost 10,000 for 140 people with the bar package and the fees. There is a cleanup fee and a tip as well for the bar people. I understand these are standard but the amount was not what I was initially quoted. Pay attention, on your contract with them there aren't fees listed or amounts listed. I should have been smarter in this regard but I trusted her and her word. Additionally, I am still not sure what the clean up fee is for. I was told at one point it wasn't for things like food and drinks but then told that it was. I am still not sure on that part. Then the rehearsal came along. We paid the extra 500.00 to have it the night before and use that time to set up. We were told we could bring food in, again had to be from a business and not from home, but we could use that as our rehearsal dinner as well. Again, a month before we were told we had to pay a bar package for this as well and it was going to be like 800.00 to serve soda for 30 people. We were promised that they would have the outside decorated for the season. My daughter had a fall wedding. Every flower was removed from the hanging flower pots and there were 2 or 3 mums only. So, we found ourselves scrambling to have decor for the outside of the venue the night before the wedding. Normally, we would have planned for that but since we were told that they had flowers out there we did not even think of this. The venue says it can hold 150 but I will say, we had about 140 and it was very tight. The tables are really not meant to hold that many people and then leave room for a DJ. Just keep these things in mind. It seems that Susan (who is the co-owner) likes to change things as she goes along and realizes that she needs/wants to change them. To impose fees on me, after the fact, and base them on the current rates or rules is a wrong. Why then, do I have a contract? I would tell you to get things in writing but it seems that really doesn't matter much as she will not honor it and cites that lovely little clause that basically gives her the right to just do what she wants. I would like to point out that Kelsey...the coordinator was amazing. She was very helpful and made the night very enjoyable all things considered.