Hi everyone. I am just wondering if any of you have visited The Arlington estate and if any of you have talked to the owner or got a quote from Arlington. I really like the venue when I visited but the whole process so far is a bit of alarming. I am just wondering if any of you have had the same experience as me and what I should do at this time.
After getting a very thorough tour of the facility by their grounds manager, we went upstairs and met with the owner Ramy. I have read alot of reviews online about Arlington where alot of people said Ramy was very helpful and went out of his way to make sure their wedding is everything they imagined. But for us, we didn't feel the same. In fact, I felt very rushed where he quickly gave us a quote and we went our way. The part that was most concerning was when it came to menu and venue cost discussion. When asked, Ramy said that their menu is all customizable so there is no menu. He asked what kind of salad we like, but we weren't give the choices as there is no menu, but he named a few types so we quickly chose one. Then he asked what type of meat, so we said we like the option for a beef and another fish. So he suggest their short rib and maybe another option for salmon. Then he asked us one dessert or upgrade for a trio. Throughout the whole process he never showed us a menu or the exact choices or the EXACT COST for each option. Customizable menu sounds really great, but when there is nothing to refer to it becomes very vague and not concrete. If I don't know the cost of each dish it is really hard to do budget calculation. Even though he never provided us with a menu and never told us what each cost, he was able to punch something in his computer to give me a quote for a 3 course meal for 100-120 people. After Ceremony cost and tax and all he gave $26,000 for 100 people. The fact that he never showed us or he doesn't have a menu, he chose not to or he didn't want to tell us what each dish cost is kind of alarming to me. I don't know if this is just how he does business or he just doesn't want to go into detail with someone who has yet to sign a contract. But I am just afraid that once I sign the contract he can very easily change the cost of the dishes because I have no clue what everything cost. Please let me know if anyone had similar experiences and what you think we should do at this point.
We did send an email to Ramy explaining how without a menu we have no idea what to expect. To summarize what he replied it is pretty much in the line of "you can expect whatever you want because menu can be customized to your need; we can do all sorts of thing; we can also upgrade all sorts of thing". BUT nowhere in the email was cost ever mentioned. After reading the email I was as clueless as before. For example, I still don't know which 6 dishes I am getting for cocktail and what the costs for each dishes are. Because we do like the venue and is really giving him the benefit of the doubt that maybe he is just very busy and didn't really answer thoroughly, we made up a menu based on what the other venues offer and asked him to give us an EXACT quote for that menu so if we were to choose this after signing contract, that will be exactly what we pay. We are currently waiting for his reply. Again, please let me know if any of you had any similar experiences and what you think I should do in this situations.
If anyone knows any other venue where there is an option for an outdoor garden ceremony with nice reception hall that fits 100-120 people please let me know. Thanks everyone for taking your time to read my essay! Confused and frustrated bride here!
