Blue Ribbon Cooking

Reviews 3

CA

Carl C

WORST WEDDING EXPERIENCE EVER If I could give Blue Ribbon zero stars, that would be appropriate. This was by far one of the worst customer service experiences ever, worsened by the fact that it was for a wedding where things are supposed to be happy and joyous in celebration for a once in a lifetime event. Everyone knows weddings can be stressful and things dont always go according to plan like the day of the wedding I attended as a groomsman. Unfortunately, that day had a severe rainstorm which caused a power outage at Sanders Estate (wedding venue). That is out of Blue Ribbons control. We get it. What is unacceptable is the way BR handled the situation. Everything seemed rushed and there was a lack of organization, compassion, accountability, problem solving, and simple courtesy. The first thing we thought to ask for was a generator and they said they didnt have one. We asked if they could get one and they told us the house was too old for a generator to be used. Well, the wedding venue was outside, all we wanted was a generator to power up some lights and to power up the speakers so there could be music as we walked down the aisle. Nope, not possible and not even a hint of helpfulness to try to look into it. A few groomsmen would later go out after the ceremony (more on that) so that we could get some music and lights for the dancing and they easily found a generator. You would think that a company that caters events would think to have one in case of emergency situations. As guests started to roll in, there were no directions to parking. No signs and no one to direct traffic so the groom himself went out into the rain to direct people. We asked the planner for some time to figure out if we wanted to start food/dinner first to allow more time to see if the power would come back up. The bride was hoping to have the music to walk down the aisle. The ceremony was supposed to start at 3:30pm and we were constantly being told that we had to start the ceremony. As for the venue, there were holes in the tent and one large one right around where the bridal table was so that it looked like a water hose was running. There were puddles and no attempt to mop/clean the worse areas. There was two lamp heaters which wasnt enough to keep the 150+ guests warm. Regardless of a power outage or not, a wedding in October should have more heaters. There was no running water in the kitchen set up so Im not sure how hands were washed...pretty sure thats a health violation. Also, we were told that they would set up tables and linen for the rehearsal dinner the night before at the house. They didnt and we had to set everything up ourselves. Not a big deal, but again, promises that were made and not kept. The worst issue is the rudeness of the "owner". One of the caterers came into the house and asked for help to bring in a guest that had a little too much to drink. I went with another groomsman and found some people helping a guest walk to the house. The owner said that the guest was a liability because he had fallen down and she threatened to shut down the wedding. She kept telling us that the guest needed to get into the house and how he was a liability even as he already to the house with the help of other guests. Well, its a wedding and Im pretty sure this wasnt the first time a guest had too much to drink, and the place he fell was the outside restroom that had no light and no caution slippery sign. This is all from what I personally observed and I can only imagine what other problems occurred throughout the wedding. I would highly encourage looking elsewhere if, after spending so much time and money, you dont want a half assed job and be rudely rushed through your special day.

RI

Richard Chim

Had to wait a while to rate this so that my feelings and emotions on the day did not cloud my judgement in a heat of the moment posting. My wife and I flew over to Seattle for a friends wedding from Toronto. We left our then 12 month old son back home and thank the heavens we did! For a company in the customer service and satisfaction industry based in one of the wettest cities in the world youd think they would have contingencies prepared for bad weather. Positives: 1 - Food was decent. Nothing out of the ordinary but I would have expected more from a company in Toronto if I had to pay what my friend paid. I understand cost of living and US exchange rate, but at the price I should have been wowed. 2 - Venue was gorgeous. Old world charm with that country inn feeling in the middle of the city. Location was easily accessible by car even for someone who was not from the area. Negatives: 1 - Venue runs on a well system. No electricity equals no clean flowing water. I guess its part of the old world charm? However, to function in the 21st century I cant believe there was no back up system in the case of a power outage. My wife and I walked into washrooms with overflowing human feces as the toilet system stopped working. Guests couldnt wash their hands and only near the end of the night did bottles of hand sanitizer start showing up in the washrooms. 2 - Everything that required electricity in this world didnt work. This is the part where I was glad I didnt bring our 12 month old son. By the end of the night we were litterally freezing our butts off. How could a business not have a back up system for electrical failures? No heat, no lights, no music. The officiant had to yell at the top of his lungs for people to hear him over the ceremony. The poor bride had to walk down the aisle with no music, no lights. Her first dance was done with a car backed up into the tent running music out of the cars system and all her guests using the smart phones as lights to light up the dance floor. Not exactly the wedding any girl would have dreamt of having on her big day. Hopefully this event would have helped them make some changes to the way they operate the business. If not, I wouldnt recommend this place unless youre 100% sure your wedding day is going to be sunny. For the price my friends paid for this wedding, I could have had a real fancy wedding in Toronto. 2 stars because Im Canadian and Im being nice and polite. Cant help but compare them to what we would have expected from a Canadian company. By far the worst wedding Ive ever been to. Not sure if I should be sorry for the bride and groom, or for my wife and I who wasted our money to fly over. Sorry A & T, but your wedding really kinda sucked..... =(

A

Anonymous User

We planned our June 2009 wedding in four months; I would do it all over again at the Blue Ribbon. What the guests think is very important and all guests we have spoken with said Blue Ribbon had the best wedding food they have ever had. Weve been to a lot of weddings and we agree. You cant beat the price for the all inclusive package you get. They even have a floating dock that was able to accommodate a 35 boat, which we took out onto Lake Union for pictures. I always pictured my wedding by the water and the Blue Ribbon was able to give me that with their location right on Lake Union. Vanessa and her staff were the best to work with. The whole process of planning the wedding was so much easier because of Blue Ribbon. There wasnt anything they couldnt do, or wouldnt try. They took my vision and made it a reality so easily. They are also a lot of fun to work with. Very professional, but made you feel comfortable. On the day they were very attentive, anything we needed they would get done immediately. We had Rockband at our wedding. The TV provided at first was a bit small and we asked Vanessa if we can get something bigger. She was on the phone instantly and within a half hour had a 50" TV for us. Our friends had so much fun finishing the night rocking out. As the headline says, if I had to do it all over again I wouldnt change a thing. It was an amazing night and I know it wouldnt have been possible without the Blue Ribbon. Planning a wedding for me was scary and stressful, but once I found Blue Ribbon all that went away. We will definitely be checking out one of their cooking classes and have friends that want to as well. Again, Blue Ribbon was an amazing group to work with. I would recommend them to anyone for any kind of party.

Other organizations