Review of my May 26th Wedding at Stage 6 @ Steiner Studios in Brooklyn

My husband and I were married at Stage 6 on May 26th of this year.
 
I am extremely disappointed in the way Mr. Eric Hoffman handled our wedding.
 
Being in catering myself and running weddings, I fully understand things go wrong that are beyond your control; in this case they just weren't handled in the way that the Abigail Kirsch reputation would suggest.
 
When we first arrived and were escorted to the rooftop, the room was very warm. We were told that this was because the vendors were loading in and the doors were open. I knew this was not the case as I have told this to brides in the past when the air conditioner isn't running properly. It was later confirmed by Mr. Hoffman that this is exactly what had happened; the belt on the air conditioner broke. Maintenance was called and the problem was supposedly fixed but when it came time for the reception it was still very warm in the 4th floor ballroom. 
 
The fire alarm was going off and two (2) FDNY trucks were on the scene to investigate the fire in the 3rd floor kitchen; Mr. Hoffman blamed my nephew for pulling the fire alarm when this was absolutely NOT the case.
 
We did have early arrivals which I had notified Mr. Hoffman in advance that this would happen and my guests knew they would have to wait. When the guests started to arrive, a frantic Mr. Hoffman came up to me and scolded me in front of my bridal party and family that there were early arrivals.
 
The weather was uncooperative and in turn, the ceremony had to be moved inside last minute at NO fault of my own. Mr. Hoffman had come to me much earlier than that and I advised him to do what he needed to do; if it was raining then move the ceremony indoors as this was beyond anyone's control. Mr. Hoffman was the one that decided to wait until the last minute causing us to run 45 MINUTES LATE. Which in turn caused my guests to wait much longer than anticipated. Our guests were given sparkling water which was unable to be opened since our guests were not provided with a bottle opener to do so. We were told that our guests were being brought additional refreshments (beer, wine and champagne) in the interim. This NEVER happened. My husband wanted to go down and speak to the guests to let them know how excited we were that everyone was there and to be patient, we would be starting shortly. Mr. Hoffman said he would take care of it and we trusted him to do so; this was NEVER done either. My guests were treated like herded cattle; in addition to that, THEY were the ones changing the garbage cans when they were full - NOT THE STAGE 6 STAFF!

Our favors were delivered with a platter of chocolate dipped, cheesecake stuffed strawberries & cherries which Mr. Hoffman was well aware of before hand (both verbally AND in writing via a list of items being brought in). This platter was supposed to be placed in the bridal suite upon arrival of the bridal party and family - once again this NEVER happened. I was also promised a platter of sushi in the bridal suite post-ceremony by Mr. Hoffman as this was the food item I had wanted most; this NEVER happened either.

My own Grandmother and Mother were given a hard time when trying to get in the elevator to come to the 3rd floor for the rehearsal. They were told no one was allowed to leave the cafeteria area - my own mother even stated she was the Mother of the Bride and showed the woman her bouquet and was still told NO!
 
When it came time to do the entrances into the reception, I had said that I wanted myself and my girls to carry their bouquets into the reception. I was told by Mr. Hoffman, 'NO, we don't do that here' with an attitude. After myself and my maid of honor telling him this is what I wanted on MY day, he reluctantly allowed us to get our bouquets.
 
During the reception I told Mr. Hoffman I felt I was entitled to an additional 45 minutes since Mr. Hoffman & the venue were the ones that made the decision to wait to move the ceremony. I was nastily told by Mr. Hoffman that this was MY FAULT and if I would like to pay for it I was more than welcome to.

As soon as the salad was served, it felt as if it was cleared. One of my guests was still eating her salad and the waitress told her she had to take the salad away from her because she was getting ready for dinner service. This friend of mine works in catering with me and understands that your servers need to get ready for dinner service; this server was arguing with her for about 5 minutes to give her her salad plate. I found this extremely inappropriate and rude. If my guest wanted to finish her salad, let her finish it; she would have moved the plate out of the way when it had come time for dinner service.
 
My husband and I put so much faith in Mr. Hoffman and Stage 6 to execute things to perfection and our expectations were nowhere close to being met. I am so disappointed and disgusted in the way that myself and my guests were treated on what was supposed to be the happiest day of our lives. 

Don't let this review deter you from booking at Stage 6 because Abigail Kirsch's food is amazing. Just make sure you request NOT to work with Mr. Hoffman!