Huntington Townhouse?

I am getting married there. Have you ever been there? I have been there many many times for a variety of occasions and never encountered a problem. People complain about the food. I don't know why, I like the food! People also complain that there is no valet parking. That isn't true, there is valet parking but it is an extra cost and some people choose not to pay for it. Another concern is there are a few events going on at once. I am having my wedding in the provate area which includes a private entrance, private bathrooms and stairs/elevator.
What are you concerned about? Maybe I can answer some of your questions. Like I said before I have been there plenty of times. It also very affordable. FM me if you want any more information.

One of my BM had her wedding there 2 years ago and I can say that the food is very good and they give a lot of it. Before I went to see them for my wedding, I asked her about her experience and she said that they got really good service.

But, I was VERY disenchanted with the banquet manager that I met with.

Strike #1 was when I called for basic info they rushed me off the phone and told me to fax them my address so they can send me stuff.

Strike #2 was that they never sent me anything.

Strike #3 was that I felt like he was playing 'Let's Make a Deal' with my reception. They didnt have my date and time available, but he wouldnt let me go. He kept trying to convince me to go with an afternoon reception by lowering the price THREE times. He kept telling me NOT to take about the price he was giving me to anyone else. I came out of there feeling like he was more concerned about booking a wedding then listening to what I really wanted.

Plus I didnt like the fact that they can have up to 6 weddings going on at one time. I remember that it was a little hectic during my friend's wedding.

I am getting married at the Huntington Townhouse. So far everyone has been great to us. Ellen Rose, our banquet manager, is very up front and to the point, but in a good way. She gave us all available options, and said if we want to spend the extra money for this or that special addition, she wouldn't stop us but she wouldn't even recommend it. Like the Viennese table (dessert buffet). She said there will be so much food, it's really not a necessary item. When you are on a budget things like this make a difference. We are even going there for New Years with a group of friends as sort of a 'test run'.

ETA: 070502 -- why should we not use Diamond Cut? Yes that is their name, and that is who we booked. They aren't the house DJ anymore, but we met them at a vendor showcase and liked them. They gave us a great deal, too. Are they no good? Did we make a mistake?

We wen there and thought it was the place we wanted and were pressured into putting down $$$ to hold the date. We did, and then did a search thru the BBB, and deceided not to use them . We went thru a hassle to get our money back, and we finally did, but it took an awfully long time to get it back. That place left a sour taste in my mouth. We booked at a nicer place- and so far are much happier.

I am beginning to get a little nervous. We had none of the problems you all are talking about, plus I am trying to do a search on BBB website and it keeps coming up with no matches found. I don't understand how you all could have had such a terrible experience when ours has been so wonderful until this point. I really hope I will not be disappointed in April. Can someone please post a link to the BBB complaints you all seem to have found? Thanks.

Alvatorre74 and Radiostar had fabulous weddings there this year. Do a search or forum them.

Their weddings were BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

Well I had my wedding there and I really cant complain...I thought the food was good...My ceremony was outside thought it was beautiful!..So did my guest..Plus the price was Right for ME..

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Posted by Alvatorre74

Well I had my wedding there and I really cant complain...I thought the food was good...My ceremony was outside thought it was beautiful!..So did my guest..Plus the price was Right for ME..

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That certainly makes me feel a little bit better.

BTW, beautiful pics!

I was really nervous about the place too. I asked around though and people who got married there like it - I got a recommendation on the catering from one of my FMIL's friends, another bride on theknot had a great wedding, and a coworker of mine also had a great wedding.

Here's from RadioStar when I asked her about it:

Hi!

Congratulations!!!! YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A BEAUTIFUL WEDDING DAY!!!!!!!!!

I must admit that when I first found LIWeddings, I thought that I was going to have a heart attack because the place did not get any positive reviews from most of the girls on this site. They were very cruel to me. I had a beautiful wedding day and could not ask for more.

The positives...

* the food
* the service
* the facility

The negative....in my opinion

* more than one wedding going on at once

That didn't destroy my wedding day...but caused a little bit of confusion.

Make sure you constantly follow up with your rep (Ellen was mine).....I felt that their record keeping was sort of sloppy.....I don't want you to freak out....but to be completely honest, I had one incident where they 'misplaced' a down payment of mine....but because I kept copies of everything, it didn't pose a problem.

Overall....again, I had a BEAUTIFUL DAY. And you will too!

If I can provide any additionaly info, please let me know!

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Here's from antother person I found on the net (a guy) who got married there:

Erin and I had two different experiences at the HTH. For our wedding the feedback we got back from our friends was that the place looked very nice and the food was great. They also enjoyed the cocktail hour a lot. The staff was nice to us and seemed to be on top of things.

We thought that the bridal suite was way too small. You really couldn't fit too many people in there. It did have a private bathroom in there for the bridal party though.

Erin's sister had her wedding there a few months ago and we weren't as impressed. Maybe we were seeing more than we were during our own wedding. The staff wasn't as good (one employee told someone in the bridal party to open a beer bottle with his teeth cause she didn't have a bottle opener) and they even dropped the cake on the floor while everyone was in the cockatil hour.

The Lenox cake topper that I guess they were trying to put on top of the cake broke. But they did give the family the cash for it that night and got a new cake out in time to cut it. The bride had no idea until she saw the cash change hands.

The bar service wasn't great at our wedding but better at Erin's sisters. During ours...we frequently found our family members serving themselves. At her sisters the bar tender had my drinks ready before I ordered them.

Dance floor was big enough and we seemed to have plenty of space. No problems there.

Even though there were a few other things going on there it didn't interfer at all with our wedding. You couldn't hear anyone elses event.

Have someone keep an eye on your gifts and envelopes. Someone told me that at their wedding they had a bunch of cards go missing. That didn't happen to me as we had Erin's mom keeping a close watch.

The management was very quick to resolve anything. The beer bottle incident was. The groom complained to the matre de and the manager got the employee and made her apologize to everyone.

So I guess it is hit or miss. The food being good seemed to be the only constant. If you have a Lenox cake topper tell them to put it at the foot of the cake. That is what we did and it looked fine.

Getting in touch with Steven Silver was hard too. He handled both of ours and it seemed at times it was hard to get him on the phone. Erin couldn't get through to him till I called myself.

Overall I thought they did a good job. They were the cheapest place we found per person but it didn't come off as cheap. We both had about 170 guests and there seemed to be plenty of room and no one had any major complaints to us. If they do screw something up they try to fix it right away.

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So basically, I'm not worried. I did check out the BBB (and that took some looking) and the complaints seemed to be mostly of a financial nature. The other thing is that the hall must handle 1000 events a year - all expericences with them can't be perfect. But for my needs, it was a good match and I'm not too worried.

Like someone said, they have a very large volume of events going on there. It makes sense that there would be more complaints.

Smolokoff - The complaints about the banquest manager being pushy or not wanting to leave a deposit (stuff like that) shouldn't bother you. You said you like your banquet manager. You liked the place when you booked it, right? So don't get worried. I liked my banquet manager at the HTH and didn't experience any problems. In fact I have encountered many pushy and rude banquet managers at other places. At 2 well-liked places on this board, I was taken in to see rooms while there was an event going on! Would you want someone walking in to your party! Every place has its problems. I'm sure you will have a great time New Years Eve and then your will know first hand how the place is. Just like I have been there many many times and have had a positive experience every time.

JimmysBride your FH described banquet manager exactly.... used car salesman.

Get this...I called yesterday to request a refund for the deposit I made to 'hold' the date and the same banquet manager is still trying to get me to book with them. Even after I told him that I made a full deposit on another place. He was like I am sure they will just give you your money back. Then he started checking his books and said that he can give me the original time I wanted. He would even throw in a few extras.

I was like DUDE get a clue I don't want to book with you!

We had our second reception at the HTH (cultural issues = 2 receptions in one weekend). I think your experience there completely depends on who you interact with. We were very unhappy with the first person (they basically insulted everyone who has the same ethnic background as me). We really wanted to have the reception there for emotional reasons, so we asked for and worked with someone else most of the rest of the time. The second person was fantastic! While the second person was away on vacation, we had to deal with a third person, who again had a very bad sense of humor (I think it's the used car salesman guy). FM me if you want any details!

Good luck! With this place, just don't be afraid to speak up if you are not happy with something and really keep on top of them!

Heidi,
I FM'd you, sorry I don't read this board that much! Feel free to have me contact you. Also, feel free to talk to Mike and question him on our problems.
But the fact that they didn't listen to anything we requested, played things on our do not play list, only played three slow songs (1. our first dance, 2.my parents' first dance song for their 30th anniversary which we had to remind them of and 3. After complaints from guests I told them they had to play more, especially since they knew my DH isn't much of a dance so atleast slow songs he will dance too)
Hearing 'Life's a *****' via the microphone from someone who I am paying to be a professional is unnerving and most guests did not appreciate it. My lighting which they threw in did not show and neither did the MC (who ended up not being an employee and then they subcontracted some guy in) and the DJ who was supposed to be the owner and then we were told it was his cousin that would come instead (well this wasen't his cousin either)
The fact my DJ didn't have a jacket or tie on and my MC tux wasen't the style of the DJ's attempt at a Tux.

Also, the demo's they show are really the owner of Dr.Dance as the MC. We loved Dennis with Dr Dance but thought he was an employee of Diamond Cut like Mike (the owner told us)

Very unprofessional, hard to reach and well he lost out on being the house vendors at the HTH and Imperial Manor/Sterling because of his poor business sense.

we had one of our receptions there and it was great. we didn't use their food so i can't comment on that. when i first came to this site, all i heard were negative comments and references to the BBB reviews. they were bad back in the days before the ownership was changed .. so you have to keep that in mind when you hear comments.

our banquet manager was great .. we were treated like royalty from the minute we walked in .. even gave us two private rooms since we had a large family. brought us food, helped us with walking in, etc etc. i think they did a great job .. we didn't have to worry about a thing .. some of the little problems we didn't even find out about until later because they had resolved them (like an issue with the cake lady - non HTH person).

neways you can FM me if you have any questions .. our reception there was in july