Wedding day robbery.
<p>I feel robbed of my hard earned money by owner and manager of The Garden Venue, sittuated in Nothriding Jhb. Not only did he rob me but, he never delivered on the service that we had paid for. Our big wedding day, 27 August 2017. It was completely ruined by this money hungry foul mouthed man. We were very excited about getting married, my long term girlfriend and I(12 years). So we approached The Garden Venue in September 2016. I must admit that we were awestruck by the tranquility of this place, to us it was the perfect setting. We also chose this venue as it was centrally located for most of our guests. They came from all corners of Gauteng, a diverse group of 144 guest, including 8 kids. Upon our first meeting with the 'wedding co ordinator' we were given the assurance that the best service will be provided. We then proceeded to work out the number of guest we wanted to attend. Initially we started of at 60 guests and that came to a total of around R28 000. We then worked on a payment plan which involved direct monthly transfers @ R3000 per month. We then signed our contract and made a payment the very same month, starting end September 2016. Three months down the line, we fell inlove another wedding venue and decided to approach The Garden Venue for a refund, I was prepaired to pay a cancelation fee. He plain down refused to refund us, that is when the horror began. Our guest list grew from 60 guest to 144 guest, the reason is that both sides of the couple have big families, thus we wanted to accomodate everyone. 144 guest took the price up to R65 278.00 . We continued monthly payments and as the months went on more problems and exclusion suddenly arrised. We were to schedule 'food tasting' at no additional cost however I had to pay an additional R2000.00 for 10 seats for food sampling. All the guests present found the food bland, we then adressed the issue with the owner. We then had to change our complete 'buffet style' menu. He then took a further R325 from my fiance without my knowledge, for drinks that was supposed to be included in the 'food tasting sitting'. Closer to the wedding, we were then 'advised' to have a 'bar tab' to which I totally disagreed, as everyone knows with weddings these days, cash bar is the way to go. Suddenly the prices on all drinks were drastically increased and not as the prices that was given to us on the initial signed contract. I however had something different in mind by this time. How about a corkage, I buy my own champagne and a few bottles of whiskey and pay corkage to bring them in. Then suddenly prices on the corkage tripled and not as it was on the initial signed contract. We then agreed for every bottle of champagne that I would bring, I will pay them R65 and for whiskey R250-which is rather ridicilous. Fast forward to our wedding day. On the morning my bride arrived at The Garden Venue, there was no room availble for her to get herself ready for the wedding. On the contract it states that she would have 'The Honeymoon Suite'. She was then ushered to a filthy room with an bed thats not made, disgusting. She was quickly removed and put back in the same room after they had made up the bed with the same linen. My bride then left the venue to meet me at church, which is about 7mins from the venue. Our church ceromony lasted about 1hour, we then returned to the venue. Our venue hire states that we will have access to the whole of the venue, including Elephant room, Deck, Marquee, and lower lapa. As the name suggests The Garden Venue, the whole area was to be covered with garden furniture and cocktail tables, seating for our guests while they having snacks and drinks as we were off with the photographer for a photo session. However all the furniture was removed the day before our wedding. Our guest was to be served fruit juice and canapes, but instead there was not enough canapes and they served what seemed like a cordial with tap water. Later starters was served and yet again, there was not enough food for pur guests. As the day went along some of our guests started complaining about the owner who was manning the cash bar, saying that he was rude and made racial remarks. We then had the main course served buffet style, all the dishes was served cold. We also experienced cold food with the food tasting and wss assured they would improve and make no mistake on our wedding day. We requested oxtail and was served what looked like lamb neck. Each table was to have a green salad bowl yet only the main table had one. Another complaint came my way about the owner manager calling my wife's niece a b*tch. By this time I was a bit upset and decided to approah him. He denied everything she said and then also denied me from bringing in my champagne, which I had purchased. I had to pay him R520 to release my champagne. My guests then started complaining about the alcohol prices being hiked. Around 4pm some guests started leaving the function because of this man and his unethical business practice. We also informed them that we want to bring on our own dj and not use the inhouse dj which they were still to source. I paid a professional dj R4000 to play Sunday soul music, which does not necessaraly need to be played loud however, the dj was told to play really soft or electricity would be cut. Again more guest started leaving. At around 6pm the bar was suddenly closed because the guests had stopped purchasing. My father then approached the owner informing him that we had hired the venue untill 10pm. He then started swearing at my dad. Honeydew police and Londoloza armed reaction was then summond. One of the armed guards entered the marquee where my wedding was held, I approached him and asked him to leave the marquee as this was a private function. His response was that I am keeping myself clever. After seeing my grandmother off, my function was put to an abrupt end at around 7pm and I was then escorted to my friends car by two policeman, telling me, my wedding is over. We hired the venue for the day and guests was to leave by 10pm. I totally feel robbed by this venue.</p>