Beware the Columbus Athenaeum. I will say that the...

Beware the Columbus Athenaeum. I will say that the Athenaeum takes great pains to charge you for whatever they can, and when they can't they find some late fee or another to throw in.

My biggest complaint is how I, the bride was treated when I had a legitimate gripe. We asked, Ann Clark once we got off the Trolley at the Athenaeum where we could store the cooler, which only had alcohol, in which was for the Trolley ONLY. We were told it could be stored behind the bar. I do know that the groomsmen tried to make a drink and the bartender told them that they could not do that, so the alcohol and cooler were moved. They sent us a final receipt and order that UPGRADED the bar from beer/wine to full liquor bar for our entire wedding guest amount. How would one (1) cooler pertain to 219 people and change the overall cost of Bar setup? If we were told that storing the cooler at the bar would have changed the setup fee, we would have never put the cooler behind the bar, we would have had someone put in their car. This situation was NEVER discussed with the bride and/or groom or even mothers during the event. This was a BIG mistake, seeing as how no other drinks were ever made by the bartender to make it a Full Bar set up. All night the 219 guests had ONLY beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverage served by the bartender.

According to the General Conditions; under Food/Beverage it states as following "If outside food/beverage items are brought into the TCA without specific written authorization, TCA reserves the right to remove items until the conclusion of the event and the client is responsible for any applicable handling fee" We found not wording of such in our contract.

Four days or several phone calls and an email to Ann Clark and members in the Accounting Dept., a man named Mike (Banquet Manager) called to explain the situation. His tone and demeanor was VERY unprofessional and he had no interest in rectifying the situation or even hearing our side of the story! He constantly interrupted me and was raising his voice, as if I was doing the same or gave him any reason to be upset. If anyone should be upset it was this bride! I was hysterical after I got off the phone with him! I could not believe the lack of respect, professionalism and common courtesy. Is this how venues treat they patrons, especially since word of mouth the best way of referral AND we had dropped thousands of dollars on this event? We should get exactly everything I paid for when making that kind of investment.

Overall, we were happy with the service during the actual wedding reception and with the planning beforehand with Ann, but after we made our last payment and final detail meeting we were just another number to them. The Athenaeum is certainly impetuous with their clients. If you plan events here don t expect warm fuzzy customer service or any form of follow up. Which is sad to see when planning a joyous event that you are sharing with your loved one and to recieve such COLD hearted services from individuals you planned with for many months. Maybe, I just expect too much from people (shrug).

Words of the wise: More than anything else, MAKE SURE YOU GET AND PUT EVERYTHING IN WRITING.