Update:   

Gino's decided in September of 2006 to sue Dawn & Kevin for the last half hour of bar!  Can you believe it?!  So, they in turn sued for breach of contract and issues concerning the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.  Finally, this February (2007), Gino's dropped their suit after seeing the mounting evidence against them.  Dawn & Kevin decided to drop their case as well, as it had already taken so much of their time and it just wasn't worth the effort.  They would probably never have sued had it not been for Gino's suing them.  It was just easier to remember the the good moments of the evening!
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Dawn & Kevin's wedding turned out fabulously!  Dawn was the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen!  Unfortunately, it was not a smooth ride; the hall was extremely inadequate in providing the kind of service one should expect for a wedding reception of this caliber.  The service did not even come close to that of a Big Boy restaurant, at least they come and fill your coffee for you.

Where to begin?  When Dawn & Kevin originally booked the hall, over a year before the wedding, they promised a Gazebo would be up for them to get married in.  The gazebo never materialized and all we got were excuses of why it wasn’t done and of course it was never their fault.  The grounds were in disarray.  There were weeds everywhere; hoses stretched out across the flowerbeds, minimal plants and partially torn down rusted wrought iron fencing.  The end of the wrought iron fence that was still standing had dishtowels wrapped around them.  Carol, thank goodness, thought to put bows on them to disguise it.  The torn down fencing was in a pile by the sign at the road.

The Monday before the wedding, Marge, Dwight and Mike went to Gino’s to get a feeling for how the hall would be set up and to finalize some details.  First, they asked what time we could get in to set-up, they said 9:00 a.m. and then changed it to 10:00 a.m.  That was fine, because we didn’t intend on coming until noon.  The chair cover company also called and asked the same question; they were told 10:00 a.m. also.  The chair cover company however, could only set up half of the hall.  Gino’s, without notifying anyone, booked a funeral luncheon in half the hall.  This is not uncommon for a hall to do, however, there lack of experience caused a great deal of stress and scrambling.  Gino’s should have notified us first and foremost, but they also should have called the chair cover company.  When they arrived to set up the chair covers, they were told they could only set half the hall and would have to come back after 3:00 p.m.  They should have been told this a day earlier when they called and visited to confirm the time.  It was a blessing that name of chair cover company was so flexible and where able to return at 3:00 p.m. to set up the remainder of the hall.  So, not only the chair covers had to wait, but also the rest of the table set-up.  Marge and the staff she hired to help set-up and perform hostess duties now had to scramble to get everything set before her Granddaughter’s wedding started at 5:00 p.m.  Second, they asked about the price of additional champagne for the fountain.  Gino’s quoted a price of $10.00 per bottle.  At that time we authorized Gino’s to add an additional $150.00 worth of champagne if necessary.  Seems simple, but it didn’t go so smoothly at the reception.  The fountain kept running dry and we kept asking for it to be filled.  They added an additional 6 bottles and then without telling anyone dismantled it and took it away.  By the time we realized what was going on, it was too late.  To make matters worse they presented us with a bill for 6 bottles at $13.95 each and then wanted to argue with us about the original price quote.  Three people were present at the time of this price quote and there was no mistaking it.  In any case, even at the $13.95 price, they did not come close to the $150.00 we authorized. 

The Thursday before the wedding we all met at Gino’s for rehearsal.  Frank was there at first and then disappeared.  Another bridal party was also there, rehearsing for their wedding on Friday.  The bride for that wedding was extremely upset with the condition of the grounds and the way the hall was set-up for the following evening.  I guess this should have been an indication of how things might go on Saturday.  So, because Frank disappeared, no one was there to help guide us through anything, like where the bridal party might be able to stand inside so quests would not see them.  Of course since he was gone we could not get into the building either. 

On Friday before the wedding, after seeing the set-up on Thursday for the other bridal party, we called Gino’s and asked if they had enough salt and pepper shakers to put two sets on every table.  If they didn’t Marge said she would bring some from the country club she works at.  They originally said yes and Mike said, “I don’t want to get there and it is a problem”, so they agreed we should bring some of ours.  When we arrived to set-up on Saturday, they did not even have enough to do half their tables with two sets.  It seems like a silly request, but with such large tables it makes it much easier for guests if there are two and we wanted everything to be perfect for our guests. 

As for the reception itself, well the service was awful. The staff was rude (to us and to our guests), especially Dorothy who told Marge on a couple of occasions to “Relax!”  An apology was promised the week following the reception, the call never came.  They told guests they could not take cake home.  Things that should have been done were not; water should have been on the tables upon guests arriving.  We had to ask for pitchers of water and then repeatedly ask for them to be filled. Finally the host & hostess we hired went behind the bar and filled water.  We had a coffee bar so we did not need coffee on each table, just the carafes filled at the coffee bar.  They actually gave us a hard time about it, when they knew all along what we were doing.  They commented that they thought that we were bringing our own coffee.  Over and over we explained the coffee bar and that we would just use their coffee.  Vendors commented on how hard they were to work with (they were yelled at - this is a whole story in itself). They did not have adequate staff for the amount of people we had in attendance (300). The bussing staff threw out note cards we had on the tables for guests to write on and picked up the bride and grooms Swarovski crystal toasting flutes ($250) and ran them through the dishwasher.  The bride and groom were not properly served when the buffet line began.  A waiter or waitress should have served both Kevin and Dawn.  No one served Kevin at all, he got his own food and Dawn served her own food on the plate while the waitress held it.  A waiter or waitress should have held the plates for Dawn and Kevin and asked them what they wanted and scooped the food onto the plate.  I have never been to a hall that did not do this properly. 

The final straw was at the end of the night when they wanted to charge us for an additional half hour of bar.  Originally, we were to have the champagne fountain only (no bar) from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. and the bar was to open at 7:00 p.m.  Gino’s originally opened the bar at 6:00 p.m. and we had to tell them to shut it because we had the champagne.  Gino’s could not keep the champagne fountain filled properly and the bridal party was delayed taking photos so we asked for the bar to be opened at 6:30 p.m. and to close at 11:30 p.m. (instead of 7:00 p.m. – 12:00 p.m.).  As the night drew on, none of us kept track of the time and they said they ran the bar until midnight.  They should have come to us at 11:30 p.m. and asked if we wanted to continue or stop it then, any experienced hall would have done that.  They were instructed earlier to stop at 11:30 p.m. and why they didn’t we don’t know.  Later however, guests told us that they attempted to get a drink at 11:45 p.m. and the bar was closed.  The inclination is to believe our guests and not Gino’s, what do you think? 

The only good thing about the evening was the food (food taste only, not the presentation or service of) and the view of Lake St. Clair.