Creekside Wedding Chapel & Gardens

Beautiful venue.Attentive staff.Ample parking.Easy to find location right smack dab on Western Avenue.Highly recommended.

When I got engaged I knew that I did not want to put in the work that it takes to plan a wedding. I wanted a nice wedding but I didn't want to have to worry about scheduling caterers and bakers and DJs, etc. - I decided that the best thing for me to do was to book at an all-in-one venue. I toured several but decided that Creekside had the best value.If I could go back in time, I would have paid more money and booked with a different venue. The customer service at Creekside is TERRIBLE! I booked my wedding well in advance, paid my downpayment, and then went about my business. I never heard from them. About 90 days before my wedding I called them. The coordinator booked a time for us to come in and at our appointment told me that it was my responsibility to contact all of the vendors. My responsibility? What am I paying you for if I have to make all of the arrangements? The coordinator said that it was my fault for not contacting them sooner and that I would need to get in touch with the vendors as soon as possible.So, I call the florist. My package included a few centerpieces so I just expected to tell him my colors and list some flowers that I like. He insisted that I come in for a consultation. I had to take time out of my work day to meet with him because he wanted to try to up-sell me bouquets & corsages - for a very hefty price. I declined and he was booked to only do centerpieces. The centerpieces were awful! I had seen this florist's ads in several magazines and he can do beautiful work. My centerpieces looked thrown together and unprofessional.Our package also included 5 dance lessons. We went to our first lesson only to have the woman try to up-sell us additional lessons. She was also very rude when we couldn't get stuff right. We decided not to go to anymore lessons.The food was probably the only redeeming thing. The caterer had lots of options to choose from and they were all delicious. Problem was - she ran out of food at the reception. I booked a weeding for a certain number of guests, I had that many people in attendance, and yet she ran out of food. The caterer also bakes the cakes. She told me to submit pictures of what I wanted and that she could decorate it however I wanted. I gave her pictures and she assured me that she could make it look just like my picture. While the cakes tasted delicious, my bridal cake looked like a four-year-old had done the decorating. It looked nothing like my picture - not even close. I didn't think that I had picked anything difficult and would have gladly chosen something else if she didn't think she could handle it. All I wanted was a white cake with a simple design piped onto each layer and she couldn't handle that.Our DJ asked me to e-mail him to give him an idea of what we wanted for music. I told him what our special dances would be and he asked me to make him a CD with those song on them. I did that and told him a few specifics - no Top 40, no country music, these are the bands & singers that we like. I heard more Top 40 and country at my reception than I did bands that I like. And, since the DJ was positioned upstairs and was inaccessible, I couldn't just walk up to him and tell him. It was disappointing.The venue is nice but I almost didn't choose it because it has a giant cross on the side of the building and in the chapel. Neither my husband nor I are Christians so this was something that we just decided to overlook because the price was so good. If I had wanted a giant cross hanging over my head, I would have gotten married in a church. They really should consider removing the religious elements as there are many people who may not be willing to overlook them like we were.Finally, I want to say a few words about their coordinator. If you want to do something in your wedding that isn't usually done then he will try to shut it down. Don't even think about trying to make your wedding unique. I wanted to do something other than a unity candle but at my rehearsal he tried to tell me that a unity candle would be better than what I had planned. I wanted to do something different to introduce my wedding party at the reception and he said, "We just don't do that here." I ended up getting to do the things that I wanted to do but I was fought every step of the way.I've had a few months to settle down before writing this review and I'm still very upset about what happened behind the scenes. All of my guests had a great time and said that it was a lovely wedding. At the end of the day I was married so that was all that mattered. However, if I could go back in time and do it over again, I would have either booked at a different venue or I would have not been so laid back and trusting. Maybe if I had been more of a bridezilla things would have gone my way.