Cityside Events

I’ll apologize in advance for the length of this. But if you are seriously considering the Landing- please read this. My experience was one for the books.

I would have given one star, but they redeemed themselves on my wedding day; it was perfect and everything went as planned. However, the entire planning process was absolutely awful. It was a battle from day one to stay within my budget. My budget was $40,000 (and I only include this because I was blessed to have a larger budget than most Maine brides and I wasn’t able to stay within it.) I was told I would have no problem with that budget and needless to say- I went over it.

They have a list of "preferred vendors” that you are “strongly encouraged” to use. If you use your own vendors you are charged a “vendor management fee.” So, one would think because they were a preferred vendor, that they would be less expensive- not the case. I asked why their preferred vendors were more expensive, and I was informed The Landing never claimed they were less expensive, but that they had the best relationship with them. What they are doing is charging the vendor to provide a service (15% of the vendor’s cost to you), and also charge you an additional fee onto the vendor's price so they can make even more money. I never had actual proof they were overcharging me, until I started doing my own research.

I was told my transportation was $1,230. When I was over budget and trying to cut costs, I was looking up alternatives. I happened across the same company they booked my limo through, and right on the company’s website it stated the cost for my services (I added 20% gratuity) was $810. When I asked why they were charging an additional $420, I was told the pricing went down since they got their quote. Prices going down when gas prices are going up; simply untrue. Other examples, my linens with the Landing were $4,800. I did my own research and found them for $2,300 (exact same color, fabric, etc) Photography; The Landing was $4,640 and the photographer I found was $3,600.

Bottom line was, I saved over $5,000 by researching, negotiating, and selecting my own vendors. Part of the sell of the Landing was the wedding planner. Unfortunately, I did most of the planning myself. After my experiences, I engaged the manager (who was completely unprofessional and rude) and the owner to let them know of my experiences- and it didn’t matter.

This space is beautiful. But, if you want to fight for every dollar you spend and feel like you are being taken advantage of every step of the way- ladies DO NOT get married here. The planning of your wedding is stressful enough, you don’t need a wedding planner you can’t trust. I don’t plan weddings for a living. She took advantage of me because I trusted her. I’ll do whatever I can to prevent another bride-to-be from going through the headache and tears that I went through.

After this experience- I’m confident I could plan a killer wedding. But I am also confident I will never give The Landing another dollar of my money.