BLDG17CLE

Reviews

• CR

  Courtney Ruggaber

  Apr 26, 2024
  2.0
  Beautiful venue, lovely staff, very disappointing and stress-inducing owner. Although we had a beautiful wedding day, it was definitely in spite of the extremely lackluster experience that we had with the owner (who will, respectfully, remain nameless). First of all, the communication from him was terrible. Here we are, planning the biggest (and most expensive) day of our lives and he could not give us straight answers, wouldn’t respond to some emails at all, and had zero prepared plans to easily share with our vendors. For example, he did not let us know until two weeks before our wedding if we could even have our rehearsal at the venue. We did not know until two weeks before our wedding if or when we would be able to set everything up (because this is a DIY space and, if you don’t rent through him or the adjoining party supply company, you literally bring everything in yourself). Having a DIY wedding did not intimidate us, however, not knowing and not being able to communicate a plan to your friends and family that want to help you with this huge undertaking is very very stressful - there were many tears after receiving multiple emails that said “I’ll let you know but you should have plenty of time.” What kind of answer is this to give to a bride? I am sorry for the aggressive capitalization, but this needs to stand out - HE BROUGHT ANOTHER BRIDE AND HER FRIENDS INTO OUR SPACE TO GIVE A TOUR ON OUR WEDDING DAY. On our wedding day, complete strangers entered our space and walked around looking at OUR hard work, time and financial investment for HIS gain. Did he ask if it was okay if the tour take place? Yes, about 45 minutes before their arrival, when I was about to begin hair and makeup and enjoy time with my bridesmaids. He also continued to make things difficult by not introducing us to any of the staff that would be working at our wedding. So when he left, we had no idea who to go to with questions. Luckily, one of the staff members came to find us near the end of the night, and he was an absolute GEM. I wish we would have met him sooner because I know we would not have had this experience if we were able to work with him! Lastly, and this is just the final straw. We got our wedding video sneak peek back from our videographer and you can see the owner clear as day in the background as my father is walking me down the aisle, recording us with his phone. This is absolutely infuriating as we even asked our guests to disconnect for the ceremony and just be present with us. And then there he is, a man that had caused us so much stress, in the background of our wedding video, recording us with his phone.
• LB

  Lindsay Baxter

  Oct 15, 2023
  5.0
  My husband and I chose BLDG17 as the venue for our wedding reception and we could not have been happier with our experience! When we first became engaged, we knew that we wanted a beautiful, yet unique wedding venue. We knew as soon as we saw the event space, that BLDG17 was the perfect fit for our ideal wedding vision. The event space itself is beautiful - we loved the warmth of the hard wood floors and natural light from the gorgeous windows combined with the industrial warehouse feel. We appreciate the character of the building and that the history of the building is maintained. It is truly a completely customizable space that you can tailor to fit your vision. On top of that, they have the most cozy and beautifully decorated rooms for getting ready on the day-of. Even an entire year after our wedding, our guests cannot not stop talking about how unique and magical the venue and reception was. It was perfection! As for the success of the event, we owe a significant amount of thanks to the staff at BLDG17 and Pomp Parties, the vendor we selected for our rentals that is conveniently attached to BLDG17. They truly went above and beyond to make our reception feel so special and to ensure that the event ran smoothly. They were professional and so easy to work with from day one. The dedication and care that they put into making our dream wedding a reality exceeded our expectations. We could not be more thankful for the wonderful staff at both BLDG17 and Pomp for making our wedding planning journey and wedding day the most seamless and perfect experience imaginable. We highly recommend BLDG17 to anyone looking for an affordable and unique wedding venue with staff that care about making your day a dream come true. We can’t wait to attend another event at BLDG17 to reminisce on our wedding day memories!
• RN

  Robert “B.O.B.” Nelson

  Dec 10, 2022
  3.0
  Got more paint then I know what to do with
• RB

  Rosalyn Bishop-Igben

  Jun 29, 2022
  1.0
  Looking to get conned? Look no further! I booked this venue in March 2022 for a September 2022 wedding. My fiancé and I were enamored with the space and the adjacent specialty event rentals company connected to it (Pomp Parties... unaffiliated). The lessee of BLDG 17, (Katie Cool/ Haus of Cool) gave us a tour of the venue, Pomp, and all bells and whistles that came along with booking a venue. It was the perfect space. Fast forward 2 months, I went into the portal used by Katie and her team (Jenn and Alyssa) to communicate with clients and collect payments. After logging into my account, I discovered that my it had not been updated to reflect my current balance. For over a month following this discovery, I attempted to reach Katie and her team to no avail. Left with no choice, 90 days prior to my wedding, I signed with another venue due to the lack of communication from these artists of cons. In addition, I filled a complaint with the BBB, a dispute with my bank and my representative also posted publicly about the scandalous business practices of BLDG 17. 30 minutes after my representative's post went public, she received a call from the "new management team" at BLDG 17. I, the bride, received the following message in the portal: "Hi Rosalyn! So sorry we have been lacking in communication lately. We hope you are so excited about your reception! We have recently gone through a change in management and are trying to catch up on things as we go. We would love it if you could come in for another walk-through so we could all catch up on the details of your event. Please send me your availability for the next few weeks and we can get things all squared away! I look forward to hearing from you! - Alyssa" Less than 3 months prior to my wedding, I received... an "I'm sorry" message... in a portal? Yet my representative who had no affiliation/ relationship with the venue received a phone call. Fantastic. Moments later, the "new management" (inclusive of a former employee) contacted me to inform me that Katie went under, she ghosted her staff, they (Pomp) may, or may not be taking over and I wouldn't be getting my money back from them because they didn't have it, nor did they know where it was. They, (James Hogan from Pomp Parties and Alyssa Walpole from BLDG 17) claimed that I was one of several phone calls that they'd made over the past 4 hours, and that several people, including myself, have cancelled with the venue due to the recent "changes" Great. I tried to reach out to Katie Cool directly via FB to settle what I now know to be a scam, and discovered that she'd blocked me (I wasn't blocked prior to receiving a call from James and Alyssa.... suss). My representative reached out to Katie, via FB requesting that she return my money and the money of others who booked the venue of their dreams and will never see their event some into fruition. Katie replied that she is no longer employed with BLDG 17 and suggested that I reach out to the owners of the building for my money as they now own the venue. Messy. Avoid the drama and reach out to Zakia at The Madison or Brookelyn at Red Space events. They're both good people who do good business. I would highly discourage anyone from booking with BLDG 17 and any future aliases that they may operate under. Although Katie Cool is no longer affiliated with BLDG 17, it takes a village/ team to run a scam. Steer clear dear friend, steer clear.
• CL

  Chelsey Lopez

  Jun 28, 2022
  1.0
  Please do NOT book this venue. It's very unfortunate that this business is accepting payment for services, then ghosting their clients. My friend booked this venue for her upcoming wedding reception, and the venue has gone completely nonresponsive. They will not answer any phone calls from her, family or friends, emails, DM's...any form of communication goes unanswered. To make matters worse, they refuse to acknowledge her request to be refunded. It is such a shame they are taking advantage of someone when they know their client was planning to hold their wedding reception here. Please stay clear of this venue, and report them to the BBB as we are.

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