Billings Depot — Attraction in Billings

I have been a wedding planner for 30 plus years and I will NOT be recommending this venue space to any of my Brides… shortly after my bride told me this was her space I contacted them, they did not return my call, so I called again a couple days later and spoke to the director. While trying to get information about the space I was juggled between several different people who all had different answers to my questions. We tried to make a reservation to meet with the director and was told a time to swing by when she would not be busy, when we arrived at that time we were then told she had a meeting with a client and we should just look around ourselves, so we did. Then we were approached by someone else who had no idea who we were and wanted to know what we were doing. When we tried getting answers to questions about our brides event, we were told no one was available to help. We were strung along on information about whether or not, we could get into the venue on the day before the wedding to set up, we only found out about six days prior to the wedding that we would be allowed in on Friday for the Saturday wedding. I can tell you there are more don’t than do’s at this venue space. You can’t have the doors open at any time no matter how hot it is… and they say they have air conditioning, but if they do it is less than effective…you can’t open or close the blinds due to they say they don’t work effectively even though I had no problem with them working just fine. If you are working and needing to go in and out of the building, it is always locked so it locks you out of the space as they say the doors must always be locked due to vagrants and possible people coming in to vandalize and steel. If you are needing to set up a nonalcoholic bar, their bar station does not have running water and or a drain system so therefore you must walk all the way back to the kitchen to haul all your drinking and waste water back and forth through the building in 5 gallon buckets. If you have a very large flower order, there is not adequate refrigeration available for food, beverage, and flower storage to keep things pristine. My brides Flowers were very hot and unhappy to be in this space. If you are wanting a floorplan, you need to get their set floor plan. They are not receptive to you laying out the space any other way than what they are used to. The Director told me she had given the bride the layout plans when they met however, my Bride said she never received any layout plans. We used real rose, petals down the aisle way, and when the ceremony was over, we started to clean up and someone came to us and told us that we needed to clean up immediately although we were already doing so. They seemed very sensitive about anything that was regarding the space. I recommended to them that they may be better served to turn the depot into a museum as opposed to a space where people were coming in and doing different things for events. That way they could ensure the safety of the space. The space cost my Bride over $3000. We were initially told we had until 1 AM on Sunday to be out of the space however, on Saturday night we were told we needed to be out by midnight, needless to say we were quite confused about what the rules really are at this venue. My bride & I did not feel welcomed at all in fact, we felt like we were an inconvenience to the people there. As someone in the wedding/hospitality industry, it has always been my goal to be very accommodating, cheerful, upbeat and happy for the couples and their families. The employee hosts that we worked with , as well as the set up crew were all very kind and helpful people. They did, however, refer to the rules of cannot do items being strongly enforced by their director Maya. I would strongly recommend you search every possible venue option available in the Billings area before you settle on the depot. Our event turned out beautiful in spite of all the difficulty we encountered along the way, but for me personally, I can tell you I will not be returning to do any more events...

I regret choosing the Billings Depot for my wedding. As both a bride and a professional wedding photographer, I’ve worked with many venues, and I’ve never been treated with such disrespect as I was by the sales manager, Miyan. Her attitude added unnecessary stress to an already emotional time and made me feel like my wedding was an inconvenience rather than a priority. My friends and family noticed her behavior as well, and it was embarrassing being treated that way by my venue.

First, we had to fight just to schedule a rehearsal—something every wedding venue should offer. As a photographer, I’ve never worked with a venue that didn’t allow a rehearsal. Miyan claimed that scheduling ours the day before the wedding would be inconvenient for her staff, who needed to set up decorations—a process that ultimately took very little time. When we finally secured the rehearsal, we were limited to one hour. During which she rudely glared at everyone the whole time, and then right at 4pm snapped at us to leave because she wanted to make a bank deposit by 4:15. Treating preparations for the most important day of my life as less important than her errands.

The amenities were also disappointing. The air conditioning was inadequate, making the venue uncomfortable, yet we weren’t allowed to open the doors for ventilation. Additionally, there was no refrigerator for flowers, and despite raising this concern, we were told there was nothing they could do. As a result, all my flowers wilted before the ceremony. Brides using this venue should know they’ll need to arrange for off-site refrigeration for any floral arrangements.

I cannot recommend The Billings Depot to anyone. A wedding venue should reduce stress and provide support, not add to frustrations. I do understand needing a good sales manager for your business, but if Miyan remains the point of contact for brides, I would strongly advise choosing a different venue. The person who talks to the brides should be focused on making their day easier, not harder. When I had initially reached out it was Marci who I talked to, and she was very helpful and accommodating.

The only reason I’m giving two stars instead of one is because the building itself is beautiful, and the price is reasonable. However, after my experience, I would have gladly paid more for a venue where we felt respected, valued,...

I can not say enough about this venue. Marci went out of her way to make sure all of our wedding day dreams came true. She was extremely responsive and always ready to assist with whatever I contacted her about. I knew throughout the process I could rely on her expertise and highly valued her opinion. Marci thinks of everything! Beyond that, Sarah, our day of host, was incredibly helpful. She helped make sure the reception ran smoothly and was super accommodating with last minute changes. Overall amazing...