The Highland Loft Event Venue — Attraction in Elgin

We had my daughter's Quinceanera on their 3rd floor this past Saturday. I wish I would have listen to the warning I got about booking with them and to watch out for Marilyn. I am very disappointed at the lack of transparency and communication but mainly the poor customer service and lack and professionalism from Marilyn. I gave this review a star because of the beautiful room, but it is a shame that it is overshadowed by the wrong attitude and lack of transparency. I was very reluctant to ask her questions, as I felt intimidated by her condescending attitude. When I arrived the day of Marilynn never stopped to greet us nor offer any support instead Marilyn passed by me a couple times and I was ignored when I smiled or said hi she was very dismissive and unwelcoming, it was a very awkward time because I had never been treated that way in any other venue. When I arrived at the venue, my DJ also complained about her attitude and said that she was not inviting and very difficult. If there had been any issues, Marilyn could have been more professional and talked to me about it instead of treating my vendors like that. My sister asked for limes and was handed a knife and a whole lime. Also the day of she only had one person assigned as coordinator and that person had to manage two parties at the same time going from the 1st and 2nd floor our party was of 186 guests. On many occasions, I and my guests had to go from floor-to-floor looking for someone for assistance. At one point, the DJ on the second floor connected to our system our music was playing on the other speakers of the downstairs party! Corinne came in to stop our mariachi from playing and we lost a good 15-20 minutes the mariachi was on paid time during that time there was silence and downtime on our floor. Also Corinne was supposed to get curtains opened to comencé dinner and only 2 or 3 were pulled before she left without saying anything. So I had to go around opening the rest myself and get dinner started and my guests stepped in to help when they could see me struggling. There was a large dump container full of garbage when we walked in and lots of left over centerpieces from another party that were tossed and bunched up on the windows that were completely visible to our party. There was a lot of miscommunication and I was mislead, at the end of the night while addressing these issues I was taken to a back room where I was on speaker with Marilyn and other employees during that call she was very rude and lacked empathy I felt completely helpless and disappointed. She wasted 20 minutes of my time arguing and talking over me not once did she say sorry for the confusion or misunderstanding or offered any support not to mention she didn’t care she was keeping me from my guests and daughter. Many of her responses came as if she was doing me a favor in allowing me to have my event there. I mentioned my DJ's negative experience to her a couple times and didn’t care just ignored it after a few times all she said was " thank you for the criticism" sarcastically and that was all. By the time I left the room many of my guests were gone and I didn't get a chance to say thank you or goodbye. I wouldn't suggest this venue because you will get conflicting information throughout the process also you will not get all the details that are important to know about the venue until the last couple weeks of the event. I had my wedding at Astoria Banquet and the customer service was amazing I felt welcomed and completely satisfied this was really disappointing. I am not surprised to see the other reviews about the same unprofessionalism...

While this venue is beautiful, I was very disappointed by the lack of organization and attention to detail from the venue owner. The first issue arose when we received an email 3 days prior to our wedding asking if we still intended to rent table decor, as it wasn’t paid for. We made it clear we needed the table decor and had a card on file that we expected to be charged several meetings ago. Following that, she did not have any of our other details accounted for including 4 farm table rentals, or aisle decor. Thankfully, we were able to get that situated, but then experienced multiple other conflicts. On the wedding day, our aisle decor was never set despite being told it was included. Our space was booked out the Friday before our wedding, and our officiant wasn’t available the Thursday before our wedding, so we booked our rehearsal for that Wednesday. We communicated this with the venue owner and got the approval to have the space from 5-6, but upon our arrival we were told by staff that we were not on the schedule. Thankfully the venue was open, but this could have been a major issue if it was not, as we live an hour away. We expected the decor that was present in our walk thru to be available during our event, as that’s what we were told was the case. We emailed Marilyn to confirm we could utilize the card box and were told it was broken 2 days before our wedding and that we would need to provide our own. On the day of the wedding, we experienced extreme temperatures in the venue as well as power outages (we even went without music for a bit). The venue was well aware of the air conditioning issues but did not forewarn us. I was dripping sweat during my ceremony, no exaggeration. This was super unfortunate as I had spent hundreds of dollars on my hair and makeup just for it to be ruined the first 30 minutes of my wedding due to the heat. It was 90+ degrees the day of my wedding, so I’m sure you can imagine how warm it was in this venue without the air conditioning working on most of the floor.

We also rented the apartment for our bridesmaids the night before the wedding, which was also beautiful, but had an issue with that as well. There was a leak from the shower head which soaked the entire bathroom everytime the water was turned on. Not only that, the water was room temp at best, so we all had to rush in and out so we weren’t freezing.

We had 4-5 in-person meetings with Marilyn prior to our wedding, so I was confident everything was set, but I was mistaken. If you plan to book this venue, you must be sure to communicate your wants and needs numerous times to ensure they are...

One of my close friends got married here and honestly I was disappointed at the professionalism of this team as well as certain basics that in my wedding experiences are common. Firstly, let me say that they provide centerpieces, flowers, etc, which was fine, however, when the manager was asked if a table could be used for holding a seating chart, management found it appropriate to go bother the bride WHILE SHE WAS LITERALLY GETTING READY and complain that her set up team was “asking too much” and it was “ridiculous”. No ma’am, bothering the bride on her wedding day is ridiculous. There were many of us that were willing and able to have that conversation with you and it is beyond unprofessional for you to bother the bride unless the building is literally on fire. Beyond that, management claimed they had no prior knowledge of the 25k people halloween event that shut down the Main Street to the venue and the parking in the area. Other businesses in the area confirmed they were all informed in advance, we found out only when we asked directly. I just felt like the attitude about all of these things were extremely disappointing. Additionally, management had said we could rehearse the day before but then booked a wedding and didn’t tell us (we only found out because we asked), they told us we could pick up the table clothes the next day but the night of the wedding they changed their minds multiple times. It was just unprofessional and uncomfortable.

My biggest pet peeve though? No hooks in the bridal suite or the apartment we rented from the venue for the night before for the wedding dress. Beautiful brick walls, beautiful space… no where to hang the wedding dress where it wouldn’t drag on the floor or be bunched up in a bag?! As a photographer myself, it is basic venue knowledge that if you have beautiful brick, you’d want it in pictures of the dress. Beyond pictures though there was literally no where to hang her dress, steam her dress, or even just store her dress where it didn’t have to be in the bag. Her long train was clumped up and that sucks. The apartment has closet space, but again, what kind of wedding dress fits in a normal closet without getting wrinkled? It’s a simple fix, and basic venue knowledge.

I gave the venue two stars because of the kindness of the regular staff, the bartenders, and the basic beauty of the brick walls and hanging lights. The wedding happened, it wasn’t a total disaster, but I am extremely disappointed in how the venue treated the family and couple and their communication was...