The Magnolia - Brookside — Attraction in Kansas City

Let me start off by saying that this venue is absolutely gorgeous, and was the perfect size for our small wedding; however, the management was extremely frustrating to deal with. Ava reached out on February 28th to check-in to see if we needed to rent any table décor. We weren’t sure what we needed since we didn’t know how many tables we would have. When I asked if we could get a floor plan on March 1st (with a follow-up email) we were ghosted for a month. We did get our floor plan on April 4th. During this email thread with Ava, we opted to have six round tables since that would have been more than enough for our less than 50 guests.

During this same thread, on March 31st, I asked if we could set up a date for our rehearsal dinner, to which we also didn’t get a response. After not hearing anything via email for several weeks, my husband called on April 27th. We were less than a month out from our wedding and didn’t have any confirmation on the details Ava and I had emailed about, nor did we have a date set for our rehearsal dinner or final walkthrough of the venue.

When he called, it went to voicemail, and their voicemailbox was completely full. Thankfully Deb reached out via text to communicate. He got a response that day, April 27th from them regarding the final walk-through date for May 3rd (a date they insisted on). When he responded to confirm this date, he didn’t hear anything back for several days. He had to text them again two days later to remind them, and they changed the time we originally agreed upon, which was frustrating as we had other obligations that we planned around the original meeting time.

They suggested May 2nd, and my husband responded stating that day would not work because he had to present his capstone project and I was in meetings all day. The venue did not respond back with additional dates that would work for them, so my husband had to text them the next day to obtain additional options. They suggested a variety of different dates; however most did not work for us because I was out of town due to a death in my family. We felt like this miscommunication could have been mitigated if there had been adequate closed-loop correspondence prior to the month of our wedding.

Other concerns to note include the lack of a staff member for our rehearsal dinner to help walk us through; however, it was convenient at this location that the outdoor space was accessible without a key or staff member present. On May 12th Deb messaged my husband saying that they would be building an arbor with greenery to hang in the outdoor ceremony space on May 19th and asked if we wanted them to keep it up for our ceremony the next day. This was a really kind gesture, and my husband asked what it would look like because we were unsure if it would go with the rest of our décor. At the end of the day, we agreed for them to leave it up, but on May 19th, my husband received a text saying they were cutting down the greenery. Honestly, we would have just preferred to not have had it as an option if they were just going to cut it down.

The day of our wedding, our planner arrived at the venue to a table arrangement that was not what we agreed upon. Our planner asked Vicky (the day-of contact for the venue) to remove the extra tables since we only brought enough décor for the floor plan we wanted. Our planner had to physically remove the tables and break them down herself because Vicky only moved them to a corner. Additionally, we were told that we would have cocktail tables, none of which were present on this day. Another aspect not present were the stemless wine glasses that we requested to rent from the venue via email and in-person. Another thing that frustrated us was Vicky closing the garage doors, which Deb said we could open. Vicky stated that neighbors were going to complain about the music; however, the music was quiet at that point in the night and the city noise ordinance wasn’t in effect as it was 6 PM.

TLDR: Venue - gorgeous. Management - poor. Book at your...

The prior google reviews here are reviews for Brookside Gardens (previous owners).

I'll have to be honest, and I'm not usually one to complain. We weren’t impressed by the overall experience with Whitebird Events (owner of Magnolia at Brookside). There were some good things. Jordan, the manager for the evening, is a sweet heart, and the venue is a beautiful property with a lovely layout and location. We did have an amazing night and received many compliments on the look and feel of the venue.

BUT: The venue, in general, was extremely dirty. The kitchen was absolutely disgusting. Food and flowers left in the fridge, counters not wiped. The sticky floor my husband mopped, dead flowers and signs left in the bathrooms. The bridal suite looked as though someone was drilling out sheet rock. Significant sheet rock- like dust everywhere. Sewer smell in bridal suite that did dissipate after a few hours. Our hair/ makeup girls mentioned the dust and the smell. The bar was gross and sticky…

Jordan, understandably, was just doing what she was told, so no complaints on her, but she started clearing table decorations at 10:15 and taking people’s drinks from the table while they’re still drinking them. That was, absolutely, not okay. Nothing like sending the message, “get out of here” like clearing tables and taking drinks an hour and 45 mins before we had to, officially, be gone at midnight.

My photographer showed up at the wrong Magnolia because both Whitebird Events venues have the same name. (Not their fault she showed up at the wrong place, but two venues with the same name, I can see, is confusing)

Disappointing, especially considering the amount of money we spent on this venue. TWICE, actually, because they charged us to reschedule during Covid. The major issue being cleaning up with AMPLE enough time for that to have been done AFTER the party was over….

I sent these complaints to Deborah (owner). She did offer to provide some type of compensation to reconcile, but when I showed interest, she has...

Attended wedding at Brookside Gardens last weekend. It is a cute venue, this is our second reception we have attended there. I do think the area where the food is served gets crowded and spills out into the hallway, however it is nice. My issue with this place was that the deck had a slime/mold on it. We went outside and it had rained earlier. I fell and hurt myself, ankle is still swollen 2 days later. What I am unhappy about is that as a courtesy I contacted Joe to let him know that he should attend to this so that another person doesn't get hurt. I am 60 so it was hard enough for me, I would hate for another person to get seriously injured. He didn't even say he was sorry or ask if I was OK. He was actually rude and said he didn't even know that people were out on the deck with...