Oconomowoc Community Center — Attraction in Oconomowoc

My buddy got married at this location back in October. I stood in his wedding, and my wife was their wedding planner. Paige was the contact at the facility and there were several issues that left a lot of room for improvement.

Paige was never onsite when my friends booked the venue. Seeing that they both worked during the week; the only time they were able to look at the space was on a weekend. They immediately fell in love with it and booked it. Paige sent all of the information to them via email.

They filled out the application, got everything squared away, and as it came time for their big day we all got together for the rehearsal a day before (which Paige was also not at). Once we were all onsite we were told the wedding parties had no rooms to get ready in.

This wouldn't have been a big deal, except for the fact that it should have been brought up by Paige during the initial walk through prior to even booking the location that additional rooms needed to be rented out for use in conjunction with the actual venue for the wedding. My wife called and finally got a hold of Paige; who stated that it would be a $250 fee to book a room to get ready in. My wife had to argue with her before talking her down to $75.

Wedding day; Paige was also not onsite. Yet again there was no structure or guidance whatsoever from the employees of this facility. The display at the front instructing people were the wedding was held had the grooms name spelled incorrectly. While the wedding was beautiful the entire process was severely botched due to the lackluster customer service and information provided by the staff.

After the fact, my buddy sent a nice, professional, constructive email to Paige describing the disappointment that him and his wife had on their special day and explained that while he would pay the $75 for the room we rented out to get ready in if they sent the bill out; the fee should have been comp'd given the issues they had experienced.

Paige called him back while I was sitting right next to him (which was also on our business line so the conversation was recorded) and threw all of the blame on him for the issues that they experienced at the facility. She even blamed him on spelling HIS OWN NAME INCORRECTLY on the venue application.

My buddy mentioned that he had called her several times during the booking phase and leading up to the actual wedding and that Paige never rarely returned his calls. She threw back in his face that she had called him a few times and not received a phone call back. As the customer in this scenario, he shouldn't have to, she should as it's her job to respond to her clients! She then explained to him that the room was originally $100 and she discounted it down to $75, meaning that she lied to my wife about the original price.

Paige stated that she was never onsite during any of the entire process because her hours are Monday through Friday. My buddy explained that so are his, which is why he had to initially look at it on a weekend and that any level of caring whatsoever on their end would have been nice.

Her tone during the entire conversation was combative and defensive; despite numerous errors that were made by her and the community center.

My buddy had the wedding app he filled out saved, and forwarded it to her after the call showing his name had been spelled incorrectly.

It was only at that point that Paige realized she had indeed messed up and apologized profusely saying she would take the feedback to heart and try to improve for other couples booking that venue for their special day.

And then she still sent the $75 bill to him.

Terrible experience. Beautiful venue that isn't worth it given the amount of unnecessary stress caused by the staff. My wife has been a wedding planner at 100 different venues and told me that this particular venue was the least put together and least professional out of any of them.

If you're looking to get married, don't be deceived by the beauty of the venue. You'd be better off booking your special day anywhere...

The venue is beautiful. And that's about it. The staff is terrible. The person that coordinates the venue with you is unresponsive, only willing to meet you during her "working hours" of Monday-Friday 8-5pm. Which just so happens to be my working hours. Wasn't there when I checked out the venue. She wasn't even there for my rehearsal. Never told us we'd have to purchase extra rooms for the wedding party to get dressed in before the ceremony. Found that out the day before at rehearsal. My wedding planner negotiated a room for us and was told it would be $250 which my wedding planner got dowm to $75. I was later told by the same person it was $100 for the room. So much for honesty.

They didn't even spell my last name right on the sign pointing our guests upstairs. I had guests tell me they were laughing at that. NOT FUNNY for the bride and groom. Just embarrassing.

I called the venue coordinater about the issues after the ceremony and she blamed it all on me. Completely unprofessional and lacking any integrity.

Overall a terrible experience and would never recommend this venue to anyone.

Go somewhere else if you don't want your special day full of even more stress you don't need and wouldn't have at a venue run by people even...

My (now) husband and I selected OCC for our wedding venue, both ceremony and reception. Having lived in Oconomowoc for a few years, we knew this setting was just what we wanted - a lakeside ceremony with a reception hall for convenience to our guests. The view is absolutely beautiful, and the building isn't too bad either! We got a lot of compliments from our guests how beautiful everything was. If you aren't really into the idea of spending a lot of money on decorations, this place is for you. No need for decorations, when you have a beautiful view of the lake from the reception hall. Seriously, the only decorations we had were those on the tables - nothing else! We worked with Paige, who is an absolute sweetheart. She has overseen many weddings here, and can make a lot of recommendations for layout and just overall operations for the day of. I would strongly recommend this venue for your wedding - or really any kind of large gathering, like a company party...