White Shanty Venue — Attraction in Provo

I’m sure there are many great things this venue has to offer, but my experience with the management at White Shanty has sadly been quite terrible.

My fiancé and I were planning on having our wedding reception here and reserved the date without paying upfront with the promise and confirmation from management that if anyone else were to call for the same date, we would first be informed and a decision would need to be made. Having the money readily available, we were deciding on a few factors and would have been able to pay if we received a call. This didn’t happen though and this is where the escalation unfolded. Instead my fiancé received a phone call telling her about good news and bad news. The bad news was that someone else had taken the spot on the calendar and paid for the day and that we were out of luck. The good news was a courteous offer of 10% off another day, but with no Friday’s or Saturday’s available within the time frame we planned, this was a hollow offer. The day we reserved and organized was given away to someone else. Only after matters had gotten worse and the day had passed did they contact us with another desperate yet hollow offer, one to try and save their image. The offer was for a weekday such as Wednesday or Thursday at no cost. While this would appear an extremely generous offer, the timing of such took place at the end of the day, hours after our decision not to work with them had taken place. The management may claim “We did absolutely everything in our power to make it right” but this is not how things played out. Their defense is that since we hadn’t paid a deposit we had no claim to the date when their original statement and agreement with us contradicts their own reasoning and defense.

They further claimed again “We did absolutely everything in our power to make it right ... and even offered to cancel the contract of the people who had actually paid us money” which is entirely false. No such action was ever suggested but rather she expressed there was nothing she could do.

As can happen sometimes, the management at the White Shanty lacks common sense and the understanding of ‘first come first serve.’ This is all a learning experience though, it’s just a shame it came too late. Hopefully no one else planning a wedding reception here has to be treated this way, but with the lack of training their staff has, it wouldn’t surprise me if it occurs again.

I’m excited to see what the owners have to say in response to my review and if they take responsibility for their mistake, for surely the error was on their part. Note, I try NOT to blame others or make excuses, but rather be 100% responsible myself for the outcome of things I’m involved in; this is just an instance that where a business entity went back on their word.

To anyone reading this review and planning on having a wedding reception here I hope you the best of luck with the level of incompetence this venue’s management has demonstrated. The one star review was well earned.

Also, a note to the owner and team, please check your voicemail. The phone number listed for the venue has at full mailbox. Because you lack understanding of how things should be done allow me to assist you here. First you should check the messages. Next you should take appropriate action as to the inquires left on the messages. Last you should delete the old voice messages. Now get on that, as it’s just proving my point further of your level of...

There are several things you should know about the White Shanty and why I'm only giving two stars. I typically give 5 stars wherever I rate because I tend to see the best in people and places. This review is honest, and for all the kids in Utah who have a vision of what they want, it's important to have a realistic expectation.

Communications were shoddy at best. I would receive emails for someone else, and when I sent them back, they acknowledged they weren't for our wedding. Tying to arrange time to see the place is difficult. Texting and voicemails can go unanswered for days. I realize in Utah it's always prime wedding season.

The upside: White Shanty has the asthetics my daughter wanted and was close to the temple. The size made it possible for the photo bus and all the guests.

The downside:

My daughter's expensive $$$$$ wedding dress is literally black on the bottom because they don't clean. Her silk Italian shoes are so gross now.

It's not worth renting, and here's why:

We paid for extra amenities, including people, to "clean" for us. When we arrived on September 12, the place was not clean. Toilets upstairs were gross and hadn't been cleaned in ages. Soap was empty. The glasses in the kitchen were not clean. The bedding and curtains are stained. The floors were unbelievably dirty. The washer dryer door must be left open, driving further heat and noise.

The upstairs loft really the only place with natural lighting to get ready costs an additional $500 (which we paid) but know that you have to take the circular stairs to get upstairs - not easy in high heels and long dresses. The cargo elevator is the slowest I've ever seen.

They nickle and dime you to death. You are charged for everything - literally. Don't look at their storage area because they charge a ridiculous amount for each item. The chairs and tables - extra. They are also very narrow and uncomfortable for many guests. If a member of your party isn't aware of the nickle and dime factor, you could be slammed (like I was) at the end of the night with hundreds of dollars owing.

The kitchen is not cater friendly and is insanely small. My caterer knew this in advance and prepared accordingly.

The acoustics are awful. We had a professional DJ and sounds reverberate. He was unhappy. We were unhappy with the sound quality. Unless you're right next to the DJ, all you heard was loud, muffled sounds.

The outside area is really small and noisy because of the traffic.

Parking is woefully inadequate - heaven help you if you have people in your party with mobility issues. I had to literally go outside and stop traffic multiple times for people to get across the street.

I have been to many many weddings and hosted them as well. Look around. If you aren't set on the aesthetics, I promise you can spend far less and have much more. Many places include items on property for you to use.

I'm sad about my daughter's dress and shoes. The feedback from my guests was not great. The kitchen is a joke. The lack of cleanliness leaves me speechless. At the end of the day, the advertised price simply isn't accurate, and for all the stress, White Shanty is...

I was married at the White Shanty Venue and am completely happy with our choice! The owner, Natalie, is a dream. I had a lot of logistical questions leading up to the day, and Natalie was so responsive and helpful through both email and phone calls. She helped me brainstorm ideas on how to get a sign hung up on their boxwood wall. She was so kind in every single interaction I had with her.

After postponing our wedding due to the pandemic, we came back for a second visit closer to our new date, since we wanted a refresher on everything. Holly was there for our visit and then told us she would make sure she was working our actual wedding day. She was so helpful one day when I sent an email with an entire list of questions. Our wedding day went very smoothly. She had suggestions for details I wasn’t sure about, and helped me get a busser in last minute to help clean up at tables during dinner. She helped us decide where certain things could go, to help with the flow of the room. We had both our ceremony and reception there, so she managed flipping the room while we were outside taking photos. After we left, Holly helped my family discern what belonged to the venue and what could be taken home. Holly made our experience absolutely amazing and I would trust her for any event!

The venue itself is GORGEOUS and spacious. The whiteness of the space , the huge metal chandelier, and the array of plants offer a versatile canvas to do whatever you want with it. White Shanty offers in-house rentals, which was very convenient and reasonably priced. It was really easy. I marked off what I wanted on a form online. Then Holly got them all out for me the day of. The rental of the venue comes with your choice of an arch as well, which was a huge help. I’m always seeing on Facebook wedding groups that people are looking for arches, and it was nice not to have to worry about that.

The bride’s room is so cute, and the groom’s room had a laid-back feel where the boys could hang out. I was worried about there only being one men’s and one women’s restroom, but it didn’t seem to be a problem at all for our 100 guests. The venue has a kitchen with an industrial fridge. My bakery needed to bring the cake in the night before, and we were able to coordinate with the venue to hold it in their fridge. And we had room to store a few charcuterie boards when we arrived. The only weakness with the venue was that it got hot. But Holly was clearly aware of that and kept an eye on the sliding doors to make sure they stayed closed.

We got so, so many compliments on our venue choice! It was the perfect place for our celebration, and we are so thankful to the staff for making our...