The Bend Event Center — Local services in East Moline

I got married at the bend on 6/22/24. The venue was absolutely beautiful and the food was wonderful. While we had a great time, I was very disappointed by their coordinator, Angela. It would take up to a week sometimes to get a response, and I would often have to follow up with her before I would get a response. To my understanding she was not only running the Bend Event Center, she is also running The Rust Belt. I understand people are busy and I am not your only bride/customer, but time is so important when planning a wedding because so many other vendors depend on knowing some of this information as well. First, it was going to be 90°+ on our wedding day, so a week before we moved it inside. Angela forgot that we moved it inside and called my wedding planner the day of our wedding rehearsal and said she forgot we moved it inside and she didn’t have staff after 5:30pm. She said she had another appointment she had to be at so we ultimately had to rush through my rehearsal because there was no staff that could work it. Then comes wedding day. I rented out the Combine Room as well as paid the drink minimum which was $1,500 for my guests to have an open bar during this time. My guests were being charged! Luckily someone told me and I had my wedding planner fix the situation. I had requested two vegetarian plates. I will admit I ordered them only about a week before because it totally slipped my mind, but she told me it was do-able. The day of my wedding, there was no portabella mushrooms. She did have the kitchen staff make two right away, but what made me the most frustrated is when she told me “there was no email”… when she RESPONDED TO IT. After years of working in customer service, I would never speak to a customer like that. “I’m sorry, there must have been a mistake- I will have two made right away” is how anyone in customer service should have responded. Accusing me of lying when she made a mistake was truly just the icing on the cake. We were also told we needed to order Sauvignon Blanc if we wanted it, which it is my mom’s favorite wine so I happily ordered 6 bottles of Joel Gott. My mom ordered one glass which finished the bottle they currently had. When she asked about more, he went into the other bar and brought in more Sauvignon Blanc of a different brand. Why did I have to pay extra for this wine if they are able to bring it in from the other room? Overall, I am extremely disappointed. When we booked with Mykenzie, everything was in place and then we had to start from square one with Angela and truthfully, she was incredibly rude and condescending the entire time. She doesn’t care about the bride, she cares about the business.

Update on 8/2/2024 The Senior Business Manager, Harold, reached out to me to discuss my review and to sincerely apologize. We had a nice conversation and I appreciate...

Where do I start… wow! The entire staff at The Bend Event Center made our day and exceeded our expectations. From start to finish Mykenzie and her staff were helpful in more ways than just providing a venue. My husband and I were also on opposite work schedules so I can’t say thank you enough to her for being so accommodating with meeting times and response times as well. She provided tons of suggestions for photographers, bakeries, event decorators, and so on. Just about every vendor we hired came from a recommendation by Mykenzie - and all of them were just as amazing as her and her staff! The venue is beautiful and colors will coordinate with any palette you choose. The food was AMAZING! Our guests could not stop raving about how amazing their dinner was. Not to mention - my husband got some sort of stomach bug the day of our wedding and they were so attentive and understanding. They were able to stall the start of dinner until he settled enough to join us. Different staff members offered to make him whatever sounded good, but despite him not having an appetite he felt so taken care of. Talk about above and beyond! The location is incredible. Our ceremony was right outside at the park next door and our guests stayed at the hotel right behind the venue. Our guests loved that it was a park and play weekend and nobody had to worry about driving (plus more time to enjoy the day/evening). Bartenders, servers, and more were kind, enthusiastic and the most genuine - they were all part of our night just like our guests and we enjoyed having each and every one of them there! I cannot say thank you enough for everything and cannot recommend The Bend ENOUGH! If you’re looking for a venue - The Bend is hands down the...

We were so excited to have my sons wedding at the Bend, however, it didn’t turn out the way we had planned. The ceremony was held at the venue so they had to flip the room, but they wouldn’t move the florals or the decorative backdrop so my sister and I kicked off our heals and spent most of cocktail hour moving everything. For cocktail hour, we wanted passed hors d’œuvres but they refused to pass anything that had to be heated. What venue won’t pass a meatball or egg roll? The answer is the Bend. When dinner came, it was NOTHING like what we had tasted (our tasting was not pleasant but that’s another story). We had requested the roasted fingerling potatoes with sea salt and got boiled, flavorless potatoes. During dinner, my brother in law collapsed and one of the guests, a paramedic, yelled for an AED. Well the event coordinator had to google what it was before telling us they didn’t have one. He is fine today, but very scary! At the end of the evening, we had to pay an additional $500 to have the florist come back to collect their items because the Bend wouldn’t let them come back the next morning, disappointing!! Be wary of what they promise and what will actually...