VIP By La Fontaine Reception Hall — Local services in Houston

I want to start by saying when we first toured La Fontaine last year, we were over the moon. Cristian was our sales representative and he was so kind and we were very excited to finally have found our dream hall. The reception space is very beautiful and their packaging prices are very affordable. But our excitement started to fade once we got more into the planning process of our wedding. Our contract stated that 4-5 months before our event someone would contact us regarding our food, decoration, and cake appointments and we were never contacted. My husband and I contacted Cristian numerous times and he never responded. We tried to be understanding due to covid, so we thought it would be a good idea to go to an open house. We went to an open house and talked with a man named Joe only for him to tell us that "Cristian no longer works with La Fontaine". My husband and I were a little shocked and confused because no one had reached out to let us know that. We also explained how nobody had gotten ahold of us about our appointments and Joe asked us when our date was. (It was in December the open house was in August) and said "Oh well you can contact Natalia, here's her information." It just seemed kind of off and I eventually reached out to the general manager Samantha because it was really off-putting. Samantha was very sweet and understanding, she also explained that Cristian is still employed there he's just working from home due to covid. I also reached out to Samantha about scheduling a rehearsal/practice and she took my payment for the practice and said it was booked for 6:00 the Tuesday before my wedding and when my family arrived they said two people told my mom that they had no idea there was a rehearsal and that "we close at 7, and we're leaving at 7." Which I understood, I just had my bridal party working late and 6 was the only available time but the lady that was working literally stood in the room waiting for us to finish our rehearsal. Natalia did reach out to me and she was very friendly and professional. The hall was so beautifully decorated. She was able to answer my questions and very responsive. But I made updates along the way with how many chairs I wanted for our ceremony and the day of there was not enough chairs. I had changed the count from 30 to 50 and the staff that day said they were never informed of that change. It was frustrating to say the least. We used Xiomara as our wedding cake vendor and she was also very friendly! Our cake was beautiful and delicious. I was truly in love with our cake. We used La Fogata and the food tasting was great, the food the day of was just as good as the food tasting. But the day of the wedding my husband's chicken had a black piece of metal that cut the inside of his mouth. The day of coordinator said she would talk to the caterer and asked us if we wanted another plate but at that point we both just stopped eating. My husband's mouth bothered him for the rest of the night. The Day Of Coordinator confused my family and I because she really didn't seem to coordinate anything, she came up to us to tell us we should cut the cake. All the other times I just saw her standing in the corner. I just assumed she would be more involved. Overall, our experience with La Fontaine wasn't horrible but it wasn't as amazing as I was expecting. I think the lack of communication between La Fontaine and my husband and I and between the La Fontaine staff themselves was just really what was lacking and missed the mark but we still enjoyed...

Vip-A review. We had a Sunday, May 2018 wedding reception here. We did not have the ceremony here.

Booking: booking was easy and simple. Just be advised, for VIP A, you cannot get 200 guest in there and still have a decent sized dance floor. So consider that in advance. We had 170, with the photo booth, and it was TIGHT. I wish I had known this prior. Laurens was also a pleasure to work with. I signed up during The Bridal Extravagenza and got some awesome deals.

Decor: Decor came out very nice. We did opt for some upgraded lines and upgraded plates. A huge plus for me was dealing with Guadalupe...she was VERY patient with us. I would suggest that La Fontaine invest in a actual sweethart table, we had to have our own day of coordinator bring his own small sweethart table from his own business. La Fontaine only offers a rectangle table or a huge round table (10 person).

Service: A huge CON that stands out for me was the Bar service. Guadalupe was also behind the bar working her butt off...but she was alone. We were told the VIP A had 2 bartenders. I only saw her all night. The line was soooo long, it was wrapped around tables. That is a huge NO for me. We had to delay some of the timeline until the line got down. Don’t get me wrong, she was working so hard. But they just needed more bartenders. I suggest if you have a crowd that drinks a lot, pay for extra or something. At times, I wanted a drink but didn’t want to deal with the line so I passed. It was horrible. My husband and I met while working catering...so 30% of our guest still in work catering service..So this was embarrassing. However, there were tipsy people...so they were getting served. We will have to tip Guadeloupe, someone should of went back there and helped her out.

Just so you get the whole picture.. we had a adult-only, 170 person, and we are in our early 30’s. If this applies to you..get extra bartenders.

We were told by Laurens, we also have it in writing, when booking in Jan 2017 for our May 2018 wedding that adding an extra hour the night of was $500. Well, the night of it was an issue, they wanted to charge $700. The coordinator had to call Laurens at 10pm at night to confirm...it seemed like a big hassle but prices may have changed in the 18 months.

All other service areas were great...from my perspective.

Food: Food was great. I only wish we could of had the choice of offering our guest 2 entree choices. We were told that wasn’t an option by the food vendor. We were able to pay extra for hors d’oeuvres to be passed during cocktail hour.

Our vegetarian guest raved about the stuff bell peppers. They had great options.

Cake: The 2 cake vendors offered are 5 star. Edible design by Jessie is what made me book with this venue. I didn’t personally like how my cake looked but that has nothing to do with La Fontaine. I will leave them a separate review. However, it tasted delicious.

I am satisfied with VIP La fontaine and I am happy I went with them. I feel like I saved a great deal of $$ going with them. I would book them again. Also, we did have our own coordinator help us out. Some things may or may not have been smoother without one. I will post pictures once the professional...

If I could give this hall 0 stars if I could. Let’s start off by saying my sales rep was amazing. Unfortunately she had to leave due to maternity leave. Since there the experience went downhill. We never got no one else to communicate or answer any questions for us. Then the decorator manager was nice but he did many fishy things. First time we got quoted he said we receive 50% If we took off less than 3 things. So the next time we went to pick our decoration and sign paper he switches it to 40%. After addressing him he says it was never 50% or maybe it was an older quote. Im sorry but that’s a mistake on your end NOT MINE! After that we tried to be patient. Then he said we could reach out to him if we had questions or concerns to his email or number provided. I had a whole month trying to get a hold of him, email, phone, calling their office and it was always excuses. Point is we paid everything and the day of my event comes. Multiple things we payed for weren’t there. Nobody communicated that with me until I went and told the manager on duty. Then she says my items got damaged and was too late to bring them. First of all, we are talking about items I PAYED FOR! Don’t you think yall should’ve gave me an option for replacement or offer me a refund? Then the security sucked!! He was letting his own friends come and drink during my event. What type of service is this? We spent more than 10k with La Fontaine!!!! Then I reach out to the manager Luis & he seemed like he cared and started investigating and even offered a meeting to sit down and talk. After that he told me to give him about a week for my refund. Is been a MONTH since my event and he literally ghosted us!!! I’ve been calling the office and somehow he’s never available. This is very unprofessional on his end. We were always on time with our payments and appointments. But now that’s it’s about MY money they want to act dumb. Oh but let it be them adding stuff for your event for an additional charge. To whoever it may concern, I want my money back! We had a contract and la Fontaine definitely broke it. It’s a scam. I will more than likely reach out for a lawyer & believe me they will lose more than what they could’ve easily refunded. DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM! Terrible experience. I am really disappointed about this venue. It took me months to find the perfect hall for my event. And just when I thought I picked a good one, I wasn’t aware it was going to be my worse nightmare. It was...