1/5 Alex J. 7 years ago on Google
We
had
our
wedding
at
First
Congregational
Church
of
Detroit
in
July
2016.
Mainly
we
worked
with
Pastor
Cindy
and
two
staff
members
to
plan
the
wedding
and
the
weeks
and
months
before
it
happened.
Bottom
line,
we
recommend
against
First
Congregational
Church
of
Detroit
as
a
wedding
venue.
Please
note:
this
is
NOT
a
review
of
the
church
itself.
The
Underground
Railroad
Tour
is
awesome!
And
the
church
community
was
always
welcoming
and
kind
to
us.
This
is
just
a
review
of
the
church
as
a
venue/caterer
for
weddings.
Pros:
The
building
is
beautiful,
both
the
sanctuary
itself
as
well
as
the
rooms
used
for
the
bridal
party
and
reception.
The
dining
area
looked
great
with
napkins
decorated
in
our
wedding
colors.
And,
for
what
the
church
promises,
it’s
a
good
bargain
in
terms
of
price.
Unfortunately,
the
church
did
not
deliver
on
their
promises.
1.
We
had
the
misfortune
of
having
our
wedding
on
one
of
the
hottest
days
of
the
year.
The
reception
hall
itself
has
air
conditioning
units,
and
the
church
staff
assured
us
that
our
reception
would
be
safe
from
the
heat.
Not
so.
We
had
an
afternoon
reception,
and
it
was
a
sweltering
85
to
90
degrees.
The
air
conditioning
was
on,
but
it
was
apparently
not
at
all
up
to
the
task
of
cooling
a
room
with
140
people.
Our
guests
were
quite
uncomfortable
with
the
heat.
2.
This
created
a
significant
problem
when
the
church
caterer
did
not
have
any
water
available
for
guests
at
the
start
of
our
reception.
Our
guests
graciously
listened
to
our
speeches,
and
even
dry
toasts
by
our
parents,
without
any
water
or
wine
on
our
tables.
Members
of
our
bridal
party
specifically
asked
that
pitchers
of
water
be
brought
out
for
our
guests
as
the
reception
got
started
around
1pm.
But
the
church
was
slow
to
address
this
issue,
and
it
was
over
an
hour
into
the
reception
before
all
our
sweltering
guests
had
water
to
drink
at
their
tables.
This
happened
despite
the
fact
that
we
discussed
ahead
of
time
with
the
church
that
drinks
be
at
the
tables
when
our
guests
arrived
in
the
reception
hall.
Many
of
our
guests
left
earlier
than
they
would
have
due
to
the
heat
and
lack
of
water.
3.
We
paid
for
appetizers
as
part
of
the
church
catering.
We
discussed
ahead
of
time
with
our
church
contacts
that
the
appetizers
be
available
at
noon
(around
when
the
ceremony
ended).
At
the
end
of
the
ceremony
(~noon),
we
told
our
guests
they
could
file
into
the
reception
hall
for
some
snacks,
but
there
were
none
when
they
arrived,
creating
some
confusion.
The
catering
staff
put
out
the
appetizers
around
12:45pm,
only
a
few
minutes
before
we
asked
everyone
to
take
their
seats
to
start
the
reception.
The
church
catering
staff
even
covered
up
the
appetizers
with
plastic
wrap
and
took
it
out
of
the
reception
early,
with
most
of
it
left
uneaten.
These
were
our
biggest
concerns,
but
there
were
quite
of
few
other
problems.
Throughout
the
wedding
planning
process,
Pastor
Cindy
and
the
staff
all
assured
us
that
they
have
extensive
experience
with
weddings,
and
that
they
were
prepared
to
pull
it
off.
We
want
to
emphasize
that
the
community
at
First
Congregational
Church
of
Detroit
was
kind
and
welcoming
to
us,
but
we
are
not
able
to
recommend
them
for
weddings.
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