LANGKLOOF ROSES DOUBLE BOOKED MY FRIENDS WEDDING!!!

The most shocking service I have EVER heard of.

My friends, Rebecca and Damon, got married at Langkloof Roses last weekend. They booked and paid for three days- to check in on the Friday, have a braai with their guests, use that afternoon to set up for the wedding, and then for Saturday morning to be chilled and have an easy day getting make-up/ hair/ ready, and then have a peaceful wedding on Saturday afternoon, and wake up on Sunday to breakfast provided by the venue in their beautiful setting.

IF ONLY THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED.

They arrived at the venue on Friday afternoon, all excited and ready for what was meant to be the best weekend of their lives, only to realise that the wedding party from the Wednesday before had stayed on and were staying that Friday night- agreed upon by Langkloof Roses! Essentially, their first night was DOUBLE BOOKED. I kid you not!!!! Langkloof Roses then **** to my friends repeatedly, having them sit there in the reception with their families for HOURS, telling them they would move out the other party, meanwhile the manager Meagan was taking the other party plates so they could set out their lunch- no intention of moving them at all! This not only *****ed my friends’ wedding, but also the wedding of the bride and groom who were already there- this was not their fault at all, LANGKLOOF ROSES HAD TOLD THEM THEY COULD STAY!!!!! When someone else had ALREADY BOOKED THE VENUE! AND PAID IN FULL, MONTHS BEFORE. The venue then proceeded to call the police and have them come in to remove the other party, eventually deciding it would be too much trouble, and letting the other party stay on (who hadn’t even paid for the venue in full yet, while my friends had, months before) and telling my friends THEY HAD TO MOVE TO ANOTHER ACCOMMODATION! All of their guests were supposed to check in to Langkloof at 3pm, they were now all waiting around not knowing where to go. Langkloof roses made a big show of saying how they were doing them this big favour finding them alternative accommodation- when really, it was their fault to begin with?! The alternate accommodation was not nearly as nice, cheaper (my friends were not refunded the difference) and did not include breakfast for the guests- which my friends had already paid for at Langkloof Roses! And then had to still organise for their guests at the other venue, essentially meaning they paid double for it.

Once moving to the wedding venue the next morning, they arrived to find not all of the rooms were clean, and their guests had to once again wait outside for hours while this was done. Due to having been moved to a different venue, they weren’t able to set up for the wedding the night before, and so the BRIDE AND GROOM SPENT THEIR WEDDING MORNING RUNNING AROUND SETTING UP!!!! This is not how ANY brides deserves to spend her wedding morning, one of the most important days of her life! She was then late for make-up and hair, which made everything else run late. The venue also FORGOT that the bride and groom paid ahead of time for lunch to be delivered to the groom and his groomsmen, the bride and her brides****s, and the vendors, as they were all getting ready. They eventually brought the food to the Bride after her having to ask for it multiple time, AND NEVER TOOK ANY FOOD TO THE VENDORS. Despite it having been prearranged, and already paid for!! Can you imagine arriving to your own wedding, starving? Or having all your vendors grumpy because they’re trying to set up in the heat and are being denied food? SHOCKING!!!!!!

Then we get to the actual wedding… honestly, I don’t know how my friends managed to enjoy it at all, but they put on brave faces and tried their best! BUT I DOESN’T END THERE, oh no! The wrong wine, and wrong amount of wine was put on tables despite confirmation and printed menus. The waiters did not top up champagne throughout the meal or speeches as requested. This sounds like a silly thing, but my friends had to pay the venue for corkage for all of these bottles- only for half of them not to have been drunk, because the venue didn’t put them out! ***?! Were they refunded for this corkage? Of course not, don’t be silly.

At midnight, the groom himself had to personally stand at the gate of Langkloof Roses for ages, opening and closing it to allow people to leave and shuttles to get in, as the gates were not being managed by the venue, despite them knowing this was happening.

And then the Sunday! Oh no, we are not finished yet! IT GETS WORSE. I am so shook writing this I actually cannot believe this happened to them, it’s horrific. After an absolutely disastrous wedding weekend, a weekend which should have been the happiest of their LIVES (!!!!!!), they came out for breakfast (which was prearranged and PRE PAID FOR) and saw lovely tables being set up. They thought “Oh wow, this is nice, they’re trying to make up for the Friday by making it nicer than usual”. BUT NO. It was not for them. THE VENUE HAD DOUBLE BOOKED THEM AGAIN, AND BOOKED A BABY SHOWER OVER THE TIME OF THEIR SUNDAY POST WEDDING BREAKFAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Langkloof Roses had seemingly forgotten that they were paid to make breakfast for my friends and their 45 wedding guests. After rushing around to get it together, they provided one medium dish of scrambled eggs and one medium dish of sausages. This food was consumed by the first five guests! The staff claimed they were making more but in actual fact they were too busy catering for the baby shower guests who had now arrived, and were also being inconvenienced by all of this unnecessary drama. THEY WEREN’T EVEN GIVEN COFFEE?! The morning after a wedding? Good lord. Eventually the **** of honour and **** of honours mother WERE IN THE KITCHEN OF THE VENUE, HELPING OVERWHELMED STAFF COOK THE BREAKFAST. I AM NOT KIDDING. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED. WHAT ON ACTUAL EARTH???? While the BRIDE AND GROOM were running out with plates, serving their guests!

We saw our friends that Sunday evening as they needed someone to talk to about this, and they were in such a state. It should have been a magical, wonderful weekend, instead it was full of stress, anger, and emotional trauma.

Langkloof Roses single handedly RUINED this wedding.

Oh, and to top it all off…. I’m only writing this review a week later as my friends being the gracious people they are, wanted to wait to see if the venue would offer a full refund, or a discount, or something. ANYTHING! Even an “I’m sorry”. But no! The owner has finally responded and said that no refunds will happen as she believes they met their contractual obligation. EXCUSE ME?! They didn’t offer them a free weekend away, some money off the wedding, NOTHING. Not even an apology. This is absolutely unacceptable. I personally think they should be refunded for their entire wedding, seeing as it was completely and utterly ruined.