First of all, Agnes (Agie) is amazing. She definitely has a talent to be in the industry. As soon as the wedding started running late, Agie was there. She helped and went with what we suggested. She kept me, as the bride, calm. I absolutely adore her! If my experience could be based only on Agie, it would be a 10/10.
I would like to to address the following:
1. The tasting was amazing. Food was beyond delicious however what we received on our wedding day was completely different. The only meals that tasted the same or better was the pumpkin, spinach, lamb and rice. The sauce was definitely not a creamy garlic sauce. The beef was very dry and the noodle salad was horrible and not the same noodle salad that we had at the tasting. The noodle salad on our day was so sour and all our guests complained. The desert was top tier. My husband and I were both very disappointed with what we wanted vs what we got. Most of our guests had an upset stomach the next day, although we have no proof, I am absolutely sure it was something to do with the food.
2. Buffet: while we paid R30 extra per head, which I feel is very unfair considering you as a venue should quote clients a bit more to work in the price if the meat and food prices goes up, half of our guests didn't even get lamb to eat. When I asked you guys to bring more lamb out as some of the guests haven't had, the only response I got was the staff pulling up their shoulders and saying it's finished. WE PAID FOR 75 GUESTS, WHERE ONLY 56 WERE CATERED FOR. 6 guests didn't attend so how was there not enough if 6 people didn't even eat at the wedding. Highly disappointed in a 4 star venue.
3. Service: I had to beg for chairs for our DJ multiple times and they only gave them a little while before the wedding started. My flower supplier had her sugar drop as she is a diabetic. The staff were so slow to bring her something to lift it. I do not expect the venue to be babysitters to our guests, but as we paid almost R60 000, we wouldve hoped for quicker service, and the poor service is absolutely blowing my mind.
4. Costs: so may hidden costs which I feel should be discussed longer before the wedding or stipulated in the contract.
5. Decor: the table cloths were dirty and ripped in some places. My maid of honor even asked me if we had a cheap package as it seemed that we had received all the scrappy decor/linen for our tables.
6. Manager's Attitude: when accolades made the mistake on our invoice in April 2025, Grant had the audacity to tell us that we want to take Accolade's money and it looks like we want to steal from the venue. My husband and I was raised in a Christian home with Biblical values and i felt like he just stepped on that without concidering how we as the couple will and did feel in that moment.
Overall I will NEVER ever reccomend Accolades to anyone as it was not up to par and a waste of our money. Accolades is money hungry and they do not care about their clients. There is a handful of staff that i really want to thank for all their hard work. If it wasn't for all the things that pissed us off about the venue itself, it would've been an amazing day I would do over and over again.
