06/11/2022
VENUE BLACKLISTED: As of November 2022 Allusion Photography will no longer be supporting Warehouse 109 in Plainfield, IL. If you have a booking at this venue we apologize but we can no longer support photographing here. If you are thinking about booking here you should check their negative reviews.
Okay...Okay...Okay lol. You are all private messaging me about this venue lol (so sorry, a friend asked me to come to her wedding yesterday and give her some pointers)! HERE IT IS...and the situation! Now before I go into this I need to set this scenario for you so you fully understand. MOST wedding photographers begin their day around 10am. We go the entire day on full steam ahead without sitting down and without breaks (I mean not even time to use the bathroom. We generally hold it until cocktail hour). So If you do that math cocktail hour is usually around 6p....That's 8 hours of standing, carrying heavy equipment, not eating or using the washroom. By the time we hit cocktail hour we just need a minute!
This past weekend I was at Warehouse 109, which I was pretty proud of because it is actually in my home city of Plainfield, Il. I'm not so proud anymore. It is now on my blacklist and I have no issues turning away any client getting married here. The owners of this place are absolutely horrible when it comes to the treatment of the vendors that come here. If you enjoy being treated like a dog...this is your place! I also looked at their negative reviews to see if this was just a one off...but it's not. This seems to be the case here. I'll just go down the list and you guys can make your own decisions.
1) Most venues have a table for vendors to sit during dinner just so we can get off our feet for a minute. I had asked where this was and she told me to go stand at one of the high-top tables in the corner. When I said I don't even mind sitting outside (and it was raining) she said, "no, you can stand over there". I let it go. 18 years of working with just about every venue I thought...okay...they are kind of new so fine...all of us found a couch and 5 of us squeezed onto the couch lol. It was entertaining to say the least.
2) They had a charcuterie station that NO ONE ate at during cocktail hour. I decided to grab some cheese because I was starving. They had these thin wooden forks...only good enough to push through cheese because cheese is soft. Just remember that part. At this time the caterer (who provides the food) sees us all sitting and says, "have you guys been fed"? I said, "no". He was super sweet and went to the kitchen and brought us all out food. We didn't have silverware though. I then asked the venue owners sister if we could have a fork. She said in a super mean voice, "NO, we don't do that for you guys! Besides you already have one!" as she pointed to the crappy wooden fork in the middle of the table that we were all suppose to share I guess. Again, fine, we ignored it and ate rice and Carne Asada with our hands until eventually one of their staff walked by, saw and offered to sneak us some. We all seriously felt like savages. At this point we realized this venue is not so friendly...there were some other small things but not big enough to write a book about.
3) This is the one that drove it home for me. Most of you know my history. You know my parents worked their butt off to get my sister and I in a good place. We did, went to a local college, both got great jobs and I now live in North Plainfield. I am proud of my family and how hard we have all worked to give ourselves and children the lives we have! I am proud of my home, the town I live in and my community! I LOVE IT HERE!!! Read this story all the way through because what I will say at the end will completely shock the hell out of you! The bride asked me to stay for a drink when we were done. In 18 years of doing this I never have done that. I refuse to drink at weddings! I told her that is something I don't do in the sweetest voice possible. SHE WAS INSISTSANT. Said she would feel insulted if we didn't. So my assistant and I said we would have one drink and sit outside by the fire while we did. Now I know for a fact they paid for guests that did not show up so the venue actually made money not lost money on alcohol. I go to the bar (where the owner, Clayton, is the bartender). I ask for 2 burbons and cokes. Nothing to get drunk off of and certainly nothing to break their bank. He said, "Aren't you the photographers? I said, Yes. He said well you don't get free drinks. You have to pay for yours! I said fine. I seriously didn't care. I thought it was petty but whatever. He stated that if he gave a vendor a free drink every time they had an event they would be out of business. I didn't say anything but what I really wanted to say was...you spilled more alcohol on your bar tonight than what you placed in that glass....I think you'll be okay! He asked me how long I had been a photog. I told him 18 years and that I am ranked #1 in the Midwest, #2 in the United States and #6 in the world. He did the ugliest laugh and said...yeah...you're the #1 and you live in Plainfield! I WAS SO SHOCKED!!!! I didn't know what to say. YEAH I DO LIVE HERE SO WHAT??? Does that make me less of a person? Am I not good enough to be here or too good? Either way a seriously crappy statement.
I worked damn hard to live in the house I live in. I have come so far in my life to lift myself up! I am one of the top photographers in my industry and now owner of one of the largest Photography education conferences in the United States that's held annually here in Chicago. He had no right to judge my lifestyle because I was in his venue...THE FREAKIN KICKER....I LOOKED THEM UP AND THEY LIVE HERE TOO! WTF????? Again, I wanted to cry but said nothing. I told him I drop off my images for them and they have my wedding albums in their sales room. He degraded that and instead of saying, oh thank you for that, he said...We have lots of peoples wedding albums in that room! Which I then said, it's fine...you probably don't need more then! After that point I walked away and actually cried on my drive home because of the, "where I live comment". This also pi**ed me off because not many photographers share their work for free to venues. They make the venues pay for them or not share at all. I always do. I always feel that everyone should help each other out. Without our images they would have to pay a company to come in and shoot their advertising images, which would cost them a hell of a lot more than a seat to sit in, a fork and a drink! AND that company wouldn't have to listen to their degrading comments.
I have to say I usually don't let things like this bother me. I know in this industry I give my heart and soul in helping others, charity work, mommy work, photography work and my photography community as well as my home community. I am proud of what I have done in my life and where I have placed myself in this world. I live with integrity and I value everyone who crosses my path. Respect is the #1 key to making it in this world. These people had none. 18 years in my career, I am at a place that I can pick and choose where I want to work and what clients I want to work with. I have a waiting list and those I cannot help I still reach out to and give venue recommendations and other vendor recommendations. I have spent the last 7 years of my life mentoring photographers on how to run their business and how to shoot out of the kindness of my heart. I don't charge for that. I WILL NOT, at this stage in my career, LET SOME VENUE TREAT ME LIKE LESS OF A PERSON BECUASE I WAS HIRED BY A CLIENT! As of Monday I will have them blacklisted on my site and all of you know the story here. This is not a place that will have my support and I will spend the rest of my career letting others know if they ask me about Warehouse 109 why I would not use it. You give what you put out in this world. The message they gave me on Friday was certainly crystal clear....all I will be doing is passing that message on FOR them! Again, read their negative reviews...I'm not the only one.
My message to you is DO NOT let someone disrespect you when you did nothing to deserve it. Stand up for yourself and your beliefs. If you do not, then they will continue to treat the person after you in the same disrespect. I cannot get behind that!
