Sage Event Center

Sage was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made before… hands down; sold us a dream! My fiancé and I chose Sage for our wedding and put our deposit down in February. We should’ve acted on the first red flag… the lady handling our wedding only took cash no credit, debit, check or money order. She also raved that the ceremony room rents for $ 12,000 and the grand ballroom at $ 23,000 and gave them both to us for under 10. It hindsight it was almost as though she wanted quick money just to put in her pocket at the end of the day. This was our first wedding. we didn’t know what to expect and really was just excited that we sealed the venue. We continued to call up there every month which was extremely hard to get a hold of anyone had to call up to 3 days at a time before anyone answered to make our cash payments.
Last month we called to meet up to drop our monthly payment off and some other lady answered and told us April had been fired. She had been double booking events and they couldn’t disclose any more information. They then told us the Sage is closing. Naturally, we panicked and asked what they were going to do about the money that we’ve paid thus far which is $ 4,000. The lady said she’d ask her boss. It’s been over a month, we’ve called them back and left several messages and have not received a response. My fiancé went up over there to speak to someone just to find the handles of the place chained up and the place completely cleared out. There was nothing in the building.
Not only are we $ 4600 in the hole… I have to find another venue with a much lower budget for the date we had planned. Several people have booked flights already. I knew a we would go through a lot of stress but never in a million years did I think out venue would just close on us like like this. It’s really sucked all the joy out of one of the most important days of our lives!
I would NEVER recommend them to anyone. Even if they open up again (they have a history for closing and reopening). Stay far away!

This would’ve been a nice place except for the staff was very rude and not very accommodating. There are 2 different sides in the inside pretty spacious but there should be more areas for bars and more staff to ensure there is less of a wait. The manager was clueless as to what was going on. There is a parking lot next to the facility be sure to have cash

I am writing my first Unilocal review in several years because I hope to warn others to avoid business with this venue at all costs.
I attended a New Year’s Eve wedding hosted by a very detail oriented & classy bride & groom (& their respective families). While, I had a blast because of the fabulous friends and family, Sage Event Center bungled the night every step of the way, starting with cocktail hour & finishing with the last dance.
At cocktail hour there was one bar set up for over 300 guests & even then the bartenders said they were «out» of red wine and other libations.
Dinner took several HOURS to be served. We arrived to the dining hall at about 8:30ish & many guests had still not eaten by 11:00 PM!
The «event coordinator» employed by Sage was rude, aggressive & completely clueless as to how to run an event. She barked at me to sit down & when I politely asked her where table 23 was (I couldn’t find my table being the reason I had not yet sat down), she barked again that she didn’t know & ran off.
STAFFING:
I only noticed 2 – 3 people «running» food for 300+ people. One being the coordinator, herself.
2 bar stations & 2 – 3 bartenders.
No one to cut wedding cake or pass out slices.
The main problem could be attributed to understaffing, so yes, it was a huge problem, but it didn’t stop there.
FOOD/​DRINK:
Our water glasses on dinner table, empty all night until my husband got up & found a pitcher of water on other side of room, & filled them.
My father RSVP’ed for a fish dinner (option on invite) & was told that «they were out.» However, I never saw fish dishes served at any of the tables, which leads me to wonder if they ever had it in the first place. My vegetarian dish consisted of cold rice and potatoes. One guest was told that they did not have «child plates» for her child, while I personally witnessed my nephew served a «child plate» with macaroni & cheese & chicken wings.
The bar did not have cups stocked for beer.
When I asked the bartender for a soda or non-​alcoholic drink, he rudely responded that they didn’t have any. I said «What about water?» & he gruffly poured me a glass of water.
THE COUNTDOWN:
Being NYE and all, I expected the DJ (who came with the venue) to announce some sort of countdown at midnight. He did not, which is ok because many people on the dance floor began shouting their own countdown. What bothered me, however, was that the DJ did not have the common sense or awareness to at least turn down his song a little during the countdown so that we partygoers could experience the anticipation & release that comes with the typical countdown to the new year.
BATHROOM:
At least one of the stalls in the women’s bathroom had a hole in the wall/​divider where a toilet paper dispenser once lived. Now, a sad roll of paper sits alone on the floor next to the toilet. Sanitary?
THE UPSIDE:
The architecture & size of the venue are nice.
— — — — — — — — — — –
The other upside, that had nothing to do with Sage, was that the bride & groom/​families/​friends/​guests were all incredible, loving, & fun!

Let me just say, I had an amazing time at my best friend’s wedding but the management was atrocious. The head lady in charge could not have been ruder to the guests and told lie after lie about why the service was so screwed up. And not screwed up in the H-​Town sense, just plain bonkers. This is a fantastic location with a nice interior so they do not have to do much to improve the guest experience.
I humbly request that someone fire the lady in charge (if nothing more than for her wretched attitude and complete lack of communication skills) and hire more servers, who actually tried their best to handle what they were faced with. I am guessing there was a staff of about six for a wedding of close to 250 people. I will end where I began, because of good friends and loved ones we had more fun than a barrel full of monkeys, in spite of the staff and venue manager.

First, I’ve never had to deal with anyone at Sage, we attended a company Holiday party so my review is from that point of view. This place is okay. Unfortunately, at first we had to wait forever to get our water glasses filled. They were filling glasses at empty tables before they finally got to us. The food was really good though so that’s a definite plus. Unfortunately, some of us had some cold dishes. Not sure if they weren’t in the warmers long enough or what. The décor of the place was good. The staff was good when serving our food. The bathroom I was in, did not have the toilet paper on rolls. They were stacked on the floor!!! Very unsanitary. I would attend if a party was scheduled here but, personally, I wouldn’t book an event myself.

* I became engaged on June 6, 2014
* My wedding coordinator and photographer suggested venues that fit my budget and based on those stipulations, we visited several venues. The venues we visited were ones that both ladies worked with in the past.
* I contacted those venues to set up visits, including Bella Elegante.
* Photographer and I visited Bella Elegante and spoke to Vera. She gave me details as it pertained to the location (included in the emails I sent you) and based on that information, after speaking with my parents and my fiancé, I chose Bella.
* Wedding coordinator and I visited Bella again on July 28 to finalize the contract. I asked Marshae to attend with me because as the wedding coordinator, I needed someone that knew the in’s and out’s of the industry to make sure that I was getting what I asked for.
* We met with Andrea on July 28 and signed the contract. I gave her my mom’s debit card number (with her permission) so that she could scan the card. She did not have a credit card machine or a square for mobile scanning, but told me that she would process it immediately and shred the card’s information.
* The card was officially charged the 20% deposit of $ 3,200 on July 30^th.
* I asked my wedding coordinator to contact Bella last month so that we could go over some logistics, as I had some questions referring to set up, the cake, food, etc.
* She set up a time in late October for us to visit Bella. I went there on a Saturday at 9 a.m. for our scheduled time and no one was there. It was dark inside and after calling the Bella number and Sage number, there was no answer. There was no indication that the venue was permanently closed. I called Marshae and told her to check on it. Marshae spoke to someone at Bella and they said there was a ceremony they were planning that day and somehow the wires got crossed. They apologized and send we could reschedule and would get back with her.
*Wedding coordinator had bene contacting them but no response.
* WC called me on last Friday, November 14^th, around 2:30 p.m. She told me that while completing the tasks that I requested she called Bella and the number was disconnected. She then checked the website and the domain was gone. She became worried. She called Sage and no answer. I was beyond confused. She said she would check into it and call me back.
* She called back around three hours later to say that she posed a question on Sage/​Bella Elegante on her Houston event planners forum and an event planner responded saying her client is suing Sage in small claims court for the very reason I plan to.
* I drove to Houston from Port Arthur the morning of Saturday, November 15^th to visit two newer venues. After the second venue, I googled Sage Event Center and located their Facebook page, located here:
. I found the phone number and I called it. After the fourth ring, «Sarah» answered. I explained to her that I was very upset that I had not been able to get in contact with anyone from Bella concerning my wedding and that I was told that location had been closed. She apologized, asked for my name and info and claimed she wasn’t in the office, even though that was the number that I called. She said that Bella was no longer Bella, but Sage Event Center. That the location had a new name. I told her that I was not informed of the change. Again, she apologized. I also gave her my WC ‘s number. She claimed that she would go and pick up my folder and call us first thing Monday morning. That call took approximately two minutes, and I have the call log saved in my IPhone. I placed that call at 1:25 p.,.
* Suffice it to say, she never called. I called Sage on Monday, November 17^th at 10:37 a.m. and 11:41 a.m. The phone rang at least 8 – 10 times, with no answer.
* My wedding coordinator said she did not receive a call either. She said that she believed the only reason «Sarah» answered the phone on Saturday was because my number was a number she didn’t recognize. Once she recognized the number, she wouldn’t answer.
* After speaking with my mother and WC, I chose to pursue legal action in order to not only get my mother’s money back, but for the mental anguish this has caused me. I had everything planned and together as it pertained to the venue on July 30^th, and had my wedding coordinator or I not been on top of things, I could just imagine how far this could have gone.
–NEVER, EVER, NEVER, USE THEM AGAIN!!!

If I could give a 0 star I would. We began discussing contract and finally put down a deposit towards the beginning of May. We informed the coordinator there were a few amendments to the contract we needed input at that time as well (which we still haven’t received in writing). We were told by the coordinator that the facility was undergoing a ownership change (peeviously Bella elegante) and that once the smoke setteled things would go alot smoother. Since our wedding is in April of next year we decided not to worry and press on the subject and wait it out. At the beginning of October we began trying to get a hold of the event center to coordinate our colors as well as discuss room block at the hotel for our numerous out of town guest. After numerous phone calls, voice mails, emails, and Facebook messages we lucked out and someone answered. Unfortunately it was not the same same coordinator as before, she stated she «Had no clue where our file was» but reassured us she would call back the next day with a meeting day to discuss colors as well as information on room block (this has still yet to happen). After 2 more weeks of emails and voice messages we finally received an email acknowledging us but deflecting every question and concern we had. In this uninformative email we were also made aware that we would now be held responsible for providing cups/​glasses for our drinks as well as plates. Upon receiving this email my fiancé immediately responded for someone to please contact us back (which of course didn’t happen). We decided to go down in person to the event center to which we walked up upon what appeared to be a deserted facility. The front door had a disturbing amount of mail collected on the floor as well as the secondary entrance had a pad lock and chain… I advise you DO NOT do business with these people.