The Bell Tower on 34th

We had my daughter\'s wedding at the Bell Tower last weekend (5/5/12) and couldn\'t be more pleased. Angie was our event producer and she was so amazing. She walked us through every aspect of planning the day, the taste testing, and the rehearsal. The day of the wedding she never left our side, seeing to the room set-up, placing center pieces, wrapping menus in napkins, overseeing staff. Her presence brought assurance to us that everything was being handled with grace and poise. She was absolutely amazing. The venue itself was breath taking; like stepping into a bride\'s dream. As a matter of fact, my daughter described The Bell Tower as her \"dream venue\". We felt like the entire day was out of a movie of perfection and beauty. The room and readying accomodations were outstanding and the staff was at our every need with a smile. The food was excellent. Our friends are still complementing the food a week later. The chef did an outstanding job in both taste and presentation. I can\'t say enough! It\'s a ten all the way!!

If you are lucky enough to have an event here then you will know what I am talking about. This place is amazing. The money was well worth it. Lezlie was the best. She made our wedding what it was and without her we would have been lost. She did an amazing job and I would recommend using her if you have the chance. What a time we had. Thank you guys for everything!!!

HANDS DOWN- there is NOT another venue that can compete with this one in Houston, Texas. This place is beyond beautiful and it's just what I imagined for my wedding day. The staff were professional and attentive, and I can't imagine having my wedding anywhere else! Thank you guys for making The Garrett wedding on 12/04/11, a day to remember forever.

This place is amazing I had my wedding here and everything was perfect! I had a rough time at first with a woman named AVINA do not use her. I was then advised Lezlie Mayhan was my new planner and she was FANTASTIC! I loved her we were able to fix all of the mistakes that had been made previously. She made sure everything was taken care of and we were all where we needed to be. Anytime I had a question she had a great and quick answer. If you choose this venue please ask for her.

This place is AMAZING, I would definitely recommend this venue if it is in your budget, it's breath taking! The only thing I thought was weird was the sound in the venue, it doesn't absorb sound so music and speeches just echo throughout the place and no one can make out what is being said. Other than that... its great!

The Bell Tower is a full service venue that caterers to the wishes of their brides and grooms. Lezlie M. was our account manager and she was a dream. I wouldn't have managed without her. From the day we signed our contract, the Bell Tower's team were a pleasure to work with. The only complaint that I would have is that some guests complained about small portion servings at dinner. However, a few asked for seconds and were promptly given to them. Overall, the Bell Tower did a superior job.

The Bell Tower was love at first sight! The venue is simply beautiful. My husband and I wouldn't have chosen another location. Everyone was very kind and great to work with. I love that they offer many things from uplighting to the dinner menu and if they don't have it they will surely point you in the right direction. I love the Bell Tower!!!

Thank you so much Bell Tower staff and Leslie! my wedding was simply elegant and beautiful :-) I went with a sunday brunch theme and everybody is still talking about how it was the best wedding they have ever attended. I am so glad I found you all.

Wow! This place was breathtaking the minute I walked in! I was in love!! After considering other venues we decided to go with the Bell Tower. It is not cheap by any means and it was pricey but I dont regret it one bit. I have seen many brides talk about how this place is a wedding factory and its not a personable place however be REAL! Of course there are many wedding here as well as other special events-it was made for this! I have also seen that its too expensive and that you have to use their vendors. I agree its on the higher side of the budget but there are ways to make it work. For instance, having your wedding or a Friday night and lowering your guest count and having a buffet vs. seated dinner. We cut corners that way and still had a BEAUTIFUl wedding that our guest continue to compliment us on. The only services we used through the Bell Tower was their catering and alcahol. Their food was AMAZING!!! LOVED it all. They offer tastings for your menu and its well worth it! I was allowed to bring in all the rest of my own vendors so I had no probelms with them being flexible. Angie was our planner and did a great job! She listened to everything and executed every detail. As well as made sure we had a drink in hand all night. This place is so beautiful and I will always remember our wedding and how The Bell Tower on 34th St. made it so memorable and special. If you are set on this venue please talk to them and see if they can work with your budget..you wont regret it! Jess

I am extremely pleased with the service that I received from The Bell Tower on 34th! There is no denying, this place is awesomely beautiful!!! When I first visited The Bell Tower, I knew I had to have my wedding there! The Bell Tower is very much "by the book." This was a bit frustrating at times, considering other venues are more lenient about certain details. However, I can't complain because my wedding turned out beautifully and in the end, I got exactly what I wanted! Leslie G. was such a pleasure to work with! She is very kind and patient and she really looked out for me! I know for certain that my wedding wouldn't have turned out as wonderfully as it did, had it been anywhere else!

Avina was fantastic, she was very easy to work with, and never got upset when I changed my mind a million times. The ceremony and reception were amazingly beautiful with all the candles lit and the water wall shining. The venue is gorgeous although a little pricey well worth it. There is so much beauty in the space you can save on decorations that you would need for other venues. Gorgeous, great venue, the wedding went on without any flaws.

The Bell Tower was very great. The facility looked really nice for the wedding. Angela Igo spent many hours with me planning the details. She was very organized and supportive.

Overall, great venue. It was the most beautiful place I found in Houston that met all my wedding needs. Rather new, and with all the details, it will truly make your day feel that much more special. The owner's wife, Angela, is great to work with. I was a picky bride who knew what I want, and she made it happen. The one down side is that you are required to do your catering through them (or pay an additional $8000 on top of your other catering) and the quality of food was just not there. The largest problem to me was that the food that I tasted during my tasting, did not look or taste like the food that came out on my wedding night. It was the classic banquet food with poor preparation. So that was a major let down, but oh well, the venue was great.

Everything is stunning inside this venue. It is a truly beautiful venue. The food was absolutely great!! The lady I was working with through the Bell Tower was also great, Yvette. She worked with me on everything and was very professional yet personal. I, hands down, love the venue and cold not have asked more as the venue is stunning. I had a few problems, some could have been helped and others couldn't. I took my brials at the venue as well and had to do my hair, make-up, and first hour without electricity. I was sent to another part of the venue where they did have electricity and had to open the doors for outside light because it was a very dark room. Houston heat is hot if you can imagine. ALSO, I signed a contract with the venue in May 2010. In this contract it listed all the liquor, beer, and wine, I'd get with my package. Well, come almost a year later they changed their liquor, the liquor I had changed to their GOLD package (I had the premium, one below GOLD). Needless to say I got the cheaper brands rather than what was in my contract and had already paid for. I had to ask the venue to keep the Johnny Walker Red and just let the rest go despite my contract. I had many people come internationally from Venezuela (where my Husband is from) and and they are huge Johnny Walker drinkers. I previously asked to upgrade just the JW Red to JW Black but was told no, I'd have to purchase the entire upgrade, which was an additional thousand dollar, which for the most part I had when I signed my contract excepted JW Black. So, after all of that we got the JW Red but all the others tequila, vodka, rum etc. was down graded when my contract stated otherwise. I even called and asked the Owner, Rodger, myself, he is the one that told me no. I didn't understand that as I was willing to pay for the Johnny Walker Black upgrade... I should have gotten money back for downgrading my alcohol list. Another small thing was they didn't give us the cake plateau back (which was an accident) so while in Hawaii on my honeymoon my cake people called and said I needed to return my plateau. I had to send emails to find it knowing I am being charged for not returning it in time. My mother went into the hospital the day after my wedding so she was unable to find it for me. That is a quick fix but still sucks I have to pay a fee. Just have someone picked out to ask for it at the end of the wedding when you get your cake... I previously wrote a review for them that was not so great... I did this with an additional thing that went majorly wrong with my entrance, however, I spoke to that other vendor and they clearly stated it was their fault not the Bell Tower.

I was very nervous throughout the planning stages of my wedding. Everytime I came back to the Bell Tower to follow-up on something, my heart was at ease again. This place is wonderful and even if your decorator or lighting was so great, the beauty of all the details about this place would make your wedding beautiful. My one complaint would be the fact that the shades outside did not work. I wished that my event manager would have just told me it would not be fixed in time instead of giving me false hope. I wanted a dark, warm, candlelight ceremony, and would have modified my plans if she would have been honest with me about the shades not working. I do want to give recognition to Sherry for a superb job. She was nice to work with on the day of the event. She was responsive, understanding, and very helpful. I would definitely recommend the Bell Tower to every Bride. The place is truly magnificent.

The wedding turned out great but I did have a hard time getting answers to my questions. I was worried many times through out the planning. You will have to hire a "day of person" to help stuff run well on the day of your wedding. YOur on your own the day of the wedding. Read the small print....everything adds up.

I am having quite a dilemma while reviewing the Bell Tower, just as I was confused by their behavior and service. Let's start by the positive points: the room that we rented (Chandelier Ballroom) was amazing at night, and just the right size for my 60 guests. The setting is very unique and makes a statement by itself. If you are looking at a beautiful place, then you probably want to check this one out. But before you do that make sure the read the remaining of that review! Our coordinator there was Lezlie Mahan, and she was great and helped a lot during the event. We had a lot of special requirements, especially regarding our first dance (We had a dance with lifts and dips in it and therefore I had to change my dress, and I didn't want people to know about it. Lezlie and our DJ were amazing in helping us disappear secretly and come back at the top of the stairs...) Also, Lezlie set up the chair sashes for free in the last minute because the florist decided she wouldn't do it after all. I am very thankful that she did this, as she wasn't obliged to... The staff was polite but unfortunately took forever to serve the wine and wasn't very responsive to our guests' requests. But let me tell you now about the negative points. Let's start with a rough truth: generally speaking everything went well, but don't you expect that when you pay $35,000 for a 60-guest wedding (I am talking about the whole wedding, not just the venue of course)? Well, I did, and I was a bit disappointed. First, I was 1 hour late for my ceremony at the church because of my hairdresser that didn't show up, and even though we caught up a little we were about 30 minutes late when we arrived at the venue. Well, we were told upon arrival at the Bell Tower that the kitchen were closing already and that it was not their problem if the food was cold (which is probably not what you want to hear when you are freaking out already)... I mean, we paid about $7,000 for the food only and extra money for late staff already, isn't it normal that they wait for everybody? I think it is! Also, even though the room was paid for until 2:00am, they started to take the flowers and the tableclothes off when some of my guests were still here, around 1:20am. This is just unacceptable to me, and I think it would upset most people. But the thing I am the most upset about is how unresponsive Lezlie was during all the preparation process. I am a very detailed-oriented person that always gets everything ready weeks, if not months in advance. I also knew from the beginning that I would not have any PTO from work the weeks before the wedding and needed to have everything ready asap. Well, I am not exaggerating when I say this: Lezlie took on average 3 WEEKS (yes, I am very serious...) to reply to an email in which we were asking her things as simple as to update the contract, or if she could do a few vegetarian meals. It also took forever to her to ask the kitchen staff if they could use our pi-shaped ice trays (how hard can it be to put water in a ice tray and serve the ice). We also send her our credit card information more than a week before payment was due, but she didn't process it and almost required late fees because of that. Let's also mention that it is impossible to have an appointment there other that between 11:00am and 2:00pm, which is terrible timing for a working bride! I literally had to take a PTO every time I went there! It was horribly stressful and complicated to prepare a wedding there, and even though everything was beautiful, never again!!! Also, the area of Houston they are located in is really a little freaky and I honestly was a bit ashamed to invite my CEO there (even though you won't notice it as soon as you are on the property). Generally speaking I am happy we chose them but let's be honest, it was VERY expensive, VERY stressful and probably not worth it, and I am a bit surprised I didn't see any other brides complain about their lack of responsiveness because that's a major issue. It is not because the place is gorgeous that you can't be objective! If you love to have things ready well in advance and think that when you are putting lots of efforts and money into something, it is normal that you have good service and return, then do yourself a favor and just don't use them.

The new lady who just took over right around my wedding in July is extremely rude and doesn't care even if it is the day of your wedding. They have a very strict rule your vendors can only have 2 hours to set up before your wedding which is not enough time for anyone. I had to pay extra for an extra hour to get ready because 2 hours was not enough for my girls and I to get ready. I heard from some of my vendors they will not be doing anymore weddings there because of their inflexibility and the new lady in charge and her attitude. They take forever to get back to you , charge you alot and make you wait arround for appointments. Though the place is beautiful it's not worth the staff.