Pinegri-la - The Trinity Mountains Resort Wedding Venue near Mt. Shasta LIES, STEALS & DISRESPECTS your wedding group Castella California

I'd like to start off by saying I am and ex-employee of Pine Gri La. 
My family and I have worked for Pine Gri La since the mid 90's and the last
three years of my employment were spent working exclusively on wedding's,
primarily as their wedding cake maker but also worked in food prep, site prep,
clean up and guest services.  I have been involved in almost every aspect
of the wedding routine and policy at Pine

Gri La.



I'd like to first address the issue of this brides comlpaint that her 79 year
old grandma and 83 year old great aunt were "forced" to make thier
own Bunk beds.  I asked Beth about this after I read the
report because it sounded like blatant lie.  She said one of her staff was
indeed asked to help make the bed this brides grandmother and was told by the
staff member that " we don't do that".  She then explained that
she was not told about this request and had no knowlege of the problem until
she received an email from this bride after she informed her that she would not
be receiving her cleaning deposit because of damage done to the cabins by
wedding guests.  ( Should be noted that the deposit was returned after
John and Beth learned that it was the eldery grandmother that put up the
deposit even though during clean up staff found wine stained rugs, vomited upon
linens as well as other damage)   I know from being present at many of
Pine Gri La's wedding that the staff and especially Beth and John go out of their
way to accommodate the wedding guests.  This staff member's actions were
completely out of charater for the Pine Gri La staff and had Beth known at the
time this happened this employee would have been severly
repremanded.    Wedding guests are allowed to choose their own
sleeping accommodations or are assigned sleeping arrangments by either the
bride and groom or a designated member of the wedding part, not Pine Gri La
staff.  So why were her elderly family members in bunk beds to begin
with?  There are Six cabins on site and each has at least one queen size
bed.  As far as the staff "forcing" her elderly relatives to
make their own beds, the family members and or guests that shared that cabin
should be considered just as guilty of "forcing" her grandmother and aunt
to make thier own bunkbeds.  This leads me to believe that either, like
Beth, the other people in the cabin were unaware of the situation or felt it
wasn't a big enough problem to offer to help these ladies.



As far as the claims of dirty cabins and Beth's unprofessionalism, every bride
and groom that book weddings with John and Beth are invited up to tour the
facility before deciding on weather or not book their wedding at Pine Gri
La.  This bride was given a guided tour by Beth when she came up
for her tour and went all over the facility and through every cabin.  If
the facility at Pine Gri La are as bad as this lady described and Beth is as
unprofessional as she claimed in her report, why on earth would she decide to
book her wedding at Pine Gri La?



During the three years I worked weddings at Pine Gri La no guest was ever been
told to "go to bed".  If fact I have been present at at least
five weddings where the guest stayed up enojying their friends, family and
music until long past sunise the next morning.  I asked Beth about this
and was informed that as I thought their policy had not changed.



As far as the claims regarding the insurance issue made in the report I can't
comment on beacuse I have no knowlegde of Pine Gri La's insurance requirements.



In closing John and Beth have a wonderful facilty and pride themselves on
making sure that their wedding guests have a wonderful experience.  This
is probably one of the reasons that so many of the bride and grooms married at
Pine Gri La return for anniversaries, family reunions and continue to stay in
contact with John and Beth for years after their wedding day is over.  One
of the reasons you probably won't she many rebuttals in Pine Grii La's defense
from these happy couples is because they already had a great wedding and know
all about Pine Gri La so they won't be Googling it and won't see this
misleading rip off report.  If, after reading this, you still have
reservations about Pine Gri La as a venue for your wedding or special event I
encourage you to contact John and Beth, come see Pine Gri La for yourself and I
am sure any fears you have will be laid to rest.  It would be a shame to
miss out on an amazing experience because of a misleading review you read on
this website.



Jennifer- Davis Ca.

I should start this out by saying that my fiance and I have not gotten married at Pinegri-La yet but we have signed a contract with them, and our wedding will be held in August of 2011. 

When my mother, fiance, and I made the four and a half hour drive North to Castella to tour Pinegri-La, we were greated by Beth, John, Jennifer, and Beth & John's two dogs.  When we toured the site, Beth showed us around for the first half and chated with all three of us about the site, as well as had a lengthy convorsation with my mom about garndening.  Jennifer gave us a tour of the cabins, which as the other reviewers have already said, were yes - rustic, but also charming and clean.  I am not sure that you would expect anything different after looking through Pinegri-La's website!?

After our tour, we were offered water, which we recieved in giant colorful glasses, and I mention that because it was just one more touch to make our visit nice and causal, nothing pretentious here!  After we took a short hike to the honeymoon suite, which I don't have time to get into how cool that is, we were brought into the main office.  The three of us sat and talked with Beth, John and Jennifer for probably about an hour about life and love.  We asked a couple of questions and then went on our way.  Although we weren't planning on getting married untill early 2012, after visiting Pinegri-La, my fiance suggested that we push up the date to late 2011.  He is not one who is easialy moved by anything, so this says a lot.  A couple of days later we booked the site, as well as an extra day just to enjoy ourselves!

Now to address the first reviewer:

1. Cleanliness: Nowhere does the site boast Disneyland clean, at least not anymore, but it was very, very clean! The lawns were beautifully manicured, and the flower beds were filled with tulips and snapdragons, among other flowers.  The concrete walkways were totally clean and not grungy at all for survivng winters and years of weddings there. 

2. Lodging: The fees are so reasonable, that I had to triple check with the staff for their accuracy.  They include all your meals while you are there as well.  I am not sure why you would see the pictures of the cabins and expect Disneyland.  They are more reminiscent of a cabin in tahoe or in the mountains, because, well, thats what they are.

3. Curfew: Like I said, I have not had my wedding there yet but what I do know is that they have had all sorts of crazy weddings ther including a burning man themed wedding with fire dancers, I somehow doubt that thy have a problem with curfew. 

4. Insurance Policy: There is no mention what-so-ever of an insurance requirement on either the website nor the contract that I signed. 

5. Beth: I can not even begin to explain how helpful Beth has been so far.  We signed a contract in September, and I have been in contact with her a couple of times this month and at least 20 times total so far.  She or Jennifer have always been fast with their responses.  I was having a problem with one of my relatives, I called Beth to ask her some advice about it, she talked to me for about a half hour about this problem, and left it at: "Don't worry, I'll deal with it."

6. Money: The first reviewer says that Pinegri-La got every last dime out of her.  I have inquiered about a couple of fees or charges listed on the website, many of them Beth has told me to forget about.  They provide s'mores for you on Friday night as well as a keg of beer.  Their prices are very reasonable, just check out other venues fees and costs and you'll immedietly see what I am talking about. 

I can't help but think that the first reviewer had something happen to her that she felt extremely disrespected by, but honestly based on my interactions with Beth, John, Jennifer, and the other reviewers comments and experiences, I can see that the problem was most likely with this particular person, not with Pinegri-La.  I cannot wait to get married at Pinegri-La, I know it will go smoothly and perfectly because of my preparations, but more importantly because I trust Beth and her Staff implicitly.