I am writing this as a result of receiving my FIRST one star review since opening our doors, It was like a knife in my chest! I read it over 10 times trying to make sense of the incident. We believe bad reviews are a teachable opportunity, so we take them seriously, but this was a total bash fest.

How do you know when a review is biased? The honest answer is, we never really will. The best advice I can give, is to do your homework. I know I say that ALL the time. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it.

If you're like me, when deciding where to eat, see a show, find a place to crash... (especially when traveling) I look to yelp, the bbb, trip advisor and other sites dedicated to business reviews. For the most part, I look at the pictures and the first 3 or 4 reviews. If a review intrigues me, I dig in, so to speak, Narrowing down my choices to 3 or 4 helps me decide. Then all that's left is to experience it myself.

Testing the waters is not an option when it's your wedding. Reviews become our window into a company's soul. Having said that, reviews tell us three things, 1-who the consumer is, 2-who the business is and 3-what customers SAY they have experienced. It is your job to find out if the gripe is real, perceived or was handled satisfactorily.

I say... TRUST that you can find intel from reviews. Prepare your questions and contact the business. Express your concern over negative reviews and listen to what they have to say. Sometimes a business won't even know the review exists until you tell them about it. Like in my case.