Lack of communication with venue’s event Coordinator

That's not a good sign but keep in mind that COVID is still affecting businesses. I know our venue coordinator was laid off once the pandemic hit and I've been having to go through her boss with setting things up!

I would keep looking. I know that COVID has effected business, but I don't think that that is a good excuse for bad business practice at all. If he is ignoring/not responding now imagine how bad it would be after you signed a contract. That would be a HUGE red flag for me.

Even though COVID is around, this is not normal. They should at least be replying to your calls and reach out to you. If they are acting like this now and you haven't even signed a contract yet, imagine the headache afterwards! Keep looking would be my advice.

If it's just a few days I would be patient. The wedding season is winding down in areas, some wedding industry professionals have been laid off or are working reduced hours due to Covid, etc. If more than a week goes by without any sort of communication at all, then this would be a major red flag to me. A few days here and there could just mean an employee is busy or out of the office - a week or more without even as much as a vacation auto reply on their email or voicemail likely means that someone dropped the ball. If this is the level of customer service you are getting when they are trying to earn your business, I'd worry that there would be no communication once you've forked over money and they have you hooked.

I'd start looking elsewhere if you haven't heard from them in weeks. Even if there is an emergency right now (I do like to give people the benefit of the doubt), I'd worry that if something came up and your coordinator was MIA closer to your wedding that there is no solid backup plan in place. If you've called and emailed and left voicemails, give them a few days to respond, but after more than a week or two, I'd stop trying to chase them down.

If they get back to you with a legitimate reason as to why you were left hanging, feel free to say you find the lack of communication unacceptable and need assurance of better communication going forward if you are going to consider them at all for your event. For example, if there was a family emergency (this stuff happens sometimes), I might be willing to work with them still, but would want a detailed back up plan in place for assurance that everything would happen as planned for my wedding, even if the coordinator I had been working with had an unplanned emergency at that time.

I'd say move on and find another venue! If this is how the venue's coordinator is acting BEFORE you even book with them, imagine how he will act AFTER you book. Keep looking and try to find another venue that will have someone get back to you within a reasonable amount of time. The venues my husband and I looked at had their coordinators contact us back within 48 hours of our phone calls or emails for information.