I just got married last weekend and want to share some reviews on here since I found them so helpful while planning. I'm going to start with the venues for this post.
Flamingo Gazebo Chapel - B+
Overall I had a good experience with our final wedding coordinator here, but did end up working with 3 of them. The first one gave me some conflicting information about pricing and I didn't feel like communication with her was going well so I requested someone different. The second coordinator was great, but moved on to a new position so our final coordinator was Jazmin. She was very responsive and overall I liked working with her.
I think one of my main complaints is universal for a lot of the wedding venues in Vegas, but I feel like it's still worth mentioning. The outside vendor fees just seem excessive. I chose to go with my own photographer, because we got more for our money overall. The company they contract with (Imagine Studios) was going to charge a lot for additional photo time and rights to a DVD of the pictures. It was worth the vendor fee, but $150 is still a lot to not use a service. I also had a family member play the keyboard for my music. I was charged an outside vendor fee and an additional charge to use the keyboard.
I also want to mention that if you're getting married here while the pools are open there will be DJ music in the background. When we met the coordinator the day before our wedding I noticed the music and asked about it being turned down or off. She assured us that the music to the pool would be turned off for the ceremony. What she failed to mention was that the music would only be turned off at one of the pools. The other pool nearby has an outside DJ and they have no control over that music. I really wish she had just disclosed this so I knew what to expect. One of our guests came to ask about turning down the music as I was about to walk down the aisle and that's when I was told that there was nothing they could do about it. If I had known that, I probably wouldn't have paid extra for my own music since you could still her the DJ music on top of the keyboard.
The venue is absolutely beautiful and tucked away which is nice. Our flowers were beautiful and exactly like the pictures I sent. Everything also went as scheduled and was ready when we got there. The officiant they provided did a nice short, but sweet ceremony which is exactly what I was looking for.
I also want to add that we did order the webcast option for 5 days. I was worried about the quality of the video when we ordered it, but the picture and sound were really clear.
Ri Ra Irish Pub at Mandalay Bay - A+
I can't say enough good things about this venue. I feel like I found a hidden treasure, because I don't see it mentioned very often. We had a reception dinner in the Parlour Room which can fit around 40 people. It's a cute private room with a really cozy feel to it and has it's own bar and entrance to the kitchen so it felt like our own space. The event coordinator, Paula, was amazing. She was really patient and accommodating. You could tell she wanted to make sure that I had the perfect reception.
The pricing is also great. There was no venue fee, just a food minimum. We had a 3 course meal with 3 entree options and 3 sides served family style for an amazing price. They also did cake cutting for free even though the cake was from an outside vendor. The bartender/server was great and with us until the end of the night. Live music started at 9 pm so we didn't have to worry about entertainment or a DJ. I wasn't really planning on dancing at the wedding so just the live music was perfect for us. One of our guests asked if we could have a party there every year.
We were also able to bring in our own decor/centerpieces that the restaurant staff set up for free. I just dropped it off and showed Paula how I wanted it to look. The room was perfect when we got there. They provided a microphone for speeches and we were able to play music from our phone for free until the live music started which was nice. I know some of the venues I looked into charged extra for these items so it was a bonus.
I'll review some of our other vendors in another post later