Hi all,
I feel like I'm a little late getting to my reviews, but here I am!
Bloom Destination Weddings
I went to a local wedding trade show, and was terribly disappointed with the experience. There was nothing relevant to a casual wedding experience, and nothing relevant to a US-based destination wedding (everything was Mexico or Bahamas). However, I did manage to end up with a business card (and an awesome reusable tote) from Bloom Destination Weddings.
I dropped an e-mail to Catherine, and after bouncing off a number of ideas and eventually ruling out a Disney wedding, we decided to move forward with a Las Vegas wedding. Catherine was amazing in letting me bounce ideas off her and giving her opinion. Eventually we booked our room block at the MGM Grand as well as the Skyline Terrace through her, as well as recommending many of our guests to book through her. She was amazing, super prompt, scored us some amazing deals, and calmed me down a number of times when I started to freak out about my booking, etc.
I strongly recommend anyone looking to do room blocks or the like to reach out to Catherine at Bloom, ESPECIALLY if you're Canadian. She let me price shop in both currencies and did an amazing job:
https://www.facebook.com/BDWeddings/?fref=ts MGM Grand - the regular stay
We were greeted with a massive line when we landed on the Sunday before our Tuesday wedding. We were backed up in a crazy zig-zag line back almost towards the lion at the hotel reception area, but it only took about 20 minutes to get through. There was a bar and two tables set up with complimentary water bottles, which was a nice treat. Our check in process for our room was easy and simple, and we were put in the Grand Tower in a Tower Spa Suite (we got an email to upgrade for $14/night, so we jumped on it.
Our guests were placed all over the hotel, as many didn't book through the room block. My parents and brother were in the North Tower, which they found really sketchy to find but was a nice room. (Their check in process took about an hour.) My MOH was placed in the West Tower, which she said was nice enough, although she said the room was a little awkward. All of our other guests were in the Grand Tower, so we often used the fountain as a meeting point.
The only hiccup we had with the rooms in general is that our Best Lady had a screw-up with the charging on her hotel room. She had thought she had arranged it to be fully charged on arrival, only to find out nothing had been charged and she was stuck with an $800 charge on check in. We got involved, had the deposit waived, and a lack-luster apology from management for the glitch and that was good enough.
MGM Grand - the wedding night
We only booked the Skyline Terrace suite for a single night due to budget constraints. In hindsight, we should have done two nights, just because we were a little rushed in terms of the photos and getting ready.
We requested early check in, but knew it could not be guaranteed. While we were at dinner on Monday night, I decided to call Stay Well Lounge (fancy-pants check-in) and ask if we could find out when we would get the early check in. The woman was very nice and said to come by in the morning at 10:30 after check-out; if the suite was vacant the night before, we could have immediate access, or they could give us an estimate. Phew, one less thing to worry about!
Tuesday morning rolled around and we went down at 11 to speak with check in. They explained that at the last minute, the room that was set for us was checked out, and would need to be cleaned by housekeeping. But, they gave us the keys (and wouldn't give us the room number) and told us that we would get a text message with the room number if it was ready before 1 (and to call otherwise).
I was concerned about the view and said that we were having a family gathering and wanted the better view for photos (trying to avoid the word "wedding") and were told that our options were a south-facing (better view) with half a terrace, or a north facing with a full terrace on the top floor. We took the full terrace, and the view was still amazing, even if it wasn't full strip views.
We met up with the Best Lady and the MOH and had a bite to eat and the three girls went to the pool for an hour while Dan (groom) went up to the room to rest. Just as I got up to the room at 1 and was calling the Stay Well Lounge to get the room number, Dan got the text message and off we went to the room.
We past housekeeping as we got the suite and were warned that the carpet in the living room had just been shampooed, and to stay off it for half an hour. A piece of art was missing from one of the walls, but it was only visible from the stairs, so not a big deal. It also had a different bedroom decor than what I was expected.
Everyone loved the suite and we had an amazing time. Checkout was easy. I was far too hung over, but my mom and husband (HUSBAND!) just asked housekeeping how they wanted us to bag the garbage (we had brought trash bags). Apparently they handed them their own and asked to double-bag in those garbage bags instead. We left a tip and a tidy room and after trying to figure out how to check out through the TV, found out we were already checked out.
After looking back at our charges, we never were charged early check in. Win!