Everything was a success and everyone that came had a blast!! I can't thank you knotties enough for all the help I had in planning this. I had so many compliments about the planning, but I couldn't have done it without this forum.
Spirit Airlines (C+) We were able to get a super good deal on airfare with Spirit. We knew we would have to buy our bags online, otherwise even larger fees would apply, but we figured it was worth the effort. It turns out the baggage fees were a lot more than other airlines (Alaska) that we had flown earlier this year. Not only did you have baggage fees, but in order to guarantee seats next to the people you’re traveling with, you had to purchase your seats. This was $5-$20 extra. Also you can almost never get anyone on the phone through customer service and if you do its hard to communicate with them due to their accent. I had to contact them about my Dad’s cpap machine that they said needed a doctor’s note. Which turned out to be not true. But the plus end is that they were actually really nice when you checked in and on the plane. They also ignored the fact that we were over our weight limit ( a mere 4o pounds), and didn’t ask for my 23 month-old’s birth certificate, which Alaska had definitely hassled us about. Not a great airline for flying to a destination to get married, but it might be worth it if you are traveling light. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Flamingo Hotel (C) We had a terrible experience with the first room we got when we checked in at 2 am. Our plane was late and so we just barely made it before they cancelled our reservation. Our room (FAB deluxe) they gave us first was disgusting. The whole floor was gross and smelly. I had my 23 month old and I wanted to get out of there asap. It didn’t look like anything they had online. So FI went down and told them this wasn’t the room in the picture online. They said, “Oh we didn’t give you a renovated room?” They gave us a new one, which matched the picture, but was still pretty haggard. And they didn’t get us a King bed, because they were out. So we ended up upgrading to the best they had ($30 more) to a GO deluxe with a view. FI’s mom came to the rescue and paid for it. It was better but still nothing special. The thing about the Flamingo is that needs renovation everywhere, but its cheap for its location. I wanted to be close to Caesars’ because that’s where the ceremony was but I didn’t want to pay $200-230 per night. All in all it served its purpose for being convenient, yet the best bang for our buck. The trick is to check in as early as possible to get better rooms. We had a lot of friends staying there and they all got fairly decent rooms, better than our first and second rooms. I didn’t get a chance to go to the pools, but I heard they were pretty decent.
Joe’s Seafood and Stonecrab (rehearsal dinner) @ Caesar’s (A) Excellent fine dining establishment, with great service. We had great food and endless drinks. We wanted a room to ourselves but they didn’t do that, but it didn’t matter because the food and service was top notch. The only reason I didn’t give it an A+ is because they wouldn’t let us bring in flowers to decorate the table. It wasn’t that important to me, but the FI mom is an avid entertainer and is obsessive about these kinds of things. It was a huge frustration for her.
Elite Transportation (after rehearsal dinner) (B $120 per hour) We rented the “Insane” limo, which was a black Ford F650. My FI was all about this because he drives a Ford F250 and he thought it was great idea. I personally would have gone for their bigger limos because we had 28 people(ish) and we barely had enough room, but he liked the F650 aspect. This was a blast!! Everyone had a great time including all of the parents and my 23 month old. The baby was even dancing on the stripper pole. Ha! The driver took us down to Fremont Street and we danced for the show, then we went down to the Vegas sign and took pictures. That was all the time we had in 2 hours if you can believe it. The initial reason we rented this limo was because the double decker bus was already booked that night. I probably would have chosen that instead, but it was really fun. I didn’t like the fact that they wouldn’t give us any choice in music. It wasn’t terrible, but I remember making a request and they would not budge. Plus the guy seemed to give me a little attitude about things. It’s hard for me to remember because we had already had numerous drinks at dinner, but the guy hassled us about payment if I remember correctly. When we booked we offered him our credit card, but they said no, it’s not needed, but then never told us they took only cash. It ended up being fine, but they weren’t very upfront or communicative.
Caesar’s Palace (A++ $1150 + upgrades) I elected for the basic Bella Luna Package in Juno Garden. My communication with my coordinator didn’t start off well. She never sent the initial informative email that the manager of the wedding department had promised. The manager said after I booked my coordinator would contact me in 3 weeks. I waited 2 months or so and then emailed them back. She immediately emailed me back info on all upgrades and other important information. I emailed her one other time in the year (plus) after I booked, and that was because I needed to schedule a rehearsal and I was told to do that far in advance. She again didn’t respond until I wrote back again and cc’d her boss. But as soon as 6 weeks out came around, she was on the ball. We coordinated everything very quickly and she responded almost immediately at that point to everything. I was still worried though about how it would all come together with her, but when I arrived for the rehearsal she was really great right off the bat. She was calming and extremely nice. Then the day of the wedding she was great also. She managed to get my non-cooperative 23 month old to get his suit jacket on and his flower pinned on it. My flowers were amazing, and I was in love with my bouquet. Everything went perfectly. I had a 7 pm ceremony and it was dark, so it turned out to be really beautiful. I can’t wait to see pictures because I was so nervous that I didn’t get to take it all in.
Bell Trans (A+ $304) I had two 28 person shuttles to transport everyone from Caesar’s to Mandalay Bay, then one 28 person shuttle for two hours after the reception. They were there on time and tip was already included. No complaints or issues. I remember at the end the driver kept calling to see if we wanted him to stay longer. We may have paid for an additional hour, but I don’t remember at that point, and they had told us in advance if we needed them longer they it would just go on our card that we gave them when we booked.
Mandalay Bay Vista Suite (A+ $546) Everything turned out great with the Vista suite. I had so many fears about this aspect of the wedding. We only had it one night so we didn’t get much set up time and the FI had to do it all with the help of his groomsmen. If I did it again I would get it for another night to lessen his stress. But it was a great room and view. He was able to check in early for a fee (not sure what that was) and the staff was extremely helpful with all the alcohol and decorations they had to bring up on the luggage carts. However, I noticed in the morning that the furniture wasn’t in the best of shape. So I could understand why someone might have thought it was a little run down, but it wasn’t a big deal at all. You couldn’t see it that night. Incidentally, while FI was setting up he moved all of the food items that are charged to your bill if you take them, to under the counter so no one would think they were fair game. We then put them back before we left. But apparently they are on sensors so we got charged for every single one. Even the booze. It came to about $300 plus. We called them later and had them take it off and it ended up being no big deal. The other down side was that it got really hot in there. We had a dj and maybe 35 people. Everyone was dancing by the end of the night which created a lot of heat lol. We had no complaints about noise or any issues from staff. Room 31135.