I am not too active in these forums, I do read a lot but do not post much. But I feel like I HAVE to review this venue because there are really no up to date reviews or photos of the Stratosphere, and I really do not know why!!
Ceremony - Stratosphere (bigger chapel) PERFECT A+
Our wedding was on Monday, 8/8/16 at 6pm.
Our ceremony was short and sweet, but so beautiful and touching. So many guests came up to me to compliment me on the sweet words, and said how they loved how short it was lol.
We had a wedding of 47 people, including ourselves. Not sure if that's larger than the average wedding at the Stratosphere, but the chapel held everyone perfectly, plenty of room to breath and extra room for photos in the back. Also, the chapel was recently renovated. Any photos you see online of the yellow ish décor is outdated - it's all silver and modern now and totally stunning. See my pics below if you're interested. Also I totally recommend evening weddings here. Our ceremony started at 6, so the sun was starting to set in our photos, and we got to see the lights all night long- so awesome.
Reception - Twilight Room at the Stratosphere A+
The room fit us all perfectly, we had 6 tables (around 9 people per table) and a sweetheart table, and we fit amazingly. We did not have a dance floor, we just had a nice dinner with an incredible view. Not having dancing was one of my biggest worries, but seriously, it was the perfect atmosphere for a fancy dinner with an amazing background and good conversation. I had absolutely nothing to worry about. We had the room from about 7-9:30 and it was the perfect amount of time. We chose the second dinner option with 3 courses, and I got SOOO many compliments on the food. It was legit amazing food, I wish I had more of an appetite and could've eaten more lol I was just so worked up from the excitement!!
The cake - A+
SO STUNNING! Might be a little expensive, I am not sure what the average costs are for cakes for about 50 people, but if you are traditional like me, and wanted those cake cutting photos, then it is so worth it. We got white cake with chocolate mousse filling - omg so amazing and so many compliments.
Cashman photography - A
Okay so the photos are really great quality, our photographer was fast and funny and knew how to get a lot of shots out of a short amount of time (about an hour including ceremony). We got about 170 shots. My only issue with the photography is the cost!! When we went to view our photos the next day, she said to get the disc of all the photos (which is what I really wanted), it would be $1400! I said absolutely not. So my first piece of advice is, do not be afraid to haggle with them! She then got it down to $800, and I still said no. Our package came with 12 4x6 prints, so I picked them out (she gave me a few extra too), and told her I'd think about the cd and be back the next day. The next day I went in and told her I couldn't do more than $400. So she finally said $575 is the lowest she could do. I told her it was still a lot, so she gave me like 25 4x6 prints, 2 11x13 and one 5x7 for $100. And she said if I changed my mind about the cd, I could let her know within 90 days and the $575 price would still apply. I honestly might get it because I am a sucker for photos lol. So they will work with you on price! I talked to a woman named Debi - seriously so sweet and understanding!!
Since we just had the ceremony and dinner there I don't have any other "grades", I'll just comment on some things that I think are worth mentioning. Firstly, our coordinator Jamie was seriously AMAZING! So accommodating, so easy to communicate with, and I was kinda picky so that is really saying a lot!
We did the Stairway to the Stars package, and I do think it is the perfect package for a couple who wants a small-medium size wedding. If you're looking for pure elopement, then maybe one of the simpler packages would be your thing.
I really don't know why there aren't more reviews or pics of recent weddings online. I can't even begin to tell you how hard it was to find ANY recent pictures of real weddings here. If you are even considering having your wedding here, DO IT. I was originally worried about the fact that it's off strip, that it's in a less than desirable area, that it might be tackier in person, that it would be cheesy wedding music - you name it, I worried about it. But it was none of that. It was seamless, classy and elegant. Also, all our guests got free wristbands to ride all the rides at the top for free which was cool, a bunch of people did which was fun to watch at the end of the night lol.
At the end of the day what I really wanted was a wedding that made all the traveling worth it for my guests, I did not want something that I could've done here at home in PA, like any old banquet hall or church. But at the same time, did not want a cheesy, Elvis wedding, which is what I think everyone was expecting lol. I don't have an ounce of regret, I wouldn't change one thing!
Here is the back part of the chapel where we took a lot of photos after the ceremony.
The amazing cake
Here is us walking back down the aisle right after the ceremony, you can see how pretty the up front area is where you stand
Here is a pic of us on the observation deck - hot outside but totally worth it!! Stunning one of a kind photos.
If anyone is thinking about having their wedding here, and you want photos of something specific (I have a TON of pics from every room we were in ) or has any questions, just let me know! I want to help other brides out bc I would've LOVED to hear feedback from someone who was just there.
thanks for reading!! 