Any experience with Aria for an in-suite reception?

bbuckner984

Happy Tuesday all, and congrats to vegasgroom on his new chief-dom. 

I tried searching through past threads, but have not come up with anyone who ended up doing their in suite reception at Aria. Does anyone have any experience here and/or know someone who has? Their hospitality suite is 2,000 sf, rents for $600 on a Saturday (May) and from what I am seeing on past threads, should be open to Masterpiece coming in. I just want to know if anyone has pulled this off with any success? Aria is very much our style- would love to be able to have it there. 

And on another note- I see a TON of people here have used Mike L photography. Comparison wise, how do you find his pricing? I love their pictures and creativity, just trying to work in a great photography package into our budget and want to know where they stand. 

Thanks! 

vegasgroom

Unfortunately I've only heard Aria mentioned for an in-suite twice, and you're not going to have much luck finding out info from either of those as naima143 had hers booked for the 4th of last month but then had to call off the wedding, and kazzy, who had mentioned booking Aria for it last year for a wedding in May of 2010, hasn't posted on the forums since then:

http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_mandalay-bay-media-vs-aria-hospitality-suite

I know several people on here have stayed there recently though, perhaps they looked at the place for an insuite.

Anyway, regarding Mike L, we used them for our wedding last month and thought they were perfect.  We booked about a year in advance and the pricing was very competitive, but they raised it as of new years and I'm not sure how the current pricing compares with other third party (aka non-resort) vendors.  I can tell you that if the cost works out for your budget, you can't go wrong with them, but there are several others often recommended on here that also have great reviews.

My review:
http://www.vegasgroom.com/category/vendors/#post-488

junebug61103

we had Mike L. They were AMAZING! When we booked (about a year before the wedding) we paid their old price...and like VG said, they went up, I believe 6 hour package is $1600. But I honestly believe they are worth every penny if its in your budget.

We also had originally booked the hospitality suite for an insuite...but our guest count increased and after a scouting trip by Sara (fellow knottie) we canceled and ended up having a reception on the North Deck at Trump. With the way the room is set up, only 30ish will fit.

HTH : )

bbuckner984

thank you both for your input. I hate to be the first, but if Aria works for our final guest count, I think I shall! 

I can't stop looking at the galleries on Mike L's page. I think that I might have to find a way to work him in, regardless of how his pricing works out. It would be worth it to have such amazing pictures. 

Sara191431

Welcome to the board!  Here is the link to my reviews on the suites I looked at:.   http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_scouting-trip-suite-reviews?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:91Discussion:bdff48e8-3395-4c3f-a554-ccadcf41efdfPost:942e1c5c-4f76-446b-af3d-7379683e4aa2

Everyone tends to have different opinions about how many people can fit in what suites comfortably, depending on how much sitting spots you want, just how much space in general everyone has.

Besides the roominess, the other issue I had with Aria, is that suite has a seperate elevator entrance that has a doorman that checks your hotel keys everytime you go up, this could turn into an issue.  I ended up talking to the only bride I know of that had her in-suite there, and she said if she could do it all over again, she'd have had it in another suite, due to the space and the key/doorman issue.  If I remember correctly, she had about 37 ppl (I think).

BUT, I absolutely love Aria, it's such a pretty modern hotel, and I also loved the room, but for us it just wasn't going to work.  We definitely will be staying there on a normal trip in the future though!

Good luck!  HTH

vegasgroom

We felt Mike L was the best match for us but many on here use Todd from http://wilson702.com/ as well and have been very happy.

benjillian

If you're keen on aria, why not use one of their restaurants?  Sage has a gorgeous semi-private room