Meet and greet help please! Thanks in advance!

CAJLondon

We have 40 or so guests from the uk coming to our destination wedding in June 2012.

We were thinking of having our meet and greet at the Sunday Jazz brunch @ the Wynn CC but they only take reservations for up to 20....and a lot of other venues have quite high $1500++ minimum spend.

So thoughts are turning into a suite-based catered m&g where we can have a little more control over the budget and we are thinking of using the suite for my getting ready on the wedding day itself.

I know it might work out as expensive as the min spend above.....

What would you recommend as the suite to book for the m&g and which caterer? Any other hints and tips welcome.

maryeshea

Trevi in Caesar Palace forum shoppes was great for our cocktail hour - on the second level overlooking the fountaion - very cool -

CamilleJon

We are doing our M&G in the Vista Suite in Mandalay Bay. We're using Masterpiece Catering, Absolute Beverage for bartenders and glass rentals, and buying our own booze.
It will work out to be about 3k for 75 people.
MC: 1200
AB: 300
Suite: 600
booze: about 600??
Misc (decor, monogramed napkins, tips): 300

ETA: We are also having Travis Allen (Elvis impersonator) at our M&G for $250.

wiwicaty

Are you getting married in one of the Strip hotels? If yes it's usually a good idea to stay where the ceremony will be held, if nothing else for convenience.

CAJLondon

Hi and thanks! We're getting married at Cili at the Bali Hai golf club. Most of the wedding party will be at Encore, Wynn, Palazzo or Venetian. However, we're looking for an alternative for a couple of days to throw our m&g, for me to get ready on the day and/or for us to go back to possibly for a wedding after-party. I have looked at the Vista Suite, Cosmo wraparound terrace suite and suites at Palms Place but not sure which will be best. Trevi could be good, so I will look at that too! All ideas/feedback gratefully received.

CamilleJon

We choose Mandalay Bay in order to be able to have everything in one place. We knew we wanted our reception at House of Blues, so it just worked out well for us that HOB allows us to have the ceremony on their stage, and that MB "allows" outside catering and for our M&G in the Vista. If we hadn't been able to bring in a caterer we most likely would have had the M&G in one of the restaurants (Burger Bar maybe?).

I just feel like having everything in one place will be easier on guests, but also on me and my FI, as well. We have 20 rooms in our MB block and 16 of them have already been booked, so I think most of our guests are staying with us at MB.

We have the Vista booked for 3 nights. Thursday it will be the space for my bachelorette party, Friday night for the M&G, and Saturday for the bride and BMs getting ready and for the wedding after-party. We have a ton of party people in our group and I have a feeling they will be willing to stick around longer if they know they will just have to find their room down the hall to go to bed, instead of trekking along the strip at 3am.

Most of my guests have been to Vegas before so they are not there to see the sights, they just want to hang out and visit with all the other guests. So keeping everything in one place was a no-brainer for us

If I were you I would think about whether or not your guests are the type that like to walk around a lot or can afford to take cabs everywhere. Becaus ewhen my FI and I go to Vegas we do all our walking during the day, but at night (when I'm dressed up in heels) I don't want to walk anywhere!

ETA: Sorry for the novel!!! I guess I'm pretty passionate about this subject...

CAJLondon

No problem! We'll be part LV veterans and mostly newbies, so we're trying to give the group as much variety as they might like...plus we'll all be out there for six to seven nights, so they'll probably want to move around a bit. They'll almost all be avid sightseers and walkers! We'll put on the transport on the wedding day, and for the m&g we'll probably do a casual brunch. There will be other group-based events too, which people can opt in or out of. The question is....where to have the M&G? Simon at Palms followed by suite-based party, or whole catered suite, or Trevino, or somewhere else entirely?

CAJLondon

Trevi! My iPad put Trevino when I wasn't looking!!!

CamilleJon

Sorry... I guess I got carried away

CAJLondon

Hey, it's a subject we're all passionate about - really, no problem!