Hi everyone,
Though it already feels like months ago, FI and I spent a wonderful 10 days in Vegas at the beginning of September attending one of our closest friends' weddings and also completing the scouting for our wedding next year. From reading all of your posts here, and because we're really familiar with Vegas, we knew what to expect, but were still in for some surprises, so I thought I'd share some reviews. Since this will be quite long (sorry!), I've separated the reviews into categories so you can jump to what is of interest to you.
Accommodations:
Aria (2 nights) - Beautiful, clean, modern - all that it is described to be. The room is super cool and high tech, and felt like it had barely been stayed in. All in all great, but at the end of the day, for our taste, it lacked personality, though we wouldn't hesitate to stay here again.
Mirage (3 nights) - We had never stayed here before because it is a little older, but since our friends' wedding was at Caesar's and the rates there were astronomical over the long weekend, we decided to stay next door at Mirage. I couldn't have been more impressed with the staff and service. Everyone we dealt with went out of their way to make us feel great.
We were hosting the Bachelorette party in our room, so we asked to rent a mini-fridge, they sent one up at no charge for our entire stay. I was rushing around doing some last minute printing at the business centre for the wedding and bachelorette, and upon realizing what it was for (even though the wedding was not at Mirage), the business centre said it was on them and didn't charge us.
Encore (4 nights) - Upon check-in we were offered an upgrade to a 60th floor Panorama suite for an unbelievable rate, so we took it and the room was spectacular. The Wynn has always been our favourite resort and the suite and service at the Encore topped all of our previous experiences. We will definitely be staying here for the wedding, and will likely opt for a Tower Suite for a few nights.
Random pseudo-Wedding related:
Bachelorette Party Department of Lightgroup - They offer bachelorette party packages which include a set menu at a set price at most of the restaurants they own, which automatically includes free entry and VIP guest list entry to their clubs for the entire weekend (for all of the females attending the bachelorette). Since we were two guys hosting the bachelorette, they agreed to ensure we'd be accommodated as long as the rest of the group was all girls, but we were warned the guys would probably have to pay cover at the clubs.
Our bachelorette dinner was at STACK in Mirage and the service and food was AWESOME. Everyone loved it and appreciated the service and the family-style portions were perfect.
Following dinner and some activities around the casino and in our room, we were instructed to call the Lightgroup VIP host for JET Nightclub when we were on our way to the club and she would meet us to escort us in. After some slight confusion in finding her (maybe partly our fault as we were rather intoxicated), it was amazing. We were escorted by all of the patrons waiting to go in and walked to the front of the line and right in. No one, not even the guys had to pay and it made the bride to be feel like a celebrity. The club was wonderful and the crowd was great. No pretension that can be the case in Vegas.
MAC Cosmetics at The Forum Shops - Since I was part of the wedding party and am pretty vain, I opted to have my makeup done so that I felt my best. I booked an appointment at MAC and Jordan was my makeup artist. She worked wonders, was cheerful, sweet, understanding and was quick. I was in and out in just under 30 minutes. For $50, you can't go wrong with their service. I'll be trying to get in touch with Jordan to see if I can hire her privately to do our wedding party the day of our wedding.
Wedding Scouting related:
Weddings at the Wynn - We had been in touch with Laquitter (WC) and Lizette (Assistant WC) at the Wynn for a while before our trip, but meeting them in person was wonderful. They showed us all of the spaces and then sat us down to go through options. We were trying to be respectful of their time, but we all got along so well (you would think Laquitter and FI had known each other for years) that we ended up meeting with them for two hours. We went through dozens of albums of other Wynn weddings and Laquitter introduced us to every member of the staff who was on site at the chapels that day. She even gave us a peek of the control room where they manage all of the audio and video for all of their chapels. They truly made us feel like we were their ONLY priority, and that definitely helped to confirm our desire to be married here. They even gave us a gift which made our day.
A few days later we returned and booked the Primrose Courtyard for our ceremony and have absolutely no doubts that this is THE ONLY place we'd want to get married.
Restaurant Event Services at the Wynn - The Restaurant Events Manager Idania was very pleasant and accommodating even though we were half an hour late for our appointment (because we'd been held hostage by the Wynn Wedding people mentioned above). She showed us the private dining rooms at Okada, SW Steakhouse and the patio at Botero. In the end, for the space limitations and lack of view, dance space/ability to have a DJ, we opted out of SW steakhouse. We were really in love with the idea of buying out the patio at Botero, but since it is outside, they wouldn't permit us to play our own music, even just an ipod dock. Unfortunately this is just too important to us, and for the amount we'd have to spend on the buyout, we weren't willing to proceed. We did however dine at Botero on our own, and then returned two nights later to have dessert again - it was THAT GOOD. I highly recommend their ice cream cupcakes. The food and desserts were to die for!
Prime at Bellagio - We met with the Manager of Prime to look at a buyout of the patio which sits on the water of the Bellagio lake. We loved the idea of having the Bellagio fountains as our backdrop all night until he mentioned that we would feel the mist every fifteen minutes for duration of the reception. Once or twice is okay, but for four hours, I have to think you'd feel a little damp by the end. We never expected the patio to be that exposed to the mist, and again the buyout price was steep and no music would be allowed, so we moved on.
Maggiano's - I had posted here about feeling that Marc was a little cold and unfriendly, but I had heard such good things about them that I scheduled an appointment when Cassy would be in and we went to see the space. In the end, it was Marc who met with us, but he was great. He answered all of our questions, gave us a lot of options and offered a lot of advice in terms of what would be best and easiest for us and our guests. He assured us he'd work with any vendors we chose, even those that are not official "Maggiano's Preferred" vendors, and then insisted we stay to eat since we'd never eaten there before. We were already loving Maggiano's but the view of the Wynn and the food made up our minds.
We have booked the Calabria room and will possibly be adding the Dicarlo room as well.
Mike L Photography - We were already pretty sure they were the right fit for us based on the samples we'd seen of their work on the Knot and the interactions we'd had with Courtney, but we scheduled an Engagement session with them to get a feel for how comfortable we'd be with them. Courtney and Mike were so much fun. We had a blast, loved their energy and are very happy with our photos.
We have now booked them for the day of our wedding.
So the ceremony, reception and photography are booked. I have to say, while the engagement was great, it NOW feels real - and we are SUPER excited.
Thanks to everyone here for the great recommendations that helped us make our decisions!