Hey gals (and VG),
Just got back from my second "scouting trip" (well, not really-- everything is already set in stone, just went to do things like food tastings and centerpiece/linen finalization) and thought I'd share some pre-wedding reviews. And boy, is it hotter than H-E-double hockey sticks in Vegas right now!
Paris Hotel- A
I've stayed here before, but I really do enjoy this hotel/casino every time I come. Room was lovely (and we got a free upgrade to Bellagio fountain views), pool is on the smaller side compared to other casinos but I went around 9am and it suited me just fine because it was early enough to be empty. Got a breakfast crepe from the little creperie stand accross from the buffet and it was divine. Had a little bit of luck at the Roulette table, and I chatted with the friendly dealer for a while. Booked this through Expedia.
Alamo Rent-A-Car- A
Booked a package deal with flight, rental car, and hotel through Expedia, and got an awesome deal. Alamo was super easy-- less than 20 minutes to get my car, and less than 5 dropping it off. They gave me some kind of Chevy that looked like a hearse, but it was fine and totally did the job for the 2 days we were there.
Virgin America- A
As always, a pleasure. Wish I had all of my frequent flyer miles through Virgin instead of United so I could fly them all the time; it's like a party on a plane! Only downside to our experience this time around was that the self check-in systems were down at SFO and as a result, it was a freaking madhouse and I was sure we'd be massively delayed. After about 30 minutes waiting in line to check in, however, the self-service system came back up and we got rushed through without a delay.
LTeventions- A
Met with my contacts here to finalize centerpieces and linen choices, and they were great! The place is close to MB (off the strip) and a bit hard to find, but they spent abotu 30 minutes with me showing me various linen options. Going with double-trumpet glass vases with ivory ostrich feathers (because ostrich feathers remind me of Vegas showgirls), ivory hydrangea, silver curly willow branches, and silver beading dripping down. For linens, they initially had the color wrong, but after showing them my swatches I guess my "aqua and purple" color scheme is really more of a "tiffany blue and purple", and they replaced the aqua linens with ones that matched my idea of aqua ("tiffany blue") and we were good to go. They have some blingin' votive holders and napkin holders that they showed me too, and budget permitting, I'll be adding those on as well. Very nice ladies here and I'm hoping they'll continue to be great through the rest of the process.
Mandalay Bay Catering Services- A+
Wow, did these gals blow me away. Went here for my food/cake tasting and was escorted to a private room that looked like an executive boardroom. Inside, they had 3 place settings set up for us with fine china, stemware, etc, and 4 mini-cakes that were decorated to the nines (GORGEOUS sugar flowers that I swore were real and lots of glitter sugar all over!) and displayed on tiered platters in the middle of the table. We were introduced to the banquet captain, and then to our little private butler, who brought around various appetizers and pastas for us to try. The cakes were to die for-- we settled on a chocolate sponge cake with caramel pecan mousse filling and a coconut sponge cake with lemon creme and fresh rasperries filling. They also had an orange sponge cake with vanilla custard filling that tasted exactly like an orange cremesicle, it was amazing.
While we were tasting, the catering managers asked me a ton of questions about what I wanted to do with the reception (timing, layout, decor, favors, etc) and I think they pretty much thought of everything. I was VERY impressed with this team and I feel much better having done the tasting and seeing how buttoned up everything was. My mom and I were both agreeing that what we're spending here is probably nothing to MB, who do million-dollar events every weeked with big companies, but they put in so much time and effort to our tasting that we felt like we were high rollers.
Retro Cupcakes- A
Only reason I'm not giving an A+ is they're about 35 minutes off the strip and were kind of a pain to get to, but we picked up 12 cupcakes to taste (we'll be ordering minis for our Meet & Greet) and they kicked butt. Some of the flavors are a little better in theory than they are in practice (Pink Grapefruit and Mint Chocolate Chip, I'm lookin' at you), but most of them were definite "yes"-es, and we'll definitely be using these guys in May. Just one note: if you go to scout them out, just know that they don't stock mini cupcakes; you need to special order them. As a result, we got a dozen full size cupcakes. And ate them all.
Wynn Buffet- A-/B+
Having tasted The Bellagio buffet on my last trip and after being told by everyone I knew that Wynn's was better, I was hot to go there. It was really good, don't get me wrong, but for the price we paid and the time we spent waiting in like (50 minutes), I'd pick Bellagio's, Mirage's, or Planet Hollywood's over Wynn's next time. They did have an amazing dessert bar, though, where I got a dessert crepe and some yummy bread pudding.
Herbert Keller's Fleur (Mandalay Bay)- A-
Had a pricey, but good, lunch here. Mom and I both went for the cappelini in a cream sauces with garden tomatoes and chicken, and the sauce was great. Portion wasn't too big, which I was thankful for. IIt wasn't super innovative or interesting but I get the impression dinner is better than lunch here (besides, how innovative can you really get with cappelini?)