Pictures to come once I finally get around to making a bio. But here are my thoughts since we visited a number of places
HOTEL:
Flamingo - Deluxe room
We don't need anything fancy in a room other than a comfy bed and a good shower so the room was great. Check-in was about 35 mins for noon on a Tuesday. We ended up on the 4th floor because we didn't want to wait for a higher floor. Room was very clean (and much larger than expected) and the beds/shower were great. A little bit of a drainage issue in the shower because the output was greater than the drain level but that doesn't bother me. We mentioned it to housekeeping and they must have fixed it because it was gone by the time we checked out. View wasn't anything spectacular but this is the first time we've ever not had a good view. I pouted for about 5 mins and then never thought about it again the rest of the trip.
CEREMONY:
We met with Kandess our WC @ Flamingo and got our floral stuff picked out. We have chosen the Rose package which includes my bouquet and MOH bouquet as well as bouts for Groom & BM. We ordered 2 extra wrist corsages and 2 bouts for our families. We chose orange roses with white ribbon on my bouquet and black ribbon for everyone else. My bouquet will also have extra elephant grass added to it for extra texture/visual-ness.
Also spoke with her about music (we're picking two extra songs for the ceremony but we'll pay & send sheet music closer to date) and photography. Cashman pictures are included with the package so we outlined what we'd like and not like from them. Most important is a picture of our entire group immediately after the ceremony. We're expecting 75 - 100 people so this will be a BIG group shot!
MARRIAGE LICENSE:
FILL OUT THE ONLINE FORM!!!! We were there probably about 7 - 10 mins. The "stand-by" queue was probably 45 mins - 1 hour. This was great people watching though! What I didn't expect were the chapel promoters that jump on you as soon as you get out of the car. I must have told this one guy 5x that we had already booked our ceremony and weren't interested in his services.
CAKE TASTING:
Marie's Gourmet Bakery
This was fun and quite yummy! We got to taste 4 different cakes: vanilla chiffon w/buttercream & strawberries, marble w/marble buttercream, chocolate w/???, and red velvet with cream cheese. The vanilla was heavenly! Unfortunately I don't think we will be ordering from them because if we go through with the current plan we will be using Bally's/Paris catering but if you're looking for a yummy cake vendor I would recommend them!
RECEPTION SITES:
Bally's
We visited 3 sites at Bally's. I had told the Harrah's Entertainment lady that I wasn't interested in a banquet space but rather something more unique and she suggested 3 private events spaces that I may be interested in after seeing them. I love looking at places so I said sure! The first was the Skyview Terrace banquet room located on the top floor. It was nice and all but it looked like a banquet room and I just wansn't interested. The next was the Windows room in the South Tower. This space used to be the Bally's buffet but has since closed. I fell IN LOVE with it. It's really big so rather than worry about not having enough room for our group I actually said it may be too big haha. But I think with a few tricks and table moving it will be perfect. The room has three levels and overlooks the Bally's valet and porte-cochere (which is one of my favorite words!). The windows are from floor to ceiling and the room is probably two full stories tall. So the view isn't the best but it is still beautiful. The third space we looked at was the Bally's Diamond Lounge. It has a beautiful entryway and is a really nice space. What I didn't like was that it is long rather than wide, so while it would definitely hold our party I think it may still feel crowded right at the front.
Cheeseburger @ Miracle Mile Shoppes
I was very sad to hear that Kathy is no longer the special events coordinator. I have the contact info for the new person though - Daniel I think. I loved thier menus and was sad to discover that the space would be much to small for our group. I would still recommend it if you have less than 60 people. Also - I thought it would be much more separated from the rest of the restaurant but it's really just off to the side and they can put up a partition to make it private.
Dos Caminos @ The Palazzo
We LOVE eating here. Rocco was out of the office but the manager on duty toured us around. He explained that we would be given the lounge area and it would be stanchioned off but it would be semi-private. Greg quickly moved this to his #1 spot...I was still lobbying for Windows.
BB Kings @ The Mirage
We really wanted to have our reception somewhere that we can't get at home and since we live in Orlando - that pretty much knocks out a large number of chain restaurants. But we really like eating at BB Kings and enjoy the live music and atmosphere so we thought we'd give them a try. The menus are great for private dining and the manager on duty showed us the space that a group of our size would have. Basically half the restaurant and it would be stanchioned off. It was nice but didn't knock either of our #1s out of their spots.
ESPN Zone @ NYNY
We met with the special events coordinator and she showed us the upstairs Classic Lounge. We have actually eaten in that same space before so seeing it was all we needed. We liked it but not enough to become #1.
Paradise Garden Buffet @ Flamingo
We have eaten here several times and it is always the same. This was the first time though we have eaten on a weekend day so it was a champagne brunch rather than just breakfast. Oh well I guess we'll just HAVE to take those sample SKYY shots home with us
SO.............................what did we choose for our reception? Well nothing's finalized b/c we're doing contracts and numbers this week with the vendors, but if all goes well:
Welcome Party/Meet & Greet - Dos Caminos. We had been planning an in-suite at one of the Metropolitan suites at Flamingo. But we couldn't come to a decision on which reception place we liked better so we moved things around and picked both! That way we both get our #1! yea for compromise!
Breakfast buffet immediately following ceremony - Paradise Garden Buffet
Evening dessert/cake/cocktail reception - Windows @ Bally's.
YEA for checks! Non-wedding reviews to follow as a reply!