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lsvensson
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Scouting Trip Reviews- Hella Long. Part 2: Reception sites & Misc Vendors
Per my last note, I have pictures AND walkthrough videos for thereception places, so if you want to check out a video or something, just PM me and I'd be happy to send you a link to my personal Shutterfly page where I posted them.
RECEPTION SPOTS//
Maggiano's: If I'm being brutally honest, I was worried that I'd hate this place-- my mother nearly had a heart attack when I told her we were checking out a chain restaurant for our wedding reception. Picky brides: never fear! This place is really nice/upscale on the inside, and the decor and location is lovely. I was really, really pleasantly surprised. FI and I had lunch there too, and the food is great. We met with Marc, who was very nice and showed us around the space and answered all of my stupid questions, like "Can we upgrade with beef tenderloin?" (answer: yes, and there's any entire list of other upgrades available too). Definitely a fantastic value for the price, and I could imagine a reception here would be great and would have no shortage of good food-- their portions are HUGE. My only gripe was that the balcony, while lovely, faces some major construction across the street and not the Wynn (though if you can look at the Wynn if you tip your head to the right).
Mandalay Bay Catering: I had significant doubts going in, based on other members' reviews, but so far, our contact there has been fabulous...we got a good vibe from him. He met with FI and I and gave us a full walkthrough of the ballroom area and showed us a specific ballroom space that would fit a group of our size. He also showed us another foyer-type space that we would be able to reserve (for an additional $1K) instead of a ballroom, and we fell in love with it. The ballrooms are okay, but you can spruce them up with some outside vendors, and unlike some other places, they won't charge you outside vendor fees to use outside floral/linens/etc. for the reception. Also, a lot of stuff is included in the catering fees-- there's no "ballroom rental fee" (except for that one upgradable space that we looked at), and the dance floor/votive candles/ivory or black linens are all included. Also, he let us know that as long as we hit the F&B minimums ($80/person), we could customize our own menu.
The only tricky part here is they can only confirm a ballroom 9 months out (maximum), and our space, in particular, can only be booked 6 months out (due to accouting issues, he tells me). That said, we'll likely risk it and just go with MB ceremony anyway, and take the chance that we'll get moved to a ballroom instead of that foyer space.
OTHER VENDORS//
Monte Carlo: We stayed here for our scouting trip because we got an amazing deal on Expedia-- $42 for Sunday night, $49 for Monday (Valentine's) night. We were expecting a dive because of the rate (who cares-- how often are you in your room anyway when you're in Vegas?), but I was pleasnatly surprised yet again...the rooms were totally fine. Clean, and not dive-y. The lobby is gorgeous. If you can get a similar rate, I'd definitely recommend this as an alternative to the Excalibur or Luxor.
Lavo Restaurant at the Palazzo: Feels like a lounge. One of the most expensive meals I've ever had (one drink each, shared one appetizer, one steak each, one side dish each, and shared one dessert) at about $260 for two of us, but it was, hands-down, also the best meal I've ever had. It was Valentine's Day, so we splurged and booked a reservation a month in advance. The meatball with ricotta cheese appetizer is awesome (the meatball was seriously about the size of my fist), and our steaks were perfectly cooked. Two side dishes was too many-- if you go, split one (I had the "polenta fries", and they were tasty). We had this AMAAAAZING marshmallow-chocolate layer roll cake (looked like a big ol' jellyroll) for dessert, and I am seriously drooling all over myself right now just thinking about it again. If you're looking for a special dinner spot for you and your significant other during your wedding, this place rocks. One hint, though: it's not super romantic because it's kind of loud in there.
Le Reve at the Wynn: This is the second time I've seen this show, but I wanted to take my FI so he could see it. Got $20 off each of the tickets through smartervegas.com. It's even more amazing the second time around, and I cannot recommend it enough-- absolutely breathtaking. My FI loved it too (he was so into it-- in certain parts of the acrobatic portions, he literally was like, "OH SNAP!! NO WAY!!"). He was completely floored. Le Reve tickets might make a nice parent gift.
RECEPTION SPOTS//
Maggiano's: If I'm being brutally honest, I was worried that I'd hate this place-- my mother nearly had a heart attack when I told her we were checking out a chain restaurant for our wedding reception. Picky brides: never fear! This place is really nice/upscale on the inside, and the decor and location is lovely. I was really, really pleasantly surprised. FI and I had lunch there too, and the food is great. We met with Marc, who was very nice and showed us around the space and answered all of my stupid questions, like "Can we upgrade with beef tenderloin?" (answer: yes, and there's any entire list of other upgrades available too). Definitely a fantastic value for the price, and I could imagine a reception here would be great and would have no shortage of good food-- their portions are HUGE. My only gripe was that the balcony, while lovely, faces some major construction across the street and not the Wynn (though if you can look at the Wynn if you tip your head to the right).
Mandalay Bay Catering: I had significant doubts going in, based on other members' reviews, but so far, our contact there has been fabulous...we got a good vibe from him. He met with FI and I and gave us a full walkthrough of the ballroom area and showed us a specific ballroom space that would fit a group of our size. He also showed us another foyer-type space that we would be able to reserve (for an additional $1K) instead of a ballroom, and we fell in love with it. The ballrooms are okay, but you can spruce them up with some outside vendors, and unlike some other places, they won't charge you outside vendor fees to use outside floral/linens/etc. for the reception. Also, a lot of stuff is included in the catering fees-- there's no "ballroom rental fee" (except for that one upgradable space that we looked at), and the dance floor/votive candles/ivory or black linens are all included. Also, he let us know that as long as we hit the F&B minimums ($80/person), we could customize our own menu.
The only tricky part here is they can only confirm a ballroom 9 months out (maximum), and our space, in particular, can only be booked 6 months out (due to accouting issues, he tells me). That said, we'll likely risk it and just go with MB ceremony anyway, and take the chance that we'll get moved to a ballroom instead of that foyer space.
OTHER VENDORS//
Monte Carlo: We stayed here for our scouting trip because we got an amazing deal on Expedia-- $42 for Sunday night, $49 for Monday (Valentine's) night. We were expecting a dive because of the rate (who cares-- how often are you in your room anyway when you're in Vegas?), but I was pleasnatly surprised yet again...the rooms were totally fine. Clean, and not dive-y. The lobby is gorgeous. If you can get a similar rate, I'd definitely recommend this as an alternative to the Excalibur or Luxor.
Lavo Restaurant at the Palazzo: Feels like a lounge. One of the most expensive meals I've ever had (one drink each, shared one appetizer, one steak each, one side dish each, and shared one dessert) at about $260 for two of us, but it was, hands-down, also the best meal I've ever had. It was Valentine's Day, so we splurged and booked a reservation a month in advance. The meatball with ricotta cheese appetizer is awesome (the meatball was seriously about the size of my fist), and our steaks were perfectly cooked. Two side dishes was too many-- if you go, split one (I had the "polenta fries", and they were tasty). We had this AMAAAAZING marshmallow-chocolate layer roll cake (looked like a big ol' jellyroll) for dessert, and I am seriously drooling all over myself right now just thinking about it again. If you're looking for a special dinner spot for you and your significant other during your wedding, this place rocks. One hint, though: it's not super romantic because it's kind of loud in there.
Le Reve at the Wynn: This is the second time I've seen this show, but I wanted to take my FI so he could see it. Got $20 off each of the tickets through smartervegas.com. It's even more amazing the second time around, and I cannot recommend it enough-- absolutely breathtaking. My FI loved it too (he was so into it-- in certain parts of the acrobatic portions, he literally was like, "OH SNAP!! NO WAY!!"). He was completely floored. Le Reve tickets might make a nice parent gift.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Scouting Trip Reviews- Hella Long. Part 2: Reception sites & Misc Vendors
They are completely customizable and you can have the ceremony there too for no additional charge. There is no required vendor other than them providing food and beverage. The food and beverage minimum is higher, but I also don't know what it is for that size room. Melanie, the coordinator has been amazing to with. Our food tasting was soo good. I cannot say enough great things about our experiences with them. If you need more info shoot me a PM.