Nevada-Las Vegas

10.5.15 Review - MGM Balcony Terrace, Bently & Wilson, Sauced, Harmony, Faith DOC and more...

adverbadverb member
First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
edited December 2015 in Nevada-Las Vegas

Hello! This is a couple months later, but I wanted to type up my reviews for other brides. Thank you for everyone’s help!!

 

MGM Grand/Balcony Terrace: A-  

We went through so many venue options when we decided to get married in Vegas, but this is the one that we ultimately decided on. I really wanted to get married with the Strip in the background and I got it. Unfortunately, it also rained the day of my wedding. The ceremony was outside in a light drizzle which everyone stood for, but afterwards when it started coming down even more we brought everyone inside and lost about 50% of the square footage. I’m fortunate we had a small wedding so we were able to move everyone indoors and it was still somewhat comfortable (although not as spacious without that balcony). Remember that even if you get perfect weather, there are some limitations with this venue over others. You have to either risk sneaking food in or pay a premium for MGM catering. Seating can be kinda tricky if you have a large amount of guests (and even more tricky if  the rain makes the seats wet – like ours did). The DJ system was tricky to figure out (my uncle-in-law did this but it still gave us some hiccups). There is absolutely NO fridge space (I think you can pay $30/day to rent one but its tiny). Still, with all of that, I really loved the venue and the view. We hosted a Meet & Greet the night before with perfect weather. Because I was MLife Platinum I was able to get a nice discount off the room. I highly recommend getting the room for 2 nights. We almost wish we had gotten it for 3 just to enjoy it the last night ourselves, but that would have been a little too much.


Sin City Cupcakes: B-

We got these for the Meet & Greet thinking they would be a big hit. Alcoholic cupcakes – who could resist? They were okay, but they are NOT worth the expensive price tag. We got 2 chocolate flavors, banana, and I think an orange thing. They were all good for cupcakes but were not very alcoholic. I would not get them again and in hindsight I wish we would have just gotten cupcakes elsewhere.

 

Albertson’s: A+++

I went back and forth on what I was gonna do for food for my Meet & Greet. I thought about catering from a variety of places, but they were all so expensive. I found a burrito place to cater that gave me a good price, but then at the last minute they called and said they quoted me the wrong number and it was actually 3x that amount. I was so frustrated I called up Alberton’s and they were SUPER helpful with a day of catering order. We ended up getting 35 Croissant Sandwiches for $50 and then we were also able to pick up some supplies for the next couple days. Food was great and everyone was super helpful. It was just super stressful carrying all the food and supplies back to the room since it was just the groom and I doing it all since it was so last minute. In hindsight, we should have tried harder to recruit more help.

Bently & Wilson: A+++

Todd’s gotten great reviews and for good reason! I didn’t realize this until the day of my wedding, but you want to pick a photographer that you enjoy spending the day with since we spent a LOT of time with Todd. The whole day was very stressful with running around and the rain, but Todd was very calm and “up for whatever”. I had a lot of unique themes in my wedding, like an American Girl doll dressed like me. Todd was a great sport throughout everything. It’s also SO important to get a Vegas photographer who knows the Strip well if you plan to do a Strip Tour. There were many backways or roundabout ways we got shots that I would not have known about had Todd not been there. For instance, I really wanted a picture at “The Garden of the Gods” at Ceasars and when we got to the pool it had been roped off. Todd sidestepped this without any issues and we were able to get some great shots. He also constantly reminded me how the rain made for some great lighting, so that helped ease the pain of it raining on my wedding day (I know, it’s good luck- blehhh). I’ve attached some of my favorites to this post but you can see all my pictures here: https://goo.gl/photos/JgKHFVadCWVm6Y9m8

 

Gurson Inc: A+++

I already wrote about this guy here, but my videographer was also fantastic and super accomidating: http://forums.theknot.com/discussion/1065249/gurson-inc-wedding-video-review

 

Harmony Tapia: A

I went back and forth on whether I wanted make-up for my wedding. I did a trial with Harmony and decided to go with a VERY minimal amount the day of. She also helped me put my headband and my veil in as part of the package. She was also super accommodating when my friends had to change their makeup plans.

 

Pat Ferraro (Bartender): A+++

Found this guy on Thumbtack and from other reviewers. We decided to do open bar and we hired a Bartender. Although we barely saw this guy since we were out and about, the guests RAVED about him and said he was great. In hindsight I’m glad we had him there because he helped smooth over the whole “it’s raining” situation and kept everyone at ease.

 

Sauced: A-

I went back and forth on food options for the day of and up until fairly recently, I was set on Masterpiece. However, I saw someone recommend Sauced and their prices were much lower for more food, so we decided to take a chance on them. For the most part they were great, with a few small caveats. First, they weren’t always timely with communication (I guess I had been spoiled with masterpiece). Also, we had an issue where the appetizers ran out before we could try them. I was hoping they could make a special batch just for us and was disappointing they weren’t a little more accommodating since we never got to try them. But all in all in the food was great (we ordered for 30 people and there were TONS of leftovers for days) and people were satisfied. I would highly recommend them and maybe just do a couple things differently.

 

Rabbi Hecht: B

While there’s not a whole lot of rabbis to choose from in Las Vegas, Rabbi Hecht did a good job. We wrote him a personalized letter of our love story that he used to customize the service. We did tell him we wanted to say our own vows which he didn’t do during the service. At the time I was kinda bummed but in hindsight I was probably too nervous and too stressed because of the rain to say any good ones anyway. He did spend a lot of time meeting with us which was nice. He is a little bit of an older gentleman so he was a little forgetful, but all in all a good host.

 

Faith from Faithfully Yours (DoC): C

*sigh* This is a tough one to write. I wasn’t sure if I wanted a Day of Coordinator because we had such a small wedding, but since we were planning on taking off right after our ceremony for a strip tour, I decided to go with a DOC for a few hours while were gone. I didn’t really need an all-day DOC, but I didn’t want to put my friends in charge because I didn’t want to boss them around. So, I found Faith who was willing to charge me an hourly rate. I had read mixed reviews on her, but when we had met during our scouting trip in May she seemed like she knew her stuff. Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed the day of. First, when we spoke in May I originally said I was going to get catered veggie trays. She offered to just make veggie trays the day of instead which sounded fantastic. But the day of she shows up with two REALLY small veggie trays that are definitely not enough to feed 25 people (which she ended up charging me $10/piece for). Second, in May she made a point to say we wouldn’t have to worry about getting food because she would make a tray for us while we were gone. The day of the wedding she did NOT and we ended up missing out on the appetizers, which we were very bummed about. Third, she was supposed to call all the vendors the day before and she did NOT and because of that, the rabbi ended up coming in late and the ceremony was very rushed. Finally, guests complained that she seemed to have an attitude during the whole event. My wedding was a little weird, I know, but I was really irked about that as I thought that was unprofessional. That was the final straw and a couple days after our wedding, after I paid her, I begrudgingly told her how I was disappointed in her services. She said she was having an “off day” because of the rain and gave me a partial refund, which is the only reason I’m giving her a C. The DOC was supposed to save me stress, but she ended up causing me a lot more. In hindsight, I should have written up a very detailed checklist for Faith for her to work off of, and not just assumed that things we talked about would actually be done. Or, I just have just bitten the bullet and gotten an all-day coordinator who would be better prepared at just “handling wedding catastrophes” like the rain.

 

Presidential Limos: A

We hired these guys for both my bachelorette and my strip tour. They were prompt, professional, and on time. No complaints!

 

Whew! Well those are all my reviews that I can think of for now. Feel free to ask me whatever questions.

 
Here's a couple photos from Todd that I love:

Re: 10.5.15 Review - MGM Balcony Terrace, Bently & Wilson, Sauced, Harmony, Faith DOC and more...

  • Aw Rachel your day was beautiful!!! Everything looked amazing. I'm sorry about your DoC!! I tell everyone to book Emily Reno she was so awesome! I still text her 8 months later after my day because she just became like a friend :). Thanks for your awesome reviews!!
  • Thanks for the reviews! We booked Faith a few months ago and she has been amazing so far.  I sure hope it stays that way.  Will definitely keep the detailed checklist in mind.
  • This is what I'm thinking to do. Did mgm supply the chairs? Where did you rent them if not? Apart from food, do they mind your u doing a ceremony in suite?
  • @AndreaZubia85 - yeah I'm so envious of your smooth DOC experience. If my wedding was more involved I would have just gotten an all day coordinator. But I'm glad it worked out for you!

    @mlewis85 -  Faith was pretty good up until the day of. Are you booking her for the whole day? I just paid her an hourly rate so I wonder if that had something to do with it. But regardless, I would still make a detailed checklist. Even REALLY obvious things, like "save a plate of appetizers for bride and groom while they are away"

    @Dublin25 - I don't think they care about doing a ceremony in suite. They technically would care more about the food, but we were able to sneak it in. Apparently security did stop by at one point because the door was open, but my friend sweet talked them into saying we don't have food.
  • Does the mgm suite have card only access via the elevator?
  • @dublin25, nope, you just walk straight up. Each Skyline Terrace is at the end of the hallway.

    @adverb, girlie, I'm so glad you got around to posting your reviews AND sharing your photos! You know how much I love them!
    image
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