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| - Going to fit Mandalay Bay, Fleur, The Wedding Chapel, and THEhotel all under the umbrella of this one review, as we basically did our own customized Mandalay Bay Wedding Experience for 19 people.
We started by booking The Chapel at Mandalay Bay and a giant, 2,000sq foot suite at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay for the reception. They were one of the only locations in Vegas that seemed totally cool with our plans to throw a big party in one of their suites. The hotel gave us 20% off our rooms and our guest rooms for the wedding - despite the fact that our wedding would occur at such a busy time as St. Patrick's Day, Spring Break, and March Madness.
When we decided to have our wedding dinner at Fleur, we had the pleasure of working with Lisa Cortina of group dining services. She was tirelessly helpful and a total sweetheart in helping us construct such a memorable experience both at dinner and at the reception after.
The experience:
The wedding went off without a hitch. Our officiant, Rev. Adam Duckro, kept it quick, simple, honest, real and heartfelt, just how we wanted. It. This is Vegas. Our guests didn't come this far to sit through a long ceremony. Also, our guide/planner (Kaylee or Kaylen I believe) was great too.
The photographer got some great shots, but more on that in a minute.
Fluer by Hubert Keller was amazing. Sure, it was expensive to do a 6 course tasting menu for 19 people, but each dish impressed, and pleased both the picky palates and the gourmands in our party. So happy to be able to say that my Wedding Dinner was one of the best dinners of my life! Thank you Hubert Keller, Thank you to our great service staff, and Thank you Lisa Cortina!
Finally the reception. We moved up to one of the "T-Suites" located on the 62nd floor of THEhotel. This place was huge. Big enough for a party of 30 or so, but PERFECT for our wedding party of 19. There was a bar, a floor section big enough for a dance floor, a sound system, great decor, couches, tables, and an awesome all-glass direct view of the strip. Our attached bedroom was equally impressive. We didn't staff anyone in the room. A bartender isn't necessary for that small of a party. Guests did have fun taking turns behind the bar "playing bartender" though. Pretty sure my step-brother's performance got him laid. The Party was great, as evidenced by security showing up twice to keep it down. However, when my irate and half-drunk aunt called management, explaining the money we'd spent that day, and that this was a wedding party, I'm pretty sure they just to decided to just ignore whatever wet-blanket party poopers would call security at 1AM on a Saturday night, St. Partrick's Day, in Las Vegas. Big ups for calling off the Hounds. Maybe they offered the complainers an Ambien...we will never know. We were too busy raging until about 4:30 AM.
The whole Mandalay Bay experience was as memorable as could be. Single ladies were overheard saying "this is how I want to do my wedding". If I could go back, I wouldn't change a thing.
Points were docked for 3 reasons though, taking it down to 4 stars. The prices for stocking booze in our room and for the various Photography packages were outrageous by any industry standard. I mean OUTRAGEOUS.
Also, when we were having issues getting the audio working for the reception, I was told on the phone, by the audio technician that he wouldn't be coming up to assist me because he was "a little busy". Imagine being a groom, being late for your wedding dinner, terrified that your guests will find your reception without music, and hearing those words. I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle him. He did ultimately walk me through it on the phone, but it caused me to be even more late. This probably jacked up our dinner a notch too, as the boozehounds of our group surely sucked down another $15 martini or two while waiting for us to join them. C'est la vie.
For those curious, the whole experience totaled out at about $6,000 for the day's events. That's obviously pricy for a 19 person wedding, but if you're thinking of ditching The Big Wedding like we did, this is a much funner, cheaper option. Everyone- EVERYONE had a blast.
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