To start: after the conclusion of my wedding & reception at LaMalfa, I would have probably have given 3 stars. Overall it was a good day, save some fairly minor issues. However, after the treatment and highly arrogant and rude response I received from Marty LaMalfa, I am dropping it to one star. I feel like I need to warn brides of certain things that you will experience at LaMalfa, that they probably won't tell you about (although their attention to detail in other aspects is stellar):
-You know that beautiful wedding cake you spent a lot of time picking out and taste tasting? It's going to be cut and served to your guests in WAX PAPER. With no forks. LaMalfa defends this by saying guests have already had a dessert, and will want to take it home, but this certainly did not apply to most of my guests, who unwrapped the smashed cake and ate it with their fingers. Real classy. Oh, and be warned that if there are other receptions going on (there probably will be), that they only have one cake cutter and your cake could sit there awhile, while your guests just sit and wonder when it will be served.
For the rest of my review, I'll just paste my email & Marty's responses. I will not be recommending this facility. No fault was admitted, nor was any sort of apology given. As I stated, the items were fairly minor but he was unwilling to concede anything, especially as it came to my NON-EXISTENT champagne service that we paid extra for.
Rehearsal: There were no stairs at the front of the chapel, and were therefore unable to have a real "rehearsal" where our bridal party knew where to stand, and where to move to during the ceremony. When we asked Greg about the stairs, we were told it was set up for the wedding that was taking place before ours. I feel we should have been entitled to the set up that we were using, as we paid the chapel fee just like the other party. This lack of setup forced our minister to have a rushed second rehearsal with the groomsmen on Saturday, just before the ceremony started. [Martin LaMalfa] We at LaMalfa provides a one hr. rehearsal at no additional charge. In many cases we don't even provide the chapel itself we provide the facility. Nowhere in your contract says that we would provide the Chapel ready for your ceremony at the time of rehearsal.
Post-Ceremony Photos: It was my understanding from all our meetings, timelines, etc. that we had one hour after the ceremony for photos. while our guests were going to be in the hall for the cocktail hour. Our ceremony ran on time, and we started photos at 5:30. However, at around 6:05 or 6:10, Marty came into the chapel, insisting it was time to get into the hall. When I stated we weren't finished and I thought we had one hour, he expressed that salads had already been served and it was time to go. We then rushed through the rest of our photos, and this upsets me as I was unable to get all the shots that I wanted.[Martin LaMalfa] I do recall entering the chapel (6:15 p.m.) according to your schedule that would give you and your bridal party just enough time to be past your schedule according to your contract[Martin LaMalfa] . If you recall I said that was fine do whatever you want.
Cocktail Hour: Our guests report that there was no champagne service during cocktail hour. We had paid for two servers for 1.5 hours each, at our final meeting. I am requesting a full refund for the $60 charge.[Martin LaMalfa] I disagree we did have two girls serving champagne.
Toasting Flutes: The engraved flutes I gave to you at our final meeting were not at our places at the head table when we sat down. I informed our ballroom captain, and several other staff, while dinner was being served. They were found after some time, but we didn't have them for the toasts or for dinner.[Martin LaMalfa] I certainly would agree withyou on this point I kept those flutes in my office so they would not get broken and loss . I believe this was a mistake done on my part because I did not inform the team.
--[Martin LaMalfa] To be honest with you Jackie rather you like I have answers to your questions or not you still feel the way you do. We really try to do our best . Personally working with you on your plans and making myself available to you that night in my option goes past what is expected by LaMalfa I usually don't do all the plans with ours brides but in your case I did. I not only spent significant amount of time with your wedding but I personally added some additional decorations to your room just because.