Venue: Bellagio
After looking at many other venues, including other hotels and many restaurants, we chose the Bellagio because they sold us on the quality of the food and their service. They exceeded our expectations on both accounts.
As a venue, the best thing about the Bellagio is that it is completely customizable (we didn't find restaurants or other buy-outs to be nearly as flexible). They have many different rooms that can be used independently or in combination (we used two rooms), you can use their furniture or you can use outside vendors to provide furniture (we had lounge furniture brought in, but used Bellagio's tables and chairs), and they have advanced A/V capabilities. The lighting and A/V capabilities, in particular, far exceeded many of the other venues we looked at. For example, every room has built in tracks for mounting lights, they were able to coordinate a pre-programed lighting scheme via a master panel (so the lighting changes as the night goes on), and they were able to mount full size confetti cannons to the ceiling. If you can imagine it (and pay for it), they can do it.
After the ceremony, we initially planned to hold a cocktail hour outside on Bellagio's terrace. Groom, however, became convinced that it was going to be too hot outside to have an outdoor cocktail hour (over Labor Day weekend). As such, we decided not to use the terrace and to move the cocktail hour indoors.
As a venue, the best thing about the Bellagio is that it is completely customizable (we didn't find restaurants or other buy-outs to be nearly as flexible). They have many different rooms that can be used independently or in combination (we used two rooms), you can use their furniture or you can use outside vendors to provide furniture (we had lounge furniture brought in, but used Bellagio's tables and chairs), and they have advanced A/V capabilities. The lighting and A/V capabilities, in particular, far exceeded many of the other venues we looked at. For example, every room has built in tracks for mounting lights, they were able to coordinate a pre-programed lighting scheme via a master panel (so the lighting changes as the night goes on), and they were able to mount full size confetti cannons to the ceiling. If you can imagine it (and pay for it), they can do it.
After the ceremony, we initially planned to hold a cocktail hour outside on Bellagio's terrace. Groom, however, became convinced that it was going to be too hot outside to have an outdoor cocktail hour (over Labor Day weekend). As such, we decided not to use the terrace and to move the cocktail hour indoors.
When we moved the cocktail hour indoors, we decided to use two adjoining rooms instead of one. We set up the lounge furniture with the high-top tables in one room and the dinner tables, which surrounded the dance floor, in the other. This worked out well as it provided more space for the dinner tables and let us use a purple color wash in the "lounge area," but keep a more refined lighting scheme in the dinner area.
I thought the room itself, with the molding and panels on the walls and the tray ceilings, was very nice. It set the atmosphere apart from the feel of a hotel conference/meeting which I was a little concerned about prior to the wedding.
For dinner, we sat ten guests per table and there was plenty of space. I was tempted to rent chairs, but decided to use the Bellagio's chairs. We did upgrade the table linens, however.
Service at the wedding was impeccable. I believe they had a waiter for every
eight to ten guests. We had our own personal waiter for the sweetheart table and were
constantly attended to by the head of the wait staff. He actually placed a pair of Bellagio slippers at my table in case I wanted to change out of my shoes!
eight to ten guests. We had our own personal waiter for the sweetheart table and were
constantly attended to by the head of the wait staff. He actually placed a pair of Bellagio slippers at my table in case I wanted to change out of my shoes!
All of the waiters were very courteous and quick. Embarrassingly enough, there
must have been 10 instances of broken glasses or bottles on the dance floor, but it was always cleaned up immediately. One waiter was even conned into dancing with a drunk guest which he endured admirably.
must have been 10 instances of broken glasses or bottles on the dance floor, but it was always cleaned up immediately. One waiter was even conned into dancing with a drunk guest which he endured admirably.
Unfortunately, this particular guest ("the Lady in Red" as the DJ called her) drank a little too much and didn't make it to the end of the night. Instead, she passed out on a bench in the lobby for the ballrooms (Yikes!) The Bellagio handled it extremely well. They roped off the sections of lobby and gave the Lady in Red a bag marked "hazmat" to hold. Then, they arranged for wheelchair transport. The Bellagio put her in a wheelchair, with the hazmat bag in her lap, and wheeled her out of the hotel and half way across the bridge toward Bally's where she was staying. They coordinated with someone at Ballys to meet them in the middle of the bridge where they transferred the Lady in Red out of the Bellagio wheelchair and into a Ballys' wheelchair. From there, someone from Bally's wheeled her, along with her date, to their room. At the time, I didn't know that any of this was going on - I didn't learn about it until the next day. I feel extremely bad that the Bellagio had to deal with this. I also feel extremely guilty over my huge disappointment that we didn't get the wheelchair transport/hazmat bag scene in a picture or on video.