Bellagio: Terrazza Di Sogno
During the planning stages, I had mixed feelings about holding the ceremony on the Terrazza di Sogno, but everything turned out well. We loved the location and Groom wanted a intimate ceremony so we weren't worried about the guest limitation (our initial plan was to have something similar to a vow renewal at the reception later for everyone to take part in) so we reserved the ceremony through the Bellagio wedding department.
As the wedding planning went on, it became clear that it would have been easier to plan both the ceremony and reception through the catering department (and forgo the fountain view). Holding the ceremony (via the Bellagio wedding department) and the reception (via the Bellagio catering department) separately made things unnecessarily complicated. For example, we basically had two of everything (flowers, photography, ect) as well as our personal wedding planner (Scheme), the catering director, and our ceremony planner who all had to be on the same page. Not to mention, planning the ceremony separately was more expensive. For about two months when I was stressed, I would (jokingly...kind of) refer to the ceremony as our "eight thousand dollar mistake." In retrospect, it would have been much easier to have planned the ceremony with the catering department even though we wouldn't have been able to use the location.
As the wedding planning went on, it became clear that it would have been easier to plan both the ceremony and reception through the catering department (and forgo the fountain view). Holding the ceremony (via the Bellagio wedding department) and the reception (via the Bellagio catering department) separately made things unnecessarily complicated. For example, we basically had two of everything (flowers, photography, ect) as well as our personal wedding planner (Scheme), the catering director, and our ceremony planner who all had to be on the same page. Not to mention, planning the ceremony separately was more expensive. For about two months when I was stressed, I would (jokingly...kind of) refer to the ceremony as our "eight thousand dollar mistake." In retrospect, it would have been much easier to have planned the ceremony with the catering department even though we wouldn't have been able to use the location.
With that said, however, everything turned out fantastic. The location is beautiful and everyone (especially first time Vegas visitors) loved the fountains although ours were a bit tempered due to the wind. Everything went very smoothly. The Bellagio wedding department is a well-oiled machine (we were married at sunset on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend which is, of course, a busy weekend). But Groom's dream of a intimate wedding ceremony died a quick death. When I walked out, we had about 40 guests, the wedding party, 2 photographers, a videographer, the officiant, three people from Scheme, our ceremony coordinator, and a representative from the Bellagio catering department all on site. We signed a contract that allowed a maximum of 34 people on the Terrazza which we inadvertently blew out of the water with our guest count alone. I don't know if this was a problem. No one said anything to me for which I am very grateful. It would have been extremely awkward to figure out who was suppose to be there and who wasn't. From my vantage point, it wasn't crowded. Our officiant asked our guests to spread out on the staircases to make sure everyone could see the ceremony.
For anyone considering using this venue for your ceremony, here are some pictures taken by guests. Hopefully, this will give you a good idea as to their vantage point.
If I have one complaint, its that the Bellagio does not have a good place for the bride to stand while waiting for the ceremony. If you use their chapels, they have a bridal room, but when you get married on the Terrazza, you have to stand in a little, narrow hallway/closet to the side. This could have been partially avoided if I had stayed in my hotel room until the very last minute, but I was taking pictures with my family before the ceremony.
Overall, if I had to do it again, I would hold the ceremony there...probably. We could have held the ceremony via the catering department for less money and a lot less planning but, we got a unique location, two fountain shows, and great service.