aeryn's reviews

Loved my experience here. I ended up buying a bridesmaids dress to wear as a bride and they gave me no flack. My person helped me and brought stuff to my room, she was very sweet!

We had dinner here as our second stop on my bachelorette party tour. I don't really love Cuban food. It was okay I guess. I had the turkey burger which had some weird spices, but hey, I don't really like Cuban food, so don't take my word for it!

We brought my bachelorette party here to start the evening with each of us getting individual massages, and one of us getting a facial. They were crammed with other parties so we had a bit of a wait in a cramped room. After that, the massage itself was nice and relaxing. I think they overbook, but the staff is very nice and professional.

I was married there in May and as far as a venue for a wedding, I'm going to have to go ahead and give it 5 stars.

The biggest plus: right on the beach. It rained on the day of our wedding which was a drag, but we just moved the ceremony into the club and opened the doors so we could sort of face the ocean. It worked.

One minor concern: Size. Any more than 80 guests and I don't think it will work for you unless you rent a tent. We had about 60 guests and it was a comfortable amount. An more than that and there would have been less room for dancing.

The hall is gorgeous, well maintained with beautiful hardwood floors and huge windows facing the beach. I don't know if you'll find any beach front location for this price. It was also recently remodeled and the bathrooms are very modern and nice.

The cost was very reasonable - $1200 for one full day, any day. You have to throw in an extra $200 to have a guy set up and then take down their tables and chairs. Also, you have to clear the place of all your garbage yourself which can make the end of the event a little hairy. Our friends were great and they helped with everything. I remember seeing my old roommate hauling a big bag of garbage to a dumpster on his walk back to the nearby hotels, which is another plus of this location.

Another huge benefit is they have a sound system you can hook an iPod or computer into and that's your DJ. We had a laptop hooked up which was perfect because it allowed our guests to go up and play DJ. At one point, a few friends selected a song from the list, got up on the stage and serenaded us to All You Need Is Love by the Beatles.

The club does not make food and is not affiliated with a caterer. So you have to get an off-site place to cater. Anyone who's read Bridal Bargains knows that's good for your wallet. We went with Island Grill in Ocean City and I have reviewed their performance here as well.

I'm writing this as a review of their catering. I can say that based on their business practices as caterers, I can 100% enthusiastically recommend them as caterers and as a restaurant.

My fiance and I were looking for off-premise caterers for our wedding at the Women's Civic Club in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. You should have heard some of the outrageous quotes we got from some places. Finally, I emailed a bride who also had a wedding at the Civic Club that we were renting to ask about her caterers and she told me about the Island Grill.

We met with the IG's catering director Megan who was great to deal with. The prices were very reasonable. We agreed on three appetizers and three entrees and sides. We would have mini crab cakes, spinach pies and chicken quesadillas as apps, and penne with vodka sauce and chicken, grilled salmon, and meatballs as our entrees. For our sides, we chose garlic mashed potatoes, caeser salad and some sort of vegetable, green beans almondine, I think. We let them know that we wanted to provide dessert ourselves and they gave us no nonsense about that. No cake-cutting fees or anything annoying. We also told them we would provide alcohol which was also no problem. They provided a bartender and we purchased the alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks ourselves. Word to the wise, we served boxed wine out of carafes and it was a hit! We chose the boxes based on a review in SF gate of the best boxed wines.

The Island Grill's service the day of was fantastic. Very professional. Our guests said the food was good but you can't go by them because what else are they gonna tell the bride and groom? The IG folks were great about packaging all the leftovers and packing our car with them. My husband and I loved the leftovers the week after the wedding, so I can say they do good food.

Even though they didn't sell us dessert, they put it out and were great about it - we had cupcakes and fudge. They actually cut up the fudge and served the cupcakes on plates.

Only two minor issues that don't detract from our overall great experience with them. Mashed potatoes were on the menu but they didn't have them day of - they substituted sour dough rolls which were very good, but they never told us what they were doing. No one knew but my husband and I so it really wasn't a big deal. There was plenty of food anyway and it was a spring day, so mashed potatoes weren't essential.

Also, the bartender put out a tip jar which we should have negotiated ahead of time. My husband and I hadn't wanted that because we were tipping him anyway but we should have specified at our first meeting. Also, the bartender didn't put out cans of all of our non alcoholic drinks so even though we had Sprite and Coke Zero there, none of our guests knew to ask for it. So two strikes against the bartender, but, honestly, he served the wine so nicely out of the secret carafes, so we were very happy with him overall.

If you're getting married anywhere near Ocean City, New Jersey, get these guys to cater it! They'll do a fantastic job, the food will be wonderful and the service divine.