smartil's reviews

Very, very disappointing. My parents-in-law were hosting our rehearsal dinner and I told them that I didn’t care where we had the rehearsal dinner; I just want some sort of privacy so we can properly thank those in our wedding party and our parents (we only invited bridal party, parents, spouses, and readers only). My parents-in-law took my husband there to try the food and it was delicious. We met with Franco, the owner, and he was a very kind man. We went over the menu. My husband and I each picked a pasta dish, 1 chicken dish, and 1 veal dish. Franco ensured that he’d block off a section of the restaurant and even had a choose what section. He also told us he’d decorate it real nice. We were running a little late after the rehearsal so my parents-in-law headed to the restaurant before rehearsal ended. We arrived at the restaurant and there are people seated in our section and there are NO decorations. The way our party was setup, we couldn’t hear our guests. I had the waiter clear off the table so we can put our gifts close to our table, he didn’t want to and tried to convenience me to put it behind the table of strangers. I refused to do it, explaining that I shouldn’t have to cater to their mistake. I looked for the manager and told him I was angry since I was told there would be privacy and the table next to us was so loud, we had a hard time hearing the person sitting next to us. He tried to tell me that he told that table that there was a party starting at 7 and they’d have to be cleared out before then when he sat them there at 5. I told him he needs to tell them to pay their bill or move them. He didn’t do anything to fix the problem until after my groomsman hunted him down again. They finally moved the party, after telling them “They want privacy” when they should have said “They have a private party booked in this section like we told you when we sat you”. Once they did, we rearranged the tables and we could finally enjoyed ourselves. The manager never made up for it. The chicken dish we selected was missed and they gave everyone our veal dish. My Mother-in-law wrote Fellini’s a letter and they’ve never contacted her in regards to not getting what we paid for.

The lobby of the Liki Tiki Village resort is beautiful! They have a really exotic aquarium with a big eel in it. The check in process was a nice experience. Our resort was a quick drive to all the major theme parks. The resort seems more geared towards families with children. The resort is a 5 star resort but my husband and I have stayed at 4 star resorts with more impressive rooms. The shower leaked and we had to call maintenance twice in regards to the TV. Some of the kitchen appliances were an inexpensive, unknown brand. It wasn’t very impressive for 5 stars. The pool areas was awesome though but more geared towards children.

When I first contacted Staybridge Suites, I was told I could come by that weekend in the afternoon to take a look at the hotel rooms before I filled out the paperwork to create the hotel block. When I arrived to the hotel and told the front desk who I was and why I was there, the girl told me there was nobody there that could show me the rooms. She couldn’t show me the rooms since she couldn’t leave the front desk which alarmed me. How can they accommodate a guest’s needs if there’s only one person at the desk and they can’t leave? I was quite upset and complained the next business day with the woman who told me to come by. She apologized and made sure that the manager on duty would show me around the following Saturday. I was able to be shown the rooms on the following Saturday and she was very kind and showed me all around the hotel. I’m not sure if any of our guests took advantage of the hotel block.

Our suite was very cozy and very nice. We only stayed one night so we didn’t get the opportunity to explore the amenities of our room or personally experience the hotel’s amenities. The hotel is a little hard to find since it’s behind a shopping center, but it is a convenient location to 95, 322, and route 1. The check in and check out process was very easy and fast. We would recommend this hotel to friends or family. If we needed to spend the night at a hotel close to the Philadelphia Airport, I would definitely consider spending the night there again.

The owner, Martin, is a great teacher! We signed up for a 4 week ballroom dance course and then took 1 private lesson. Martin was not pushy with the private lessons, in fact, he recommended that we took the 4-week ballroom dance course and 1 private lesson which was a lot cheaper then taking several private lessons without the basic steps of different ballroom dances. We did mess up a lot during our dance but it wasn’t Blue Moon’s fault! It was my maid of honor’s fault for not tying my bustle high enough. Our pictures look great though! Really classy!

Tom Barret Disc Jockeys were extremely laid back. When I was considering them, they were never pushy. They sent us a package of information and told us if we want further information or have questions, please call them. They let us know that they do not push their sales. The communication with them leading to our wedding was extraordinary. However, our actual DJ was far from impressing. Not once but twice, a song skipped real bad during a special dance. The first song he made it be known that it was a CD I gave them, the second time was a song from their collection. There weren’t a lot of people on the dance floor. It was quite disappointing.

My husband and I aren’t big cake eaters but Sweets to You has the most amazing cakes! Since a wedding cake from Sweets to You was included with our package with Ballroom at the Phoenix, we decided to try them out when we ordered our engagement party cake. The cake was so delicious that I attended two bridal showers of guests who liked our cake so much, they got their shower cakes from there, too. When it came time for the cake tasting, we were able to pick up a kit to take home and try at our convenience. The wedding cake coordinator was very professional and great to work with. Our wedding cake was gorgeous. I was very pleased with it!

The food was really good. The menu selection was wonderful and we heard so many compliments about the food. If we had any special requests, they were willing to work with us. I always thought buffets were more expensive but with Piane’s, they have different grade packages that are the same prices as sit down meals, except you select more food options with the buffet. They were really organized with the buffet and the lines moved quickly (bridal table was served). The prime rib was incredible and there was even a carving station.

The manager was such a wonderful guy to work with! He really worked around our difficult schedule and the facilities are beautiful! The dance floor is huge! I didn’t have to worry about having to pay for linens, it was included. The center pieces were included. Extra tables for the candy buffet were included. I didn’t have to rent chair covers. They weren’t included but the chairs were neutral (I’ve seen places that have teal chairs which would clash with a lot of wedding color schemes).. The catering and cake were also included in our package. I didn’t have to worry about a thing the day of our wedding, the hostess made sure I knew when it was time to cut the cake, do the special dances, etc. The only thing I did not like at all was the reception was scheduled to end at 9:30 p.m. and they were cleaning up and taking tables down prior to 9:30 p.m., giving the impression that the reception was ending before the scheduled time.

We had a wonderful martini themed limo bus. It was huge but so much better than trying to crawl into a limo with a big ballroom gown. They were on time as much as they possibly could be (the traffic was a nightmare, majority of my guests were late because of it). They even put napkins in the champagne glasses to match our wedding party. With having to drive through Wayne with fairly narrow streets, I was amazed how well the driver could get around in the party bus. When the bus was late picking us up (the bus originally picked up the guys at the hotel to take to the church, then it was supposed to come and pick us up), before I was aware of a traffic problem, the manager checked on the driver and reported back to us right away.

I have been a fan of Scott’s work before I met my husband. Scott is really good at what he does and I never dreamed that we could afford him. I assumed since he was published and so good that he had to be really expensive. I am so happy that I was wrong and asked for price info. He did our engagement portraits and they are so beautiful. His assistant did my hair and makeup, too. For the wedding, he did more than I expected. He did a wonderful job taking pictures at our wedding. He’s easy to get a long with and a calming person to have around (which I needed!). He even put his laptop on our gift table and had a slideshow playing of our “getting ready” pictures and the ceremony pictures. We even walked out of our reception hall with a DVD disk of all our high resolution pictures (we have full rights to them and can print them up on our own).