The Palace at Somerset Park

I had to write a review after a fantastic wedding on Sept 25. The Palace was amazing and so many of my guests were saying this was the best wedding they ever went to. I'll admit, the sales contact we worked with didn't leave a great impression on us and even scared us a little on our decision, but once we were booked these people went above and beyond. I worked with Melanie, who is so patient and wonderful, and the day of Anthony was our M'D and I couldn't have imagined it with out him. Oh and Elena was my bridal attendant and also rocked! I probably emailed Melanie with so many requests that she should have been sick of me, but never acted that way - always responsive or willing to look into things for us and helped us with questions we had no idea of. The tasting was a fun event, but the food was ok. However, the day of our wedding, the food was so incredible that when the chef came our we couldn't stop thanking him for such a wonderful execution. The place was beautiful, well lit and breath-taking. We were in the West Wing and there was actually another wedding in the East Wing, but you never knew it - you couldn't hear or see anyone. I would highly recommend a wedding at the Palace, it was everything we hoped for!

We got married at the Palace in September 2006.
We worked with Kevin and anytime we called he called right back that day or the day after. So easy to communicate with and answer any questions which was great! The tasting was out of this world. We brought my parents for extra opinions and they were blown away by the service and food. There is a private room just for tastings with a wall of windows to the kitchen. We spoke with the chef and pastry chef about each selection. Picked out wines that went with our selections and met the woman who would be with us on our wedding day so we had 4 people talking to us and making sure everything was perfect on that day alone. From the point of view of a guest the Palace was perfect in every way but there were a couple things we said to do that didn't happen. They set up everything exactly as I described and everything looked wonderful. They handed out champagne and mojitos as the guests arrived. People arrived early and they got drinks right away and could go right out to the patio. (I was worried about early people since I HATE waiting in the lobby/parking lot at weddings I have been to) People couldn't believe all the food, how good it all was and how much room we had for the cocktail hour (the inside library room and the full patio). Our cocktail hour stations were seafood, mashed potato bar, crepes, chinese in take out boxes, pasta, and vegetables/cheeses along with 11 different hot and cold passed. We had a pianist on a baby grand and FIs sister sang a couple songs with her as well. The cocktail hour was perfect!
The bridal party had their own room before the cocktail hour - really 4 rooms with 3 bathrooms is the bridal party suite! They had any drink they wanted already there when they arrived - the guys LOVED that! Everyone commented on the space - how beautiful it was and how there was plenty of room to walk around the cocktail hour, the reception, the dancefloor, etc and we had over 200 people there.
The reception is the couple things that were missing. We were supposed to have an additional bar set up in that room as well as the main bar in the library but there was not a line at the bar at ALL so it didn't matter at all in the end. The waitstaff brought a ton of drinks without anyone even getting up so the bar was not remotely crowded at all . The main thing that went wrong was we were supposed to have 3 choices - a filet, grouper, and rack of lamb. The menu only had the grouper and lamb on it. The only reason I really cared was we told people what was for dinner so those people we told obviously knew but any other guest had no idea there were supposed to be three. We had 3 people working with us throughout the night and as soon as we brought it to their attention they immediately went to each table and asked if anyone wanted the filet and made it for them - I had it and it was delicious although everyone said the lamb was the best ever! and we had a TON of Greeks (FIs side) who are big on lamb and they all loved it!
Our cake was absolutely beautiful and delicious! (vanilla with hazelnut and crispy wafers) and at the end of the night everything was cleaned up from the bridal party suite and packed and ready to go and they didn't forget a single thing!! The service was so amazing and that really made our night!

PERFECT

If I had to use one word to sum up my wedding at The Palace at Somerset Park, I would choose the word PERFECT!
If you are looking for a venue that will make all of your wedding dreams come true, there
is no need to look any further. From the moment that you enter the palatial estate your breath
is taken away.
I knew immediately that this is where I wanted to host my dream wedding. During the entire wedding
planning process I could not believe how flawlessly the staff executed my wishes.

The staff at the palace are some of them most talented ,meticulous and creative professionals that I have
ever had the pleasure of working with.
I was always made to feel like a VIP at this five star establishment. The entire planning process was so easy, and I had total
confidence in my coordinator.

One of my favorite experiences was the tasting. The menu tasting was hosted by your personal chef that will preparing all of the meals the evening of your event.
It was held in his private dining room, which was a beautiful room right off of the main kitchen. They took us through every course including the wedding
cake, all paired with the perfect companion wines for you to choose. It was such a lovely personalized event. We also took this opportunity to really get to enjoy everything that our guests would be experiencing. The food was so imaginative and the presentation was so creative.

The day of my wedding all that I had to do literally was just show up.
My ceremony was held in the main foyer and the reception was in the west house of the Palace. I could not believe how absolutely beautiful
everything looked the day of my wedding. It really surpassed all of my dreams of how my wedding would be.

My friends and family are still raving about my wedding. They were so impressed by the incredible service, the beautiful and unique location and of course
the food. I received so many compliments on how delicious all of the food was. Especially the dessert.

If you are looking for a venue to have a true fairy tale wedding, then I recommend making an appointment to experience the palace for yourself.
Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

I got married at The Palace 11/9/2008 and they were BY FAR my (and my husband's) absolute favorite vendor!!! Their attention to detail is exquisite and they exceeded expectations in every way!! Their banquet room and bridal suite (we were in the West Ballroom) is to die for!!!! It is modern, and gorgeous with neutral tones, a fireplace, and a staircase descending from the bridal suite where my husband and I made our grand entrance! They also have a balcony where you can throw the bouquet from to make it extra special. I was actually not even going to do the bouquet toss, but when I saw the balcony, I knew I had to take advantage :-) The bridal suite is gigantic and has 3 bathrooms and a fireplace as well!

We worked with Jose Russa and Michelle Malave during the planning process and they were incredible. I asked tons of questions and changed the menu and other things last-minute and they were able to accommodate us with no problem and no complaints. Friends and family kept telling us that little things will go wrong on your wedding day and to just ignore them because it's normal and it's to be expected. Well, we didn't notice one thing go wrong with The Palace!!! Everything was a dream and it was absolute perfection. The food was amazing and we ate everything, which I hear never happens! We made it a point to be in our chairs for the food, because it was so good we didn't want to miss out. The cakes were tasted during our food tasting weren't the best, so we changed our order to something else that we hadn't sampled (vanilla custard) and it was delicious! I'm not even a cake person and I went gaga over the wedding cake!

On the day of, our Maitre D was a guy named Allan and my bridal consultant for the night was a girl named Maya. Both were incredible and were right there when we needed them, but didn't interfere at all with us having a blast all night. Maya bustled my dress and they both took care of our drinks all night. We even invited Allan to the after-party because he was so much fun and was so helpful!! When the hotel shuttle failed to come back to pick up the last few guests (us and a few members of the bridal party), Allan took it upon himself to drive us to our hotel himself!

The Palace is pricey, but worth every single penny and Jose worked with us to make sure we stayed within our budget. If you like modern elegance and want a new place (it's only a few years old), you MUST see The Palace!!! You will fall in love!!!

I recently had my Wedding At The Palace At Somerset Park. I wanted to share my expereince with others. When I first saw the Palace with my mom, our sales person did a great job of showing us the Palace. He explained how the whole night would be from cocktail hour, the beautiful bridal suites, introductions and uplighting in the Ballroom.

One thing that stood out was how he commented on the staffing level. He stated that we would have 1 server per 10 guests. When I heard that, it became the deciding factor. I thought what a special touch for my guests to have that extra special attention. I looked at other Banquet Facilities and even though some were beautiful, they never made that promise.

On the day of my wedding, my maitre d'was great. He was very professional, attentive and went out of his way to ensure that we had a good time. However I noticed that my event seemed like it was short staffed. During cocktail hour there was only 3 servers passing drinks, and 2 passing food. This was not the image that was portrayed to me from the sales person. The maitre d' was even passing food to my mom and dad. I think he was trying to hide the low staffing level from us. When I asked him about the amountof employees, he did a great job in using his sense of humor to hid the fact from us. It worked! We went straight back to having a good time.

However as the night went on, you can tell that the promised amount of employees was not there. I didn't say anything to the maitre d' because it was probably no fault of his own. We loved him!

It made us think that the Palace might say anything to get the sale. So I wrote this to future brides out there. Be careful when you speak to your sales person. If they promise you a ratio of 1 server per 10 guests, make sure you get it in writing. Or even better see if you could work directly with the maitre d' that will work your wedding. Not to get into it, because overall I did have a great wedding! However it seems like as soon as they took my check, that nobody returned my call.

Also if they offer you a lighting package don't take it. It's a waste of money. I had an amber gel on the columns and you could barely see it.

Overall it was fun day specifically because of the maitre d' and bridal attendant, just be careful with what promises made by the Palace!

Hi everyone! I got married last year and I worked with Laura and Melanie. Both were wonderful to work with and on top of everything! If one wasn't available, the other one was right there when I needed her. They helped me throughout every step and even helped me pick out all of my vendors! I got married in the West Ballroom which was GORGEOUS! The Palace helped me pick out my colors for their specialty lighting and even my linens which matched the room! They even allowed me to come in with my florist to see a sample of what my piece would look like in the room! They set up a sample table with my linens and then put on my lighting so I could see everything come together. It was amazing! The tasting was out of this world! They have a private room dining room in the kitchen where you watch the chef make everything right infront of you! The food was INCREDIBLE! They let you customize everything and switch things around. They even let me and husband have our own special entrees. I remember mentioning at The tasting that my husband loved peanut butter and my mom loved rainbow cookies. To my surprise, on our wedding night, for dessert, Alan brought over a special peanut butter dessert that the chef had made just for him and a whole plate of rainbow cookies for my mom!!! That meant alot to me.
The day of the wedding it was pretty hard to let go and enjoy everything, but my Maitre D, Alan, and my bridal attendant, Maya, made sure I didn't miss anything! They were always there for anything I needed. I even tore my dress dancing and she fixed it for me!!! I'm sure just like any wedding, things went wrong, but I would have never known. Everything was perfect from start to finish and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with or a more wonderful place to have my wedding. If I could do it again, I'd do it the same!!!!

Hi everyone. I had my wedding reception at the Palace at Somerset Park last year and just wanted to post about my experience and offer some advice. I worked with Jose and Michelle...they were awful. They were great in the beginning when they wanted us to sign on the dotted line, but that was about it. They don't return phone calls...it would take me leaving angry messages & emails, for them to finally return calls and I got the usual..."Sorry, we're so busy..." I had to basically do all of their planning myself -I had to call them and schedule a time to drop off my favors(the storage room is only available a certain amount of time before your wedding and they were supposed to tell me when it was ok to drop the favors off), I had to insist on a tasting (they forgot to book us for one and expected us to just go without it), I even had to call them to come in and pay the balance! The due date passed by...nobody called...My Mom had to insist on a time to come in and drop off the money. Btw, there is an additional discount if you pay with cash --When Jose gave my Mom the price, she told him what we were willing to pay (she lowballed it), knowing with negotiation we would end up where we wanted, and we did. If you are able to, definitely pay with cash so you can get as much as a discount as possible. Also, if anyone works with these two, I suggest making sure you stay on top of things and your schedule, because they definitely don't.

Our tasting was great...the food was pretty good -the wine mediocre, but I'm a wine aficionado. The food at the wedding was nothing more than average, definitely disappointing, however cocktail hour was spectacular! Everything was delicious, the lamb chops and caviar bar were a big hit. The cake was delicious at the tasting -NOT SO at the wedding! It looked NOTHING like the picture I had given the pastry chef and tasted NOTHING like it did at the tasting. I was really upset about that.

On the day of the wedding, the maitre d' and bridal suite attendant were FABULOUS! They attended to everything we needed help with, the maitre d' coordinated with all the vendors really well and made sure everything went off without a hitch.

All in all, the room I had (the East Ballroom) looked great, I loved my flowers (can't say enough good things about my florist Amaryllis Decorators (www.amaryllisdecorators.com), my photographer Patricia Goya (www.patriciagoya.com) my band & dj were great so everyone had a great time dancing the night away.

Although my reception went off smoothly, and in the end everyone had fun, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't choose the Palace.

The Palace at Somerset Park is not only exquisite, but the people are the best. My wife and I looked at several venues. NOTHING compared. We can truly say this was the best day & night of our lives. We could not have been anymore pleased with the incredible service and planning process by everyone involved in creating such a spectacular day for us. Everyone at the Palace made us feel like celebrities. We had visions that we were not sure could be met. They were not only met, but exceeded our expectations. I would recommend the Palace to anyone looking for the perfect occasion. The only regret we have is that it is over.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by email at bphodkinson@hotmail.com. I can go on for hours. Unfortunately, I have to get back to work.

A bride chooses the Palace at Somerset Park for many reasons. I chose it for perfection. Perfection with the details, the atmosphere, the service, the food and creating the most memorable night of your life.

Not just a business: The Palace was only but a foundation on Davidson road when I first saw it. I worried that a non family run banquet facility would be strictly business and lack the personal attention you crave as a needy bride. To my surprise, I was treated like royalty from start to finish in the planning process. Working with Melanie Malave was like talking to a best friend. She guided me through the process and helped me on days when I tried to do her job, her bosses job and the chef's job (I was slightly obsessive compulsive). Having her reassure me that the small details wouldn't be overlooked made me breath a sigh of relief.

The cost of perfection: Sure its a tad more expensive than getting married in mom's backyard, but honestly, it was worth every penny. The look on the faces of your guests when they arrive to this mecca of a structure will be completely worth it. Upon entering they are greeted with friendly car attendants, welcoming waitstaff (serving up my specialty pink beverages) and a huge spread of cocktail hour just waiting to be devoured. Good food can come from anywhere, but good food, service and atmosphere are worth paying the price for in my book.

All the little things: While taking photos our hosts were right there with us making sure that we were fed, drinking and most of all enjoying the moment. Think of what a celebrity feels like when they're being handled for a concert. Its the same thing. My bridal attendant bustled, fixed my hair if necessary, found tums when I needed them, helped me to change into comfortable shoes when she saw my feet were hurting and find a way for me to stash some cookies in my purse on the way out.

Yum Yum: My husband and I work in New York and decided we wanted our cake to be black and yellow looking like a NYC taxi cab. all I had to do was explain my vision to Melanie and the pastry team and viola! a stunning conversation piece arrived infront of my sweet heart table on the day of the wedding. It was so professional you wouldn't believe that the cost was included in the price! All of the desserts were tailored to my husband and I. I asked for swedish fish, i got it. I wanted mint chocolate chip ice cream, it was there. Being led through the dessert hour before my guests were invited to join was so special. Seeing the hard work put into making this night so special while gazing up the huge staircase in the grand foyer was breathtaking. And that was just dessert!!!

The tasting is like being on a television show only no one gets voted off. You just keep tasting course after course and get to laugh and bond with your planner. I remember enjoying the tasting with my family so much that I thought about asking if i could come back and just pay to have private tastings after my wedding was over.

Think of banquet halls that you've been to before and how their food tastes. Decent I'm sure. But anyone can make a tray of baked ziti and some chicken parm. The food at the palace was like inviting 200 of your closest friends to a trendy new restaurant. Its whatever you want, its peronal, its fresh, its hot and its delicious.


I honestly have so many wonderful things to say about the Palace and would be happy to go on and answer specific questions if you'd like to email me. mspink108@aol.com