"The Long Beach Reef"

I booked both my wedding and rehearsal dinner months in advance. I booked the rehearsal for a Thursday so that it would not conflict with any other weddings but The Reef double booked it anyway. This would have been fine but they waited tell a week before the dinner to call me and tell me about it. I had to cancel the dinner with 25 people.
I deeply regret having my wedding at The Reef.

The venue was so beautiful even before we decorated it. The staff was very helpful and the accomodations were more then i can ask for. All of our guest couldnt get over how beautiful the place was. Im so glad we decided to have it there. The weather was beautiful enough for us to continue our outside ceremony, which overlook the water and the queen mary in the background. I was original skeptical of how close it was to the freeway (which is hardly busy and more of a on and off ramp) and how much that would interefere with our ceremony, but when youre in the moment and everything is going on...it was non-existent. The food was delicious.This is a great place to have a wedding whether you have a day wedding or evening. The view is amaaaaazing either way. We had Ashley as our consultant and anytime we had a question or concern or request, she was always helpful and quick to respond. Since we live out here in vegas, she made special arrangements for us. For instance, traditionally they have a special brunch for a tasting of their menu, she was able to set us up to do one on our own when we were able to be in town for the day. totally awesome!If i were to do it all over again...i'd do it right back here.

The staff at the Reef is excellent and the location is beautiful. We had our reception in the Pacific Ballroom, which is adjacent to a great patio that our guests were able to enjoy during the cocktail hour as well as through the night. We got positive reviews on the food and great reviews on the cake (which was part of the overall package). The restaurant itself has a vintage feel and is just a tad worn. We were able to get a great deal, and Jaime was extremely flexible as we finalized our menu, room set-up and other details.

Ashley was great in all areas; she really made our wedding a huge success. Things just flowed so well. The banquet room looked amazing!!!!

This venue served as our reception. It had a great outdoor patio for appetizers and the food was pretty good. They were running a June special so we got a good deal on the reception. Service both before the wedding and during the event were not great. I didn't get a contract until the week before the wedding. None of the servers spoke English and it seemed like no one really knew what was going on during dinner. We had to ask for the toast to be brought out, someone got water poured down their back, very loud during speeches, etc. Aside from the service, loved this place as our venue.

First off I'd like to say that the location is beautiful. One drawback is that it is hard to find. They have two ceremony locations and several banquet halls. I choose the Garden Area for the ceremony and the Garden Room for the reception. I liked this ceremony location better. There's lots of greenery, a view of the bay and a small fountain. It's also attached to the Garden Room which was the perfect size for my wedding. The room has a lot of character but is the only one without an ocean view. The catering staff was very friendly and accommodating throughout the planning process. They even let me do three meal options for a sit down meal for no extra charge. I ended up getting one of the packages they offer. For the price, I must say that it was definitely worth it. They also let me swap out the 1 hour hosted bar (included in my package) for a gourmet coffee station and then add a cash bar. You have a choice of three bakeries for the cake. We were very satisfied with our bakery and the cake. They were able to give us the cake we wanted. Many of there recommended vendors come to the tastings with samples. They provide much of the food that they offer but not everything can be sampled at the tasting.The day of the wedding, they were 30 min late having everything set up. Which ended up working out alright since all of the girls (including me) were late getting ready. I heard after that one of the servers dropped a plate of one of the passed hors d'oeuvres, cleaned it up and never brought out more. My dad didn't get the meal he was suppose to get. I heard that the bathrooms had not been cleaned properly, so my sister in law asked them to clean it. My husband said there was trash everywhere outside so he started to pick it up. They didn't end up charging us for the bar. We had a cash bar so we would have had to pay a fee if we didn't make the minimum. But they were apologetic about everything. Not everything was bad thought. The servers were very attentive to us and made sure we had everything. They made sure we had enough bread, they brought us hors d'oeuvres, cake, anything we wanted to drink. The food was good and there portions were a good size, they packed the leftover cake and our layer for us. Overall, I was satisfied with The Reef and would not have had my wedding anywhere else. There were a few bumps but in the big picture it really wasn't a huge deal.

We had our ceremony and reception at the Reef on June 20, 2009. It was an amazing night and would not have been like that if it werent for all the attention and time that went into our event. We worked with Ashley for the reception and details and Claudia for the rehearsal and the day of the wedding. They went above and beyond, making sure the staff had what they needed from us to set up the room properly.

The food was amazing and we got so many compliments on the dinner. We were able to customize our duet meal, choosing a chicken picatta and filet with melted boursin cheese on top. The filet with the boursin was delicious and a favorite of many of our guests. Several people said it was the best meal they had ever had at a wedding. We were also very impressed with how the salads were served. We expected a pre-plated salad to be served to the guests and it was a nice surprise to see the staff serving the salad table-side.

The service staff was excellent and our captain, Albino, was a pleasure to work with. He is an amazing captain and a great asset to The Reef. There was a spill on the dance floor later in the evening and before we could find a server to let them know, someone had already come out on the dance floor to clean it up. We were kept up to date with the bar tab the entire evening which was nice not to have to worry about.

All in all it was a fabulous night, everyone enjoyed the venue (with a view of the Long Beach Harbor on both the ceremony Sunset Deck and through the wall-to-wall windows in the Harborview Ballroom, how could you not!?) and the service was excellent.

Stars for great location and great value. This was a very fun and beautiful place to have our wedding. They were willing to accommodate any and all of our needs.That being said, we had a bit of trouble with the timeliness of poured alcohol service and the food could use some improvement.

The Reef's catering staff sounds nice over the phone but in actuality they have no idea what they are talking about when they give information to you. I know this I booked with The Reef for our reception and just recently 2months before our wedding backed out lost a 500 non-refund deposit because the catering staff conducts their business in a non-professional manner that leaves you worried all the time. Just to give you a handful of examples: every time I called they could not find our file, oh and they claim they work as a "team" but they give mis-leading information. They constantly asked us are we having a wedding there and constantly said "no", and the biggest of them all they tried to charge us extra $750 for a room that we were told was included with the ballroom. A bride and groom should not have to stress about their day especially worry bout their reception, hopefully this will help some of you out there. I told them I'd rather be out $500 than $8,000 absolute terrible service!

I had my bridal shower at the Reef. The food was great but I was very disappointed with the service. They changed the minimum guest count needed for our desired banquet room than I was originally told so I was given a different room. They did not return phone call in a prompt manner and I had to call several time to get information. Lastly, the staff tried to rush my bridal shower event. They went as far as popping balloons we had for decor while my guests and I were still there!

They may give better service for larger events like weddings, but based on our experience I would not book another event at The Reef.

We loved nearly everything about The Reef. Their staff was friendly, helpful, accommodating and thorough with paperwork, and the food, wait staff and bar service were excellent. The accommodations are clean and well maintained and the linens, flatware, barware, etc are all in excellent shape.

The food at our wedding was outstanding (not that my groom and I had a chance to eat much but what we did eat we loved and it got rave reviews from our guests). We missed the cocktail hour entirely while we took photos, but everyone loved the appetizers along with the beautiful setting and view on the Sunset Deck. Food, drinks, service and city skyline view at the dinner reception was equally as impressive. We had the buffet and numerous guests made comments to us about how good the food was and how impressed they were with the variety of selections.

Our only complaints were a) the small bridal holding room meant to hide the bride just prior to the start of the ceremony had no air conditioning so it was incredibly hot and stuffy in there - although I've been told they have plans to install air conditioning by next year; and 2) despite the fact that a security guard was on hand just as a standard precaution, someone (not a guest, and doubtful that it was a staff member) walked in the lobby and stole our digital photo frame (with engagement photo slide show) off of the guest book table. I've heard that some petty thieves target weddings and even dress up to blend in, but it was still a bummer because it was an engagement gift.

Those two things notwithstanding, several guests told us it was the "best", "classiest", "nicest" etc wedding they had ever been to and were amazed at how reasonable our budget was.

The Reef Catering Staff: let's see...they are nice on the phone but they don't actually offer up any information about what they can or will provide. I received my contract in the mail on the day it was due. My advice for any Reef bride or Groom is to have a coordinator because the Reef only provides the room and then the rest is up to you. Servers, Location, Ceremony and Room: 5 star Our head Server, Luis took care of us from the minute we entered the room. He was just so warm and friendly. The food was delish (we served Chicken with thyme sauce), and the drinks were good drinks. (Not watered down) The room was just like I wanted it to be and the view was spectacular. (On a side note, I got word that the bar pricing on drinks were much less than the drinks offered inside our reception...not good)

The Reef was a great all in one place to host our wedding! We had our ceremony on the deck, that over-looked the Long Beach Harbor. Afterwards, as we took our pictures guests enjoyed a happy hour, and got acquainted with the reception hall. The view as the evening came upon us was DYNAMITE!!! Our guests overlooked the downtown lights as we danced the night away!

Excellent service at a great price. I could not be happier. I highly recommend.

It was a pleasure having my Wedding at the "THE REEF"! The top deck was so beautiful with the view of the Water, Queen Marry & all the many White Doves that were let go there. This is by far the best location to have a wedding at & is why I had mine there!