Venuti's Banquets & Ristorante

I haven't stopped getting compliments about my reception and it's been three weeks since the big day. My guests raved about the quality of the food and how absolutely gorgeous the room was. It was even more than I could have imagined. The guests were even given to-go boxes for their leftovers, which is absolutely unheard of these days. I would not only recommend it, but my husband and I plan to have future events there as well.

We had our wedding at Venuti's in September 2012, and I cannot complain about one thing. From the moment we booked our room to the very end of the wedding, we had the most wonderful experience with Venuti's. We worked with Pat who was always willing to answer any question that I had and was very responsive through email (or when I wanted to meet in person). He worked with us to customize every detail to make sure that it fit our expectations. We had about 300 people, and everyone told us how beautiful the venue was and how great the food and drinks were! We are so happy that we chose Venuti's for our wedding!

Pat was awesome please see him if you desire to use Venuti's this guy made my day spectacular! I know i can be a bit anal/OCD (lol) about perfection. Each time i needed something he was definitely there. The customer service skills at Venuti's was breath taking! I always say you pay for what you get and here this place had great food, a great staff Frank and his brother were always upbeat! I can't say enough great things about Venuti's.
Recently married Sept 7, 2012. All of my guest are still talking about how beautiful everything was and of course being my own wedding planner it was music to my ears to know that the night ended with a bang!

Great Food! Great Location! Ample Parking! Great Staff! just an awesome Venue all together! Loved every minute of it!

ONLY SIGN A CONTRACT IF VENUTI ADDS, IN THE CONTRACT, THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE ANY DEALINGS WITH THE MALE RELATIVE WHO WEARS A PONYTAIL. IT APPEARS AS THOUGH HE PURPOSELY TRIES TO RUIN YOUR EVENT, EVEN THOUGH ALL PREVIOUS DEALINGS WERE WITH KAREN, WHO WAS PROFESSIONAL AND ATTENTIVE, KAREN DID NOT ARRIVE UNTIL 20-30 MINUTE PRIOR TO THE CEREMONY SO ALL DEALINGS, FOR THE SET UP, ATTENTION TO DETAIL WHICH HAD BEEN OUTLINED AND GIVEN TO KAREN BUT NOT DONE, HAD TO GO THROUGH HIM. HE WAS ANTAGATISTIC, INSULTING TO MY DJ ( FROM KC CHRISTOPHER WHO WAS VERY PROFESSIONAL AND DID NOT RESPOND), STATED VENUTI'S DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH CHAIRS, FUSSED AT MY DECORATORS, ETC., ETC. IT WAS AWFUL. THE ONLY SAVING GRACE WAS RAY. HE WAS THE HERO OF THE DAY. WHEN HE ARRIVED, HE ASKED WHAT WAS NEEDED AND QUIETLY PROCEEDED TO HELP.
THE FOOD WERE SMALL PORTIONS OF EVERYTHING, AND NOT AS GOOD AS THE TASTING. SOME OF MY GUESTS STATED A FEW OF THE WAIT STAFF WERE VERY RUDE, THOUGH MINE WAS FINE AT MY TABLE.
YOU HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR OWN DETAIL DUE TO THEY WILL NOT.

Our reception could not have been any better. the linens provided at no charge were beautiful. they did a great job with cocktail hour! beautiful space! their lighting is great. also, at no charge they offer a wedding cake vendor (a baking institute) and our cake turned out beautifully! I would highly recommend this space.

It wasn't a wedding we held at this venue, but a Bridal Shower.

As the MOH I wanted my sister to have the best experience at her shower. And I must say I was quite disappointed with the quality of food and some of the information we were provided with.

The staff was great and responsive. And even with two quests showing up without RSVPing first, they were able to accommodate us.

We did not know which meal selection to choose from and were advised by the coordinator to make a reservation at their onsite restaurant and taste the different options they have, because they offer the same food at the event. If you plan on doing that, PLEASE do not waste your money, because the food at the restaurant is totally different than what they served us. So, save yourself the money if all you're wanting to do is do the tasting. The restaurant is nice, and the food is good, but it's not the same they serve at the event.

The guests commented that they loved the food, but I was disappointed knowing how much better the food the restaurant actually was.

Also, when they brought out the ice cream, it looked like it melted and they stuck it back in the freezer, so the ice cream presentation was horrible and I saw that some people refused to eat it.

For a venue of this quality, I'd expect a lot more!

MOH

The food here is amazing, it is the reason why we chose it. The people are great. Karen was helping me set up my whole wedding, she didnt care how many times I emailed her with stupid little questions, they understand completely. They go well over above and beyond!

We had a wonderful experience with Venuti's, our wedding day was flawless.
Highly recommend...

I remember when I booked Venuti's that I read a review from another bride that said she was not unhappy with her reception site selection. However, if she would have done it again she would have picked some place else. I now understand what she meant. If you are the bride who does not want to me involved. If you want the hall to make all your decisions this is the place for you. They know weddings. You can show up the day of your wedding and not worry. However, if you want more personalized one on one service this is not the place for you. The food was amazing. I was told by everyone that it was the best wedding food they have ever had. The service staff (bartenders and waiters/waitresses) were fantastic. We did table side ordering with 3 different entrée selection. Everyone The room is absolutely beautiful. Some guests even said it was better than a steakhouse. I was unhappy with was the lack of attention to detail and personalized service. Venuti’s has a set way of doing things and it results in a beautiful wedding. However, I wanted a few thinks done differently that the norm and was assured that my requests would be accommodated. For instance I wanted the wedding cake which was a gift to be served to every guest. Their standard routine was to cut and box it. The cake was not served. The specific set-up instruction I provided in a typed document where not followed. I want to reiterate that Venuti’s is a great establishment for a wedding. It just was the fit for me.

I had my rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and reception at Venuti's Banquets. I worked with Karen Dragel who literally is the most amazing person on the planet! I had to get my wedding together in 3 months and she helped me with every part of it. I emailed her probably 150 times and she always emailed me back right away and was always so helpful and sweet. I dont think I could have had the type of amazing beautiful wedding that I did if it were not for Venuti's and for Karen. They took care of everything from setting up the candy buffett that I made to making sure that every little detail was perfect. I got soooo many compliment on how our wedding was the most fun and gorgeous and had the best food out of any wedding people had ever been to and I whole heartedly agree. Everything was perfect and the food was delicious and the staff was so curtious and professional. If I were to do it all over again I would pick Venuti's every time!! I cant thank them enough for everything! I definately recommend it to any bride planning their wedding and make sure you call Karen!! Shes a life saver!!

I should start by saying we ended up looking at Venuti's because of a recommendation from an acquaintance. So, we knew before we saw it that we would likely be impressed. We worked with Karen, and she was AMAZING! She was so great and answered my billion questions, even when I emailed her multiple times in a day. We were impressed from the minute we walked in. We had visited many venues before Venuti's, and she was the only person we met with who seemed to genuinely care about our day, and our wedding. At most other places, with probably one other exception, the people seemed to hate their jobs and were just going through the motions, and trying to get us out because they had work to do. Karen was more of a "friend" who wanted to get to know us and chat than try to sell something to us. After we left that day we had no question where we wanted to have our ceremony /reception.

Karen was able to accommodate every request we had, and was very helpful from day one to the last minute. She even came in during cocktail hour to make sure everything was exactly the way we wanted it. She made the whole process so simple. I can honestly say that because of her I never worried that the ceremony and reception would be less than perfect. Both were amazing, so she did a GREAT job!

It was so great seeing everyone enjoying themselves at the wedding. The space is so pretty, and big enough to accommodate everyone without people standing on top of each other. I have had many people say that it was the best wedding food that they ever ate. People were VERY impressed with the seafood bar during cocktail hour. I ate some of it and also thought it was excellent. I definitely recommend the seafood bar, which comes with an ice sculpture. So cool! I have not heard one person complain about the food or the drinks, and my husband and I thought it was all amazing, so obviously Venuti's does very well in that area.

We did have a problem with guests from the other wedding reception room coming into our room to try to dance. I had to ask a few people to leave. Obviously, this isn't something that Venuti's caused, but this is something that can happen when there is more than one reception happening at night. I was offended that people would have the nerve to come into a reception where they don't belong, but I was also worried that they would steal someone's purse or our wedding gifts. After asking a few people to leave and getting attitude, my husband and I finally had to ask Venut's to have "security" monitor our door. After that there were no problems.

Overall, Venuti's made the wedding / reception PERFECT and I was very satisfied with everything!!

The venue is absolutely beautiful! I was married in October 2011. I had both my ceremony and reception there. I worked with Karen throughout the entire process and she was great. She was always responsive to my questions and gave great referrals and suggestions. Everything went smoothly up until the day of the wedding. Then my day-of coordinator ran into some minor issues. Of course, I did not learn about these issues until after the fact. There were some things that were supposed to be set-up that were not. The microphone and stand were not set-up in the ceremony room. There were not enough chairs set-up in the ceremony room. My unity sand table was not set-up correctly, and I also later found out after the ceremony they had broken my large personalized vase so they replaced it with one of their small glass cylinders. Imagine noticing that while you're standing at the alter and realizing that your large unity vase is not on the table. I was NOT happy, but there was nothing I could do about it. I was supposed to have a favors table, as well as a gift table, but they only set up a favors table. Apparently, when my coordinator asked the staff for an extra table for gifts they wanted to argue that I (the bride) only asked for one table. Regardless, if there was a miscommunication regarding the favors table and gift table, the staff should have said "ok" and just gotten the table. Eventually, they put an extra table out AFTER going back and forth with my coordinator for like 5 minutes. Luckily, we did get all the minor issues taken care of PRIOR to the ceremony starting, but throughout the entire process it was difficult to find the staff member that was in charge. Karen, my sales person, was there for a couple hours on the day of, but she was always sitting in the office. Again, it may not been her job to go around and double check to see if we needed any last minute things, but it was so difficult for my coordinator to find someone. At one point, someone told my coordinator to go to the "captain" in a dark blue or black uniform with any issues. Considering ALL of the wait staff had on black uniforms, it was a little difficult for my coordinator to find the "captain." I was disappointed because that was one of the selling points that grabbed my attention. I was told that I would have a "Personal Host" on the night of the evening that I could go to with any issues. On the day of the wedding, it was NEVER made clear to me or my coordinator who my "Personal Host" was. Was it Karen? Or was it the "captain" in the blue or black uniform? During the ceremony, everything was fine, except for the fact that all we could hear during our prayer was loud banging of dishes that was in the kitchen. One of my guests had to go out and tell Karen TWICE before anything was done about it. This was not acceptable. I understand that the staff in the kitchen had to prepare for the reception, but they should've been informed that a ceremony was taking place and they needed to not make so much noise. Other than those issues, everything else went smoothly. I know it just seems like I have been complaining, but I will say that the food was amazing, and the service during the reception was great. Despite all of my complaints, I would still recommend this other couples who are getting married. Everyone always said that things will go wrong on your wedding day, so I was expecting it. You just have to deal with it the best you can. Luckily, none of mine were too major. I don't think any of the guests realized any of the mishaps (except for the loud banging of the dishes), so that's good. Again, the venue is beautiful. The staircase is what really grabbed my attention from day 1, and my photos on the staircase were absolutely amazing. :)

I don't know where to start with kind of establishment Venuti's is as the host of our wedding ceremony / reception. Since we started working with them back in March, things went about as outstanding as they could've gone working with this vendor. They helped us tremendously in laying the groundwork for how the entire event would go...taking us step-by-step through each part of the day and providing recommendations from the ceremony, to the food, to the beverages, to the entertainment, etc. Now to the wedding day...the ceremony room looked awesome and for a large Italian family like ours, it held up just perfect. Now the most important part ;) the reception. The place looked awesome, again, and the food was spectacular. The appetizers were great...the hot seafood station was the talk of the wedding and comes HIGHLY recommended. The soup, the salad, the pasta, the main course (FILET AND CHICKEN), the wedding cake, the desserts, the fruit...it all stole the show. The waiters/waitresses did a great job! The bridal room upstairs was perfect for my wife and fit the wedding party and then some. It's very elegant and properly designed. All-in-all, the event was a total success. I want to give many, many praises to our even coordinator, Karen who did a tremendous job guiding us throughout the way and to co-owner Frank, who cooks the delicious food himself and also helped on my wedding day dispurse it to my guests. I mean, what owner does that??? Venuti's owner does that...and because of Venuti's, my guests will be talking about how great my wedding was for years to come!!!

We used Venuti's for our wedding reception on 6/10/11 and I would definitely recommend them. We booked them over a year out from our wedding date, and although the initial part of the planning process was rocky due to our original sales person who we were working with suddenly leaving their position and another person that we really didn't click with, it all ended up working out and being an absolutely amazing night. We ended up working with Karen and she is fantastic. She was always so quick to respond to any little question I had and was nothing but friendly and helpful. She really put us at ease throughout the planning process that everything would come together and that we didn't need to worry about anything, and she was right! The reception turned out more beautiful than I could have dreamed.

We had the Verona II room (room with extension on the left with mirrors) and the night of reception it was absolutely stunning. The food was amazing and we have not have a single guest do anything but rave about how great the food was and that it is the best food they've ever had at a wedding. The service provided by the staff was oustanding. The bar manager even ended up going out and getting my husband a bottle of his favorite vodka when he was informed they didn't have it at the bar. Talk about making the customer happy!

I also recommend their restaurant to anyone who wants a great meal as it's fantastic as well!

I had my wedding here in June, and I was so excited because the place is gorgeous and I loved the food there. But when it came the actual wedding events (rehearsal and wedding), we were very disappointed.\r\n\r\nFood = amazing. Venue = beautiful. Sales rep = the WORST. Brides - Beware if you get Pat B. as your sales rep. \r\n\r\nWe had a morning wedding and lunch reception because my (then) fiance and I had a very small budget. We wanted to do the best we could with the little that we had and thought a lunch buffet reception was the perfect fit. But apparently - Venuti\'s (or Pat, specifically) isn\'t too accommodating and kind to small budget weddings because he DEFINITELY made me feel un-important.\r\n\r\nEvery time I had questions, he would sigh and answer them - but sometimes not very thoroughly. But, I let it go because I would figure it out eventually and just rolled with the punches.\r\n\r\nONE WEEK before our wedding rehearsal (and wedding) Pat called me and said that we would have to cut our wedding rehearsal short from 1 hour to 30 minutes. Shocked - I asked why that was, and he said that he \"didn\'t know that there was another wedding planned during that time\" and that I had to be done by 5pm. (We had scheduled it to be from 4:30 - 5:30pm). You mean to tell me that you \"didn\'t know\" about a wedding 1 week before it was happening???\r\n\r\nWhen I told him that I didn\'t think 30 minutes was enough, he simply (and unapologetically) replied, \"Well, it\'s a short aisle. You don\'t need more than 30 minutes.\"\r\n\r\nBrides - Is this what you want to hear 1 week before your wedding? Someone to basically tell you, \"too bad\" and to tell you how much time you need??? If he would\'ve been empathetic, I would have been more understanding... but he was a jerk about it. So - seeing as I had no choice, I asked my wedding party to get there by 4:15 so we would at least have 45 minutes. \r\n\r\nWhen we got there - guess what, he tells me that we actually have to be done BEFORE 5pm - when he told me before that we had to be done BY 5pm - because his other wedding was starting at 5pm. Mind you - this was different info than he gave before... and he kept rushing us out of there because the other wedding was starting soon. When I asked him about it - he waved me off (one day before the wedding!) and said - \"well you wouldn\'t listen when I tried to tell you!\" \r\n\r\nAgain - big jerk who had no empathy. I DID listen - that\'s why we got there early. Not to mention, a liar because the info he gave me the previous week was different than what he was telling me that day. To make a long story short, we made it work. \r\n\r\nThe day of the wedding came and he NEVER ONCE checked on our wedding or reception to make sure everything was going ok. My vendors and family members - who knew nothing of how he had been treating me - all asked - \"what\'s wrong with the guy in the office?\" because he was really not helpful and short when it came to answering their questions. For ex - we needed a pair of scissors and asked him to borrow one. He said they didn\'t have one. They have 2 offices, a restaurant and a banquet hall... you mean that there is not one pair of scissors in that whole place??? He didn\'t even get up off his chair to search or try to ask others. \r\n\r\nOf course, I didn\'t let his poor attitude ruin my day... like I said, the venue was perfect and the food was amazing.\r\n\r\nBut brides, be warned about booking your wedding here. Maybe he\'ll treat you differently if you have a large budget. But if you decide to have your wedding at Venuti\'s and you get Pat as your sales rep, I would save yourself the hassle and attitude and ask for someone else.

Karen is an absolute dream to work with. She will listen to all of your ideas and help you out as much as she can. The food at our wedding was absolutely delicious, that is all people were talking about. We had the option of the filet or chicken marsala. The hall was beautiful and the bartenders were extremely friendly. This was a great place to have our wedding and would highly recommend it to people!

I could not have booked with a better venue!! I worked with Karen who was "bend over backwards" helpful. She had a very can do attitude and was a joy to work with!! Everything was perfect. Many guests complimented my choice because of the food and overall aesthetics of the room. The service was great! Everyone is very friendly. A plus to this venue is that they have 6 hour open bar that stays open during dinner. You don't find that at a lot of places. They also include poured wine service during dinner at no additional charge. Most of the time reception food is mediocre, but not here! We opted to give guests a choice between 3 entrees. You don't need to keep track of that ahead of time because each guest orders at the beginning of the meal. My special day was perfect and I have Venuti's to thank for that!

Would rate over 5 stars! We dealt with Pat and wow does he know what he is doing! Our wishes were always granted! It seemed that no wish was to big to accomodate! The food and service was impeccable! I am sure our pictures will sparkle with such a gorgeous venue as Venuti's!

Karen was amazing to work with and very flexible. My only piece of advice is to confirm that the person you are working with will be there during your reception if anything goes wrong so they can help instead of having to work through busboys to get what you need.

Our wedding was at Venuti's on 10/1/10. I would not have changed one thing! It is so incredibly beautiful there and Karen was the most helpful person ever! She made the whole process so easy and stress-free! I really can't thank this venue enough for all the work they put in to make our day so perfect! I would do it all over again the exact same way every time! Thanks Karen!

Amazing. Food was the best. All of my guests were blown away with the food. They said it was the best wedding food that they have had. The service was excellent. There was a lot of staff that worked our reception which made it easy for guests to get what they wanted/needed in a timely fashion. The staff was so nice and curtious. Didn't have to worry about cranky waiters.
The ambiance is the perfect touch to any wedding. Because of Venuti's being newer, I didn't need to add that much decor to my wedding. The chairs are not old and ugly were I needed chair covers to cover them up.
Everyone was great to work with prior to the wedding day. They kept telling me I didn't need to worry about a thing and on the day of I didn't worry about a thing. They took care of every little thing to make it a stress free day!

The place is beautful! The food was amazing! The service could not be beat! Everyone was so helpful and wonderful. I was so happy to use Venuti's and would use them again! I can't wait to go back for dinner!

I have nothing but praise for Venuti's. They did an outstanding job. Their food is restaurant quality. I keep hearing from my guests how that was the best wedding food they'd ever had. We chose the Guests Choice Dinner - where the guest could chose better fish, steak, or chicken. The portions were huge! When they say they'll serve you a 14oz ribeye, it's 14 oz - after being cooked. The hall was just gorgeous. We dealt with Frank - who treated you like family! We also had a personal host who was there to attend to any issues we might have had. We really didn't have any issues. For me, the best part was the 6 hour bar! To have the bar (our room actually had 2 bars) open during dinner was too cool. If I had to do it all over again, I would chose Venuti's - over and over and over!

I held both my ceremony and reception at Venuti's. I would definitely recommend this venue for anyone looking to get married in the area. The service during dinner was outstanding and our guests are still commenting on that. The food (chicken vesuvio, filet mignon and spinach lasagna) was excellent and again my guests are still raving. The only negative things I have heard from my guests were that the appetizers were awful and the bathrooms could have used some more attention. My only gripes are that the set up was not done properly despite the fact that we had gone over it several times and they lost/ threw out some of our stuff within 24 hours of the wedding, to me that is ridiculous. Despite the things that went wrong I would still recommend Venuti�s.

Venuti's is such an amazing place, and I feel so lucky to have been able to have my reception there. I got non-stop compliments from everyone that it was the most gorgeous reception they had ever been to, the best food they have ever had at a wedding, and was the prettiest venue they've ever seen--and a lot of our friends and family are in the restaurant and photography businesses. The pictures our photographer took of us at Venuti's look like they came out of a magazine. The main stairwell and the circle room created the most breath-takingly beautiful pictures.

Everyone loved that they had the huge veranda to go to for fresh air, the martini bar was a huge hit, and they were thrilled that not only was there a premium open-bar, but it was also open during dinner, which I've never seen at a wedding--and I've been to 13 in the past year alone.

The food served during cocktail hour was delicious, and the food during dinner was even more amazing: especially the pasta and filet mignon.

Venuti's also included our cake in the package, which was done at The Baking Institute in Wheeling, IL. The cake was delicious, and it was the most beautiful, elaborate wedding cake I've ever seen. We had sugar flowers on it that no one could believe weren't real. It was everything we wanted and more. We also got to pick all of the linens that we wanted (at no charge), Venuti's set everything up, and they turned out beautifully and matched our colors perfectly. They also set-up all of our favors, table names, escort cards, and everything else you can imagine.

Karen Dragel was our wedding coordinator and she was amazing. She was constantly in touch with us, helped us with any questions we had, and made suggestions when we needed them. Every time we met with her they offered us wine, champagne, beer, even food. She took care of everything the day-of so that my husband and I could just enjoy our wedding, and relax knowing that she would handle all the set-up and any problems that arose.

I wish I could have another wedding, just so I can have the reception at Venuti's again. It was absolutely perfect.

Venuti's was a beautiful reception hall. I had great service and all of my guests were very pleased with the quality of food and drink. They arranged everything as requested. If I did it over again I would still book venuti's. Only flaw is a little delay on emails and they were not very happy with the idea of picking up some of the supplies the day after the wedding. Other than that the day went perfect!

We had 420 people at our wedding and we didn't hear a single complaint about our reception, it was nothing but amazing compliments. We went to about 10 different reception sites and this was by far the best one. It's absolutely gorgeous (we took some beautiful photos during our reception) and the food was phenomenal! Karen is the sweetest person ever and was such a big help with all the planning. Book your wedding here, you won't regret it!

04/26/09 VB & KT

I have been to events at Venuti's before and have really had a great time. For my reception though, the cost was higher than the place I went with. I was trying to do just appetizers and the cost was excessive. I also got costs for dinner. The hall is absolutely beautiful it is just out of my price range. They we willing to work with us for what we wanted for our reception.

My advice is make sure everything you discuss with them is in the contract and double check that it is.

EVERYTHING WAS WONDERFUL. KAREN WAS SUCH A BIG HELP AND WAS SO EXCITED FOR US! THEY ALWAYS MADE SURE THINGS WERE GOING WELL AND THAT WE WERE SATISFIED!!

Expensive but worthwhile. Very accommodating, very classy in all areas. Magnificent food. Make sure to specify that the wait staff help with packing leftovers otherwise food/dessert will be wasted.

I'm glad i had my wedding here but if i had to do it again i would have chosen a different location.

Venuti's was absolutely fantastic! the hall was gorgeous, the waitstaff was incredibly attentive and professional, the food was fabulous, it was just overall excellent!

There is nothing bad to say about Venuti's. From the first moment we met with them to the final moments of the reception, they were fabulous. Our guests raved about the food, which was some of the best I've ever tasted at a wedding, and the decor was just beautiful. The staff was very kind, prompt, and responsive - we never had to ask more than once for anything. Throughout all the planning, we were never told "no", and were given anything and everything we requested. The cake was contracted through Venuti's, but was provided by Oak Mill Bakery. Again, a wonderful vendor and some of the best cake ever! The design and flavor was exactly what we had chosen, and it looked beautiful!

The minute we walked in the door, we fell in love with the place, the food and the ambiance. Their sales Manager, Karen Dragel was extremely helpful and welcoming to any questions we had. We found that the banquet hall was moderately priced, which made our decision even easier to go with Venuti's.

It's a newer place and recently quite popular, so it was difficult for us to find a Saturday night to book, so we decided to get married on a Friday.

The draw backs were the day of the wedding, our sales manager scheduled herself on vacation, which we had made sure a the other sales person was fully aware of our needs. There was another wedding next door that was abnoxiously playing their music during our dinner speeches, which i found to be extremely disrespectful for Venuti's to allow to happen. The food was great, the service was impecable and the night was more than we could ask for other those few little things.

Venuti's was amazing...the food was fantastic, the service was fantastic and they were able to negotiate the price with us. Highly recommend them.

The food was AMAZING! Karen really outdid herself when it comes to helping the bride make decisions, answering the brides crazy questions, etc. LOVED every minute of my wedding. My only concern was how small the hallway is...not conducive to a long receiving line... I am over it though!! ;)