My wife and I had our reception in the Ryse. I cannot say enough good things about Ameristar. I was a little nervous at first because you do not get to try their food until after you sign a contract. Everywhere else had just meh food and I was ...expecting the same from Ameristar. I did not expect much of the tasting but was excited for it. I was impressed whenever the chef came in and presented everything to us and how it was prepared like we were judges on Hell's Kitchen or something. I was even more impressed with how good the food was.
We did the beef tenderloin and chicken parmesan entrees and both were delicious. I am very partial to the steak though. We tried several sides and decided on salad, mashed potatoes, green beans, white sauce pasta, and a seasonal fruit bowl. Everything was SO GOOD. The steak stacked up against any steak from anywhere I've been if it wasn't better.
The Ameristar staff were more than accommodating. They were the largest vendor with the most moving parts in the planning and I expected it to be difficult with them but they were actually the easiest to work with. They were very responsive to us and helped kind of guide us through stuff which was really cool because we needed some guidance. I worked with Samantha who was just phenomenal. I think she works normal business hours like 9-5 or something like that, maybe earlier, and on the day of the wedding and even though she did not play a part in organizing anything physically, and any problems that night were to be addressed through another person, she was still there to make sure that everything was going well, and it was at least 3 hours later than I believe her to normally be there.
The only problem that I ran into was the organization of reserving rooms, which was mostly my family's fault. I somehow got put in charge of reserving rooms for some people and it led to a family member getting another family member's room key. When Samantha asked me if there was anything she could do I mentioned it to her and she squared it away immediately. The family member was there in front of me at the time which was why I brought it up, I would've sorted it out myself later but I had plenty enough to do already and she offered haha! My grandfather asks her if she could also take his suitcase to the room and without any hesitation she agrees to do so. I was honestly really angry that he asked because that is totally not her job but it was appreciated because he is very old and doesn't walk well.
The staff throughout the night were nothing short of amazing. Working some place where I interact with the public, I as well as others get worn out and it becomes such that every customer is another person and everyone begins to get handled as such. I did not feel that way once that night. Every Ameristar employee I encountered even in passing not only recognized me in a hundred people wearing suits, they congratulated my wife and I genuinely, not in a "thanks for coming. See you next time." Kind of way.
At the end of the night, one of the gentleman brought our top layer of cake and leftovers back to our room for us whereas I was expecting to take it myself. Our reception was perfect and I could not have asked any more of anyone that night. A HUGE thank you to Samantha and everyone that worked with us on 02/25/2022!