Casa Monica Hotel

greeted us with the biggest and most warmest smile and the team went out of their way to accommodate each request.

able to move dinner inside up until the morning of our scheduled event! Throughout the planning process, the event services team was great! Elizabeth, became our go to planner and helped me finalize menu choices and bar options and was even able to facilitate a few last minute changes. Joe was our event captain for the evening, and he was so great! We had a pretty strict dinner timeline to stick to because we had a private trolley tour at 8 and Joe made sure to keep everything running smoothly and on time. Our guests raved about the food and the service!

th that being said, I was not pleased with the event services manager or her team. Our initial conversations and venue tour were with another coordinator, who helped us meet our budget and responded to numerous phone calls/emails promptly. Unfortunately she left shortly after we made our first deposit. I was introduced, via email, to our new "Event Services Manager" to work out a couple of payment processing problems, which she said were on their end. Our real issues didn't come until our date was looming. I had to make several requests for the outlines we had discussed during the tasting. Another payment processing issue came up. I could not arrange reservations for our bride/groom suites. We needed to pay for/distribute vendor coupons. Through all of these problems I could not get our event services manager on the phone, and she took 1+weeks to respond to emails. I decided to hire a day-of planner, per the manager's recommendation, and make another trip (since we live 1.5 hrs from St. Augustine). Needless to say, our event services manager was not available to meet us that weekend, and sent a colleague. My day-of planner was very polite, but made sure to express our concern about the delayed responses from the event services manager. The truth was, I was overwhelmed with stress knowing my wedding was a month away. When we made it to wedding week there were still questions waiting to be answered. And on the day of our wedding, the event services manager was touring another couple around the ballroom at the time she had assured me she would help set up. I am so grateful I hired my day-of planner. Anyone having a wedding at the Casa Monica should hire one, for peace of mind.

at the hotel that night!

rain in FL, we decided to take the larger ballroom and have cocktail hour at the pool. Guess what.... Two hours before the reception, it poured. They came and found me at the church and said they had to move the cocktail hour to the lobby. I knew there was another wedding in the other ballroom and was a bit worried about the overlap. However, it went off flawlessly and my family said it was a blast. My cousin even got to amaze everyone on the piano they had there! The week before I was getting a bit bridezilla about our DIY centerpieces (take the advice and don't worry so much). They and the florist set everything up perfectly. They even broke everything down and had it waiting for us to pick up in boxes the next day. Courtney's assistant was there to guide the whole night when she left. I had been asked before what our "preferred drinks" were. They made sure the bar was stocked. Someone must have been my personal steward too, because every time I turned around I had one! Ha! Even with the other wedding there and the change in plans, they made everything feel so special and personal. It was a perfect night and I wouldn't have changed a thing. p.s. The next day had perfect weather, of course. Being such an intimate hotel, our friends, my husband and I got to take over the pool and have our cocktail hour a day late! :)

r of historic section and convenient for out of town guests. The staff was extremely friendly! Our wait staff both for the rehearsal dinner and reception was the best I have ever seen at any wedding event. I was very pleased with everything they had to offer on site. They were also great to work with during our 10 months of planning.

ugh they RSVP'd Yes. Consider a consumption bar as another option to mitigate paying for liquor that may not be consumed, of course this can also work against you if you have heavy drinking friends. Be prepared that the day of the wedding there will be unfilled seats due to a multitude of reasons.

The hotel itself is amazing. The ballrooms have character that allows for the convenience of a hotel without having the traditional boring ballroom with sliding wall feel. The decor is incredibly ornate and provides for a more boutique feel than the traditional corporate hotel. Everyone we worked with was responsive and professional and truly worked to meet our needs! Courtney was our wedding coordinator and took time to respond to my many long emails- making sure to answer any and all questions up until the last minute! The food was out of this world as was all of the staff that facilitated a smooth reception. Furthermore, after looking at numerous venues both in Orlando and St. Augustine, the Casa Monica was the only site that offered a full cocktail hour and 4 hour reception which I think made the difference in allowing my husband and me to have time to actually experience the reception (and eat!). We couldn't be happier with the way the reception went and definitely will be back to visit the hotel in the future!

ngaged there... and I can't wait to go back. Its a bit pricey... but worth it.

kept in contact with us during our year long engagement.

eception in the amazing Flagler ballroom. It was better than we ever imagined! I recommend staying in the hotel the whole weekend for a truly stress-free event! Amanda and Erin were awesome to work with! also, the banquet staff were very professional and courteous. It was perfect!

dding they had ever been to.

n love and knew we had to have our wedding there. We did not have our ceremony at the Casa Monica because we had a different idea of what we wanted our ceremony to look like but I have seen pictures of couples that have had their ceremony on the pool deck and they were very beautiful. The staff at the Casa Monica really went out of their way to make sure everything ran smoothly and were so attentive to us during our reception. Throughout the planning process, the coordinators, Erin and Caroline, were always quick to respond to my questions. I could not have asked for anything more from them! All of our guests loved the site and we heard repeatedly it was the prettiest wedding they have ever been to. The food was phenomenal as well! St. Augustne and the Casa Monica are truly gems in our state.