Courtyard by Marriott, Carolina Beach

My wedding was held here on 5/8/22 (a Sunday). I will start with the pros: -delicious hors d’oeuvres and meal -customization of dinner menu -spacious reception area -very nice guy that said he had done tons of weddings (I think his name was Johnny, I could be wrong). He was a huge help. -they provide a room there for your honeymoon night Cons: -they do not provide an area to get ready in, so I would suggest purchasing a room the day before. (additional price) -they do not provide parking for guests, and my wedding was held the same weekend of a Children’s soccer tournament booked through the Marriott (but they didn’t tell me until a couple days before my wedding), so I had some guests have to pay $35+ to park .5 miles or more away. -the director of sales for events changed several times within the one year I worked with them, and the communication was poor because of this. -I made my payments months in advance to ensure I wouldn’t be bombarded with fees/bills the day of my wedding. The morning after my wedding I had pending charges for sodas (fine), the room I booked (fine), and a random $680. I went back to the hotel and spoke with a manager who advised he didn’t know why that was there but that it should go away. -I never met the two ladies I had emailed with (Kim and MacKenzie) until i went back for the $680 charge on my card and Kim introduced herself. -MacKenzie emailed me requesting “payments” several times. Luckily, I am organized, so I would forward the confirmation from where I had already completed the payment. (Be organized with receipts and emails if you book here). -I was told after booking that there would be an additional 28% fee for taxes and gratuity. For example, you spend $10,000, you will be paying an additional $2,800 in fees alone. -I chose to pay for sodas per can after the reception. They sent an email the morning following my wedding advising 80 sodas had been consumed for my 60 guests (which is extremely difficult for me to wrap my head around) considering we had a 2-home reception (very short) and most had lemonade or water. None the less, I was charged $3 a can, plus the 28% taxes/gratuity on this as well. Additionally, they charged a card I had on file, without confirming this with me, and I would have put it on a different one. Long story short, this is a lovely venue; however, I want to make everyone aware of the numerous additional charges after booking because they are not transparent about this.