Des Moines Marriott Downtown

hen we toured the venue and from there we knew we were in good hands and never forgot how she made us feel - AMAZING. Katie's attention to detail, advice, and ideas were spot on during our entire planning process. We knew we could trust her with anything and everything! Katie made us feel at ease, relaxed, and taken care of throughout all of the planning and on the wedding day. She coordinated with all of our vendors, executed our ideas, and was amazing!!! The wait staff and bartenders during the reception were also jus great -- The tiny details of filling mine and my husband's glasses with champagne and saving us each the passed appetizers was also very much appreciated - again down to the tiny details of the day we were amazed! The food was also amazing - we had a 400 person wedding, but it all tasted like it was specifically cooked for each one of us. The hotel staff was also great throughout our entire staff. Our rooms were clean, ready for us, and amazing. Jeff, the Head Bell Captain, made getting everyone in the wedding party getting to the church so easy, getting us to sunset photos during the cocktail hour seamless, and getting our stuff to our rooms when we arrived a breeze. Strawberries and chocolate and champagne were waiting in our room on wedding night - the tiny details were perfect! Again, we only can say positive things about the DSM Marriott Downtown - we couldn't have had the wedding we did without them.

as well, and we received many compliments about their stay. We appreciate Marriott making our wedding so fun and beautiful!

all. From start to finish the Marriott employees were always professional and courteous. Rebecca Lorsch was our event manager and if you are lucky enough to land her, you will not be disappointed! Rebecca went above and beyond to make sure we had everything we wanted for our wedding day and that all of the details were perfect. Any concerns or questions we had about the Marriott or catering were taken care of in a timely manner. Rebecca worked wonderfully with our wedding planner (Lori Evans of Bliss Events) making the planning process for us very easy. Chef Karen and her team delivered an amazing dining experience. Our food tasting was very informative and gave us a realistic feel for how our plates would appear and what food would be offered. The dinner on our wedding night was just as great as we remembered during the tasting. I still continue to receive compliments from my wedding guests about how great our food was! All of the servers and bartenders that were at our wedding were absolutely amazing! I cannot thank them enough for their hard work and dedication towards making our wedding day a success. They were all so courteous and accommodating. Our guests had a wonderful experience at the Marriott hotel. All rooms were clean and in great condition. There were a few guests who requested early check-in and did not receive it on Friday but the front desk seemed courteous and willing to fix the issues they could. The hotel had at least two weddings staying there for the weekend (including ours with at least 25 rooms per night) plus it was during the Iowa State Fair. The shuttle service was a great addition to help our guests navigate downtown Des Moines. Overall all of the Marriott staff that we encountered were absolutely amazing. They were all so willing to address any questions or concerns in a timely manner and provide a wonderful experience for us and our wedding guests!

with all of the décor. Between my florist and the Marriott, they handled making the place beautiful. I was able to send various decorative items along with a note / picture of how I wanted them used, and they handled everything from there. It was also very affordable considering there is no rental fee and linens and some table settings are included. I would recommend the Marriott to anyone looking for a ballroom reception and not interested in hiring a wedding planner. Rebecca is great to work with and really takes care of it all for you!

kly basis. Every time, we get redirected to the same person, despite explaining her unresponsiveness for the past few MONTHS. We finally escalated things by calling the corporate office and by having our coordinator call and email. When the employee did finally call us back, she told us she "never received" our multiple emails or voicemails. At this point, we have only received the answer to one of our questions. I'm left scrambling to figure out details last minute because she refuses to answer our questions in a timely manner. She has not provided us with a seating layout, an invoice for the meals ordered, any answer to our question of whether we need to make place cards (and now it's too late to order them, so I'm left having to make them on my own - GREAT), what drinks will be available, etc. Disappointed is not a strong enough word to describe how I feel with the lack of service we've received. At this point, she has been rude enough to us on the phone that we are afraid to keep asking questions or pushing her for our invoice or other details, since she has clearly demonstrated in the past that she will flat out ignore us if we inconvenience her in any way. This is, of course, not to mention the blatant lying. I expect when I plan an event somewhere, that I will have at least one meeting with the employee planning it, to ensure that everything will be set up how I want and adhere to my vision for the event. I have never once had a meeting with anyone from Marriott, nor is there time to schedule one now. I can say with confidence that this brunch will not be what I want. I am going into this blind, with no details figured out. All I can do at this point is expect to be disappointed.

cial, without any hiccups at all. Rebecca and Maureen were great to work with and kept us completely stress free. We were able to customize our package to fit what we wanted, as well as dropped all items off (chargers, runners, place cards, etc.) and they took are care of EVERYTHING. We never really had to lift a finger! Our day was perfect and we heard so many compliments on the venue, food and service. I HIGHLY recommend using the Marriott for your wedding venue.

e to hand to guests upon check-in (great idea, and so helpful!). Would definitely recommend the Marriott to anyone looking for a downtown hotel!

e thought we might need stairs at the ceremony venue, Christie offered to drive them to and from the venue for both the rehearsal and the ceremony. The staff was friendly and attentive, and stayed with us all night. I didn't have to worry about anything.

f without a hitch. Having your wedding at the Marriott is such good value. Not only do you get a great venue but you have access to wedding planning and a team of incredible workers in the service industry. They set up and tore down our reception and it looked absolutely beautiful. It was such a stress reliever to not have to find family members to clean up after the big party. We just had to pick up our items the next day! The food was great, SUCH big portions of salmon and chicken! Yum! They were also extremely flexible with menus, cake, everything. Honestly, having our wedding reception at the Marriott was the best decision we made out of all of the wedding details. I just can't say enough! So great!

ady in the morning of the wedding, a suite for our wedding night, a shuttle bus for our wedding party and for guests after the reception was over. They bellmen even helped us store flowers from the reception overnight. All-in-all, a top-notch place to stay and hold an event! The staff was wonderful every step of the way!

estival going on that night and about half of my guests were on "loud" floors - it's a 30+ floor hotel, I kind of hoped they'd be able to move my older relatives to quieter floors. Other than that, the people helping us were very nice - we saved $100 on the honeymoon suite, our guest room block with incredibly reasonably priced, and they even sent us chocolate on our wedding night.

ng! The food was delicious.

allowed us to have more rooms at the Marriott because the service was great!

ing drapes to the chair sashes. It seemed like the Marriott even gave us little upgrades here and there that we never expected. The food was to die for. I have had guests tell me that it was the best wedding food they have ever had. (People are still talking about the dauphinoise potatoes and wanting to come back to the Marriott just for those!) The entire staff at the Marriott was amazingly helpful from our event planner to our reception captain and everyone in between including the sales executive, the wait staff, the bar tenders and the bell hops. Everything at the reception came together better than we had imagined. I even remember sitting at the head table to saying to my groom, "This is way more beautiful than I dreamed. Can you believe this is all for us?" I feel like the Marriott created us a $50,000 reception for a fraction of that. Thank Rebecca, Maureen and the staff at the Marriott!

wanted it to be because they listened and tried to accommodate us as much as they possibly could. Our coordinator was always available to answer questions and always kept us up-to-date on what needed to be done before the day. I would recommend to anyone getting married in Des Moines (or surrounding area). Their level of customer service is unmatched!