When people ask how was our wedding, the only word to describe it is PERFECT! Everything with Mendenhall was absolutely perfect. We booked the grand ballroom close to a year and a half out from our date with Becky, and she was fantastic. Bec...ky ended up leaving before our wedding, so we got transferred to Dottie, who was also fantastic. From the beginning, the planners at Mendenhall answered every question, call, and email promptly. They are professional planners and know exactly how to throw a perfect wedding. We were told by several guests that this was the best cocktail hour they had ever seen! The spacing of the stations and seafood bar was perfect, and the 3 bars made it so no one ever had to wait in line for a drink!
We met twice to go over every detail in person, which I appreciated. They also contracted with the ice sculptor and the bakery. Our ice sculpture and cake were definitely highlights of the night! Both turned out amazingly! The cake comes from Master's Baker, which was cool because we got to go there, do a tasting and design the cake with them, and then Mendenhall took care of the rest!
Also, the food was INCREDIBLE! We already knew it would be, but all of our guests were so impressed, especially by the cocktail hour. We had a local mushroom, crab cake, and seafood station plus all the buttered and buffet appetizers. The dessert and coffee stations were all amazing as well! Literally, nothing went wrong at our reception, and everything was only better than we had even imagined! Also, we highly recommend going with the vendors that Mendenhall recommends, as we used several of them (dj, florist, photo booth), and they were all amazing!! People danced ALL night long, and we had even extended our reception!
We love the food at Mendenhall so much that we even had our rehearsal there the night before, which was the best decision! It was so convenient since we had so many guests staying in the hotel. This was by far the best rehearsal I have ever seen, as we had a little over an hour of a social hour with open bar and appetizers before the dinner began. Also, all of the entrees in the package are the same cost, so we were able to do really impressive sounding entrees for the rehearsal! The space was also amazing, as we used the library rooms which looked amazing with the fireplace and decorations for winter. I can also say here that Mendenhall is SO accommodating and knows how to deal with anything! We had our ceremony in a church and were told to allow 1.5 hours for the rehearsal. We got done in a little less than an hour, so everyone arrived 45 minutes early. Mendenhall easily adapted and got the bar and appetizers going right away and even extended the social hour a bit so the guests that were not at the rehearsal could still enjoy. Very professional!
We also planned to have an afterparty and ordered late night food, which our guests thought was just the nicest touch! Mendenhall has a shuttle that transported guests right from the Grand Ballroom to the restaurant so guests didn't have to walk to the bar! We were greeted by the 2 bartenders as soon as we arrived and the food was promptly put out. I appreciated that they accommodated our later ending reception, since the kitchen typically closes earlier that we had our food being served.