The Omni Shoreham D.C. Hotel is the perfect place to host an elegant wedding. With its historic architecture, grand ballrooms, gorgeous lobby, and perfectly landscaped gardens, it is a stunning setting; You don’t even feel like you are in the c...ity! The bridal suite was not only beautiful, but roomy as well. We had 13 people in the suite and everyone fit comfortably. It also had a huge balcony and a gorgeous view of the gardens.
Not only was the hotel exquisite , but with any luck, you will get to work with their catering manager, Kelly Crowley, to plan your wedding. Kelly was nothing but amazing every step of the way. I definitely have a type-a personality, and Kelly balanced me by being extremely calm and collected throughout the entire wedding planning process. She responded to emails and phone calls in a very timely manner, and always answered all of my questions with extreme attention to detail. Our tasting experience with Kelly and her team was unbelievable. We had 2 servers for a tasting of 5 people. We got to try all of our food choices. The portions were huge, and they even brought an extra plate to show us what it would actually look like at dinner service. Kelly printed up the menus for the tasting and set it up at the place settings, like it was the actual wedding. We were blown away with this type of impeccable service.
On the day of the wedding, Kelly made sure everything ran smoothly. At the end of the night, she sent up a beautiful card, champagne, and strawberries to my new husband and I. All of the food at the cocktail hour and reception was absolutely incredible! We had many guests tell us how delicious their meals were. The staff did a great job of keeping the drinks flowing all night.
There were a few small details, which is why this venue isn’t getting a full 5 star review. Upon check-in the day before the wedding, some of the rooms for our bridesmaids and parents of the groom were not ready until 3:30 p.m., with a 5:00 rehearsal. We had asked Elizabeth, the woman in charge of the room block to rush these rooms. We had to hover over the front desk to get these rooms ready. In addition, Elizabeth emailed us the getting ready suite numbers the week before, so we could let our vendors know where to report. She not only gave us the wrong suite number for the groomsmen, but the room number she gave us wasn’t even a suite – it was a regular room! This caused some confusion, as we had to let our vendors know of the room change last minute.
Guests at the ceremony were supposed to get a cool towel and a small bottle of water, but this was forgotten. My parents were not satisfied with the cocktail hour passed hors d’oevres. They felt as though not enough food was getting passed around for guests. By the time the wedding party was finished taking photos, no more food was being passed. There was still 30 minutes left at the cocktail hour at this point. My dad had to chase down the banquet manager to tell them to bring out more food. Lastly, my parents noticed some tables did not receive their entrees during dinner service in a timely matter.
Many of our family and friends told us that it was the best wedding they have ever been to. Overall, we had a wonderful wedding experience with the Omni Shoreham. We would not have done it any other way! If you are looking for a garden wedding within a luxurious hotel in Washington D.C., look no further!