Portofino Island Resort

Portofino was a dream. Jessica was amazing. My family and friends could not say enough good things about how smoothly everything went and how beautiful it was. Jessica and Larry made our day so perfect. Ever single detail was accounted for and taken care of. I could not have had a better wedding day and it’s all because of the wonderful people at Portofino. Book them. You won’t regret it.

Beautiful venue but we had a few unnecessary bumps throughout wedding planning. We planned on having our rehearsal dinner on their boat but the boat broke down a couple of months before our wedding and they did not let us know until a couple of weeks before the wedding. If you chose Portofino as your venue you have to use their catering but when we went to taste the food the gumbo we tried was cold, and the meat was undercooked. On the wedding day the food turned out good. Also, when you book with Portofino you have to use their wedding planner.

I'll start this review of our wedding day at Portofino Island Resort on a positive note. The venue itself is beautiful, and the food is good. Our biggest complaint was in the responsiveness and communication department. The location has a central coordinator, Jessica who handles all of these events. Typical response time was a staggering week and a half to two weeks regardless of the medium of communication (Email, phone call, text message, etc.) When you're paying an exuberant amount for "Coordination Services" you expect some coordination to be done for you. Not one single vendor was coordinated for us. We had to arrange our own DJ service, flower service, make up artists, cake services, and photography/videography. She did book our officiant though, albeit without our approval. Now let's cover the ceremony, the ceremony coordination assistants misdirected all of our guests in the opposite direction of our venue so when the groom and officiant arrived on site, there were no guests present. The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch. The reception was very well put together. The buffet style plating option was very good. The best service we received throughout our wedding day was by far the wait staff and kitchen staff, they delivered a great meal and bar services. Upon checkout we also found that they had charged us for items we were told previously that would be compensated for the bridal party. I have called the venue and coordinator multiple times per week since August 30th and left messages with numerous different employees who ensure me a supervisor will return my call. We have not heard so much as an email. We provided the exact time, date, and extension for which the compensation conversation took place (we were told that all calls are recorded and they would have to review the records) yet the venue refuses to refund us the money or even give us the courtesy of a return call. I would not recommend this venue. The terrible planning and communication make this venue purely too much stress for what it's worth.

I recently had my wedding and reception at the Portofino and everything was so beautiful! All of the staff was incredibly professional. Jessica did a fantastic job putting on our entire wedding and making sure everything went perfectly!! She helped make my wedding day so special and I am very thankful for the amazing experience. The food was delicious as well!! My family and I will now vacation each year to the Portofino.........such a great place!!