We LOVED our wedding at The Colonnade Hotel!
The Rooms: They are beautiful and bright and easy to fit a lot of people in. I stayed in the suite the night before and then got r...eady for the wedding in the living room. We had a lot of people in the room and it did not feel too crowded. At any one time there was: a makeup artist, 3 hairdressers, 2 mothers, 3 bridesmaids, 2 jr. bridesmaids, a flower girl, and me. 13 people in the one room plus the videographer and the photographer. We were able to move around comfortably and relax. (Although it did get a bit loud at times!)
The Coordinator(s): Gabi was amazing, friendly, warm, flexible, available, accommodating, quick to respond, easy to contact, generous, reliable, and a million more wonderful qualities. I really appreciated that every time my mom told Gabi of a change in our plans, Gabi said it was no problem but confirmed with her that she had checked with me (the bride) first! Every silly question or concern I had Gabi fielded with grace and reassurance and I had complete confidence in her. To be honest, we are a pretty demanding family with very high expectations and Gabi met and exceeded them all. She made sure to get in touch with both my fiancée and me regularly to make sure we had no concerns that were not being met! Gabi was available at all hours for us and regularly met with my mom too to help coordinate linens and settings and everything else.
Selene was also wonderful. We met her closer to the actual wedding, as she was our “handler” to make sure we were in all the right places at the right time! She was terrific as well! She reminded us when we wanted to make a speech and when the parents’ speech was and let us know the proper time to cut the cake and everything. She was very on top of our schedule and every goal we had was met!
The Chef: Chef Nick was creative, accommodating, flexible and friendly. We wanted a “kosher-style” wedding but didn’t want to miss out on any of the gourmet food. For the cocktail hour, we had dairy and fish. The cheese display was stunning and Chef worked to create elegant, delicious hor d'oeuvres. For the reception, we wanted it dairy free and Chef created beautiful delicious courses. We really loved the dumpling as a first course, but it had dairy in it, so Chef experimented and learned how to make it for us without any dairy. Everything was cooked to perfection and 9+ months later people are still talking about how wonderful the food was. Chef even made for our October wedding mini-caramel apples to go with the wedding cake!! He is flexible, creative, fun and incredibly, indescribably talented.
The Hotel Staff: Everyone from the front desk staff to the concierge was wonderful and friendly. Not one guest had a complaint! They were helpful and welcoming and it was an overall perfect experience. Sheb, one of the concierges, even recognized my husband and I 2 months later walking through a mall! It just added to the nice, warm family feeling we got from the entire experience.
All in all, we loved every interaction we had at the Colonnade. We picked it because it was on the smaller side and we knew that we would be the only wedding there. We loved the unique, funky art deco feel in the hotel, and we still got a ballroom with chandeliers that looked elegant. The staff was wonderful, Gabi was our rock and Chef Nick was the icing on our cake!