The Langham Huntington, Pasadena

ed taking our bridal prep photos and family photos on property and were not told there were any limitations. So with that we booked a bridal suite and several rooms for our bridal party. Two days before the wedding I emailed the hotel to confirm our early check-in to ensure we had plenty of time to take our photos. I got a call from the hotel telling us that no photos were allowed on the property or we would be escorted off! At no time during the tour did anyone mention this, and it is not mentioned anywhere on their website or anywhere else on the Internet. Extremely disappointing that the staff would lead us to believe differently. They had even showed us great areas for our wedding photos! In the end we found another photo location off property, which worked out better than our original plan. After getting past the stress of the last minute change, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the hotel. While the food is extremely overpriced, the room was gorgeous and the service was great.

not up to par with the beauty of the venue. They made the process so stressful, and honestly, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. They have gone through so much turnover lately, and that is very unfortunate for them, but over the year we planned our wedding, we dealt with 3 different event coordinators there. Plus now that the wedding is over, we are dealing with a fourth! They DO do room blocks, so if they tell you they don't, push through because they DO (they told us they don't, and that they only do a "courtesy" rate, but that is a lie and finally we got them to do room blocks but it was the most stressful thing ever, where I had to call like 5 different people at the hotel to deal with it, multiple times). They also took about 8-10 months to give us a sample menu for the rehearsal dinner, so when we wanted to also do a Friday night dinner (rehearsal was on Saturday), we just told them we had to bring in an outside caterer because, at this point, we only had 3 months until the wedding, and we still hadn't gotten a finalized menu for the rehearsal dinner. So there was no way they could get the Friday dinner done in time. Then, they double booked our back-up room (in case of rain). Unfortunately, it did rain. And they told us up to 2 months before our wedding, that we had that backup room. Then 3 days before our wedding, they tell us that room has been booked for 7 months. But at 3 days before the wedding, we didn't have time to figure out another room. They ended up calling the other people, who's event wasn't until the next day, and asked them to set up later. However, because of this, our ceremony was rushed through and we hardly had any time to take pictures there and we ended up missing many pictures. They started taking down the room immediately after the ceremony. Also, they double booked our reception hall--which was NOT a backup room. Anyways, the list goes on and on. After the fact, they are still sending me extra bills, and I'm trying to discuss with them that those bills are erroneous, and they won't listen. I finally stuck my mother-in-law on them, and they kept telling her that I was just being "an emotional bride." Which is very disrespectful of a venue we spent $70,000 at. Seriously this place is not worth your time. It's beautiful, but not worth the stress. RUN!!!!!

quests that were different from their "packages". Some things they were flexible about and some they were not- mostly about the bar. We were not allowed to have a cash bar for our wedding which we wanted. We were only allowed to have luxury liquors at the bar which we didn't want/need but that was the only option for weddings. We also wanted to have signature drinks which they were originally going to charge $3 dollars for- but they eventually let us do with out charging extra. We had a bridal suite included for us to get ready in which was beautiful and more than enough room for everyone to get ready. Overall, it was a great location. We had the ceremony in the Horseshoe garden and the reception in the Viennese Ballroom. The hotel grounds are beautiful and was a beautiful backdrop for our pictures. They hotel does not provide many linens (white or black) which was fine for us since we were going to bring ours in anyway. We also had to rent chivari chairs- they only would provide blue conference chairs for the reception. Once the wedding was over on Sunday, the staff was not very helpful in taking out all of our stuff from the hotel rooms. They had another event and was not interested in helping us with bell carts the next morning. We could not get anyone to help us. My dad was talking to one of the hotel managers who was not helpful or return our phone calls the next day. For all the money we paid for our event- it was disappointing.

and wedding/groom's cakes were delicious. The handicap accessible Huntington Ballroom and Foyer has easy access to/from the restrooms and valet parking areas (no stairs). The post-wedding brunch in the Viennese Ballroom was perfect- they even used our wedding wish tree as the buffet table's centerpiece. The servers during our menu tasting appointment and reception were really nice and attentive. The Group Sales Manager was understanding and accommodating for our last minute guest room requests. For my husband and me, we ultimately chose the Langham because it was a stunning venue that held sentimental value for us. My parents and husband met each other for the first time at a friend's wedding reception at the Langham. Plus, we had shared memories of Sunday brunch at the Terrace and dinner at the Royce for special occasions with close friends and family. In the end, we are sure we made the right venue choice for our wedding. Our guests agreed. Cons: The cost - Food and beverage minimum for the Huntington Ballroom and Foyer on a Sat. evening was $50,000(pre-tax, pre-gratuity). Seemingly little things that we needed for the reception (like a power drop for our DJ) came at a hefty extra price. We expected 5 star service for that price tag too, but we were a little disappointed. We paid for each Welcome Bag to be placed in every guest room upon arrival. Our Best Man and wife (a groomswoman), and my parents did not receive their welcome bags from the hotel. Upon my own check-in on the night before our wedding, the front desk staff initially gave me the wrong room number. After they directed me to the correct room, I got a phone call later asking me what my fiance's luggage looked like because they took it to the wrong guest room where its occupants promptly told them that it wasn't theirs. The hotel apologized and asked me to tell my fiance that he needed to return to the front desk because they gave him the wrong room number. Around 12:45 AM, with the sounds of the live band playing at the Tap Room audible from our suite, I received a phone call from security asking me to "try to keep it down" because they received a noise complaint by the guest room next door to me. I was actually still awake writing a card, but my Maid of Honor was already asleep in bed. They apologized again. The next morning, some members of our wedding party said that they got lost trying to find the suite because they were given poor directions by Langham staff. One person even said that staff looked at them like they didn't belong and didn't want to help them. My hairstylist said that she actually got sent by the staff to a different wedding party's room where they were getting ready that morning. Bob Wyar (Catering Sales Manager), Sheila Constantino (Special Events Manager), & Nima Javadi (Group Sales Manager) were very personable, but it sometimes took a few days to receive a response to emails. I dreaded getting the automatic out of the office reply. Plus, as it got closer to our event, questions I thought we had already discussed early on in the process were being asked to us again. It got a little confusing and felt more disorganized than I felt like it should have been. Other guest con: 1 complained of uncomfortable bed.

es. When my guests called in to make reservations they told them there was no room block, even though there was. I had to exchange several emails with staff in order to fix the issue, and still when my guests called in they were told there was no room block. They did create a special webpage for us and our guests which I thought was very cool. I just wish the room block worked! You do get what you pay for though. It might not be the cheapest room block, but an amazing hotel.

appointment time, he didn't even say sorry

nd were very thorough. We had plenty of fun talks during our planning & preparation, and Christie was very keen on making sure she got any details we wanted (especially useful during the tasting!). We also ended up getting our cake through LH, and it was just as we asked - and bigger than we imagined! Cocktail hour was marvelous - perfect sized portions that were still hot and we got wonderful compliments over how good they tasted. We also got a signature drink, which worried me as we had only repeated the recipe at home, but they also got that down without a flaw! The valet staff was very efficient, the bell hops were so gracious in getting all our stuff to & from the cars. The bartenders were also super polite and friendly to my guests throughout the evening, which I definitely appreciated. The venue itself is a great gem - tucked neatly away in Pasadena, when you're there you feel like your a thousand miles from everything, even if you're only three miles from the 134! Convenience was great, as it's centrally located to San Marino and plenty of stores just in case you happen to forget something on the day of! Things you should now; if you want one of the gardens + a ballroom, you do have to work it out if there is another wedding on that day, you are allowed to have a photoshoot (engagement or something similar) on the premises if you are having your wedding there (good for getting a feel for the property, esp. if your photographer has never been there!), candle rules in Pasadena are strict - opt to use LED ones instead, you must have at least a day-of (?) coordinator (we had one for the entire haul, so I'm not sure if it's month or day) - so expect to add that in your budget.

get what you pay for through and through.

en. We spent the rest of the day in the jacuzzi and in our gorgeous room. A perfect, chill and luxurious start to the rest of our lives together.