My husband and I fell in love with The Westin just from pictures, and touring the venue just solidified our feelings!
The ceremony space in the first floor courtyard is gorgeous, ...with a pretty waterfall as the altar backdrop. The space is large enough to have chairs for over 100 people, and there's plenty of surrounding couches and love seats for more guests (we had about 160). In the same space, there's a full bar for cocktail hour which our guests absolutely loved! For those wondering about weather and temperature, the Westin had the courtyard weatherized with a tent roof and tent sides, along with mini fire pits and stand heaters which kept the space extremely comfortable for our guests.
The reception space is amazing. Outside of the ballroom there's a full bar, restrooms, and space for desserts, memory table, etc. Inside the ballroom we had enough space for all 160 guests, a candy buffet, photobooth, and the dance floor, with plenty of wiggle room. Don't even get me started on the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city of Buffalo all lit up at night!
The food was also an incredible high point. We did a dual entree with filet and chicken, and they were more than ready to accommodate the number of gluten free and lactose free guests we had. I may have no eaten much, but our guests raved about the food all night long. We even witnessed multiple guests cutting their filet with a fork because it was just that tender.
In terms of staff, Dianne and Katy were amazing. Before we got to the final month, Dianne was sometimes a little difficult to get in touch with, but to be fair, my mother and I had a ridiculous number of questions for her, which she helped with each and every one of. We had a lot of "outside" things to set up (our candy buffet, signage, favors, etc) which they allowed us to bring a few days early and store in their office. I gave them detailed instructions on how/where we wanted everything, and the staff handled it all! That means the morning of my wedding I got to just relax and get ready along with my bridal party and parents. None of us had to do any set-up ourselves.
The last high point was the hotel room. My husband and I got a complimentary suite on the top floor the night of the wedding, which I also booked the night before so that it could be my bridal suite for the morning of the wedding. The view of the city was gorgeous for my "getting ready" photos, and there was enough room and natural light for the hair stylists to use the kitchen table, the makeup artists to use the bedroom, and me and my girls to hang out in the living room!
I fully believe that if we had gone with any other venue, this wedding would not have been what it was: absolutely perfect!