I had my wedding there back in November of 2010. My fiance and I at the time wanted to find a fresh, new and elegant place, and found that in Elite Palace; however, looks can be deceiving. :-(
Our wedding day arrived and our assigned maitre d' was very helpful. The bridal party complained that a woman who was helping him, had an attitude about bringing more food to them (our bridal party was pretty big). They were told only a certain amount could be taken from the cocktail room because the food was ""counted"" for a specific amount of guests.
When I saw my cake, and every bride knows how important the cake is, it was sloppy and looked like someone was handling it with their fingers. Yuck! It was also decorated in the wrong color (my color was navy and they made it a turquoise color). When I approached the manager about it he was very rude and said ""well, its blue. You should have bought the color ribbon you wanted yourself"". I had brought the cake picture and was very specific on color from the beginning and was told that the cake would be exactly as pictured. It wasn't. I figured that there was no way to make a 4 tiered cake over in less than an hour. So I hated my cake but had no choice to keep it. Also, the flowers that were supposed to be placed on the cake weren't all there and the cake letter monogram sticks that I bought for the cake ($85) that were supposed to be covered with flowers were exposed and ugly. Also, they ""misplaced"" my letters and they are lost forever. :-( The overall cake itself was delicious (strawberry shortcake) so it was a shame they ruined the look of it.
The lighting was amazing (we spent an extra few hundred, $700 to be exact, for tech). Our entrance is still the talk of the wedding months later but, when it came to our slideshows, the tech guy ruined one of the most special moments of the night: my father/daughter dance. He played my husband's slideshow for his mom/son dance with my song and stopped and started it 3 times before my wonderful DJ Jerry (Latin Brothers Ent.) stopped it for a break. We ended up doing the best man/maid of honor speech first to give the tech guy time to get it together. After the speeches, my dad and I got back on the dance floor and the tech guy, once again, played the wrong thing. I was about to break into tears of how embarrassed I was in front of over 200 guests. We had payed so much money and this guy couldn't get it together. He finally fixed it and I had my dance. He never came to apologize but made sure to hunt down for the remaining deposit before the reception began.
One of my guests told me that when they realized they didn't receive any cake and asked the server for a piece, she told her that there wasn't anymore cake. When she asked to speak to a manager, they miraculously ""found"" more cake.
My centerpieces were also won by 1 guest at each table by playing a game. One of my guests was going to get her centerpiece when she was told that one of the servers had taken it. When she approached the server and told her to bring her the flowers or she would report her to the manager, the girl ""found"" them and gave it to her.
Overall, the place was beautiful. The ballroom is breathtaking. The food and drinks were good. Most of my guests said it was perfect. But, all of the things a bride and groom would know from behind the scenes were all but perfect. It's almost as if your business really isn't their concern once you've paid in full. All I could look forward to was my honeymoon.
I'm sure that every reception hall has there up and down times but I figure because this place is so new they haven't built a staff that is experienced and professional. The management could use some sensitivity and professionalism classes as well. For everyone who had a great experience, thank God! For all of you considering this place for your own event, good luck!
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