Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

Would love reviews on either of the above places. Also any Riviera brides, how did your interior pictures turn out? Thanks so much!

Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

Friends of ours had their reception at John Anthony's a couple of years ago. Everything was excellent!

Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

I've been to a few weddings at the Riviera. While the place is gorgeous, I think the view is completely lost if you have a night wedding. What's the point of looking over the water if you can't see it? Plus, the food was never good. As a matter of fact, a bunch of us were not feeling well the next day after the most recent wedding there. And anyone who got the chicken didn't eat it.

Yes, I know that there are people here who have been to the Riviera and that have had good food. Maybe we were just an anomolie, but for me to be there 3 times and have awful food 3 times - I don't think so.

Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

We had our reception at John Anthony's last september. Food was excellent. They are very well known for their good food in the industry. The service was excellent throughout planning, and I was treated like a queen the entire evening by all the staff esp. the bridal attendant. The rooms were beautiful, and the value for the money was unbeatable. We paid 125 (including grats/tax) for a sat. eve in sept. -- there are of course some minuses - 2 weddings at a time, and you really have toplan well for waterview pics as there are 2 weddings....also not many grounds aside from waterview decks. Overall, for the money, they gave me a truly wonderful wedding and all of guests raved about it.

Riviera was my second choice actually, I have been to several weddings there (I grew up in the same town and the place is always busy so they must do a good business) and I had no complaints about food. It is a very different looking place, a little too dark for my taste though and a bit small. We ultimately went with JA's due to size. Rivieria is perfect for a small wedding -grounds are gorgeous for pics. Good luck.

Edit to say - when i booked the hall in 2001 - JA's and Riviera were around the same price. I think you got a bit more @ Ja's though due to it being 2 weddings at a time maybe. Here is one pic of the Majestic Bay room on my wedding night.

Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

SweetCin... you have FM!!

Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

We just got married at the Riviera on July 19. It was absolutely positively AMAZING. Everything went perfect. Here are some details...

We had both the ceremony and recption at the Riviera. The grounds were very well kept and the flower looked great. The views were spectacular. Our guests even asked if we paid extra to have the boats in the background. It was picture perfect. We arranged to have our guests enter throuh the side so that they would not congregate within the main reception hall. We arranged for strings to play during the ceremony, it was another perfect touch.

The cocktail hour was AWESOME. We decided to go with the clam and oyster bar, the sushi, the pasta station and a bunch of other delicious dishes. The baby lamb chops and penne alla vodka sauce were tremendous hits. My husband did his best to sneak in bites between hellos. Michelle (more about her below) our main contact then suggested we get a steel drum band to play. They were GREAT. It gave everyone the feeling that they were on vacation. People are still talking about them a month later. The outside views were wonderful and there was more than enough comfortable placed to sit.

When we first saw the set up inside we were speachless. Michelle suggested the chair covers. and they made a huge difference. The main room had an elegant and warm and cozy feeling. It felt like an first class country estate. The balcony above the entrance to the room, made it feel even more like a fairy tale. We had 168 people at the affair and still had more than enough room.

The food was tasty and fresh. We chose to start our guest with a fruit plate, then a raspbery vinagerette salad (WOW), an intermezzio (cleaned the pallet), and our main course choices were Filet Mignon (we were told 'as good as the best steak houses in the city), the mahi mahi (like Hawaii), Chicken (only my grandmother had the chicken), and Salmon. My husband made it a point to sit down and eat his entire meal before we did our rounds at the tables.

The cake was really really good. I can be seen on my video saying 'wow, that's good cake'. People enjoyed the vienese table. In was set up in the indoor cocktail area. I was happy we got to cut the line to get our choice of tasty pastries and cakes. The cannolies were fantastic.

The Waitstaff was great!!! We later found out that my uncle billy even tipped his wattress. Anything people needed they got. They were friendly and polite. The server for the wedding party Megan was exceptional.

The bartenders were freindly and pretty quick. No one had a problem getting drinks.Our Maitradi, Jennifer was professional and polite

Michelle, our account manger was the BEST. From the very beginning she made us comfortable, made us feel like the Riviera was our home. She even gave me her home phone number, when she could see I was getting nervous. She helped us select dishes and even gave us advice about how to tell answer our parents silly questions. Wedding planning can be stressful, dealing with vendors can also be a nightmare, but we never left a meeting with Michelle without feeling good.

Noteworthy Vendors....

Timeless-impressions.com 's Tanya was our photographer and she was excellant. Can't wait to see our pictures, if the pictures the laptop she displayed at the affair are any indication of her work. The pictures are going to be perfect. She took charge when needed, made me feel comfortable all day long. Her assistant was also taking pictures.

Tim's florist. Perfect... beautiful flowers...patient...reasonably priced... everthing was set up like we asked...

Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

The views are great during the ceremony and cocktail hour...

I did not really notice them during the party

Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

Vicki, I'm with you...I was not super impressed by the food at the Riviera (I was just there last month). It wasn't horrible....it just wasn't great. DH his dinner (filet mignon) was very good, but I had the chicken cordon bleu and I did not eat much of it.

I disagree w/you about the views....I think the views are beautiful during the cocktail hour and sunset - it reminded DH and I of our wedding in Port Jeff.

Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

We too had a steel drum band during our cocktail hr - as suggested by the banquet mgr.....it's a great idea for waterview locations.

I vote for John Anthonys! :)

We looked at the Riveria. The man was so cocky, he would not budge on the minimum from 150 to 100. He told us our best bet was to get maried on a THURSDAY NIGHT! :0

Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

You must have spoken to Tony. He's horrible! We had Victoria as our banquet manager, and she was fantastic. But one time we had to deal with Tony and my DH almost told them to forget the whole thing. He was IMPOSSIBLE.

If you go the Riviera, make sure you get an appointment with Victoria or Michele. Stay away from Tony! lol!

Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

Our reception was at John Anthonys. Everything was fabulous .. except for the rain! Seriously, I would not hesitate for a split second about booking them again, if we had the need for a place.

Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

Girls thank you so much. We actually did meet with Victoria at the Riviera and she was great. Fi is leaning towards JA's...we were a bit concerned if it rains at the Riviera with the cocktail hour set-up. JA's rooms were great.

Can any of you guys that had your weddings there send me pics from the reception?

[email protected]

THANKS!!!

Also, did you get anything thrown in at JA's?

Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

We got the cookies/pastry/fruit platters thrown in for free for each table (I think it was a $4 dollar additional charge per head?) and we bargained down the price of the shrimp/clams for cocktail hr. We paid less than normal for that too.....

I know a lot of other girls got more freebies than us on this board....I didnt really negotiate until the end... maybe because we were in prime wedding season too they didnt offer many extras. It was really easy to negotiate with them. We worked with MaryEllen - supernice. Another great thing @ JAs is recommended vendors eat free and they put bottles of wine on each table during dinner plus waitress svc. Not sure if Riviera does that. Pic of one corner of Majestic Bay room on my wedding night.

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Re: Riviera and/or JOhn Anthony Brides Reviews?

Has anyone switched the person they dealt with from their first meeting? JA's? Is that really bad?