Royalton Brides

I have florist appointments in July, so I will let you know then how I feel about them.

Right now I have a room block for my OOT guests at the Garden City Hotel. I will probably do another block at a less pricy place, but I haven't selected one yet.

No other updates here....

I just booked the Royalton for my wedding today! I think it's a fantastic space and I was so happy to see that you all agree! Gerard is awesome, isn't he? And I love the fact that Michael, the owner, is always around. I really feel like I can trust them .

My fiance and I are considering getting married there in March.. We randomly ran into a girl on the train who was raving about the place and thought we would check it out. Its so upscale and classic. We both love it and are debating dates (given some cousins family planning was badly timed for the most affordably time of year).

The only concern I have is about the quantity of food.. as well as the fact that there havent been a whole lot of reviews out there--anybody heard anything bad about the place?

I most certainly haven't but definitely want to go in with my eyes open since we are footing much of the bill...

Any suggestions would be great!

The girl on the train happened to overhear my fiance and I talking about the fact that we hadn't found the right place to get married yet, and she politiely interupted and said that she had found a great place.

She had said that she was swore she would only have a City wedding and that she wouldn't even look on the Island because everything was so cheesy and overdone. She wanted something upscale and classy and happened across the Royalton through a friend of a friend (as most of us have). We got to talking about cost and how a lot of the times of year we wanted were very cost prohibitive. She said that this place, because it was new, was running a pretty decent deal. She is getting married there in October and has apparently been (by her own description) quite a bridezilla. She is having a standard wedding cake but also wanted a second cake made completely out of cupcakes (as is the trend now-a-days). The cupcakes were to be decorated with hand dipped violets and she said that they had been so accomodating about it. She said that that was the ONLY thing that they charged her a bit more for. Which I thought was really great.

She is having about 200 people there so... who knows how it will go off. I stopped by there this weekend with both my parents and my fiance's parents (on two separate days). We met with Michael Einhorn about 2 a week ago now and have been talking about the place ever since. On Saturday we stopped by as they were setting up for a wedding and I was SO impressed. All the men (Mike, Gerard etc.) were already dressed in their tuxes (at about 2:30 in the afternoon), the flowers were set, they were setting tables and very mellow. Mike spent a full 45 minutes walking my family and I through the space and was so mellow!!!! It was so professional and great.

On Sunday when we went he was great too! My fiance's mom can drive a hard bargain and she started in on him becasue we have some family schedules that are wreaking havoc on the date we originally picked (a close cousin is suddenly pregnant and due in Feb when we orginally wanted to get married, and the cost of getting married in March is $20 more per person which is REALLY pushing our budgetary limits). I was pretty close to tears when my fiances mom said that we were going to have to move it to March or December to ensure that my fiance's family would come to the wedding. Michael read me right away and said that he could tell the internal dialogue going on between my fiance and I... 'and you thought things were going to be easy.' He really dealt with my future mother in laws 'bargaining' in a great way and I give him serious credit for that!

Mike also said he would do a tasting before we signed.. Which is great.... so I will keep you posted!

Hi all Royalton to be Brides. I just got married at the Royalton on July 3rd. The wedding was UNBELIEVEABLE. I am not just saying this b/c it was mine. I am EXTREMELY picky and am the last of my friends to get married so I have been to way too many weddings. I wanted something classy, but cool and sheek and Gerard and Michael pulled everything off so well that I don't know if anything went wrong (LOL)! Anyway, I will cut to the chase and answer your questions:

1) The food is fantastic. We had a kosher wedding and my guests could not believe the food was kosher. Second, the caterer is beyond accommodating. I got engaged a year and a half ago so I had plenty of time to sift through magazines. I brought in a least a dozen pictures of appetizers that I wanted the caterer to replicate for cocktail hour. Michael and Gerard welcomed all of my ideas even though it put the chefs to work :) My guests raved about the food and especially the cocktail hour. They LOVED the pigs in a blanket, lamp chops, chopped sushi tuna in wanton crisps, tuna carving station, the chicken satay and so many other things. And, the sushi was unbelieveable. The sushi was the only thing I ate b/c I was having too much fun. The sushi lovers at my wedding said it was the best sushi they had ever eaten! Oh, and the vodka/martini bar was a big hit and people loved the Tuscany table which included a lot of mediterreanean food that my husband loves. I would not recommend doing an asian bar, which I did. You are better off with an Italian station. Oh, and everyone flipped over the chocolate souffles. I heard that my guests ordered thirds! People have told me that my wedding had the best deserts of any wedding they have been to as a guest.

2) 150-200 guests is ideal

3) I would recommend getting a stage for the band if you can afford it b/c it adds a finishing touch. I also used the chair covers which gives the ballroom a finishing touch. And the gardens outside are fantastic for taking pictures.

4) Barbara, my bridal attendant was awesome. She had water in one hand and vodka in the other and always found me on the dance floor to quence my thirst. She was a dictator when it came to holding the gifts and fixing me.

5) Make use of the place. It is really like a home. I put 45 baby/childhood pictures all around the downstairs and it was a big hit. I got dressed at the Royalton and had my hair and make-up done there as well. It was so nice!

6) Some of the best and most genuine comments that I received after the wedding are that the Royalton was so classy and beaufitul and warm and that it was a 'step-above' the Garden City hotel. People couldn't get over the beautiful court yard. There were some guests that have been to the most high end weddings where people spend over a quarter of a million and they said it was the nicest wedding they had even been too. The Royalton is classy but homey and I think that is hard to replicate. Guests seem to get lost in the big hotels and other grand ballrooms.

6) I used Spitz and Peck and everyone keeps talking about my flowers. Use Wade he was really really great and Anthony was the assistant they sent to put everything together. My second choice would be Gary. At first I wasn't thrilled with S&P but then I switched to Wade and was floored when my Aunt who works at Atlas (I didn't use her b/c Atlas is a fortune) said my flowers were 'sick.' My mother-n-law who is extremely hard to please couldn't get over my flowers. However, the one thing I realize is you need to really have your eye on what is going on with the flowers and speak up if you are unhappy. I also recommend viewing your bouquets the day before to make sure they are right. I had a problem with my bridesmaid bouquets but they were fine. I chose to spend more money in the ballroom b/c the entrance and cocktail room are really classy and don't need much. If you use Spitz & Peck ask them to use the statues that they bought for my wedding. They were ADORABLE and replaced the boring floral bouqet that most people use in an entrance way.

7) My guests stayed at the Claremont Hotel. The service was great but I don't know if there were any negative comments about the rooms b/c I haven't heard any but the breakfast was great. My brother ate so much french toast he had a stomach ache. You should use Valerie as your customer service agent if you block rooms. She was really fantastic. You should request that your guests are not placed on the 1st floor.

8) I also have a fantastic hair person (Nicole www.nicoledangio.com) and I used Charles from Nubest. I cried at least 6 times and my make-up stayed all night. I don't like 'wedding hair' and Nicole came through better than I expected. I never like when my hair is 'done' and I was so pscyhed when I saw how Nicole did my hair. My mom's hair never looked better. She is great with extensions. Charles is a little shy but his work product is great.

If anyone wants to see pictures or ask me any questions, send me an email at [email protected]. I will not be checking this website in the future now that I am married :)

This is a great post. Thank you so much!!!

Did you guys see that there is a review posted under 'royalton Review?' a girl got married there three weeks ago and she has three recommendations for vendors... Definitely look it up..

Update: I think we are going to book the Royalton for the date we want! I am so excited!

We are going to schedule a tasting and then sign. I will definitely keep you posted!