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The Belle Mer is a beautiful facility. However, we had met with the wedding coordinator and asked all the necessary questions concerning costs. When we received the contract, Bell Mer added an additional $7,500 setup fee we were not told about. I personal think this is a little steep. I have spoken with other facilities which have not tacked on such a ridiculous fee. It would have been one thing to have been told up front about the fee, but to find it on the contract as if it was just slipped in there, really aggrevated me. This is what I call bad business.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I just attended a Friday evening wedding at Bel Mer and I was totally impressed. From the South Beach-like decor to the fabulous food and service, I thought it was beautiful. I have been to many Newport weddings, from Rosecliff to Ocean Cliff, and this was, by far, my favorite. I am not privy to pricing, I would assume they are expensive as any venue on the water in Newport would be...but I would book a wedding here in a flash if I had a big budget!
BEWARE! This place sucks! The building and grounds are stunning - I'll give them that. But it ends there. My best friend (I am the maid of honor) recently booked her wedding at this place and after 3 weeks decided to cancel even though she knew she was losing her deposit. They have lied about everything to her. First, the pricing is very confusing and designed to be vague to get you hooked...then after the initial excitement wears off you start to realize what a nightmare you are in. The staff is very young and inexperienced - probably working there just to get a discount on their own weddings. The worst part is that they have 2 weddings at the same time. They want you to spend $50, 000 on a wedding with another wedding and another bride happening right next to you - separated by a little concrete wall on the grass. How ridiculous! They force you to use 'preferred' vendors which can be applied towards your event minimum -- here's the catch...they mark-up the price of the flowers, photo, music, etc. by 50% and then they add 18% administration fee and then they add tax. Holy crap - really? So, basically you are paying more than double for something like photography. No thanks - we can book our own vendors. That is an option for an extra $500.
If that's not bad enough...I attended a different wedding there last summer. Awful. The poor bride. We are from NYC and have been to probably 40+ weddings (some very fancy and some not). The food here was gross. They are trying to put out this trendy funky menu but it's just gross - plain and simple. The place reminded me some new jersey night club. Tacky. Not to mention the other wedding which we could see and hear going on about 20 yards away. One of the worst wedding factories ever!
I am a soon to be bride at belle mer and I just have one comment to say about 6th comment up from mine, you are saying that Belle Mer is tacky because it has women working there? What? You need to get off your little castle you sit on and as far as the "kids" they are probably college students. As long as they do a professional job who cares if they have a vagina or dick?
It's been over a year and seems just like yesterday, My dgt was married at Belle Mer
The place was breathe taking and the staff was great with everyone. The food kept coming. We had a blast ! It was a Beach Theme Wedding, it was the Talk of the Town and still is. DJ made the remark, "best Father/dgt ever been a part of of." Where else can you do the "gator", have Sea Bass, Filet Migon with Stuff Jumbo Srimp/or Veg Ravolio for as choices for you Wedding quests? It was so well organized . It rained for most of the day, the Sun came out for an hour. The Fire Pit was lit outside. The Photos, and Video say it all. Dreams do come true. Ask a Sept Bride.. MOB
As a recent Belle Mer bride, I am disturbed and saddened by these negative comments. We had such an amazing wedding that I feel compelled to give my side of the story.
From the moment we stepped on the property, my husband (then fiance) and I had total confidence in the Belle Mer staff. Our questions were immediately answered, and it honestly felt like the sales and events staff personally cared about our event. There were definitely no "untold fees" - the $7, 500 'set up charge' the original poster complains about sounds like the site fee, which is made known to you immediately upon receiving your pricing... not sure how you'd miss that!
Moreover, our wedding day - no matter how cliche this is - surpassed our wildest dreams. It was flawlessly executed, and we felt like absolute royalty. There was MORE than enough food for everyone and it was DELICIOUS. We had a tasting beforehand so we already knew it would be amazing, but quite a few of our friends work in the culinary field, and they couldn't stop talking about the meal!
The waitstaff was phenomenal. The girl assigned to be my "attendant" for the day anticipated my every need. Not only did she keep my husband and I well supplied with food and drinks all through the evening, she was even right there with a Kleenex for me during my sister's toast! The servers were not just knowledgeable and polite, but they were so enthusiastic that it made me feel they actually enjoyed their jobs.
Yes, like all the other Belle Mer brides have posted, my guests are STILL RAVING months later! A few of my friends who have since gotten engaged have asked me if I would mind if they had their wedding there. I've told them I would just love the chance to go back!
Quite honestly, I have my doubts as to whether some of the negative posters are actually Belle Mer clients, or if possibly they have their own agenda. I (and many other former Belle Mer brides) have let Belle Mer know that they are free to use my name as a reference at any time, so if you really want to know whether or not you should have your wedding at Belle Mer, call them up and ask to speak to one of their former brides!
I have to agree with the previous poster... I held my wedding in the Belle Mer Salon just a few months ago and the entire day was gold-standard perfection. The event management team does incredible work, and made the planning process a dream. I had no reservations going into my wedding day at all, and even then it exceeded my (very high) expectations!
Belle Mer did absolutely everything right, from the food to the service to the venue itself. Just like the previous poster, my guests are still raving. I urge anyone who is reading these complaints to take them with a grain of salt - I cannot recommend Belle Mer highly enough!
I highly disagree with these postings. I found Belle Mer to be extremely knowledgeable, accommodating, and exceeded my expectations. The service, food quality, and entire experience made me feel so special. Belle Mer honestly gave me that "exclusive" feeling. Months later my guests are still raving about the evening and I can't tell you how many times I heard "this is the best wedding I have ever been too"!
The place was beautiful when we first saw it and we instantly fell in love. However, the wedding was a disaster. The food was scarcely enough for half of our guests and the service was sub-par to say the least. I was just so dissappointed. All of that money for my daughter's wedding and I was embarrassed to send my guests home hungry!
I agree Belle Mer does have no class... Any place that constantly has women and young children at their facility and would hire a person without doing a simple cori/ background check on their employees has no business being in business. They obviously don't care about the people who pay them so much money to have their special day at their business. They allow people to work for them " under the table " and then lie for them to the department of revenue. They also allow dead beat fathers to hide from their responsibilities. The people they hire could be sex offenders, child molesters and /or wanted felons for all they know. The problem is they don't care... as long as the labor is cheap... and they can charge their customers a fortune.
Belle Mer is ugly, tackie, has no class and does not belong in Newport RI, period ! it belongs in Cranston. Who ever designed the renovation should be shot. The sprinklers went off on the patrons leaving, and they are so disorganised. I would rather get married at a VFW in Middletown with paper plates!
Everything at Bell Mer was unbelievable good. The place , the food, the service, nothing to complain about. For a new place they may be a little disorganized but that is for every new place. You must keep in touch with them at all time.The wedding was a blast. My daughter was happy that all it matters. Always review the contract with the person for no hidden cost. We were happy. Thank you all at Bel Mer for your fabulous service.
Yvonne.