Carlyle At the Palace

I was here for my sister’s wedding recently and let me say that I’m a fan.
First, the place is super easy to get to. It’s literally right off the expressway, not even a block away.
Second, I actually LIKE the fact there’s NO valet. I just don’t like it when other people have to drive my car. Not to go off on a tangent but there have been several times in the past where valets have adjusted my seat position and temperature in the car. Really? You’re just driving it from the front door to the parking lot! And usually when the event is over, everyone leaves at the same time so there’s a line just to let the valet get your car. You know what I’m talking about. And I have to tip on top of that? No Thanks! Oh, and on this occasion, wife had left something in the car so all I had to do was walk outside to the car and get it and I was back in less than 3 minutes. Nice huh? With a valet, who knows what would have happened.
All right, now for the inside. We walk in and there’s a waiting area where guests can mingle and sign a large poster board for the bride and groom. They served us water infused with fruit, which was nice and refreshing on this summer evening. Then we get carted off to a different room for cocktail hour. This is always where the best food is and Carlyle at the Palace did not disappoint. There were different stations lined up around the room from pasta to burgers to Asian food to a meat carving station. In addition, there were also people walking around with finger foods like sesame chicken and mini lobster rolls. Everything was delicious and in my usual fashion, I ate too much here and didn’t leave enough room for the entrée. There was even a saxophone player walking around, which was a nice touch.
So now we go off to another room for the actual reception and the place was really nicely decorated. The DJ was great the multiple projectors for the slide shows meant that not everyone was crowded around one screen. Unfortunately, the food at the reception didn’t quite live up to cocktail hour (it never does). I asked for my filet mignon medium and I didn’t see one bit of pink in it. My kids had the pizza (I tried a bite as well) and honestly, we probably would have preferred Elios. No offense. Good thing we already loaded up during cocktail hour.
And when we left, there was another nice surprise outside where they had stations to serve us cotton candy, popcorn, pretzels, and churros to go. A nice touch to a lovely evening. Did I mention I didn’t need to wait on line after an exhausting night just to wait for my car? :)

I’m not sure where to begin… First, you should know we booked the hall two years in advance. What had us sold from the beginning was the amazing food. They just recently closed down the restaurant they had onsite that was open during weekdays, but it made sense, as not many people knew it existed. However, having that restaurant in 2013 allowed us to try the food before booking. And we did. And it was amazing. And they didn’t let us pay a cent. The food kept coming and we kept eating and we were sold. We booked and never looked back. Carlyle is also known for their service, so we knew that we would not be disappointed with booking a hall with the Carlyle name and we were very right.
Before I jump to the wedding day experience, let me first go over our two-​year journey. Since the restaurant still existed, we made several trips out there for dinner and Lisa always gave us amazing discounts. The food was excellent each and every time — reassuring us we had made the right decision. Lisa was always available to talk when we had questions and always responded to text messages immediately, even on her days off.
I’m a pessimist, so I always assume the worst and expected everything to go wrong on my wedding day. As a matter of fact, several people told me to just accept the fact that something will indeed go wrong. But let me tell you — everything went perfectly and smoothly. I still can’t believe it. The part that shocked me the most about the day, in a very positive way, was Carlyle at the Palace. I guess I was shocked because I didn’t know what to expect. You plan this day for months, 24 months in my case, and you have no clue if your vision will come alive on the day of or if it will be a huge flop. Not my wedding day. Everything looked perfect in that hall, exactly what we dreamed of, and it’s all thanks to Carlyle. I mean, of course the lighting plays a part, the florist plays a huge part, but at the end of the day, your hall and your banquet manager are the ones who are putting all the pieces together. They did a better job than I ever could, so thank you!
The day before the wedding, we met with Brittany, who was absolutely amazing. Literally one of the best people you’ll meet. She made us feel so good about everything, knowing that we were very stressed out, and put our minds at ease. At that point, it was in Brittany’s hands to make it all happen. And she did. She and Billy did an amazing job at running the show, and if I could just get them to run my life, I’d be set. They set the ballroom, and all the other rooms really, beautifully. They followed us around when they needed to remind us of different things (speeches, dinner, cake cutting, bouquet toss, etc.) Anything we needed that night, we could turn to one of them and just say the word. They had drinks ready for us from the moment we walked in, and in between formal family shots, they’d come around and provide us with sips of our beverages (it was awesome!) They brought us some items from cocktail hour, and I fell in love with the risotto cakes, so guess what happened when I sat down after my first dance with my husband? Risotto cakes happened. I think I pinpointed what I’d want my last meal on earth to be. In addition, my husband never got a chance to try the baby lamb chops and he expressed that to Billy who went on a hunt for baby lamb chops. He came back empty handed, and my husband was disappointed but understood. Billy then proceeded to tell my hubs that he just didn’t like the way they looked so the chef was grilling some fresh ones. I mean, talk about excellent service!!!
You’d think Brittany and Billy were my only best friends that night, but I had three of them! My bridal attendant Alice was out of this world amazing! I had quite a bit of champagne on the ride over from the bridal party photoshoot, so I had to use the little girls’ room and expressed that to Alice the minute I stepped out of the limo and she introduced herself. She led me to the bathroom, let me do my business, and closed my dress in a matter of seconds — a task that required 4 girls earlier and took several minutes to do. From that moment on, I second-​guessed my decision of marrying my husband — maybe she was my soul mate after all. (Just kidding!) Throughout the night, Alice took care of me. When I bawled my eyes out during the Mother and Groom dance, she was there with tissues. When my mom managed to leave my flats in the hotel next door, she ran over to grab them. Lipstick and mirror? She got it. She was just incredible, thank you so much!
At the end of the night, they helped us bring all the extra dinners and all our possessions over to the hotel next door and hugged us all (parents included) like we were family (and at this point, we felt like it). It was an amazing night. Everything about it was perfect and it is all thanks to Carlyle and their amazing staff and chef! Thank you again for an incredible night!!!

Went for a wedding recently… first off this place is HARD to find which shouldn’t be the case since it’s right off the highway. From the street, look for the signs that say Deco– something.
Being a seasoned meetings & event planner, I found good and bad things about this venue:
I got to the venue about 30 minutes early… there was 1 person out in the parking lot who told me to park my own car in the back… where was the valet?
Upon entering, they had a holding area for the early arrivals, I was the only one not offered a beverage (side note: if the staff inside was ready, valet should also be ready). Interestingly enough, when they invited us into the cocktail reception, there were guests inside there already eating! What… the…hell?
For a 200 something person wedding you’d think there was enough seating for at least half the group… nope. The staff seemed friendly enough… but let’s be real, this is a wedding factory, crank them in and shove them out.
The part that had my soul hurting the most, was of courses table was the last to be served out entrees. By then I wasn’t even hungry much just annoyed by the fact that all the other tables were pretty much done with entrees before ours arrived.
This place was inconsistent and slow at best.

I looked to get a quote for my daughter’s christening. I called two days ago, they verified the date was available. However Lisa was not in that day, so they took down my contact info. On the sameday, Lisa did call me back a few hours later. We talked on the phone about my event and she agreed to email me quotes the next day since she was not in the office.
I never received any emails the next day or any phone calls. I called today to follow up, Lisa tells me that the date is no longer available. Lisa has no common courtesy to follow up with clients.