"Honey this is Las Vegas" is the response I received from a representative of the Mon Bel Ami Wedding Chapel (607 S. Las Vegas Blvd.) after following up on a complaint I filed 2 days after my horrific June 10th wedding.
Let me start by telling you I found Mon Bel Ami online and choose it for my wedding location because it was beautiful outside as well as inside. I looked forward to this alternative lower stress type wedding that was to be taken care of by well trained wedding coordinators and a professional photographer according to the Mon Bel Ami website.
I finalized the reservation of my custom package over the telephone with Jerry and then exchanged a couple emails with Danielle regarding specifications. I wanted and evening ceremony including a Unity Candle ceremony, rose petal covered aisle runner, processional and recessional music, a bouquet for me, a boutonnière for the groom, and wedding pictures coming to a grand total of about $466.
My fiancé and I, along with our families arrived in Las Vegas on Tuesday afternoon (8th of June) and went to the Chapel that evening to double check everything and to finally see the chapel in person. We met with Jerry who informed us he would be out of town our wedding day but wished he could be there because we have a few surprises in store. That being my uncle had ordered a $350 champagne and photography upgrade as a wedding gift.
So Thursday the 10th rolls around and my fiancé and his family get to the chapel first. They are greeted by a man named Dan who begins the event with "Hi, I dont normally do this. Danielle wanted to go to a BBQ so I told her to go ahead." Then Dan proceeds to offer only the groom and his 3 family members champagne. One person received her champagne in a Styrofoam cup. Next he tells jokes about husbands cheating on their wives. At this point my family and I arrive. My family members enter the chapel before I do and are greeted by Dan who says, "See these glasses? Im wearing them because I was out drinking until 4 am". He then tells his story of half-naked bull riding and boozing. I finally enter the chapel and I'm standing in the hallway waiting until it's time to walk down the rose petal covered aisle. Only there aren't any rose petals, there is'nt even an aisle runner. It was delivered after we inquired about its whereabouts. While my mother and I are standing in the hallway, waiting to walk down the aisle, Dan offers me Oreo cookies from a half empty package. I decline stating "black crumbs probably wouldnt look good in my teeth or on my wedding dress". Now Amado, the professional photographer who is used by Mon Bel Ami and is the only person allowed take pictures on chapel grounds, comes into the picture. Had he not had a camera with him I would've thought a homeless man off the streets had wondered into the chapel. Amado starts telling us some of his equipment was stolen earlier in the day and my mother and I say how awful it is, but I'm wondering why he is telling us this now. After the ceremony we find out it is because my husband and I cannot have pictures taken outside in the lovely landscaped yard like we wanted. Nor does Amado offer any sort of alternative or compensation.
OK now the ceremony begins and everything is very nice, aside from Amado leaning on the minister's podium with heavy eyelids. Yes the photographer was actually behaving this way for the first 5-10 minutes of our ceremony. Just ask all 11 of our guests. Upon conclusion of our ceremony my new husband and I turn and walk back up the aisle and out of the Chapel room. We then turn around to find the minister telling us that we had just used a USED Unity Candle; apparently it was supposed to have been replaced with a new one before our ceremony. He says he'll just give us a new one now and then hands us his "mandatory donation" envelope (as stated on the Mon Bel Ami website) and asks that we get that back to him promptly.
Needless to say I am less than thrilled with my Mon Bel Ami wedding and felt compelled to write this letter so that others who are thinking about a Las Vegas wedding are forewarned about Mon Bel Ami. My family, husband, and I discussed our dissatisfaction in person, two days after the wedding, with Danielle who seemed very concerned and apologized. According to Danielle, "Dan isn't even an employee. He is the owners brother. Hes an idiot and should not have been there." Funny thing is he told us she had left him there in charge. Then she told us she will discuss everything with the boss and they will get back to us on Tuesday. Of course we would be gone by then, back to upstate NY. So Tuesday came and went. My husband and I decided we'd call them Wednesday evening if we didn't hear anything by then. So we call Wednesday, and we're told by Danielle that everyone is at the Chapel and they're going to have an emergency meeting to discuss everything and a Patricia would call us back later that evening. So we wait and receive no call later that evening.
My husband then calls Thursday evening and speaks with Patricia and she says they don't have anything documenting the champagne that was supposed to be served to everyone and even though we didn't get outdoor photographs like we wanted, we still got more than what we paid for and should be happy. She says "the photographer always dresses like that" and she doesn't believe he was leaning on the podium half asleep. She said "I saw the pictures of your wedding and heard it was beautiful and you should be happy instead of holding on to this". She told me she fired Dan (again even though he isn't an employee and shouldn't have been there) and that I'm acting like a 12 year old by being this upset over my wedding. She said they are willing to reimburse us $100 for the used Unity Candle incident. But first we would need to send Mon Bel Ami a fax claiming we are satisfied with everything and the wedding was fine.
According to Patricia, some drunken people stole Amados equipment earlier in the day and it's just unfortunate that we weren't able to get outdoor photographs. Also, "some people want Oreo cookies", she states it "calms them down" and "some people also like Dan and his jokes". Patricia told me, "Hey this is Las Vegas, get over it."
That is all highly unacceptable to me. First off, Dan's jokes and conversation were completely inappropriate. Yes some people like Oreos and some people like the crude jokes, but NOT EVERYONE does. Therefore it is wise business practice to conduct oneself in a professionally conservative manner. Also, there was a 6 hour gap between the equipment being stolen and my wedding. Equipment could have been borrowed or rented. It is possible and I believe a truly professional photographer would have been dressed appropriately and conducted himself professionally by staying awake/not acting bored to death in front of the entire wedding party. And I can't even describe how appalled I am regarding the USED unity candle.
To Patricia and the rest of the Mon Bel Ami staff: I know it's Las Vegas but this bride planned to only get married once and it's a shame your business doesn't take "some people" as serious as they would like. Unfortunately your $100 reimbursement with a catch isn't going to fix our memories of a disastrous wedding. Yes I know people have spent thousands of dollars on weddings that haven't been perfect. No we didn't expect fireworks for $816, nor did we expect Mon Bel Ami's constant change of stories to get out of their end of the deal. However we did expect some professionalism and a little class.
Mon Bel Ami est le service a la clientele a son plus mauvais!
Sincerely,
Matthew & Cheryl Allen
