Riverside Hotel

If your gut is leaning towards booking Riverside Hotel for your wedding, do it! After looking at other venues, something kept pulling me back to Riverside. Loma is there for you for every single question you may have (my parents and I had a lot!) and has the most welcome, open and funny personality! We had post wedding blues partly because spending time talking with Loma and the rest of the staff at Riverside about wedding details had come to a close. My in-laws hosted the rehearsal at Wild Sea on Las Olas (part of Riverside collection) and we hosted our Bon Voyage Breakfast on the Skyline Terrace. The service, quality and atmosphere at each event was incredible- you experience the family owned essence of Riverside at each event. Most of our guests were out of town and made a vacation out of our wedding and loved being right on Las Olas. They loved staying at Riverside with the convenience of the water taxi stop, pool and bars and restaurants that are part of the hotel and the kindness of the staff throughout their stay. This is not a hotel where your guests are stuck in four walls during their stay and during your reception. The day of the wedding was truly everything I had envisioned. We had our cocktail hour on the Skyline Terrace and reception in the Himmarshee Ballroom. I asked Loma if we could keep a bar outside and doors open for access to the Terrace and I am so glad we did. Guests who wanted to take in the city and River views, take pictures or smoke a cigar from cocktail hour did just that and it was nice to have an indoor/outdoor setup in Florida! We even led one of our Greek dance lines outside throughout the whole terrace! I am still getting compliments on the food! We chose the duet of roasted chicken breast and pan seared diver scallops with the grits and tasso cream sauce and the grilled 12 oz New York strip steak with Yukon gold hash with slab bacon and house made steak sauce. First of all, the portions were outrageous, you have never seen this much as a wedding entree I promise you. Guests continue to rave about the portion, presentation, perfect temperature and impeccable flavors. Chef Brian even made sure to add the colorful vegetables we loved that were plated at our tasting. The salad was not your usual and the cucumber slices wrapped around the rest of the salad was such an elegant visual touch. The amuse bouche was also out of this world- where else can you choose Cap n' Crunch chicken and waffles as one of your five choices? Guests continued to be thrilled with the food during dessert. We chose red velvet cake/cream cheese filling with fresh raspberries and lemon cake with key lime buttercream. Guests were so impressed with how moist, fresh and flavorful it was. We can't wait to eat our top tier for our anniversary! Chef Sabrina's design was perfect! Special thank you to the whole Riverside team and especially Loma, Aldo and Finn. You will all be a part of our day when we look back on it. Everyone involved in planning and all the guests had nothing but positive words. Loma makes you feel like family and made our day outstanding! The setup was incredible (see pic of me during the reveal), all the food and cake were unlike any other wedding and the atmosphere created by the whole staff is such a huge bonus and makes a big difference in the planning process and outcome of your day; Loma even left us a card and some treats in our suite which was so special. So much thanks to everyone at Riverside Hotel!

We had the most amazing wedding experience at Riverside Hotel! It was a struggle to plan through COVID, but I felt incredibly safe with Riverside and still felt extra special throughout the process. We loved being able to get married by the water and having the rooftop as our reception to dance the night away!

Let me start by saying that I had to switch from another venue in the middle of wedding planning because they were dishonest and tried to raise prices after we signed a contract with them. I am SO HAPPY that we switched to the Riverside Hotel for our wedding!! Their customer service was excellent. I was so stressed out when I had to switch venues at first; however, Loma Grant answered all of my questions and put me at ease. I had so many questions and Loma answered them quickly and effectively. She is so kind, funny, efficient, and helpful! The venue has beautiful views of the river and downtown Fort Lauderdale. We had our ceremony/cocktail hour on the Skyline Terrace followed by our reception in the Himmarshee ballroom and we loved it!

The catering and hotel staff did a fantastic job as well! Our food/cake tasting for the wedding felt like we were at a 5 star restaurant! The wedding cake made by Sabrina was exactly how I wanted it to look like and it was delicious. Our food made by the chef (Brian) was so appetizing. The servers and catering team made our wedding run so smoothly that I had no complaints.

When we arrived at the Hotel, the staff and valet made sure to accommodate all of our needs and our guests. My husband and I had an early check in, which was nice! Guests who attended the wedding that didn't stay at the hotel were offered complimentary valet parking, which is a perk in downtown Fort Lauderdale since parking isn't free. It was a lovely stay and we will definitely go back to stay in the future.

Loma went above and beyond to make our wedding day as worry-free as possible even when there were things out of our control. She did a great job of making our wedding vision come to life. Thank you Loma and all of the staff from the Riverside Hotel for our amazing wedding day!!

- Moya and Chris :-)