I was the coordinator of a (6) couple group that reached out to Raven Valdes several times BEFORE and AFTER tickets went on sale for the All That Glitters Gala NYE party 2016. After several question and answer discussions with Raven, she assured me that this event would be suitable for our 60 y.o (+) age range and our desire for an elegant and formal event. As a result, my husband and I plus the (5) additional couples chose to CANCEL our reservations to The Rick Braun N.Y.E. party held at Tucson's J.W. Marriott Golf Resort for this one. We have never been so disappointed in an event, especially after discovering that the T.S.R. non-Raven N.Y.E. party was so much more elegantly decorated, food more accessible and a much better value for the money!!! It was TOTALLY unacceptable to pay for, supposedly, VIP $311.00 p/couple seating which included: a LESS than elegant entry to the Showroom, inattentive servers, narrow cramped tables for (6) adults and being surrounded by other guests who arrived in attire suitable for going to the movies or shopping. Why should we have had to pay for VIP status and be subjected to balancing plates of food as we returned to our tables after our surprising trek upstairs in FORMAL ATTIRE? If that was not horrible and degrading enough; the THE MOST UPSETTING thing that we encountered was "TAILGATE" elegance: SLIDERS for our main entree!!!! Also, realize that in addition to the $311, we also paid $601.00 for a 2-nite stay at TSR and the cost of formal attire. Since I was the coordinator relaying Raven's info to the group, I feel so responsible for the money wasted by my friends.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT:
Live entertainment....... Superhero accompanied by the video was special. They would not have been enjoyable without it. DJ Mr. P-Body was nothing special.
Complimentary champagne toast at midnight was nice.
Complimentary party favors..... our VIP server merely dumped a bunch of hats on one of our tables. When she came to the next table, she said she had no more hats so she dumped all tiaras, like the men wanted to wear those.
Complimentary appetizer buffet.......... AWFUL choice of foods and even worse location for the buffet.
Balloon drop was lots of fun to see happen.
Dance floor.... MUCH TOO CROWDED to even move around so we had to dance in the area around our seats. Our VIP seats.
SUGGESTION: In the future, 'potential' guests should be instructed that this is more of a YOUNGER crowd and that it is NOT really FORMAL and ELEGANT. The wording "required" for the type of attire left the door wide open for ANY type of attire which I view as a big mistake. In addition, it would have been nice if we had been told in advance some of the food choices for our money. The very LAST thing we expected at a GALA was an appetizer buffet containing tailgate foods. The buffet should have been located nearest the lower level VIP guests, the VIP guests near the buffet or servers that would bring our food to our tables. (Now that would have been VIP)
I am writing this review and posting online as a guide for future NYE party goers to this annual Raven Event. read more