We just finished hosting my daughter's wedding at the Larimore this past weekend and Dena was simply wonderful, she does work to bring a level of professional services to your event. I found her very accommodating. All of the wedding elements went incredible well and the outdoor settings were wonderful. I would recommend the carriage as it does provide a spectacular element to the wedding!
When I did a site inspection of the Larimore, I had a discussion with Allen who boasted about the quality of service at his facility as I asked questions about service in the room which had a mixture of 70 inch rounds and 8 ft., 60 inch tables. He assured me that their service was on the same level as sit-down dinner service at the Ritz Carlton. Having prior experience as a banquet manager at the Frontenac Hilton, Doubletree, La Chateau and the Omni hotels in St. Louis, I took his word while excusing my doubts.
The Dinner elements, while the salad was average, the main course was really good with an 8 oz. Parmesan crusted breast of chicken served with Russell potatoes and assorted vegetables. Sesame crusted sliced bread was placed on the table cold with a glob of margarine available for spreading. The room itself was served in waves, head table sections first, and followed by the main floor, saving the tiered section for last. As we were cutting the cake, which we elected to do to produce savings, we told to keep to an aisle open by Allen who seemed to serve as the enforcer rather than a service professional. I had two vegans in attendance and had to have a hard discussion with Allen about getting their two (2) plates as he stated that getting those two (2) vegan plates would slow down the dinner service. Normally I would not have made an issue about it if they had not been waiting for over 30 minutes to eat while others had already finished eating. Perhaps times have changed but I do remember the days when the customer was always right! Allen seemed rather defensive about everything!
The average service standards are 1 per 20, The Larimore standards are 1 per 40. Due to the plating and service, dinner took over an hour. In an average service situation you have 2 servers working 4 table with 1 server serving while the other server is transporting items such as water, tea, bread, salad and dinners back and forth. The other server is also clearing items from the tables and maintaining service. This did not happen at the Larimore where the servers carried trays with two hands and six (6) people worked a room set for 240 people. As a meeting planner I would recommend this facility for smaller groups or make sure that the facility guarantees 1 server per 2 tables of ten people, this would ensure that the quality of service is provided. Overall every one of our guests enjoyed the event along with all of the elements of the facility.
Euclid C. Strayhorn, CMP read more