Rusty Pelican

I have to say WOW! I was one of the first sets of weddings to grace the Rusty Pelican after its remodeling and closing for several months. The result was more than spectacular. The reception area was gorgeous, the new bridal suites were perfect for my husband and I to unwind before the party, the service and the team spoiled us to no end, and the food was absolutely DELICIOUS -- it melted in your mouth. I had a reception full of picky eaters and they all raved about the quality of the food. The planning process was surprisingly smooth throughout the renovation. I found best results when I visited them onsite. I was able to get to know the whole staff that was working with me on my wedding, review every detail about my event before the day came, and have the Event Coordinators and Banquet Manager work with me personally to determine the layout and feel for my room. I couldn't say too many great things about The Rusty. They are there to help you -- communicate as much as possible and they will help you plan a dream wedding!

The venue is absolutely beautiful, especially now that it's been remodeled. However, the new staff isn't so professional and we had a lot of issues dealing with different staff because the person we were originally working with was fired and we were never notified. Someone booked an event over our ceremony space as well immediately after our ceremony (ceremony was at 5 and event was at 530) so they were pushing us out and we were unable to take pictures at the ceremony site after. We were also taking pictures around the restaurant because it is beautiful, but the manager came out and yelled at the photographer, claiming we were in the way when, in fact, the other customers were happy for us and did not feel that we were in the way at all, and they made that very obvious. Our cocktail hour and reception felt rushed because of them as well. I really really loved the venue, but the staff killed the rest of it.

Working with the Rusty Pelican was an amazing experience for my now husband and I, since the very beginning working with Kimberly Smalls has been a great experience, she is always ready to answer any of your questions, has attention to details, give you amazing ideas and is always on top of any or your needs and requirements ; we are thrilled of the new renovated Rusty Pelican, it was really beatiful before now is even better, the view is amazing, the service from all the catering department is great, all the waitres and waitress ,our Captain for the day Paco, all the amazing team that the Rusty Pelican has made our wedding day memorable. Peter Knezevic is a great man, has a positive attitude and great energy!! We will love to do it all over again!!! Lucy and Diego

What can I say..It was awesome.. the staff,, the food the service was great!!! And the view from the banquet rooms was breath-taking. I highly recommended the Rusty Pelican!!!!

the people here were amazing! raul really took care of us the day of the wedding! I couldn't ask for anything better

The Rusty Pelican created a truly magical experience for our wedding on May 6th. The service was spectacular and the waiters went above and beyond to give us the best service on our special day. We got married on the balcony upstairs and the view was incredible. Great location for pictures!! The entire staff working that night helped out with everything. I am so grateful!!

This Place is amazing for a Wedding. We had our wedding last April on a Friday and everything was more beautiful than expected. The staff was really friendly and efficient, the place looked amazing, the food was delicious and the bar was really good. There were really no bad points for this place. We are really happy we selected the Rusty Pelican for our venue. We had a lot of guest coming out of the country they were amazed with the place too. Also, our coordinator Gina was really helpful, sweet and patient with multiple changes we had with our menu. They even gave us an extra tasting of the food o make sure we were happy with the selection.The place do need some restoration on the bathroom and the balcony but this will be completed this year so this place will look even more amazing after this gets done. Thank you so much!! :)

I loved the Rusty Pelican the moment I laid eyes on it. We chose to do the ceremony on the fire pit patio and the brunch reception in the Pelican Room. Everything was excellent! I worked with Gina Udnani to get all the details of our wedding down and she was great at staying in contact, answering all my questions, and making sure that we got what we wanted. In fact, five days before the wedding I decided that I wanted to upgrade to chiavari chairs and Gina made it happen. The day of the wedding was great! Everything was set up as planned and the day ran smoothly. The food was awesome and the service was incredible as well! Overall, I highly recommend looking into this venue for any special events!

One of a kind reception venue. Majestic view of the ocean, great food, great service.

I have not yet had my wedding but on 12/10/11 I am set to be married at The Rusty Pelican. My experience since I booked my event has been a nightmare. My horrors started back in August when I booked and continue to today. I started working with Gina who was rude, unprofessional and extremely unhelpful. I was then changed to work with Elsa who seemed to be a great match for me but a few months after meeting with her I called and found out she hadn't been working there for months and my wedding file had not been assigned to anyone. I am now with Ana Maria who so far has not been very helpful and does not seemed concerned with my event. I now come to find everything I was promised and had planned for with my first two wedding advisors was never put in writing and they won't grant me what I was promised with them. I hear of so many couples having a beautiful wedding and getting first class help making their special day an event they cherish forever unfortunately I am not and probably will not have that great experience. I wish they would just give me my deposit back so I can go somewhere customer service is a priority. All I hear from them is that they do weddings by the thousand I understand they are a wedding factory but this is my first and will be my last I just want to be treated with kindness and respect.

Work with Christina- she is great! One of the things I remember from one of our guests: "That was the greatest salmon I ever had." Yes, I agree! Food was so delicious! The bartender that worked for our wedding was awesome, everyone loved him (wish we got his name, all of our friends still bring him up lol). He was so friendly and made really delicious drinks! Rusty Pelican is great! We had a tight wedding budget so finding Rusty Pelican felt like a total discovery, very affordable packages (and they have other options to work within your budget)! I mean the place really has the greatest view (really made great background for our pictures). Service was great, they really took care of us. We loved it!

My daughter got married at the Rusty Pelican on 10/10/10 and the event was close to perfect. We worked with Elsa Granados and she provided excellent advice and professional guidance. We had 53 people for a destination wedding and used the Pelican Room for the reception and the ceremony was outside on the lower patio. Fabulous cake (included in the package) by Ana Paz. Amazing flowers by Terra flowers. Otto Haring is an artist with a camera. We did the buffet and the only extras we added on were an additional hour of bar and a pasta station and both were worth every penny. I recommend the RP without reservation. In hind sight there is nothing I would do differently.

Best Place to get married! Silmara Santos was a great help and planner! We had a beautiful Wedding! Thank you!

I'm happy we chose the Rusty Pelican. They're pros at the wedding game -- they do a lot of them. Their location is gorgeous, with Miami as the backdrop. The food is really good. We particularly liked the hot passed appetizers; very tasty. The brunch value is very good. You get unlimited mimosas at a very reasonable price, particularly for the area. (My colleagues were all shocked at how affordable it was.)As others have mentioned, the responsiveness is sometimes a little slow. I didn't have my contract until later than I would have liked. But it's Miami! Manana is a theme here. The RP was perfect for me, in particular, because I wasn't a very engaged bride. I didn't want to micromanage things, and the RP knew how to make all the details come together even if I didn't think of them. For example, nowhere in my contract did it say that RP was going to provide centerpieces for the hors d'oeuvres area. I didn't even think about it. But they provided them. Because they understand the production of weddings so well, they're a great choice for a busy person who maybe hasn't thought of all the details.I recommend the Rusty Pelican.

planning my wedding with them was not so pleasant. the first time meeting to overlook everything and do the walk thru I had an appointment for 11 am when I arrive an event was going on and was told I had to come back after 4 mind you I live 4 hours away I got there early and had to end up staying in town for much longer then what I was expecting to by the time I left there almost 8 pm I got home at midnight. after everything was picked and paid for a month before the wedding I recieve a letter in the mail advising me that the coordinator I was working with is no longer with them which I figured why worry everything should be in the fill how everything was picked and 15 days or less till the wedding I got a call from the new coordinator asking me everything all over again because supposedly nothing was in the fill none of the choices picked or notes nothing well that being said with such short time and not having anything and starting from scratch Cristina Casanova did a great job everything came out perfect food was beyond this world. the day of was amazing but the planning with them was a bit frustrating. I dont like complaining on employees but the previous coordinator was not returning calls emails or messages and obviously didnt do her job to well so I am kind of glad she was replaced in time. in the end I must say everything came out great. Thank you, Christina Casanova and the catering dept

THE AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM WAS TERRIBLE, THE BALLROOM WAS LIKE AN OVEN THE WHOLE NIGHT. I INFORMED THE MANAGER NAMED MANUEL AND HE GAVE ME A REALLY CHEAP EXCUSE. HE TOLD ME THAT AFTER THE SUNSET THE SALON' S CLIMATE WAS GOING TO COOL DOWN, BUT IT NEVER DID.

The service and professionalism of the Rusty Pelican is outstanding. I did not have to worry about a thing. They made everything easy and care free.

I booked the Rusty Pelican a year and a half before my wedding because it was the place I had dreamed about having my Wedding at since I was a little girl. The view is breathtaking and speaks for itself. The prices are also very reasonable for what you get. I do believe the place could use a little updating to modernize it a little bit but other that it is still very pretty. The service before the wedding was great. I worked with Kimberly Smalls, the catering manager. She is an absolute sweetheart and very professional. We mostly communicated through emails and I have no complaints. She always got back to me only taking a day at the most to get back to me. She was also VERY flexible with the final payment which really made me feel at ease and comfortable since we were going crazy the final days before the wedding. The service the day of the wedding was top notch. The minute we got in our head waiter had a tray of hors d'oeuvres waiting for us as well as champagne and whatever else we wanted. We had a buffet and all the guests said the food was good. I might add that even though we had a buffet a waiter was very attentive to my husbands grandmother that is not all there (mentally and physically). He brought her food and whatever else she needed. I thought that was a very nice gesture on his part. I wish I would have gotten his name so I could report back to Kim about his service. The only minor complaint I have is that it was a bit hot in the area where the cocktail hour was held. Overall I am extremely happy with the Rusty Pelican and I would recommend it to anyone that is looking for a venue with a view and wonderful service. Thank you so much to the crew at Rusty Pelican for making my day so special!!

Just had my wedding there last weekend and it was wonderful! I live in California, but wanted a destination wedding in Miami, so everything was arranged over the phone and through emails. The organizer for my event was Silmara Santos. It was a bit hard to reach her at times, but we were able to get everything done in a reasonable amount of time. I didnt get a chance to taste test anything, but everyone loveeed the appetizers and dinner! Their vendor list was very helpful too. I got the DJ, ceremony officiant, photographer, cake and linens from their recommendations and everything was pretty smooth. I would have not found this venue if it wasnt for a friend's coworker who got married there as well and gave it great reviews. It worked out great! The views outside for the ceremony and inside for the reception were beautiful, everything looked so pretty inside, and the size of the lounge we had it in was perfect for our intimate sized wedding!! You can not find these views at these very reasonable prices anywhere else, I feel so lucky we found the Rusty Pelican. We were very pleased with everything here, highly recommended :-)

What a beautiful Place!!Silmara Santos was our event planner, and was held in the left lounge, and was nothing short of a dream event. The place was beautifully decorated, the captain (Pablo) and his team were true gentlemen, and the food we chose was excellent!! Thanks again to Silmara and the Rusty Pelican staff for making our wedding day a true dream event!!