Overall: The Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre turned out to be a great venue for our reception. My husband and I are both architects living in Washington, DC, and planned our wedd...ing long-distance with the help of family in my hometown of Indy. We sought a venue that could offer a "taste of the city" for our guests, many who were coming from out of town - the Panorama Ballroom (21st floor) was perfect, complete with gorgeous views of downtown Indianapolis. On a fluke the night of our reception, which was the week before the Monument Circle - Circle of Lights was set to be lit, we got a great preview of the lit "tree" at around 10:00pm! So awesome! Pricing was just right for our budget and our parents split the bill - parents of the bride covered catering costs, parents of the groom covered bar bill.
Staffing: Our coordinator at the Sheraton, who has since left the position, was the biggest help in our planning process. I think our taste was a little too clean and modern for her liking, but we got along just fine! The booking staff was the most difficult to work with regarding our rooming block, and looking back, I wish we wouldn't have done a room block at all.
Overnight Accommodations: I did have to work with two separate individuals in regards to our block (the second was way more helpful), negotiate the rooms attrition rate and clause, and complain/renegotiate when guests were jumping off our block for a cheaper AAA rate. There was renovation construction in the building during the year leading up to our wedding. The updates were wonderful - except the weekend of our wedding they were still working on the ventilation systems. All of our guests with rooms facing Monument Circle had rooms with temperatures around 80 degrees. Awful. Some guests were moved (some were offered suites on the opposite side of the hotel) but on the night of the wedding, the hotel was full and guests were offered box fans. Unacceptable. If I would have known this was going on, I would have demanded a refund for these poor guests.
Parking: Don't forget to negotiate a deal on event parking in the garage for your guests! Indianapolis has ridiculous downtown parking rates - pricing is closer to what it is in the DC metro area, which is a market 5 times larger than Indy's.
Food & Beverage: The chefs were great to work with! Our tasting was great and the coordinator even secured a special meal for my dad who we wanted to treat with his favorite, salmon, during the reception, despite selecting completely different entrees for our guests to choose from. We had 160 guests who were much heavier drinkers than the coordinator had anticipated so the single bar with one bartender didn't work very well. The coordinator "moonlighted" as a bartender during the cocktail hour to help - thank goodness. We should have insisted on 2 bars/bartenders.
Panorama Ballroom: Incredible. We had the entire 21st floor to ourselves. It allowed the bridal party to have their own "holding" room, people had space to store coats, and it just made the event seem more exclusive. The views are incredible and it was a huge treat for a lot of our guests who had never been to Indianapolis.
Best of luck as you plan your special day! Go with your gut and enjoy the big day! Lots of the things you spend way too much time planning you won't even have a chance to see/experience on the big day. Take it from this control freak - relax and go with the flow! =)