My wife Alycia and I had an Indian/Chinese/Western...

My wife Alycia and I had an Indian/Chinese/Western wedding on a Saturday at the Hotel du Pont. It was the perfect wedding venue for us and here s why:

1) Location: The hotel is located in downtown Wilmington, DE. A very corporate town, which ends up empty on weekends. But that means there s plenty of free/inexpensive parking nearby for guests. A beautiful field is right next to it, ideal for photos. The space was perfect for a large Indian groom s procession around the block with people dancing in the streets behind my car.



3) Food: The sheer number of options spanning diverse cuisine is dizzying. I really appreciated the ability to work with the executive chef to incorporate custom home recipes for Indian dishes native to the northeastern state of Assam (which you don t find represented in Indian restaurants in the US). The dishes ended up quite tasty and pretty authentic! The house wines were also surprisingly good. The appetizers and dessert spreads were my favorite! Rest assured, guests will fondly remember the food at the Hotel du Pont.

4) Excellent Service: The staff maintained the utmost professionalism when interacting with my guests and family. The front desk was always courteous and happy to help. Whenever I visited to tour the different rooms we planned to use, staff were more than happy to show me around. And of course, the final and most IMPORTANT reason for selecting this hotel was for one person, and one person only:

5) Martha Barnes (Markie), catering sales manager and in-house day-of coordinator. She organized and managed the logistical nightmare that was our tri-cultural wedding, and she did it with poise. She handled our incessant emails asking for details regarding the planning process. She deftly answers the litany of questions hurled at her from multiple excited family members during our final meeting prior to the wedding. When we needed to make immediate adjustments to the schedule on the wedding day, Markie facilitated the changes immediately and without fuss. She ushered all of our guests into each of the rooms so that each of our events started on time. She was always present and always reachable. Despite how busy she was, she always served as a source of comfort with her warm and calm demeanor. My wife and I are so incredibly thankful to have worked with Markie. We will not be surprised in the least if she continues her meteoric rise to upper management sooner rather than later.

6) The only frustrating aspect of working with the hotel was that they recently switched computer systems, and as a result, our wedding reservation did not show up on the computer when friends/family tried calling in to make hotel reservations using our group rate. However, they promptly rectified the situation when I brought it to the attention of management. Hopefully, the issue is resolved by now. And in all seriousness, the advantages of using this hotel as a venue far, far outweighed the disadvantages. I have no regrets!

***Summary: The Hotel du Pont is a fantastic wedding venue that truly works with you to create your custom wedding. Martha Barnes, the catering sales manager, is their strongest asset.