Jacaranda Country Club A+: I don't know if some of the older knotties will remember but I did not want my wedding here at all. My Dad has played golf here for years and I've been to numerous affairs here and was just not feeling Jacaranda. My Dad basically said if you want a wedding from me its here, so with that being said we had a venue! Let me tell you.........they totally outdid themselves. The service was amazing, the drinks were fantastic, our martini bar was packed, the food was really really good which I always remember it being not so great. My MIL is gluten free, the caterer made her a special meal and assured her it was 100% gluten free. They even made her homemade gluten free brownies. They were just so wonderful, we had our own personal server who was just standing near the band waiting to get us anything we needed. Besides having the bar and bartenders they had servers walking around to get people drinks which I loved. Honestly, I am so glad my Dad forced us to have it here. Wow!
Rabbi Kaplan and Father Anderson A+: These 2 are a great pair, the ceremony was beautiful. It was sentimental and funny, sincere and politically correct you could say. It was not overly Jewish or Christian, they found a nice happy medium. My MIL walked up to the Rabbi afterwards to thank him and tell him how great everything was. They were fantastic!
Augustine from MAC A: This man rocks!!!!!! Great personality and does a fabulous job, I was sooooo happy with my make up. He would have gotten an A+ from me except that 4 days before my wedding I called him to make sure everything was on track and he threw me a curve ball. He was going to go into work late on my wedding day so he can come and do my makeup at our hotel, he now told me that he couldn't go in late anymore and needed to start doing our makeup at 11:00 at the hotel, it was only an hour before he was supposed to be there but dude 4 days before my wedding! I tried to push back a little but saw it wasn't an option, I had 4 trials before I found him and I was not losing my buddy from MAC to make me beautiful. He showed up on time, like exactly on time which was the best thing ever. He still decided once he got there that he'd take his time and go into work late. He hung out, did one of my BM's and myself. My cousin wants to be a makeup artist so he gave her some tips as well. I love him. He was so close to an A+.
My Treasure Videos A+: I love this man! From the moment I booked him his communication was on point. He always responded so quickly and I love that in a vendor. I checked my email when we were on our HM and saw that he emailed me the recap, it was more beautiful than I could have imagined. I cant wait to see the whole thing. One concern I had was that there would be a huge camera in our face all night, i don't think I even noticed him once. He does a fantastic job at not being noticed. If you're thinking of booking him do it!
Cindy Karp: Communication is A+, page me for details
Uplyte A+: This was one of the best additions I had, we added lighting just a month or so ago and I'm so glad we did. What a change in the room lighting makes, it had a soft romantic feel and everyones skin color looked great! We went with amber lighting and I just loved it. Dan and Alex (husband and wife) from uplyte were fantastic to work with, absolutely wonderful!
Dalsimer A-/B+ ish, keep flip flopping: This review is a little hard, I started writing this review in my head a while back and now am finally getting to put it down on paper (or the knot, you know what I mean). Dalsimer was one of my first vendors we chose, my Mom had tons of people that used them through the years so I decided to meet with them. My Dad and I hit it off with Jimmy from the second we sat down. I narrowed it down to Flowers by Tony and Dalsimer. The quotes were the same so it was really hard to choose, Dalsimer said he'd throw in an orchid bloom for each folded napkin at no charge. SOLD! I was ecstatic, I showed him a picture of what I wanted and we were good to go. I had my trial and wanted it fuller and with darker sticks, I had him axe the votives and confirmed that the orchid I wanted was a white cymbidium. He now tells me that I'm not getting a cymbidium, he never said that I was going to have that. He said they were too expensive and he would have never agreed to that. He said he is giving me a dendrobium, we battled for a few minutes, I brought up the picture I gave him that clearly shows a cymbidium on a napkin. He wasn't budging, the contract says orchid bloom (get them to be more specific in your contract cause I was pissed) We got a quote on 12-15 centerpieces, I ended up with 12 so thought my price would be lower. When I brought this up Jimmy told me that the quote was really on 12 centerpieces and he was throwing in the 3 extra centerpieces for free. What!!!!!! Give me a break, are you serious. That's bull, I was so annoyed. This was a week before my wedding so I didn't want to stress, I had my Dad call him and still got nowhere. My Dad said its okay, maybe Jimmy was right an the 3 would be free. I think that's a load of crap. Then he throws in a $100 charge to move the Chuppah over the cake. This is something that he forgot to mention until a week before my wedding. I really felt like we were nicked and dimmed. Overall besides me feeling like I was taken advantage of the flowers were gorgeous, better than the trial. My bouquet was beautiful, the chuppah was more than I ever thought it would be. Soooooooo, happy with the flowers 100%. Being screwed around, not cool! I would still recommend Dalsimer but please go through your contract with a fine tooth comb and be as specific as you can be, even if its something minor and you think its dumb. Put it in there!!!!!!!!!
Lovechild A+++++++: This band is not your typical wedding band. This was a huge must for me, my parents couldn't afford it so I saved and saved and threw in some money to make this happen. It was well worth it. Everyone kept telling us how amazing they were, my friend had Libido Band a few years ago and I knew from the moment I heard them I had to have them. I got a whopping $12,000 quote and almost threw up in my mouth. 12k for a band, omg not going to happen. I found out that Lovechild is there sister band and even uses some of the same band members at times. We negotiated back and forth for months and finally made it happen. You have to see this band in person, wow! Their under tropics entertainment.
Hitched Events Rentals A: Luis is a great guy, he was always on top of his communication. Like within 15 minutes I'd get a response always. The past few months I would have to follow up with a second email which kind of bothered me. I guess this can be normal but I was spoiled in the beginning. His staff showed up on time, our linens and chairs looked great, everything worked out very well. He didn't get an A+ for the lack of communication the past few months and a conversation we had the week of my wedding. I wanted to rent the glass chargers with the little beaded edges, he said he could do them for $3.00 a piece. I told Luis that I had heard he was negotiating the prices of his chairs and linens, and even throwing in the cushion covers which I was paying for. I told him that it was not my style to ask him to knock off some money the week before my wedding even though I know he has been doing some major negotiating with other brides, what I did ask was for him to throw in the chargers as a courtesy. He said that he would have but his Dad/Partner wont let him, blah blah blah. He said he'd ask his dad and call me the next day by 12:00pm. No call! I called him and said whats the deal, he said it wouldn't work. I told him look, I understand, if you can do the chargers for $1 a piece I can do it. You're already coming out to my venue so if you want to make and extra easy $130 bucks cash we can make that happen. Didn't happen, oh well. I tried! I used jacarandas ivory chargers and it looked fine. I really wanted those glass freaking charges though!!!!!
A piece of cake by Elena A+: Yum, that's all I can say. Beautiful and yum! Godiva marble liquor cake is delicious!
Music for Anything B: B is being nice. The communication is horrible, like horrible horrible. The music was great and that's what you pay for, I got a trio for $250 which is the best I had found. They were on time which was something I was nervous about when reading other peoples reviews. Good luck with these people!
LMG Events A++++++: Letty is the best!!!!! She was my DOC and made my life so easy during my planning. She would always call and check on me since the day I booked her, she always wanted to help but I had nothing for her to help me with (i have control issues). She definitely would have done more than what a DOC is supposed to do. My ceremony musicians fell off the face of the earth and Letty tracked them down, she said she would show up at there place of business if she hadn't heard back from them. She was on point, made sure everyone was where they needed to be, followed up with all my vendors, set up my menus, candle holders, broke everything down at the end of the night, made sure I was happy, I mean this girl rocks!!!!!!!!!! If you're thinking of a DOC hire Letty, it was the best thing I did. She is the reason i think i was so calm the week of the wedding and even the day of. Hire her, call her now!!!!!!
Honeymoon at Excellence Playa Mujeres A+++++: This resort is gorgeous, the service is the best I've seen. We used to travel when we were first together and we've been to some nice places, this is up there. Absolutely breathtaking. 2 story room on the beach with our own person pool on the rooftop. Gorgeous!
Terese with Hibiscus Travel A+: Best travel agent ever. I drilled her with millions of questions about everything before we even decided to book with her. Shes responsive, honest, and knows her stuff. I have a travel agent for life!
Belissimma Bridal Deerfield A: Kate and Tanya were great, they know what they are doing for sure! The only reason they didn't get an A+ was because my alterations were almost $500, wtf, $500??? But overall I was extremely happy!
Unique Bridal in Deerfield C: The best quote for my BM's dresses but they were so unorganized. They called my BM's a million times, told one of them they forgot to order her dress but that was a lie (weird), they told another BM that they couldn't show her my wedding gown (my wedding gown wasn't there because I got it at Belissimma, another weird), they threatened that if my BM's didn't p/u their dresses they would charge them storage fees when I was told by the owner that no fees were involved, they were just a mess. My girls would have rather spent the extra $30 and gone somewhere else. Be careful!
Showing posts with label Music for Anything. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music for Anything. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Vicki2914's Reviews 06.06.09
Chic Parisian Bridal Salon: B for service / A for quality
My experiences here were more or less a mixed bag. But there were more good then bad. When I 1st went to CP I had the misfortune of being paired with the sales woman named Lucy. I found Lucy to be pushy and disingenuous. After I tried on a dress I loved, Lucy called me literally every other day and each time she called the dress had a new price. It got to the point where I never wanted to return to the store. I actually called the manager to share my experience with the calls and the new prices. The manager seemed to not care too much. I guess that is encouraged business practice there. I found it to be close to a car salesman. But that’s just me.
After 6 months of dress shopping, I returned to CP and specifically asked for the sales lady named Isora. I had a wonderful experience with Isora and I bought my dress that very day.
After I purchased my gown, I dealt mostly with a lovely woman named Lorraine. I cannot say enough about how classy and accommodating Lorraine was during my wedding dress process. For my 1st fitting, Lorraine was unable to help me and I was with a seamstress who spoke no English and another women who served as the translator. The translator was quite possibly the nastiest person I ever met at CP. She was not only rude but HIGHLY confrontational. It was my 1st fitting, I was there with my MOH, my mom and my grandmother. We left feeling very uneasy and generally in a bad mood. It was not a fun time at all.
I waited a few days to see how I felt and I decided that I would not have the same experience for my remaining 2 fittings. I called and spoke with another manager and explained that CP is supposed to be an elegant and classy salon and my experience was ANYTHING but elegant and classy. She apologized and assured me my remaining 2 fittings would be different.
Lorraine was with me for the final 2 fittings and I had a different seamstress. My remaining 2 fittings were perfect. Very friendly and they actually listened to my concerns. My dress fit perfectly and I felt like a princess on my wedding day.
Overall they came through when needed – but remember that you are your own advocate! This is not just for CP, but for the entire wedding planning process. If you do go, I highly recommend asking for Lorraine and have her guide you through your entire process there. She knows right from wrong and is just super sweet to work with.
Obridal.com: A+
I ordered a veil from obridal.com. The veil was the exact same quality as the one I later purchased from CP – except a 1/3 of the price! I ordered my veil from obridal on a Sunday and it was delivered on Friday. I paid for the basic shipping. I would have worn that veil without question except that it was too light for my dress. I bought a cathedral length ivory veil and I needed dark ivory for my gown. I highly recommend obridal.com for a veil. http://www.occanseydesigns.com/
Fare to Remember Catering: A
The entire staff at Fare to Remember is a class act. They are organized, friendly and efficient. Aside from that, the food is not just delicious, but praise-worthy. My guests have not stopped raving about the food at my wedding. They said it was the best wedding food they ever had and said that it tasted like they were at a fine dining restaurant. I have to agree with them! DH and I could not have been prouder of the food served at our wedding - and we were very, very selective. Many of our guests came from NY and we really wanted the food to stand out.
It was served creatively and tasted wonderful. On top of all this, Fare to Remember was very reasonably priced! We had sparkling water served at our ceremony, 8 passed hors de vours, a 3 course meal, a sorbet intermezzo, wedding cake, top shelf liquor (Kettle One, etc), all tables, linens, place settings, etc. All of this was less than $100 per person. If you want specifics, please email me or page me on the SFL board.
I will be a long term customer of Fare To Remember. If I ever need catering, I will be calling them – without a doubt. All of my friends and my parents friends asked me for their info after the wedding.
You can see pics from our tasting under the “Trials” tab here in my bio. They made sure DH and I had our own servers and we felt like royalty. I cannot speak highly enough of them. http://www.faretoremember.com/
Florida Photobooths: A+
The photobooth was a total hit! Phil is the owner and operator of the booth. He is very friendly and professional. Ultimately, I went with Florida Photobooth because they use the same exact model machine as NY Photobooth and we felt it is the most authentic vintage-styled photobooth. But when you get inside, it is anything but vintage! It has touch screen operation and guests can chose between black and white photos or color.
The photos come 6 pics to each turn in the booth. I think it was a great favor and I love that I got a copy of all the pics I got the CD of pics from Phil within 2 weeks of our wedding.
http://floridaphotobooth.com/
Blueshore Productions Video: ** final review pending final product, but “A” for all communications leading up to wedding and “day of” services **
Jeremy was always a real pleasure to work with. He was friendly and thorough. We have seen our mini-trailer and we were very pleased and are looking forward to seeing our video! We asked Jeremy to not use a lot of filters in our final edit. We really wanted the video to be an authentic reflection of our wedding day. http://blueshoreweddings.com/
Stephan Maloman Photography: A+
Stephan is a true talent. He is confident, easy to work with, friendly and has a very good sense of humor. FI really liked working with him too. Stephan takes a tremendous amount of personal pride in his work and I love that about him. I am very, very glad he shot my wedding. Our family and friends have been fawning over our pictures like no other! I know quite a few of our friends and friends of friends will be calling him to shoot their weddings.
I would hire Stephan again in a second. My pictures are magazine-worthy and stunning and I think he has eye like no other. We never knew we were being shot – except for the formals, obviously. There are a lot of great photographers in the SFL area; I think that Stephan just happens to be at the top of that game.
http://www.maloman.com/
http://malomanblog.com/
Ocean Florist: A+
My flowers were elegant and gorgeous. My CP’s were unlike anything I or my guests had ever seen. My chuppah, the bouquets, the centerpieces, the bouts, etc. were all perfect. I gave my mother my bouquet and my sister gave my mother her bouquet. They were both alive and well 9 days after the wedding. My mom was thrilled!
Guerdy, and her head floral designer, Tom, were always willing to switch things around for me. They really wanted me to love everything about the wedding design. They didn’t want me to just like something. I very much appreciated that they wanted to “blow me away.” That’s how they measure their success. I was completely blown away by all the floral and lounge furniture at my wedding. I was even more excited when Guerdy took the strung orchids from the chuppah and decorated the sweetheart table and our chairs with the strung orchids during the cocktail hour. She even took all the strung orchids and put them in the limo for us on the way home. My BM’s took a long strand and decorated our bed with it in a big heart. It was so sweet!
http://www.oceanflorist.net/
http://oceanflowersmiami.blogspot.com/
Devine Designs By Guerdy A+
Guerdy is just a delight to be around! She is full of energy and is very creative. I consider her the consummate professional. She understands what the elements are of a classy event and I never once had to question her taste level.
I plan events for a living and some of my guests are also in the industry. Each of them has taken the time since my wedding to tell me how “on point” she was during the wedding. She was never flustered and always polite – yet decisive with how she wanted things to look. Her assistant brought our personal flowers to the Biltmore and stayed with all of us until everyone got into the proper limo.
All in all, Guerdy is 100% on top of everything and she fully allowed me to be a guest at my wedding. This is not easy since I plan events myself, but that’s how good she is. I fully recommend her and Ocean Flowers, the floral company she owns. I loved that my florist/planner were the same company because she took complete control and ownership of the event and how it looked.
Lastly, Guerdy, collected all of the items I had bought for the wedding from my house and after the wedding she brought all the items back to my house! I never had to pack our car and meet her anywhere. She really made it easy for me the last few days leading up to my wedding and the few days after when I was exhausted!
http://www.designbyguerdy.com/
Guerdy Réjouis-Abraira
Direct: 305.769.1979
Fax: 305.769.3579
Deering Estate – A
I am very pleased with Deering Estate. It is a beautiful place to get married and I just love that fact that there are a few sites at the venue to host different elements of your wedding. Originally, we planned on having our ceremony on the lawn in front of the water. The rain was so heavy the few days prior and the day of that it was no longer possible since the lawn was flooded. That was perfectly fine, we worked around it.
Since the lawn was flooded, we had our ceremony in the Courtyard and our cocktail hour in the Richmond cottage. We had not paid for the Richmond cottage so I thought it was very nice of them to allow us full use of it for our cocktail hour
I had told Leslie, the event manager that we needed to use the golf carts for some of our guests who are handicapped. This was not an issue and the staff made sure our older guests and handicapped guests were driven around – they were so accommodating!
It is a historic property and that means there are a lot of rules. As long as you are fine with the rules, this is a lovely place to host a wedding or event. I didn’t want fireworks at my wedding so many of the rules didn’t conflict with my plans.
My only complaint was that the ballroom did get very hot. It may have been a combination of people keeping the doors open to come in and out but I wish the A/C had been stronger. But that didn’t stop anyone from dancing or enjoying themselves. All I can say is thank goodness I bought those palm fans. They were a lifesaver to my guests!! But again, this goes back to Deering being a historic property and these are little quirks of old venues.
I would still have hosted my wedding here. I only wish I could have gotten married Nov – March. Unfortunately, that was not possible b/c of DH’s school schedule. But we did get a nice discount for getting married during the summer months. June 6 was the 1st weekend of their “summer” season so I believe we got 25% off?? I cant remember fully. But either way, it is a gorgeous place and everyone loved how it was not the standard hotel ballroom. Well everyone except, the few who complained to me how hot it was. Lol!! But hey, its Florida in June, what did they expect?
Music For Anything, string trio: D+
They played beautifully - when they showed. There were some music professionals in the audience at our ceremony and they did praise the trio. My guests had no idea what a nightmare they were to deal with.
The nightmare only began the month leading up to my wedding. Until then, Victoria Joseph was easy to get in touch with and pleasant to deal with. In the few weeks leading up to my wedding she went MIA. I emailed and called. My planner emailed and called. I was polite and friendly in all of my emails and voicemails with her.
The last few days leading up to my wedding, I didn’t think they were showing at all. DH and I went on to iTunes and downloaded a ton of Vitamin C string quartet music the night before our rehearsal dinner. Frankly, I was really excited about our new music and I didn’t even care that MFA wasn’t showing up. I was mad that I had paid ½ already, but sometimes these things happen.
I mentioned this situation to DH’s groomsmen and he offered to get Victoria Joseph on the phone. Miraculously, he got her on the phone w/in 30 min. Leave it to a determined businessman from NYC!
Victoria assured the GM that she would be there. Adam and I still gave our planner the CD that we burned. The trio did show – right at 5 pm. 5 pm was the scheduled time on our contract. I was told previously that they would be ready to go and playing at 5 pm.
Whatever, they showed up. My guests were impressed and I was pleased to have live music. But, I do not recommend them and I hope they are out of business soon. They do not deserve anyone’s hard earned money and they certainly don’t deserve to be part of anyone’s big day. They got a D+ because when they did arrive, they played beautifully.
And Victoria, if you’re reading this, you have a lot to learn about business but even more to learn about karma. Good luck.
Carlos Abanto, Guitarist: A+
Carlos and the percussionist I asked him to bring were perfect! He played during my cocktail hour. They gave that certain Florida feeling I was going for. Carlos is quick to respond to emails and beyond accommodating. He did his thing and I would not hesitate to hire him again for a party or to recommend him. I asked him to play acoustically – no backup track. It was great!
cabanto@aol.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=231WQP2Fco4
In The Mixx Productions, DJ: A+
Jay Stevens was always quick to respond to my emails and he is very organized. He gave me a great deal, and they DJ was top notch. I gave them a specific playlist and they stuck to the dinner list 100% and the dancing playlist 90%. I danced the entire time and so did most of my guests. We had a lot of people going nuts on the dance floor!! I am going to attribute that to the fine bartenders and the talented mixing of the DJ. He was a real DJ. No song was played all the way through. We loved it! It felt like a fun club/lounge. Our DJ was DJ Cab. He was so good!!
http://inthemixxproductions.com/
Studio By Carmen, Bpics and Rehearsal Dinner Coverage: A+
Carmen is fun and talented! I don’t think anyone can shoot a woman’s body like she can. She does nice work on weddings and engagements sessions too, but since I hired her for Bpics and my RD I will stick to that.
My Bpic session was extremely comfortable and also a lot of fun! It was empowering too! I cannot even express how much I love, love, love my bpics. DH liked them too - he really, really like them! (wink, wink) I didn’t think he would be nearly as into them as he was – ‘nuff said.
I have since shown my book to quite a few of my girlfriends and they cannot get over how amazing the pics are. Many of them are working out and saving up to get their pics done for anniversaries, December holidays, Vday, etc. I am so in love with my book that I may just carry it in my purse and show my pics to random people at Publix when I am in line waiting for check out – that’s how much I love the final product. I could care less that I am ½ naked – I look that good! And I am not super fit or even high on myself. But those pics are the real deal! I am a model! (lol – j/k)
For my rehearsal dinner, Carmen came and brought her husband as a second shooter. They were both extremely friendly and I cannot wait to see what pics they got. I already saw the pics she took of the Groom’s Cake and I am just so happy I had a professional shoot our RD. It took all the pressure off of us, our family and friends to get pictures. We just enjoyed dinner and enjoyed each other. I highly recommend Carmen for bpics and anything else you would like her to shoot.
http://www.studiobycarmen.com/
http://www.provocateurbycarmen.com/
Las Vegas Restaurant, Rehearsal Dinner: B
Everything leading up to the RD was perfect and dinner was delicious. It is the service that led me to give them a B. I wish I could have given them an A!!
Service was incredibly slow, cocktail orders were messed up, food came out to all of us in spurts. Some of our RD guests were finishing up their meals as other were just being served. There were 50 of us and everyone ordered 1 of 3 options.
I would have a private party there again and I would recommend them as well. But I would just mention in the planning process with the manager, Carmen, that it is very important to have the food come out at more or less the same time and to please be sure all the servers could speak or at least understand English if your guests only speak English. Overall, everyone loved the dinner and the food was tasty and very reasonable. My in-laws were pleased so I am happy overall.
Biltmore Hotel:
I am holding off on this review for 24 hours. I have spoken with the general manager of the hotel and I am awaiting his call responding to some issues that arose while me and all of my wedding guests were at the hotel. I will post a full and honest review once 24 hours passes. I will also post how the GM offers to rectify the situations.
Amy Palma, hair & makeup: A+
Amy is amazing. I looked better then I had imagined on my wedding day. My makeup and hair lasted all night – through rain, extreme humidity, sweat, dancing, etc. She has a great vibe about her and is a true professional. She comes with everything – including her own chair! I would recommend her to any bride out there and I would certainly go to her if I ever had an important event to attend again.
My mother loved her hair and makeup. I think it was the best I had ever seen my mom’s makeup look. She allowed my mom to look at herself each step of the way. She has a ton of patience too. Let’s just say someone (not me or my mom) tested her tolerance level and she was calm and professional the entire time.
Amy also came through big time when bridesmaids needed help – for free!! Please see the review below for details on makeup and hair for the girls.
http://www.sobemakeupstudio.com/
http://blog.sobemakeupstudio.com/
Cosmetic Goddess, bridal party hair and makeup: C-
Abby was very easy to work with prior to my wedding. She responded to emails quickly and was on the ball. I wish she and her hired assistants could have carried that professionalism through to my wedding day.
Abby and her team were over an hour and a half late to the hotel on my wedding day. They had 6 bridesmaids to do, 1 wedding guest and 2 grandmothers. I had prepaid her 100% for her services and I was a little nervous. Abby never called when she was late, we had to call her. After we called her the 1st time my MOH got the impression she was lost. She said she would be to the hotel in 30 min. 45 min later we called her again and she said they were close. I am not sure how long after that they showed up because I was getting my hair and makeup done at that time.
The Cosmetic Goddess team comes in with matching tank tops that say Cosmetic Goddess and they look like a professional “glam squad.” But that was pretty much where the organization on their part ended. The Cosmetic Goddess team was supposed to come with 3 stylists/makeup artists and 1 assistant. They came with 3 girls only. When they got to the hotel room they told us they needed chairs. So now we had to call and get housekeeping to bring up additional chairs. I think it would have been smarter had they told us one of the 2 times we were on the phone to make sure we had chairs. I never even thought about it b/c Amy Palma came with her own folding style directors chair.
I will say that the makeup that Abby did was flawless. My girls looked so beautiful. The makeup was great – the hair was awful. This is probably because they were rushed, but whose fault was that?
2 of my bridesmaids had their hair done and as they walked out of the chair and into the bathrooms, their hairdo’s fell out. It was a mess! Amy Palma – thank goodness – helped those 2 BM’s out.
One of Abby’s team members actually left a BM in the chair hair ½ up, makeup ½ done to take a personal phone call on the balcony. This would not have been too much of an issue if the limo wasn’t already downstairs and if they weren’t an hour and a half behind schedule. When one of my other BM’s went out to the balcony to ask the stylist to come back inside, she gave my BM the “one minute” finger and told her she was on the phone.
Aside from all of this, I did call Abby the week after my wedding to discuss the issues and also some of the unprofessionalism 1 of her girls showed. Abby emailed me that she was “on a shoot” all week and she would call or email me on one of her breaks. I waited 4 days and then emailed her that I would like to speak with her before I review her business online. My phone rang less than 10 min later. I thanked her for calling me and told her why I was dissatisfied. She was full of excuses. It was raining was her biggest excuse.
But at the end of the day, I believe they were late to begin with and also never bothered to get proper directions to the Biltmore. She did not offer anything to compensate me or my wedding party for the stress caused. I did not call her looking for a partial refund, but I do think she could have offered me a discount for the future (not that I would have used it) – or at least something to make up for the drama caused. I don’t think that some of these vendors in the bridal business remember that word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising. I had 6 bridesmaids. Each one of them could recommend her in the future – none of them will after the way everything was handled the day of my wedding.
I do not recommend Cosmetic Goddess. This is sad to say too b/c Abby was very sweet and the reviews on Wedding Wire were good. But there is a serious professionalism issue there and the quality of hair styling is lacking. If you need makeup and you just need Abby, I would say go for it. If you need anything else, I would look elsewhere.
Calligraphy by Michele Clark: A+
Michele is awesome. She is super reasonable too! I cannot say enough about this woman or her technique – she learned a new font for me! She made my invitation envelopes and my escort cards glamorous.
Book her early if you want to hire her. She gets book months and months in advance!
http://calligraphybymichele.blogspot.com/
Glidewell Press, - STD’s and invitations: A
My invitations were absolutely gorgeous! Adam is quick with his work. He does seem a tad disorganized at times, or maybe its more that he doesn’t have a sense of urgency until the last minute? I had to stay on top of him with my invitations because we were coming down to the wire and the letterpress plates weren’t ordered yet.
But overall, my invites were the invitations of my dreams! They looked like they came straight out of Ceci NY, but for ¼ of the price! My save the dates were also very nice! I would recommend him w/o reservations.
http://www.glidewellpress.com/
Rev. Milan Kralik – officiant A+
About 3 months before our wedding, DH and I decided to change our officiant to Rev. Milan Kralik. I had seen him on a Ray Roman video and I was extremely moved by his service.
DH was a little apprehensive about meeting Rev. Kralik, especially since we met with him at a church, since DH is Jewish. But we spent 2 hours with Rev Kralik and DH told me hands down this is who should officiate our wedding ceremony. We both found Rev. Kralik to be authentic, enthusiastic about us as a couple, flexible, professional, kind and funny. He has the best voice ever too – this man should do movie trailer voiceovers!
Aside from the fact that he was literally 1/3 of the price we were paying for the rabbi, we just felt like Rev. Kralik was the best fit for us. He also assured us he would be there for our rehearsal which our rabbi told me he would not attend.
At our wedding, Rev. Kralik was absolutely perfect. There was not a dry eye in the house! I have had almost everyone who attended my wedding tell me that it was the most moving and authentic wedding ceremony they had ever attended. And I agree – not just b/c it was mine – but because he is that good. I feel blessed that we had such a kind hearted man marry us. DH said it was more than he ever could have anticipated. Email me for his phone #. Or you can call and ask for him at Coral Gables Congregational.
Meilan Limo A+
I had a wonderful and easy experience with Meilan. My ceremony and reception were in the same place so I didn’t need to pay for limos to sit and wait for hours and hours. Meilan was flexible and allowed me to get 3 one-way stretch limo transfers from the Biltmore to Deering Estate. It was wonderful! I also got a return one-way transfer of a 14 passenger van and a Lincoln sedan for DH and I back to the hotel. I prepaid the service and the tip. They came on time, were friendly, and had the A/C blasting. I would hire them again and recommend them w/o reservation.
www.meilanlimo.com/
Nordstrom, Groom’s suit: A+
If you are going to buy a suit, this is the pace to go. There is such attention to detail and customer service is #1. We went to Men’s warehouse, Macy’s, Hugo Boss, Ted Baker and Bloomingdales. Nordstroms doesn’t necessarily have the most competitive pricing, but their service cannot be beat – and alterations on the suit were free.
I have never seen DH feel better in an outfit. He loves that suit!!
Fontainebleau Resort, minimoon: A
This place is just the best! DH and I have had the good fortune in staying in a few posh hotels and resorts (thanks to Priceline!) but this place just screams Miami glamour! We saw a ton of celebs at the pool each day and we just felt like we were at one of the most exclusive resorts the entire time. The hotel room had an Apple computer in it with free internet and you can also order room service from it – so chic! DH is an Apple fanatic so that was just the epitome of cool to him.
We ate at Vida, Blade and Scarpetto. All 3 restaurants were just delicious. Also we didn’t find them to be too crazily expensive. Yes, they were pricey, but we have spent far more on other meals that we didn’t enjoy ½ as much. I would say with alcohol you are looking at $100 per dinner for a couple plus tip. It’s not something we could de every weekend, but this was our minimoon and we lived it up. Champagne, appetizer, entrees, dessert – you name it.
DH and I used to live on South Beach so we weren’t crazy excited to be there for our minimoon. But the best part is that you never have to leave the resort. We could have been anywhere in the world. It was a true vacation for those few days. If you need a place to go for drinks, dinner or a weekend getaway, this is the place to go!
http://www.fontainebleau.com/gcm/nar/en-us/home/index.htm
Biltmore Hotel, hotel offered to OOT guests & where I stayed after RD and to get dressed : C+
The Biltmore only gets a C+ and not lower is because the hotel itself is gorgeous and in the end, an Asst. Manager called me a month after my wedding to resolve some issues and offer me $100 refund. We got a phenomenal rate as well. But the service was awful! On top of the fact that service was awful, my room had severely leaking windows. The first day I checked in, my room flooded from the large window in the bedroom as it rained. My friends and I ran to the bathroom to grab towels, move my wedding dress and shoes and call the front desk. Some other windows were leaking water, but none as much as the bedroom. Maintenance “rushed” up 45 minutes later. We were all speechless that we had to wait so long. We used EVERY towel in the room to sop up the mess.
Aside from the fact that the hotel knew I was a bride and that all of my bridal items were in this room, I would have thought they would have wanted to preserve their rooms better. The maintenance man told me that he could not fix the window at that time and promised to be back the following morning at 11 am. The next day was my wedding day and none of us noticed that maintenance never came until it started raining again. And this was not just rain, it was heavy, sideways rain! Once again, the room flooded on the side by the large window. This time we already had my wedding dress in the other room, but we did have my veil there – which we needed to have re-steamed.
I did not want to wait for maintenance to come at their leisure again so I went to the lobby (with my hair in curlers) to speak with someone at the front desk. I told them of the leaking windows – because there were a few. I was really easy going about it, because I wanted to have an awesome day with no drama. The front desk was understanding and they told me they would send someone right up. While I was at the front desk, I told them that my friends had brought some champagne and asked if they could send some glasses up for us. They said it wouldn’t be a problem.
20 min later, maintenance arrives and 5 min after that, the glasses arrive. When the glasses arrive I was asked to sign a bill for $15 for glasses! I am by no means cheap, but if my room has flooded twice and the second time it floods is the morning of my wedding and I come down to the lobby in my “bride” outfit and curlers, the hotel can’t comp. me and my friends and family some glasses?!
Rather then go into an entire essay on what is wrong with the Biltmore, I will try to highlight some of the most ridiculous issues below:
No hot water on Friday night for the entire 4th floor. Unfortunately, my family, most of my guests and I were on the 4th floor. I had a cold shower before my rehearsal dinner and I took a cold shower when I returned from my RD.
Valet allowed numerous ppl – some of whom I am not sure were even my guests – to charge their valet to my room. When I disputed some of the valet charges that I didn’t recognize they simply told me that if someone came up and used my name, the valet was charged to my room. WTF? Why didn’t they ever call me in the room to allow me to ok these charges?
Some guests were greeted with champagne at the front desk – as promised in my contract and others weren’t.
Upon check out, my guests had to ask (argue) for a reduced rate due to the cold water incidents. Some guests got better discounts then others. It was completely unprofessional. A hotel of this caliber should not force guests to ask for a discount after they have cold water only in their bathrooms for over 24 hours. And then to know that some guests got a deeper discount then others when they all checked out within the same 2-4 hours??? The hotel should have offered a discount to ALL guests on the floors that were affected by the cold water – whether they were my guests or not.
When I checked out, I asked to speak with a manager about the cold water, window leakage, champagne glass charges, etc. I waited 35 min in the lobby and then the manager was very condescending with me. I was very nice with him esp because I had just gotten married the night before and the last thing I wanted was confrontation.
At the beginning of July, I got computer generated email asking for my opinion on my stay. The letter was “signed” by the GM of the hotel. So I picked up the phone and when I got the hotel automated system, I punched in the name of the employee I wanted to speak with. He picked up on the 1st ring!! I told the GM briefly of my concerns and he told me I would get a call within 24 with a resolution. He was 100% right. The asst GM called me w/in 24 hours and they did offer me a discount.
Overall, I would stay there again b/c it is a beautiful hotel and the size room I got was HUGE!! But they really have some customer service issues to work on. If you stay here before your wedding, I hope you get much better service then my guests and I did.
My experiences here were more or less a mixed bag. But there were more good then bad. When I 1st went to CP I had the misfortune of being paired with the sales woman named Lucy. I found Lucy to be pushy and disingenuous. After I tried on a dress I loved, Lucy called me literally every other day and each time she called the dress had a new price. It got to the point where I never wanted to return to the store. I actually called the manager to share my experience with the calls and the new prices. The manager seemed to not care too much. I guess that is encouraged business practice there. I found it to be close to a car salesman. But that’s just me.
After 6 months of dress shopping, I returned to CP and specifically asked for the sales lady named Isora. I had a wonderful experience with Isora and I bought my dress that very day.
After I purchased my gown, I dealt mostly with a lovely woman named Lorraine. I cannot say enough about how classy and accommodating Lorraine was during my wedding dress process. For my 1st fitting, Lorraine was unable to help me and I was with a seamstress who spoke no English and another women who served as the translator. The translator was quite possibly the nastiest person I ever met at CP. She was not only rude but HIGHLY confrontational. It was my 1st fitting, I was there with my MOH, my mom and my grandmother. We left feeling very uneasy and generally in a bad mood. It was not a fun time at all.
I waited a few days to see how I felt and I decided that I would not have the same experience for my remaining 2 fittings. I called and spoke with another manager and explained that CP is supposed to be an elegant and classy salon and my experience was ANYTHING but elegant and classy. She apologized and assured me my remaining 2 fittings would be different.
Lorraine was with me for the final 2 fittings and I had a different seamstress. My remaining 2 fittings were perfect. Very friendly and they actually listened to my concerns. My dress fit perfectly and I felt like a princess on my wedding day.
Overall they came through when needed – but remember that you are your own advocate! This is not just for CP, but for the entire wedding planning process. If you do go, I highly recommend asking for Lorraine and have her guide you through your entire process there. She knows right from wrong and is just super sweet to work with.
Obridal.com: A+
I ordered a veil from obridal.com. The veil was the exact same quality as the one I later purchased from CP – except a 1/3 of the price! I ordered my veil from obridal on a Sunday and it was delivered on Friday. I paid for the basic shipping. I would have worn that veil without question except that it was too light for my dress. I bought a cathedral length ivory veil and I needed dark ivory for my gown. I highly recommend obridal.com for a veil. http://www.occanseydesigns.com/
Fare to Remember Catering: A
The entire staff at Fare to Remember is a class act. They are organized, friendly and efficient. Aside from that, the food is not just delicious, but praise-worthy. My guests have not stopped raving about the food at my wedding. They said it was the best wedding food they ever had and said that it tasted like they were at a fine dining restaurant. I have to agree with them! DH and I could not have been prouder of the food served at our wedding - and we were very, very selective. Many of our guests came from NY and we really wanted the food to stand out.
It was served creatively and tasted wonderful. On top of all this, Fare to Remember was very reasonably priced! We had sparkling water served at our ceremony, 8 passed hors de vours, a 3 course meal, a sorbet intermezzo, wedding cake, top shelf liquor (Kettle One, etc), all tables, linens, place settings, etc. All of this was less than $100 per person. If you want specifics, please email me or page me on the SFL board.
I will be a long term customer of Fare To Remember. If I ever need catering, I will be calling them – without a doubt. All of my friends and my parents friends asked me for their info after the wedding.
You can see pics from our tasting under the “Trials” tab here in my bio. They made sure DH and I had our own servers and we felt like royalty. I cannot speak highly enough of them. http://www.faretoremember.com/
Florida Photobooths: A+
The photobooth was a total hit! Phil is the owner and operator of the booth. He is very friendly and professional. Ultimately, I went with Florida Photobooth because they use the same exact model machine as NY Photobooth and we felt it is the most authentic vintage-styled photobooth. But when you get inside, it is anything but vintage! It has touch screen operation and guests can chose between black and white photos or color.
The photos come 6 pics to each turn in the booth. I think it was a great favor and I love that I got a copy of all the pics I got the CD of pics from Phil within 2 weeks of our wedding.
http://floridaphotobooth.com/
Blueshore Productions Video: ** final review pending final product, but “A” for all communications leading up to wedding and “day of” services **
Jeremy was always a real pleasure to work with. He was friendly and thorough. We have seen our mini-trailer and we were very pleased and are looking forward to seeing our video! We asked Jeremy to not use a lot of filters in our final edit. We really wanted the video to be an authentic reflection of our wedding day. http://blueshoreweddings.com/
Stephan Maloman Photography: A+
Stephan is a true talent. He is confident, easy to work with, friendly and has a very good sense of humor. FI really liked working with him too. Stephan takes a tremendous amount of personal pride in his work and I love that about him. I am very, very glad he shot my wedding. Our family and friends have been fawning over our pictures like no other! I know quite a few of our friends and friends of friends will be calling him to shoot their weddings.
I would hire Stephan again in a second. My pictures are magazine-worthy and stunning and I think he has eye like no other. We never knew we were being shot – except for the formals, obviously. There are a lot of great photographers in the SFL area; I think that Stephan just happens to be at the top of that game.
http://www.maloman.com/
http://malomanblog.com/
Ocean Florist: A+
My flowers were elegant and gorgeous. My CP’s were unlike anything I or my guests had ever seen. My chuppah, the bouquets, the centerpieces, the bouts, etc. were all perfect. I gave my mother my bouquet and my sister gave my mother her bouquet. They were both alive and well 9 days after the wedding. My mom was thrilled!
Guerdy, and her head floral designer, Tom, were always willing to switch things around for me. They really wanted me to love everything about the wedding design. They didn’t want me to just like something. I very much appreciated that they wanted to “blow me away.” That’s how they measure their success. I was completely blown away by all the floral and lounge furniture at my wedding. I was even more excited when Guerdy took the strung orchids from the chuppah and decorated the sweetheart table and our chairs with the strung orchids during the cocktail hour. She even took all the strung orchids and put them in the limo for us on the way home. My BM’s took a long strand and decorated our bed with it in a big heart. It was so sweet!
http://www.oceanflorist.net/
http://oceanflowersmiami.blogspot.com/
Devine Designs By Guerdy A+
Guerdy is just a delight to be around! She is full of energy and is very creative. I consider her the consummate professional. She understands what the elements are of a classy event and I never once had to question her taste level.
I plan events for a living and some of my guests are also in the industry. Each of them has taken the time since my wedding to tell me how “on point” she was during the wedding. She was never flustered and always polite – yet decisive with how she wanted things to look. Her assistant brought our personal flowers to the Biltmore and stayed with all of us until everyone got into the proper limo.
All in all, Guerdy is 100% on top of everything and she fully allowed me to be a guest at my wedding. This is not easy since I plan events myself, but that’s how good she is. I fully recommend her and Ocean Flowers, the floral company she owns. I loved that my florist/planner were the same company because she took complete control and ownership of the event and how it looked.
Lastly, Guerdy, collected all of the items I had bought for the wedding from my house and after the wedding she brought all the items back to my house! I never had to pack our car and meet her anywhere. She really made it easy for me the last few days leading up to my wedding and the few days after when I was exhausted!
http://www.designbyguerdy.com/
Guerdy Réjouis-Abraira
Direct: 305.769.1979
Fax: 305.769.3579
Deering Estate – A
I am very pleased with Deering Estate. It is a beautiful place to get married and I just love that fact that there are a few sites at the venue to host different elements of your wedding. Originally, we planned on having our ceremony on the lawn in front of the water. The rain was so heavy the few days prior and the day of that it was no longer possible since the lawn was flooded. That was perfectly fine, we worked around it.
Since the lawn was flooded, we had our ceremony in the Courtyard and our cocktail hour in the Richmond cottage. We had not paid for the Richmond cottage so I thought it was very nice of them to allow us full use of it for our cocktail hour
I had told Leslie, the event manager that we needed to use the golf carts for some of our guests who are handicapped. This was not an issue and the staff made sure our older guests and handicapped guests were driven around – they were so accommodating!
It is a historic property and that means there are a lot of rules. As long as you are fine with the rules, this is a lovely place to host a wedding or event. I didn’t want fireworks at my wedding so many of the rules didn’t conflict with my plans.
My only complaint was that the ballroom did get very hot. It may have been a combination of people keeping the doors open to come in and out but I wish the A/C had been stronger. But that didn’t stop anyone from dancing or enjoying themselves. All I can say is thank goodness I bought those palm fans. They were a lifesaver to my guests!! But again, this goes back to Deering being a historic property and these are little quirks of old venues.
I would still have hosted my wedding here. I only wish I could have gotten married Nov – March. Unfortunately, that was not possible b/c of DH’s school schedule. But we did get a nice discount for getting married during the summer months. June 6 was the 1st weekend of their “summer” season so I believe we got 25% off?? I cant remember fully. But either way, it is a gorgeous place and everyone loved how it was not the standard hotel ballroom. Well everyone except, the few who complained to me how hot it was. Lol!! But hey, its Florida in June, what did they expect?
Music For Anything, string trio: D+
They played beautifully - when they showed. There were some music professionals in the audience at our ceremony and they did praise the trio. My guests had no idea what a nightmare they were to deal with.
The nightmare only began the month leading up to my wedding. Until then, Victoria Joseph was easy to get in touch with and pleasant to deal with. In the few weeks leading up to my wedding she went MIA. I emailed and called. My planner emailed and called. I was polite and friendly in all of my emails and voicemails with her.
The last few days leading up to my wedding, I didn’t think they were showing at all. DH and I went on to iTunes and downloaded a ton of Vitamin C string quartet music the night before our rehearsal dinner. Frankly, I was really excited about our new music and I didn’t even care that MFA wasn’t showing up. I was mad that I had paid ½ already, but sometimes these things happen.
I mentioned this situation to DH’s groomsmen and he offered to get Victoria Joseph on the phone. Miraculously, he got her on the phone w/in 30 min. Leave it to a determined businessman from NYC!
Victoria assured the GM that she would be there. Adam and I still gave our planner the CD that we burned. The trio did show – right at 5 pm. 5 pm was the scheduled time on our contract. I was told previously that they would be ready to go and playing at 5 pm.
Whatever, they showed up. My guests were impressed and I was pleased to have live music. But, I do not recommend them and I hope they are out of business soon. They do not deserve anyone’s hard earned money and they certainly don’t deserve to be part of anyone’s big day. They got a D+ because when they did arrive, they played beautifully.
And Victoria, if you’re reading this, you have a lot to learn about business but even more to learn about karma. Good luck.
Carlos Abanto, Guitarist: A+
Carlos and the percussionist I asked him to bring were perfect! He played during my cocktail hour. They gave that certain Florida feeling I was going for. Carlos is quick to respond to emails and beyond accommodating. He did his thing and I would not hesitate to hire him again for a party or to recommend him. I asked him to play acoustically – no backup track. It was great!
cabanto@aol.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=231WQP2Fco4
In The Mixx Productions, DJ: A+
Jay Stevens was always quick to respond to my emails and he is very organized. He gave me a great deal, and they DJ was top notch. I gave them a specific playlist and they stuck to the dinner list 100% and the dancing playlist 90%. I danced the entire time and so did most of my guests. We had a lot of people going nuts on the dance floor!! I am going to attribute that to the fine bartenders and the talented mixing of the DJ. He was a real DJ. No song was played all the way through. We loved it! It felt like a fun club/lounge. Our DJ was DJ Cab. He was so good!!
http://inthemixxproductions.com/
Studio By Carmen, Bpics and Rehearsal Dinner Coverage: A+
Carmen is fun and talented! I don’t think anyone can shoot a woman’s body like she can. She does nice work on weddings and engagements sessions too, but since I hired her for Bpics and my RD I will stick to that.
My Bpic session was extremely comfortable and also a lot of fun! It was empowering too! I cannot even express how much I love, love, love my bpics. DH liked them too - he really, really like them! (wink, wink) I didn’t think he would be nearly as into them as he was – ‘nuff said.
I have since shown my book to quite a few of my girlfriends and they cannot get over how amazing the pics are. Many of them are working out and saving up to get their pics done for anniversaries, December holidays, Vday, etc. I am so in love with my book that I may just carry it in my purse and show my pics to random people at Publix when I am in line waiting for check out – that’s how much I love the final product. I could care less that I am ½ naked – I look that good! And I am not super fit or even high on myself. But those pics are the real deal! I am a model! (lol – j/k)
For my rehearsal dinner, Carmen came and brought her husband as a second shooter. They were both extremely friendly and I cannot wait to see what pics they got. I already saw the pics she took of the Groom’s Cake and I am just so happy I had a professional shoot our RD. It took all the pressure off of us, our family and friends to get pictures. We just enjoyed dinner and enjoyed each other. I highly recommend Carmen for bpics and anything else you would like her to shoot.
http://www.studiobycarmen.com/
http://www.provocateurbycarmen.com/
Las Vegas Restaurant, Rehearsal Dinner: B
Everything leading up to the RD was perfect and dinner was delicious. It is the service that led me to give them a B. I wish I could have given them an A!!
Service was incredibly slow, cocktail orders were messed up, food came out to all of us in spurts. Some of our RD guests were finishing up their meals as other were just being served. There were 50 of us and everyone ordered 1 of 3 options.
I would have a private party there again and I would recommend them as well. But I would just mention in the planning process with the manager, Carmen, that it is very important to have the food come out at more or less the same time and to please be sure all the servers could speak or at least understand English if your guests only speak English. Overall, everyone loved the dinner and the food was tasty and very reasonable. My in-laws were pleased so I am happy overall.
Biltmore Hotel:
I am holding off on this review for 24 hours. I have spoken with the general manager of the hotel and I am awaiting his call responding to some issues that arose while me and all of my wedding guests were at the hotel. I will post a full and honest review once 24 hours passes. I will also post how the GM offers to rectify the situations.
Amy Palma, hair & makeup: A+
Amy is amazing. I looked better then I had imagined on my wedding day. My makeup and hair lasted all night – through rain, extreme humidity, sweat, dancing, etc. She has a great vibe about her and is a true professional. She comes with everything – including her own chair! I would recommend her to any bride out there and I would certainly go to her if I ever had an important event to attend again.
My mother loved her hair and makeup. I think it was the best I had ever seen my mom’s makeup look. She allowed my mom to look at herself each step of the way. She has a ton of patience too. Let’s just say someone (not me or my mom) tested her tolerance level and she was calm and professional the entire time.
Amy also came through big time when bridesmaids needed help – for free!! Please see the review below for details on makeup and hair for the girls.
http://www.sobemakeupstudio.com/
http://blog.sobemakeupstudio.com/
Cosmetic Goddess, bridal party hair and makeup: C-
Abby was very easy to work with prior to my wedding. She responded to emails quickly and was on the ball. I wish she and her hired assistants could have carried that professionalism through to my wedding day.
Abby and her team were over an hour and a half late to the hotel on my wedding day. They had 6 bridesmaids to do, 1 wedding guest and 2 grandmothers. I had prepaid her 100% for her services and I was a little nervous. Abby never called when she was late, we had to call her. After we called her the 1st time my MOH got the impression she was lost. She said she would be to the hotel in 30 min. 45 min later we called her again and she said they were close. I am not sure how long after that they showed up because I was getting my hair and makeup done at that time.
The Cosmetic Goddess team comes in with matching tank tops that say Cosmetic Goddess and they look like a professional “glam squad.” But that was pretty much where the organization on their part ended. The Cosmetic Goddess team was supposed to come with 3 stylists/makeup artists and 1 assistant. They came with 3 girls only. When they got to the hotel room they told us they needed chairs. So now we had to call and get housekeeping to bring up additional chairs. I think it would have been smarter had they told us one of the 2 times we were on the phone to make sure we had chairs. I never even thought about it b/c Amy Palma came with her own folding style directors chair.
I will say that the makeup that Abby did was flawless. My girls looked so beautiful. The makeup was great – the hair was awful. This is probably because they were rushed, but whose fault was that?
2 of my bridesmaids had their hair done and as they walked out of the chair and into the bathrooms, their hairdo’s fell out. It was a mess! Amy Palma – thank goodness – helped those 2 BM’s out.
One of Abby’s team members actually left a BM in the chair hair ½ up, makeup ½ done to take a personal phone call on the balcony. This would not have been too much of an issue if the limo wasn’t already downstairs and if they weren’t an hour and a half behind schedule. When one of my other BM’s went out to the balcony to ask the stylist to come back inside, she gave my BM the “one minute” finger and told her she was on the phone.
Aside from all of this, I did call Abby the week after my wedding to discuss the issues and also some of the unprofessionalism 1 of her girls showed. Abby emailed me that she was “on a shoot” all week and she would call or email me on one of her breaks. I waited 4 days and then emailed her that I would like to speak with her before I review her business online. My phone rang less than 10 min later. I thanked her for calling me and told her why I was dissatisfied. She was full of excuses. It was raining was her biggest excuse.
But at the end of the day, I believe they were late to begin with and also never bothered to get proper directions to the Biltmore. She did not offer anything to compensate me or my wedding party for the stress caused. I did not call her looking for a partial refund, but I do think she could have offered me a discount for the future (not that I would have used it) – or at least something to make up for the drama caused. I don’t think that some of these vendors in the bridal business remember that word of mouth is the most powerful form of advertising. I had 6 bridesmaids. Each one of them could recommend her in the future – none of them will after the way everything was handled the day of my wedding.
I do not recommend Cosmetic Goddess. This is sad to say too b/c Abby was very sweet and the reviews on Wedding Wire were good. But there is a serious professionalism issue there and the quality of hair styling is lacking. If you need makeup and you just need Abby, I would say go for it. If you need anything else, I would look elsewhere.
Calligraphy by Michele Clark: A+
Michele is awesome. She is super reasonable too! I cannot say enough about this woman or her technique – she learned a new font for me! She made my invitation envelopes and my escort cards glamorous.
Book her early if you want to hire her. She gets book months and months in advance!
http://calligraphybymichele.blogspot.com/
Glidewell Press, - STD’s and invitations: A
My invitations were absolutely gorgeous! Adam is quick with his work. He does seem a tad disorganized at times, or maybe its more that he doesn’t have a sense of urgency until the last minute? I had to stay on top of him with my invitations because we were coming down to the wire and the letterpress plates weren’t ordered yet.
But overall, my invites were the invitations of my dreams! They looked like they came straight out of Ceci NY, but for ¼ of the price! My save the dates were also very nice! I would recommend him w/o reservations.
http://www.glidewellpress.com/
Rev. Milan Kralik – officiant A+
About 3 months before our wedding, DH and I decided to change our officiant to Rev. Milan Kralik. I had seen him on a Ray Roman video and I was extremely moved by his service.
DH was a little apprehensive about meeting Rev. Kralik, especially since we met with him at a church, since DH is Jewish. But we spent 2 hours with Rev Kralik and DH told me hands down this is who should officiate our wedding ceremony. We both found Rev. Kralik to be authentic, enthusiastic about us as a couple, flexible, professional, kind and funny. He has the best voice ever too – this man should do movie trailer voiceovers!
Aside from the fact that he was literally 1/3 of the price we were paying for the rabbi, we just felt like Rev. Kralik was the best fit for us. He also assured us he would be there for our rehearsal which our rabbi told me he would not attend.
At our wedding, Rev. Kralik was absolutely perfect. There was not a dry eye in the house! I have had almost everyone who attended my wedding tell me that it was the most moving and authentic wedding ceremony they had ever attended. And I agree – not just b/c it was mine – but because he is that good. I feel blessed that we had such a kind hearted man marry us. DH said it was more than he ever could have anticipated. Email me for his phone #. Or you can call and ask for him at Coral Gables Congregational.
Meilan Limo A+
I had a wonderful and easy experience with Meilan. My ceremony and reception were in the same place so I didn’t need to pay for limos to sit and wait for hours and hours. Meilan was flexible and allowed me to get 3 one-way stretch limo transfers from the Biltmore to Deering Estate. It was wonderful! I also got a return one-way transfer of a 14 passenger van and a Lincoln sedan for DH and I back to the hotel. I prepaid the service and the tip. They came on time, were friendly, and had the A/C blasting. I would hire them again and recommend them w/o reservation.
www.meilanlimo.com/
Nordstrom, Groom’s suit: A+
If you are going to buy a suit, this is the pace to go. There is such attention to detail and customer service is #1. We went to Men’s warehouse, Macy’s, Hugo Boss, Ted Baker and Bloomingdales. Nordstroms doesn’t necessarily have the most competitive pricing, but their service cannot be beat – and alterations on the suit were free.
I have never seen DH feel better in an outfit. He loves that suit!!
Fontainebleau Resort, minimoon: A
This place is just the best! DH and I have had the good fortune in staying in a few posh hotels and resorts (thanks to Priceline!) but this place just screams Miami glamour! We saw a ton of celebs at the pool each day and we just felt like we were at one of the most exclusive resorts the entire time. The hotel room had an Apple computer in it with free internet and you can also order room service from it – so chic! DH is an Apple fanatic so that was just the epitome of cool to him.
We ate at Vida, Blade and Scarpetto. All 3 restaurants were just delicious. Also we didn’t find them to be too crazily expensive. Yes, they were pricey, but we have spent far more on other meals that we didn’t enjoy ½ as much. I would say with alcohol you are looking at $100 per dinner for a couple plus tip. It’s not something we could de every weekend, but this was our minimoon and we lived it up. Champagne, appetizer, entrees, dessert – you name it.
DH and I used to live on South Beach so we weren’t crazy excited to be there for our minimoon. But the best part is that you never have to leave the resort. We could have been anywhere in the world. It was a true vacation for those few days. If you need a place to go for drinks, dinner or a weekend getaway, this is the place to go!
http://www.fontainebleau.com/gcm/nar/en-us/home/index.htm
Biltmore Hotel, hotel offered to OOT guests & where I stayed after RD and to get dressed : C+
The Biltmore only gets a C+ and not lower is because the hotel itself is gorgeous and in the end, an Asst. Manager called me a month after my wedding to resolve some issues and offer me $100 refund. We got a phenomenal rate as well. But the service was awful! On top of the fact that service was awful, my room had severely leaking windows. The first day I checked in, my room flooded from the large window in the bedroom as it rained. My friends and I ran to the bathroom to grab towels, move my wedding dress and shoes and call the front desk. Some other windows were leaking water, but none as much as the bedroom. Maintenance “rushed” up 45 minutes later. We were all speechless that we had to wait so long. We used EVERY towel in the room to sop up the mess.
Aside from the fact that the hotel knew I was a bride and that all of my bridal items were in this room, I would have thought they would have wanted to preserve their rooms better. The maintenance man told me that he could not fix the window at that time and promised to be back the following morning at 11 am. The next day was my wedding day and none of us noticed that maintenance never came until it started raining again. And this was not just rain, it was heavy, sideways rain! Once again, the room flooded on the side by the large window. This time we already had my wedding dress in the other room, but we did have my veil there – which we needed to have re-steamed.
I did not want to wait for maintenance to come at their leisure again so I went to the lobby (with my hair in curlers) to speak with someone at the front desk. I told them of the leaking windows – because there were a few. I was really easy going about it, because I wanted to have an awesome day with no drama. The front desk was understanding and they told me they would send someone right up. While I was at the front desk, I told them that my friends had brought some champagne and asked if they could send some glasses up for us. They said it wouldn’t be a problem.
20 min later, maintenance arrives and 5 min after that, the glasses arrive. When the glasses arrive I was asked to sign a bill for $15 for glasses! I am by no means cheap, but if my room has flooded twice and the second time it floods is the morning of my wedding and I come down to the lobby in my “bride” outfit and curlers, the hotel can’t comp. me and my friends and family some glasses?!
Rather then go into an entire essay on what is wrong with the Biltmore, I will try to highlight some of the most ridiculous issues below:
No hot water on Friday night for the entire 4th floor. Unfortunately, my family, most of my guests and I were on the 4th floor. I had a cold shower before my rehearsal dinner and I took a cold shower when I returned from my RD.
Valet allowed numerous ppl – some of whom I am not sure were even my guests – to charge their valet to my room. When I disputed some of the valet charges that I didn’t recognize they simply told me that if someone came up and used my name, the valet was charged to my room. WTF? Why didn’t they ever call me in the room to allow me to ok these charges?
Some guests were greeted with champagne at the front desk – as promised in my contract and others weren’t.
Upon check out, my guests had to ask (argue) for a reduced rate due to the cold water incidents. Some guests got better discounts then others. It was completely unprofessional. A hotel of this caliber should not force guests to ask for a discount after they have cold water only in their bathrooms for over 24 hours. And then to know that some guests got a deeper discount then others when they all checked out within the same 2-4 hours??? The hotel should have offered a discount to ALL guests on the floors that were affected by the cold water – whether they were my guests or not.
When I checked out, I asked to speak with a manager about the cold water, window leakage, champagne glass charges, etc. I waited 35 min in the lobby and then the manager was very condescending with me. I was very nice with him esp because I had just gotten married the night before and the last thing I wanted was confrontation.
At the beginning of July, I got computer generated email asking for my opinion on my stay. The letter was “signed” by the GM of the hotel. So I picked up the phone and when I got the hotel automated system, I punched in the name of the employee I wanted to speak with. He picked up on the 1st ring!! I told the GM briefly of my concerns and he told me I would get a call within 24 with a resolution. He was 100% right. The asst GM called me w/in 24 hours and they did offer me a discount.
Overall, I would stay there again b/c it is a beautiful hotel and the size room I got was HUGE!! But they really have some customer service issues to work on. If you stay here before your wedding, I hope you get much better service then my guests and I did.
Jessie720's Reviews 05.23.09
The weather suuuucked and it poured for the only moment in time I wanted it to be clear- getting out of the limo and to church. I had a team of men come and get me with umbrellas and they got soaked and my hair lost its curl. Also I would recommend tucking a hankie into your cleavage or something; I couldn’t stop crying through the whole ceremony and had a snot rocket type situation going on when we exchanged rings. Not pretty. However, I loved how my wedding turned out overall and I am so happy to be married!
Ceremony: St. Hugh Catholic Church- B
First off, I LOVE Maria, who is the church coordinator. She is so sweet and super helpful. Father Garcia also delivered a wonderful ceremony for us. There were a few things that did disappoint me. I was told that Father will not be happy if you are late to your rehearsal because he does them all in one day, so I drilled it in to my bridal party to be there super early. Our rehearsal was scheduled for 5 PM and we were there at 4:30, except for my in laws who arrived around 5:10. Anyway, we started the rehearsal around 4:50 with a few people missing, and when they showed up at 5:10, he refused to go over the order of things again, even though we were scheduled to have rehearsal till 5:30. This wasn’t a huge deal. The day of the wedding, Ollie and his crew of men showed up at the church at 3 PM, which is when the second photog was going to be there to get some shots. Well some guy that works for the church refused to open the gate for them. He didn't want anyone in the church before 3:30. They didn't want to go into the sanctuary, the just wanted to park thier cars and take some pics out front. At this time there were about 10 cars clogging up the road, trying to get in for my ceremony (invites said 3:30, it started at 4.) Ollie threatened to call the archdiocese of Miami and magically the gates opened. I was mostly disappointed that during the ceremony, the readings were not placed on the stand for the lectors to read them. Luckily my one reader printed it out and brought it with her to the stand. My second reader, poor girl was only 11, just stood there for a minute like a dear in headlights. Luckily, I had made programs with the readings in there, and my MOH finally ran up to her with the reading. Since then, I have become an advocate for programs! Also my cousins went up to bring the gifts to the priest, and there was no bread or wine for them to bring up. What REALLY upset me was we only had 10 minutes to take pictures at the altar. Just when our grandmas were lining up to take pics with us, we got kicked out and we never did get to take a picture with them. They are all still upset over this, as am I.
Ceremony Vocalist: Cecilia Witkowski from St. Hugh- A
I was really surprised that people even paid attention to the songs at the ceremony, but they kept coming up to me all night commenting on how amazing she made the ceremony. Her communication was great and she gave an excellent performance.
Reception Venue: The Rusty Pelican- B
I was working with Betty originally, and then I was assigned to Edward. I will say that this place did give me some headaches early on, and what annoyed me the most was when they informed me I couldn’t bring my wedding items to the venue until the morning of the reception. This was just not possible for me logistically. When I signed our contract, they said we could bring in all of our stuff when we gave the final payment, which is 4 days before. Needless to say, I argued until they let me bring the stuff Friday afternoon, but I was still super peeved. I ended up buying a ton of things to bring to the reception, and if I had known about this rule when it changed, I wouldn’t have accumulated so much stuff. Also, because we opted to have a buffet set up, we were invited to the Sunday brunch as our tasting, but none of the food was the same as what we could select, so we really didn’t have a tasting. At our cocktail hour, which was scheduled from 6-7 PM, they told our guests the bar will not open till 7, which was an error because I paid for them to begin serving liquor at 6. They did fix it but I had some unhappy guests for awhile. During our planning meetings, they kept telling me not to stress about the timeline. If guests arrive for cocktail hour early, they will serve everything early and just move up the timeline. My guests arrived at 5:30, and food and liquor was not served until 6, after the minor mishap of when to open the bar. I would have much preferred everything moved up a half hour like they said they would. Sometime towards the end of the reception while I was dancing, a server came up to me to give me a comment card to fill out. Ummm I was kinda busy and did not need to be bothered with that. I told them to leave it on the sweetheart table and I have no idea what happened to it. Overall I am still thrilled to have had my wedding there, because the ballroom, the view, and the food are still being raved about.
A little story about their valet drivers- while we were partying at the Rusty Pelican, one of the valet drivers ran a customer’s car into the limo my in laws had. The police came to do the report, and it was discovered the valet did not have a license. He went to jail that night. 2 other valet drivers were found to either have no license, or a suspended license. Not sure if they went to jail or were fired or whatever. Craziness that valet companies don’t check to see if people have valid licenses! And the clientele of that restaurant have expensive cars.
Fabulous Fetes, Justine- A
She was VERY helpful prior to the wedding day, printed my programs free of charge and also did my menus and printed them free of charge for me. I spoke with her when I was having doubts with my vendors and she was a good sounding board. She offered to meet with vendors when I had meetings with them, but I didn’t really need her to do that. She dropped off my menus at AB Covers for me and finalized all of my vendor contracts. She attended our rehearsal and took all the directions from the priest. Everything was set up the day of the way I wanted it to, and came out beautifully. I tried to keep my guests out of the ballroom until my photogs got there, but my mom told her to open the doors so I got overruled. I spoke with her several times during the night to have her do something for me and it was never a problem. Everything was packed up nicely at the end of the night. Overall I thought she did a good job.
Photography: DB Images- A (pending pictures)
Based on how my e-pics and shower pics came out, and my incredible wedding teasers, I am super happy with my decision to have used Devynn. I spoke with her constantly during the planning process and she always got back to me, it really feels like we have become friends. She is also shooting my cousin’s wedding so I know we will be in touch for a long time to come.
Photography: Joseph Keith Photography- A (pending pictures)
I really wanted a second photographer, and Devynn hired Joseph for me. I had no prior contact with him before the wedding. He brought along a ton of lighting gear, and I love a lot of the ideas he had for posing us and setting up shots. He went to the church to photograph the guys before I got there, and they thought he was super cool and they loved working with him. Ollie couldn’t stop raving about him on our honeymoon lol. I have yet to see any of his final photos though, but based on his professionalism that day, I am super excited to see his shots. I have heard he is relatively inexpensive, so check him out if you don’t have a large budget for photos.
Video: My Treasure Videos- A+!! (pending final video)
I had not even met Javier in person until my wedding day, so I really didn’t focus too much on our video. After the drama I experienced with another video company, I felt I could trust him 100% to do his thing and he did. He gave us a ton of upgrades just because he really wanted us to have certain things. Our video recap is so beautiful and I barely noticed Javier at all that night, even in our cramped hotel room getting ready. I really cannot get over how nice he is and how he couldn’t wait to do our recap, it was ready the next day!
Video: Dreammaker Events- no grade, just do NOT use them!
I feel entitled to review them since for a long time I was a client of theirs. This review is based on my actual experience with them, ALL CRAZY KNOT DRAMA ASIDE. I can say that Rob always returned messages, however I had a lot of concerns based on the experiences of other brides. When I brought the concerns to his attention, he basically said everyone was lying and his company would never do these things. When I originally booked with them, I was told you had to have the blu ray package, they didn’t shoot in standard definition anymore. Of course when I told him he was no longer worth the 2 grand I was contracted for, he told he would let me change my package to a smaller one, without blu ray. Where was this package when I originally asked for it? He refused to do anything to make me happy, and was saying that all I wanted was a discount. Not completely true, I just felt he was no longer worth the money and that I wouldn’t receive what I was paying for. I ultimately went elsewhere and could not have been happier.
DJ: Liquid DJs- A
Shannon sent us DJ L.A. and the dance floor was busy all night, which is really the only thing I cared about. Communication with Shannon was great leading up to the wedding. We wanted to be announced into the ballroom and then go straight into our first dance, and I don’t know why there was a delay, but after we were announced, the DJ played some dance music and told everyone to join us on the dance floor, then 30 seconds later they all sat down when our first dance song came on. Kinda awkward, but it wasn’t a big deal.
Uplighting: Ubi- A
Ubi tried to get me a DJ a few weeks before my wedding, but he was all booked up. He offered to try and hunt one down for me with another company, but I ended up finding Liquid DJs so it was fine. The lighting looked awesome and as far as I know it was there on time and set up properly.
Cocktail hour violinist: Music for Anything- A
I had heard stories about how bad their communication is but I actually had an awesome experience in that regard. I only hired them about 2 weeks before and it was constant communication. I didn’t hear the music at all, and nobody really told me about the performance, but I know they did their job and were prompt.
Cake: Lily with Edible Creations- A
This woman is as sweet as her cakes. It was delicious and the design was exactly what I requested. The red velvet was a the biggest hit with our guests.
Florist: Gil Sosa- A
What can I say that already hasn’t been said about this man. His communication definitely improves when your wedding nears (but you have to be super close, like a week out.) 4 days before the wedding, he offered me a new idea for my centerpieces that sounded really awesome. It was to use the floralytes like on one of the weddings on Justine’s blog, with opaque white vases. He said it would blow my mind and it probably would have, but I opted to keep my original design because my flowers and linens were white, so I just felt like white vases would have been too much white. My flowers turned out beautifully. My sign in table was my favorite thing. I will be nitpicky for a second and say that a few things were different from my contract. The BM bouquets were supposed to be only calla lilies, but they ended up having several types of white flowers with the little green berries. This was fine, they looked good. I wish my cake had flowers on the very top tier though; I am not sure why that part was left out. Lastly, my centerpieces were surrounded by cylinders with floating orchids, as opposed to the candle holders that were originally used during my trial. It still looked nice, but I would have preferred the candle holders with different heights.
Linens: AB Covers- A
I love Ana, she did several different set ups for me and didn’t pressure me into upgrading. The only linens I upgraded were the napkins, I wanted them to be teal. She offered to take my extra damask fabric and make napkin ties. This came out so fabulous and she didn’t charge me anything for it, even though sewing the edges on all those ties must have taken a lot of work and time.
Limos: A-1 Limos out of Boyton Beach
We had 2 limos and a towncar the whole night. They were on time and very professional. They tried as hard as they could to get me close to the front doors of the church, the parking area of St. Hugh is quite awkward. My FIL booked the limos so I do not know how their prices were or their customer service prior to that day. I do know my FIL told me we would be getting an 8 passenger limo, and we got a huge SUV limo that could have fit 15.
Flower preservation: Forever Flowers: A (pending final product)
They picked up my flowers at the reception venue on time, I still need to pick out how I want my display to look.
Wedding Gown: bestbridalprices.com- A
Although they no longer sell Maggie Sottero gowns, I was able to get mine from there before they stopped. The dress was perfect and came a few weeks early. I agonized over this decision, since buying a wedding gown online is not ideal for a nervous bride. It was probably one of the better decisions I made during the planning process.
Alterations: Reina- C
This review disappoints me so much. I loved the way my dress fit, don’t get me wrong. Reina did a fabulous job with it and had to do a significant amount of alterations. However, my mom and I tried on our dresses for the last time, and then we waited over an hour for her to steam and press them and then took everything home. Imagine my surprise when I take my dress out of the bag on my wedding day to find it is NOT pressed or steamed at all! I had to call the Biltmore and they sent a steam machine up to my room, so my aunt and I were steaming my dress. I only had enough time to do the front, which looked awesome. You can see how wrinkled the back of the dress was though in a black and white photo on Devynn's blog. I was so upset by this, it was my biggest disappointment. I still love her and would recommend her to anyone for alterations; I just don't understand how my dress wasn’t pressed when I was sitting there while they worked on it. It didn’t occur to me to take the dress out of the bag to check and make sure it was steamed. My dress really needed it because I ordered online and it was packed up in a box for a while.
Hair: Dina Acle- A
What a sweetheart! She did my hair, my mom’s, my grandma’s, 2 of my bridesmaid’s, and my flower girl’s. Everyone looked great. My hair did lose some of it’s curl throughout the night but only because it downpoured on me. I can’t blame her for that, I still insisted on having my hair down regardless of the weather. I am still happy I decided to have it down, because it still looked decent in pictures. She also did my eyebrows for me a week before the wedding, and she will send you lots of pictures of her work.
MAC Makeup: Jorge Pena- A
This guy is a trip and half and kept up the entertainment factor while doing my cousin’s makeup, my mom’s, and myself. My mom looked so awesome, she never wears makeup. Same with my cousin, she usually wears none and she looked great that night. I loved my own makeup and it help up all night. Great communication with him as well.
Bridesmaids Dresses: Patricia South- A
The dresses were fabulous and all the guests loved them and the girls looked smokin. They came in on time and were the best price I found besides online ordering.
Groomsman Tuxes: MW Tux Aventura- C
I don’t know too many details because everyone hid the problems from Bridezilla, but I do know that our long distance groomsman had their tuxes delivered to their local tux places instead of here in Aventura. A bunch of them had to get refitted, and one groomsman did not have his tux delivered to him until 1 PM on our wedding day (ceremony started at 4 PM!)
Hotel block: Biltmore Hotel- A
LOVE this hotel, it is a great backdrop for photos. I recommend staying here because they allow you take photos for free as a guest on their gorgeous grounds, instead of paying the $200 fee or whatever it is. They had a few weddings going on that day, so they asked us to leave those areas, but that is understandable. Those brides are paying an exorbitant amount of cash and deserve priority. They also dropped our room rates by 70 bucks a night a week prior our stay, for no reason that we know of. Super grateful for that! When I needed my wedding dress steamed, they sent a commercial steamer up to me right away to take care of my dress. That was lifesaving right there.
Rehearsal Dinner: Los Ranchos Cocowalk- A
I had never been there before, but their food was amazing. The steak I had with tons of chimichurri was a lifechanging experience. Service was great and prices seemed reasonable, although I know we had a large bill due to the alcohol we consumed. I cannot wait to go back there and have more steak. Everyone had a great time and the families got to know each other better. My in laws did all of the arrangements, so I cannot comment on that experience but I am guessing it went smoothly.
Honeymoon: Sandals Regency in St. Lucia- A
We used Nancy Finn as our travel agent and she was a pleasure to work with. We were orginially booked at the Sandals Grande, but we decided to switch over to the Regency to save money. The amount was saved was significant, and we think the Regency was the resort for us anyway, after visiting all of the other Sandals on St. Lucia. Our room was super cute and we had a phenomenal view. The food is okay, and the bartenders are very liberal with the alcohol. The only thing that is odd is that you can't eat lunch past 2:30 or dinner past 9:30, and a few times were were later than that so we got stuck eating at the burger grill that is open all the time. I would highly recommend the zipligning excursion, as well as Simon Says tours. He is independent from Sandals but gives you a local tour of the entire island, and he even brings you back to his house and his wife cooks you some awesome carribbean food. Money well spent, and we definitely needed the time to relax after the wedding planning.
Ceremony: St. Hugh Catholic Church- B
First off, I LOVE Maria, who is the church coordinator. She is so sweet and super helpful. Father Garcia also delivered a wonderful ceremony for us. There were a few things that did disappoint me. I was told that Father will not be happy if you are late to your rehearsal because he does them all in one day, so I drilled it in to my bridal party to be there super early. Our rehearsal was scheduled for 5 PM and we were there at 4:30, except for my in laws who arrived around 5:10. Anyway, we started the rehearsal around 4:50 with a few people missing, and when they showed up at 5:10, he refused to go over the order of things again, even though we were scheduled to have rehearsal till 5:30. This wasn’t a huge deal. The day of the wedding, Ollie and his crew of men showed up at the church at 3 PM, which is when the second photog was going to be there to get some shots. Well some guy that works for the church refused to open the gate for them. He didn't want anyone in the church before 3:30. They didn't want to go into the sanctuary, the just wanted to park thier cars and take some pics out front. At this time there were about 10 cars clogging up the road, trying to get in for my ceremony (invites said 3:30, it started at 4.) Ollie threatened to call the archdiocese of Miami and magically the gates opened. I was mostly disappointed that during the ceremony, the readings were not placed on the stand for the lectors to read them. Luckily my one reader printed it out and brought it with her to the stand. My second reader, poor girl was only 11, just stood there for a minute like a dear in headlights. Luckily, I had made programs with the readings in there, and my MOH finally ran up to her with the reading. Since then, I have become an advocate for programs! Also my cousins went up to bring the gifts to the priest, and there was no bread or wine for them to bring up. What REALLY upset me was we only had 10 minutes to take pictures at the altar. Just when our grandmas were lining up to take pics with us, we got kicked out and we never did get to take a picture with them. They are all still upset over this, as am I.
Ceremony Vocalist: Cecilia Witkowski from St. Hugh- A
I was really surprised that people even paid attention to the songs at the ceremony, but they kept coming up to me all night commenting on how amazing she made the ceremony. Her communication was great and she gave an excellent performance.
Reception Venue: The Rusty Pelican- B
I was working with Betty originally, and then I was assigned to Edward. I will say that this place did give me some headaches early on, and what annoyed me the most was when they informed me I couldn’t bring my wedding items to the venue until the morning of the reception. This was just not possible for me logistically. When I signed our contract, they said we could bring in all of our stuff when we gave the final payment, which is 4 days before. Needless to say, I argued until they let me bring the stuff Friday afternoon, but I was still super peeved. I ended up buying a ton of things to bring to the reception, and if I had known about this rule when it changed, I wouldn’t have accumulated so much stuff. Also, because we opted to have a buffet set up, we were invited to the Sunday brunch as our tasting, but none of the food was the same as what we could select, so we really didn’t have a tasting. At our cocktail hour, which was scheduled from 6-7 PM, they told our guests the bar will not open till 7, which was an error because I paid for them to begin serving liquor at 6. They did fix it but I had some unhappy guests for awhile. During our planning meetings, they kept telling me not to stress about the timeline. If guests arrive for cocktail hour early, they will serve everything early and just move up the timeline. My guests arrived at 5:30, and food and liquor was not served until 6, after the minor mishap of when to open the bar. I would have much preferred everything moved up a half hour like they said they would. Sometime towards the end of the reception while I was dancing, a server came up to me to give me a comment card to fill out. Ummm I was kinda busy and did not need to be bothered with that. I told them to leave it on the sweetheart table and I have no idea what happened to it. Overall I am still thrilled to have had my wedding there, because the ballroom, the view, and the food are still being raved about.
A little story about their valet drivers- while we were partying at the Rusty Pelican, one of the valet drivers ran a customer’s car into the limo my in laws had. The police came to do the report, and it was discovered the valet did not have a license. He went to jail that night. 2 other valet drivers were found to either have no license, or a suspended license. Not sure if they went to jail or were fired or whatever. Craziness that valet companies don’t check to see if people have valid licenses! And the clientele of that restaurant have expensive cars.
Fabulous Fetes, Justine- A
She was VERY helpful prior to the wedding day, printed my programs free of charge and also did my menus and printed them free of charge for me. I spoke with her when I was having doubts with my vendors and she was a good sounding board. She offered to meet with vendors when I had meetings with them, but I didn’t really need her to do that. She dropped off my menus at AB Covers for me and finalized all of my vendor contracts. She attended our rehearsal and took all the directions from the priest. Everything was set up the day of the way I wanted it to, and came out beautifully. I tried to keep my guests out of the ballroom until my photogs got there, but my mom told her to open the doors so I got overruled. I spoke with her several times during the night to have her do something for me and it was never a problem. Everything was packed up nicely at the end of the night. Overall I thought she did a good job.
Photography: DB Images- A (pending pictures)
Based on how my e-pics and shower pics came out, and my incredible wedding teasers, I am super happy with my decision to have used Devynn. I spoke with her constantly during the planning process and she always got back to me, it really feels like we have become friends. She is also shooting my cousin’s wedding so I know we will be in touch for a long time to come.
Photography: Joseph Keith Photography- A (pending pictures)
I really wanted a second photographer, and Devynn hired Joseph for me. I had no prior contact with him before the wedding. He brought along a ton of lighting gear, and I love a lot of the ideas he had for posing us and setting up shots. He went to the church to photograph the guys before I got there, and they thought he was super cool and they loved working with him. Ollie couldn’t stop raving about him on our honeymoon lol. I have yet to see any of his final photos though, but based on his professionalism that day, I am super excited to see his shots. I have heard he is relatively inexpensive, so check him out if you don’t have a large budget for photos.
Video: My Treasure Videos- A+!! (pending final video)
I had not even met Javier in person until my wedding day, so I really didn’t focus too much on our video. After the drama I experienced with another video company, I felt I could trust him 100% to do his thing and he did. He gave us a ton of upgrades just because he really wanted us to have certain things. Our video recap is so beautiful and I barely noticed Javier at all that night, even in our cramped hotel room getting ready. I really cannot get over how nice he is and how he couldn’t wait to do our recap, it was ready the next day!
Video: Dreammaker Events- no grade, just do NOT use them!
I feel entitled to review them since for a long time I was a client of theirs. This review is based on my actual experience with them, ALL CRAZY KNOT DRAMA ASIDE. I can say that Rob always returned messages, however I had a lot of concerns based on the experiences of other brides. When I brought the concerns to his attention, he basically said everyone was lying and his company would never do these things. When I originally booked with them, I was told you had to have the blu ray package, they didn’t shoot in standard definition anymore. Of course when I told him he was no longer worth the 2 grand I was contracted for, he told he would let me change my package to a smaller one, without blu ray. Where was this package when I originally asked for it? He refused to do anything to make me happy, and was saying that all I wanted was a discount. Not completely true, I just felt he was no longer worth the money and that I wouldn’t receive what I was paying for. I ultimately went elsewhere and could not have been happier.
DJ: Liquid DJs- A
Shannon sent us DJ L.A. and the dance floor was busy all night, which is really the only thing I cared about. Communication with Shannon was great leading up to the wedding. We wanted to be announced into the ballroom and then go straight into our first dance, and I don’t know why there was a delay, but after we were announced, the DJ played some dance music and told everyone to join us on the dance floor, then 30 seconds later they all sat down when our first dance song came on. Kinda awkward, but it wasn’t a big deal.
Uplighting: Ubi- A
Ubi tried to get me a DJ a few weeks before my wedding, but he was all booked up. He offered to try and hunt one down for me with another company, but I ended up finding Liquid DJs so it was fine. The lighting looked awesome and as far as I know it was there on time and set up properly.
Cocktail hour violinist: Music for Anything- A
I had heard stories about how bad their communication is but I actually had an awesome experience in that regard. I only hired them about 2 weeks before and it was constant communication. I didn’t hear the music at all, and nobody really told me about the performance, but I know they did their job and were prompt.
Cake: Lily with Edible Creations- A
This woman is as sweet as her cakes. It was delicious and the design was exactly what I requested. The red velvet was a the biggest hit with our guests.
Florist: Gil Sosa- A
What can I say that already hasn’t been said about this man. His communication definitely improves when your wedding nears (but you have to be super close, like a week out.) 4 days before the wedding, he offered me a new idea for my centerpieces that sounded really awesome. It was to use the floralytes like on one of the weddings on Justine’s blog, with opaque white vases. He said it would blow my mind and it probably would have, but I opted to keep my original design because my flowers and linens were white, so I just felt like white vases would have been too much white. My flowers turned out beautifully. My sign in table was my favorite thing. I will be nitpicky for a second and say that a few things were different from my contract. The BM bouquets were supposed to be only calla lilies, but they ended up having several types of white flowers with the little green berries. This was fine, they looked good. I wish my cake had flowers on the very top tier though; I am not sure why that part was left out. Lastly, my centerpieces were surrounded by cylinders with floating orchids, as opposed to the candle holders that were originally used during my trial. It still looked nice, but I would have preferred the candle holders with different heights.
Linens: AB Covers- A
I love Ana, she did several different set ups for me and didn’t pressure me into upgrading. The only linens I upgraded were the napkins, I wanted them to be teal. She offered to take my extra damask fabric and make napkin ties. This came out so fabulous and she didn’t charge me anything for it, even though sewing the edges on all those ties must have taken a lot of work and time.
Limos: A-1 Limos out of Boyton Beach
We had 2 limos and a towncar the whole night. They were on time and very professional. They tried as hard as they could to get me close to the front doors of the church, the parking area of St. Hugh is quite awkward. My FIL booked the limos so I do not know how their prices were or their customer service prior to that day. I do know my FIL told me we would be getting an 8 passenger limo, and we got a huge SUV limo that could have fit 15.
Flower preservation: Forever Flowers: A (pending final product)
They picked up my flowers at the reception venue on time, I still need to pick out how I want my display to look.
Wedding Gown: bestbridalprices.com- A
Although they no longer sell Maggie Sottero gowns, I was able to get mine from there before they stopped. The dress was perfect and came a few weeks early. I agonized over this decision, since buying a wedding gown online is not ideal for a nervous bride. It was probably one of the better decisions I made during the planning process.
Alterations: Reina- C
This review disappoints me so much. I loved the way my dress fit, don’t get me wrong. Reina did a fabulous job with it and had to do a significant amount of alterations. However, my mom and I tried on our dresses for the last time, and then we waited over an hour for her to steam and press them and then took everything home. Imagine my surprise when I take my dress out of the bag on my wedding day to find it is NOT pressed or steamed at all! I had to call the Biltmore and they sent a steam machine up to my room, so my aunt and I were steaming my dress. I only had enough time to do the front, which looked awesome. You can see how wrinkled the back of the dress was though in a black and white photo on Devynn's blog. I was so upset by this, it was my biggest disappointment. I still love her and would recommend her to anyone for alterations; I just don't understand how my dress wasn’t pressed when I was sitting there while they worked on it. It didn’t occur to me to take the dress out of the bag to check and make sure it was steamed. My dress really needed it because I ordered online and it was packed up in a box for a while.
Hair: Dina Acle- A
What a sweetheart! She did my hair, my mom’s, my grandma’s, 2 of my bridesmaid’s, and my flower girl’s. Everyone looked great. My hair did lose some of it’s curl throughout the night but only because it downpoured on me. I can’t blame her for that, I still insisted on having my hair down regardless of the weather. I am still happy I decided to have it down, because it still looked decent in pictures. She also did my eyebrows for me a week before the wedding, and she will send you lots of pictures of her work.
MAC Makeup: Jorge Pena- A
This guy is a trip and half and kept up the entertainment factor while doing my cousin’s makeup, my mom’s, and myself. My mom looked so awesome, she never wears makeup. Same with my cousin, she usually wears none and she looked great that night. I loved my own makeup and it help up all night. Great communication with him as well.
Bridesmaids Dresses: Patricia South- A
The dresses were fabulous and all the guests loved them and the girls looked smokin. They came in on time and were the best price I found besides online ordering.
Groomsman Tuxes: MW Tux Aventura- C
I don’t know too many details because everyone hid the problems from Bridezilla, but I do know that our long distance groomsman had their tuxes delivered to their local tux places instead of here in Aventura. A bunch of them had to get refitted, and one groomsman did not have his tux delivered to him until 1 PM on our wedding day (ceremony started at 4 PM!)
Hotel block: Biltmore Hotel- A
LOVE this hotel, it is a great backdrop for photos. I recommend staying here because they allow you take photos for free as a guest on their gorgeous grounds, instead of paying the $200 fee or whatever it is. They had a few weddings going on that day, so they asked us to leave those areas, but that is understandable. Those brides are paying an exorbitant amount of cash and deserve priority. They also dropped our room rates by 70 bucks a night a week prior our stay, for no reason that we know of. Super grateful for that! When I needed my wedding dress steamed, they sent a commercial steamer up to me right away to take care of my dress. That was lifesaving right there.
Rehearsal Dinner: Los Ranchos Cocowalk- A
I had never been there before, but their food was amazing. The steak I had with tons of chimichurri was a lifechanging experience. Service was great and prices seemed reasonable, although I know we had a large bill due to the alcohol we consumed. I cannot wait to go back there and have more steak. Everyone had a great time and the families got to know each other better. My in laws did all of the arrangements, so I cannot comment on that experience but I am guessing it went smoothly.
Honeymoon: Sandals Regency in St. Lucia- A
We used Nancy Finn as our travel agent and she was a pleasure to work with. We were orginially booked at the Sandals Grande, but we decided to switch over to the Regency to save money. The amount was saved was significant, and we think the Regency was the resort for us anyway, after visiting all of the other Sandals on St. Lucia. Our room was super cute and we had a phenomenal view. The food is okay, and the bartenders are very liberal with the alcohol. The only thing that is odd is that you can't eat lunch past 2:30 or dinner past 9:30, and a few times were were later than that so we got stuck eating at the burger grill that is open all the time. I would highly recommend the zipligning excursion, as well as Simon Says tours. He is independent from Sandals but gives you a local tour of the entire island, and he even brings you back to his house and his wife cooks you some awesome carribbean food. Money well spent, and we definitely needed the time to relax after the wedding planning.
Melissainabq's Reviews 6.21.08
Ceremony and reception location: The Rusty Pelican
Planning review: A
I have been working with Betty, and she's been an absolute pleasure. She has been very accommodating and helpful, which has been a blessing since I'm not local and need all the help I can get.
Final review: A
The Rusty Pelican really came through for us. I cannot imagine a better, more perfect location. They were handing us water when we needed it, filling our glasses when we were thirsty and made sure that our every need was taken care of. There were a few hiccups along the way, which I think is expected with any big event. But when I turned the corner and saw the room all decorated, it truly took my breath away. Anyone who is wanting a smaller wedding (like 100 people or less) without spending the money for the upper ballrooms, I have no qualms about recommending the lower lounge. At no point did we feel like we were in a public portion of the restaurant. We both had people coming up to us and telling us how much they loved the food and were impressed with the venue. I especially recommend the chicken with spinach and pine nuts with the sundried tomato sauce – it was soooo yummy.
String Trio: Music for Anything
Planning review: A
Victoria has been great. This is one of the vendors I'm most excited about because I know they will add so much to our wedding ceremony and the cocktail hour.
Final review: A
They made the ceremony so beautiful. The music was perfect, and they were easy to deal with during the planning process. Guests from another wedding taking place at the Rusty Pelican even booked them on the spot to play for a bit.
DJ: DJ Ubi
Planning review: A
I really enjoyed my meeting with Ubi, and I look forward to working with him throughout the planning process as the wedding gets closer.
Final Review: A
This is going to sound awful, but I do not even know that I ever got the name of the DJ that worked our reception. He screwed up a few names during the introduction of the wedding party, but the music was great and he was easy to work with on the fly. I highly recommend Ubi and his company.
Photography: Melissa Powell Photography
Planning review: A+
I have really enjoyed my dealings with Melissa. She has a beautiful style, and her booking process was a breeze. She does everything online (which for a bride halfway across the country is a huge help), and she always responds to emails very promptly - sometimes within minutes. I look forward to working with her and seeing her images of our wedding. I know she is going to bring so much to our day.
Final review: A+ and more
The images we've seen so far say it all. Her work is breathtaking, and we have a hard time looking at them and not crying (well at least I do). We also look at them and almost can't believe that it's us and it's our wedding.
DOC: Leah Beth Events
Planning review: A+
Leah has been amazing. She has gone above and beyond the call of duty for a DOC by helping this out-of-town bride with a bunch of stuff, including info on a marriage license and scouting out florists, hairstylists etc. Even though we've only talked by phone and email, I've been amazed with her attention to detail and her help with things I hadn't even thought of. I highly recommend her to anyone who needs coordination assistance. I know she is going to make our wedding run smoother than I ever could have imagined.
Final review: How many + can you add to an A?
I do not even know where to begin to describe how blessed we were to have Leah handling our wedding. She went far beyond the role of a day of coordinator, which because I was so far away was a huge help. She was calm and patient with my crazy family and many people came up to me and told me how impressed they were with her work. She kept everything running very smoothly and made sure that we were always attended to. I have absolutely no doubt that our wedding would not have been the party it was without her. I was able to just relax and celebrate instead of focusing on what time the cake cutting was being done or when the first dance would happen.
Chair covers/linens: AB Cover Design
Planning review: C
This vendor has been difficult to work with. I requested swatches of the chair sashes, which took almost six weeks to arrive because they never managed to get them in the mail. Ana has been better to work with than the original person I contacted, but to be totally honest - if they weren't part of my package at TRP, I'd have found another vendor by now.
Final review: B-
The final product was beautiful. We only ended up getting chair sashes and covers from them. We just didn't have money in our budget for extra linens, and in the end we're glad we didn't. Everything was beautiful as it was and we didn't need to spend any money on extra stuff. The only reason I upgraded her rating is because the final result was beautiful. I still don't feel like they were too easy to deal with.
Hair: Angelica Fernandez
Review: A
Angleica was great. The trial went really well, and she did a superb job with everyone the day of. She was very patient with my really disorganized, overly stressed family, and she even jumped in and finished my makeup since we didn't hire someone. Her prices were very reasonable and she was worth the money and more.
Cake: Edible Creations
Planning review: A+
Ana Paz: F
Cakes by Edda: C
At first, the Rusty Pelican gave me two choices for cakes: Ana Paz and Cakes by Edda. Recently I found out they had added Edible Creations in Pembroke Pines to their package. In an effort to be helpful to others struggling to make a decsion, I have reviewed all 3 vendors here.
Ana Paz was exceptionally rude to me on the phone and completely unhelpful and wouldn't listen to me when I told them I was not local and had limited windows for a tasting.
Cakes by Edda: While the staff was extremely helpful on the phone when I was trying to fit a tasting into an already busy wedding weekend, the cake left a lot to be desired. I did my tasting at the Pembroke Pines location as they were the closest to my family's house. While the cakes were beautiful, they didn't have the rich flavor I prefer. I found the chocolate to be rather dense and tasteless, while the vanilla rum (their signature flavor) was overly rum-tasting.
Edible Creations (954-433-3445): Wow - that is the only word that comes to mind. From my first conversation with Lily, she has been a pleasure to work with. My mom did the tasting for me since I wasn't in town, and she seconded my great feelings about Lily. She said that Lily sat with her and explained everything - down to the thickness of each layer. She also said the cake was incredibly flavorful and that she that in her eyes, choosing Lily was a "no brainer."
Just for reference, I thought I'd include one more review here. While sending my mom on a whirlwind three-tastings-in-one-day adventure, she also visited Elegant Temptations in Hialeah Gardens. Rosie was a joy to deal with by phone and email, and my mom said the chocolate cake with chocolate chip cheesecake filling and the banana cake were just amazing. Her work is beautiful, and the main reason we went with Edible Creations was that they are part of the package and that Rosie's cakes were a little beyond our budget. However, I have no problems recommending her to others because of the taste and outstanding customer service both me and my mom experienced.
Final review for Edible Creations - Speechless
I didn't do the tasting. I never met Lily, and she is one of my new favorite people. She came through with flying colors. The cake looked amazing and tasted amazing too. In fact, it was so beautiful that it stopped me in my tracks when walking to the ceremony. I shouted "look at the cake" without realizing everyone was looking in the windows waiting for me to walk down the aisle. My coordinator was sitting there waving "come on" at me and I was just mesmorized by the cake.
Flowers: Flowers by Gerardo
Planning review: A+
Gerardo has been great to work with so far, and he is working with our very small floral budget. I look forward to seeing the final product.
Final review: A+
This is another vendor I never got to meet and someone I'd love to give a big hug. The flowers were simply gorgeous. When they were delivered, the room literally fell silent. All the girls just stood there staring at them in amazement. I couldn't have imagined a more beautiful result. He quote me based on a picture and stuck with the design and the quote. I highly recommend them.
David’s Bridal – Miracle Mile
Review – F
This location truly was awful to deal with from start to finish. We took my dress there a week before the wedding for a light steaming. It was supposed to be free but they charged my dad. Then on the day before the wedding, when I called to confirm my pickup appointment, they could not find the dress. The woman even said “don’t worry – we’ll just get you another one.” When I told her the wedding was the next day, she said “ooh – maybe not.” I gave them my name and my father’s name, and they never bothered to look under his. So for 45 minutes they kept me in a total panic (we were on our way to the rehearsal so this is what I was stressing over as we got ready). When they found it, they had not even started steaming it. A few hours later, when I went to pick it up, they did not even acknowledge what had happened earlier. Plus, it was storming like I had never seen, and the water in front of the store came up to just below my knees. I had to run into the store barefoot, and that was all they could focus on. I asked if they had a back door with better drainage since we had to go and were going to have to run through the rain in the dress, and they very begrudgingly said yes. They led me back there, and no one even bothered to help me carry the dress through the store. They glared at me and talked about me in Spanish (and I understood the nasty things they were saying) while I waited for my mom to drive around to the back of the store. There was not one friendly person there, and if that was the experience I’d had when looking for a dress, I would never have purchased from David’s.
David’s Bridal – Albuquerque, NM
Review – C
I have very mixed feelings about this store. I had a few bumps with their staff, but I loved my dress. I also had a few glitches with the alterations, but I was happy with the final outcome. They shipped my dress perfectly and it actually didn’t require much touch-up steaming.
Tuxedos: Mr. Tux in Albuquerque
Planning review: A
These guys have been great. We had visited the Men's Wearhouse on the west side, and walked out almost immediately because they were so rude and because we didn't want to pick our tuxes from a book. Mr. Tux (Eubank Blvd Location) is giving us a great deal and we can take the tuxes with us to Florida. They aren't even charging us extra for the extended rentals. I feel so much better knowing that we will be able to closely check the tuxes before we leave and that they can make any last-minute changes if necessary.
Final review: B-
The servie we got during our planning definitely was not what we got during pickup. Shirts were dirty. Stuff didn't fit. And we didn't notice until we got to Florida that they gave us a long tie instead of a bow tie for our ring bearer. The guys looked great, though, so in the end I wasn't too disappointed.
Invitations: Elva Marie's Fine Papers
Final review: A+ and more
I struggled choosing invitations. I must have ordered 20 samples from various catalogs, but none of the samples looked like "my" invite. Then I stumbled across a brochure from Elva that I had picked up a while ago at a bridal show and shoved away when I made the decision to have my wedding in Florida instead of New Mexico. I am so thankful I found that brochure because Elva is bring my thoughts to life. She brought a designed sample to our first meeting after I sent her some ideas. And she has been so patient with my many changes. I am really excited to see my final product. Plus I'm getting custom-designed invites with an RSVP card and additional insert, plus printed envelopes for about $3 per invite. Yay!
3/28 update: I picked up my invites today and I'm so happy. I just wish we had more to do because working with Elva has been a true delight.
Bridesmaids' Jewlery: Etsy.com seller Handmade by Diana
Final review: A+
Diana was very easy to work with during the ordering process. Her store had pictures of the necklace on a jewelry form, and I had trouble determining how they'd look on a person. I asked for pictures, and she sent them within 24 hours. Seeing them on a person (she took a pic of herself wearing it) sealed the deal, and I'm excited to see how they turn out.
Card Box, Photo Guest Book and Cake Topper: Etsy.com seller SheaChicDesigns
Final review: A+ and more
Amanda has been simply amazing to work with. We have easily exchanged 100+ emails over the last 8 weeks and I can not rave about her enough. The cake topper isn't done just yet, but I can't wait to see it. If it's even half as gorgeous as the card box and guest book, we'll be thrilled to no end. I highly suggest her for any projects you just don't have the time or energy to DIY.
Update: I didn't see most of the pieces until I walked into the reception, and Amanda really came through. Everything was just beautiful and worth the time and investment.
Garter: Etsy.com seller GartersbyKristi
Final review: B+
They aren't quite the color I had in mind (a little more turquoise than I pictured) but the work is nice and the shipping was very fast.
Ring Pillow: Etsy.com seller regianna
Final review: A
I haven't seen the pillow yet because like many other things, it was shipped directly to the wedding destination. However, her responses were always very quick and it arrived in under a week. I have a feeling it'll be more gorgeous in person than it is in pictures.
Update: The pillow was gorgeous and just what I wanted.
Candles: http://www.candlesjustonline.com
Review: A
Fast shipping. Good prices. And they looked great!
Group accommodations: Marriott Residence Inn, Coconut Grove
Planning review: C+
These people have been horrible to deal with. They act as though they are doing you a favor by hosting your group. I know for a fact that they are very empty during my timeframe (because a friend works for Marriott and looked up their occupancy for my wedding weekend), yet I can not get them to do anything - like return messages or emails. If the hotel wasn't so convenient to my wedding I'd find another one. As such, I'm just stuck for now. But I will be following up with Marriott when the wedding is done.
Final Review - B
As I said above, I had a pretty miserable experience with them in the months leading up to the wedding. But all of the people I dealt with had been fired by the time our wedding rolled around. My biggest complaint about our stay was that they had a list with all our group room names, and they still put us all at opposite ends of the hotel. Plus, my contract specified that we had half-price parking and no one there had any of the info. So I still have to follow up with them in order to get the extra money refunded to all of my guests. But the location of the hotel, the breakfast and the manager’s reception all were really nicely done and overall it was a good value for the money.
Bridal/wedding night hotel: Sonesta at Coconut Grove
Final review: A
The one bedroom suite with the bay view was gorgeous. The servie was also fantastic. No complaints! Plus the suite had a jacuzzi tub, which I didn't know about until I arrived.
Travel: Carnival Cruise Lines, Kenneth Hagen
1-800-819-3902, 85904
Review to-date: A+
Kenneth has been so wonderful to work with. He has been very friendly and never seems upset when I send him 20 questions in any given email. He called to let us know they were having a double upgrade sale, and no one has been able to meet or beat that price since we put our deposit down back in November. I highly recommend using Kenneth if you're considering Carnival. If you do talk with him, let him know Melissa sent you.
Planning review: A
I have been working with Betty, and she's been an absolute pleasure. She has been very accommodating and helpful, which has been a blessing since I'm not local and need all the help I can get.
Final review: A
The Rusty Pelican really came through for us. I cannot imagine a better, more perfect location. They were handing us water when we needed it, filling our glasses when we were thirsty and made sure that our every need was taken care of. There were a few hiccups along the way, which I think is expected with any big event. But when I turned the corner and saw the room all decorated, it truly took my breath away. Anyone who is wanting a smaller wedding (like 100 people or less) without spending the money for the upper ballrooms, I have no qualms about recommending the lower lounge. At no point did we feel like we were in a public portion of the restaurant. We both had people coming up to us and telling us how much they loved the food and were impressed with the venue. I especially recommend the chicken with spinach and pine nuts with the sundried tomato sauce – it was soooo yummy.
String Trio: Music for Anything
Planning review: A
Victoria has been great. This is one of the vendors I'm most excited about because I know they will add so much to our wedding ceremony and the cocktail hour.
Final review: A
They made the ceremony so beautiful. The music was perfect, and they were easy to deal with during the planning process. Guests from another wedding taking place at the Rusty Pelican even booked them on the spot to play for a bit.
DJ: DJ Ubi
Planning review: A
I really enjoyed my meeting with Ubi, and I look forward to working with him throughout the planning process as the wedding gets closer.
Final Review: A
This is going to sound awful, but I do not even know that I ever got the name of the DJ that worked our reception. He screwed up a few names during the introduction of the wedding party, but the music was great and he was easy to work with on the fly. I highly recommend Ubi and his company.
Photography: Melissa Powell Photography
Planning review: A+
I have really enjoyed my dealings with Melissa. She has a beautiful style, and her booking process was a breeze. She does everything online (which for a bride halfway across the country is a huge help), and she always responds to emails very promptly - sometimes within minutes. I look forward to working with her and seeing her images of our wedding. I know she is going to bring so much to our day.
Final review: A+ and more
The images we've seen so far say it all. Her work is breathtaking, and we have a hard time looking at them and not crying (well at least I do). We also look at them and almost can't believe that it's us and it's our wedding.
DOC: Leah Beth Events
Planning review: A+
Leah has been amazing. She has gone above and beyond the call of duty for a DOC by helping this out-of-town bride with a bunch of stuff, including info on a marriage license and scouting out florists, hairstylists etc. Even though we've only talked by phone and email, I've been amazed with her attention to detail and her help with things I hadn't even thought of. I highly recommend her to anyone who needs coordination assistance. I know she is going to make our wedding run smoother than I ever could have imagined.
Final review: How many + can you add to an A?
I do not even know where to begin to describe how blessed we were to have Leah handling our wedding. She went far beyond the role of a day of coordinator, which because I was so far away was a huge help. She was calm and patient with my crazy family and many people came up to me and told me how impressed they were with her work. She kept everything running very smoothly and made sure that we were always attended to. I have absolutely no doubt that our wedding would not have been the party it was without her. I was able to just relax and celebrate instead of focusing on what time the cake cutting was being done or when the first dance would happen.
Chair covers/linens: AB Cover Design
Planning review: C
This vendor has been difficult to work with. I requested swatches of the chair sashes, which took almost six weeks to arrive because they never managed to get them in the mail. Ana has been better to work with than the original person I contacted, but to be totally honest - if they weren't part of my package at TRP, I'd have found another vendor by now.
Final review: B-
The final product was beautiful. We only ended up getting chair sashes and covers from them. We just didn't have money in our budget for extra linens, and in the end we're glad we didn't. Everything was beautiful as it was and we didn't need to spend any money on extra stuff. The only reason I upgraded her rating is because the final result was beautiful. I still don't feel like they were too easy to deal with.
Hair: Angelica Fernandez
Review: A
Angleica was great. The trial went really well, and she did a superb job with everyone the day of. She was very patient with my really disorganized, overly stressed family, and she even jumped in and finished my makeup since we didn't hire someone. Her prices were very reasonable and she was worth the money and more.
Cake: Edible Creations
Planning review: A+
Ana Paz: F
Cakes by Edda: C
At first, the Rusty Pelican gave me two choices for cakes: Ana Paz and Cakes by Edda. Recently I found out they had added Edible Creations in Pembroke Pines to their package. In an effort to be helpful to others struggling to make a decsion, I have reviewed all 3 vendors here.
Ana Paz was exceptionally rude to me on the phone and completely unhelpful and wouldn't listen to me when I told them I was not local and had limited windows for a tasting.
Cakes by Edda: While the staff was extremely helpful on the phone when I was trying to fit a tasting into an already busy wedding weekend, the cake left a lot to be desired. I did my tasting at the Pembroke Pines location as they were the closest to my family's house. While the cakes were beautiful, they didn't have the rich flavor I prefer. I found the chocolate to be rather dense and tasteless, while the vanilla rum (their signature flavor) was overly rum-tasting.
Edible Creations (954-433-3445): Wow - that is the only word that comes to mind. From my first conversation with Lily, she has been a pleasure to work with. My mom did the tasting for me since I wasn't in town, and she seconded my great feelings about Lily. She said that Lily sat with her and explained everything - down to the thickness of each layer. She also said the cake was incredibly flavorful and that she that in her eyes, choosing Lily was a "no brainer."
Just for reference, I thought I'd include one more review here. While sending my mom on a whirlwind three-tastings-in-one-day adventure, she also visited Elegant Temptations in Hialeah Gardens. Rosie was a joy to deal with by phone and email, and my mom said the chocolate cake with chocolate chip cheesecake filling and the banana cake were just amazing. Her work is beautiful, and the main reason we went with Edible Creations was that they are part of the package and that Rosie's cakes were a little beyond our budget. However, I have no problems recommending her to others because of the taste and outstanding customer service both me and my mom experienced.
Final review for Edible Creations - Speechless
I didn't do the tasting. I never met Lily, and she is one of my new favorite people. She came through with flying colors. The cake looked amazing and tasted amazing too. In fact, it was so beautiful that it stopped me in my tracks when walking to the ceremony. I shouted "look at the cake" without realizing everyone was looking in the windows waiting for me to walk down the aisle. My coordinator was sitting there waving "come on" at me and I was just mesmorized by the cake.
Flowers: Flowers by Gerardo
Planning review: A+
Gerardo has been great to work with so far, and he is working with our very small floral budget. I look forward to seeing the final product.
Final review: A+
This is another vendor I never got to meet and someone I'd love to give a big hug. The flowers were simply gorgeous. When they were delivered, the room literally fell silent. All the girls just stood there staring at them in amazement. I couldn't have imagined a more beautiful result. He quote me based on a picture and stuck with the design and the quote. I highly recommend them.
David’s Bridal – Miracle Mile
Review – F
This location truly was awful to deal with from start to finish. We took my dress there a week before the wedding for a light steaming. It was supposed to be free but they charged my dad. Then on the day before the wedding, when I called to confirm my pickup appointment, they could not find the dress. The woman even said “don’t worry – we’ll just get you another one.” When I told her the wedding was the next day, she said “ooh – maybe not.” I gave them my name and my father’s name, and they never bothered to look under his. So for 45 minutes they kept me in a total panic (we were on our way to the rehearsal so this is what I was stressing over as we got ready). When they found it, they had not even started steaming it. A few hours later, when I went to pick it up, they did not even acknowledge what had happened earlier. Plus, it was storming like I had never seen, and the water in front of the store came up to just below my knees. I had to run into the store barefoot, and that was all they could focus on. I asked if they had a back door with better drainage since we had to go and were going to have to run through the rain in the dress, and they very begrudgingly said yes. They led me back there, and no one even bothered to help me carry the dress through the store. They glared at me and talked about me in Spanish (and I understood the nasty things they were saying) while I waited for my mom to drive around to the back of the store. There was not one friendly person there, and if that was the experience I’d had when looking for a dress, I would never have purchased from David’s.
David’s Bridal – Albuquerque, NM
Review – C
I have very mixed feelings about this store. I had a few bumps with their staff, but I loved my dress. I also had a few glitches with the alterations, but I was happy with the final outcome. They shipped my dress perfectly and it actually didn’t require much touch-up steaming.
Tuxedos: Mr. Tux in Albuquerque
Planning review: A
These guys have been great. We had visited the Men's Wearhouse on the west side, and walked out almost immediately because they were so rude and because we didn't want to pick our tuxes from a book. Mr. Tux (Eubank Blvd Location) is giving us a great deal and we can take the tuxes with us to Florida. They aren't even charging us extra for the extended rentals. I feel so much better knowing that we will be able to closely check the tuxes before we leave and that they can make any last-minute changes if necessary.
Final review: B-
The servie we got during our planning definitely was not what we got during pickup. Shirts were dirty. Stuff didn't fit. And we didn't notice until we got to Florida that they gave us a long tie instead of a bow tie for our ring bearer. The guys looked great, though, so in the end I wasn't too disappointed.
Invitations: Elva Marie's Fine Papers
Final review: A+ and more
I struggled choosing invitations. I must have ordered 20 samples from various catalogs, but none of the samples looked like "my" invite. Then I stumbled across a brochure from Elva that I had picked up a while ago at a bridal show and shoved away when I made the decision to have my wedding in Florida instead of New Mexico. I am so thankful I found that brochure because Elva is bring my thoughts to life. She brought a designed sample to our first meeting after I sent her some ideas. And she has been so patient with my many changes. I am really excited to see my final product. Plus I'm getting custom-designed invites with an RSVP card and additional insert, plus printed envelopes for about $3 per invite. Yay!
3/28 update: I picked up my invites today and I'm so happy. I just wish we had more to do because working with Elva has been a true delight.
Bridesmaids' Jewlery: Etsy.com seller Handmade by Diana
Final review: A+
Diana was very easy to work with during the ordering process. Her store had pictures of the necklace on a jewelry form, and I had trouble determining how they'd look on a person. I asked for pictures, and she sent them within 24 hours. Seeing them on a person (she took a pic of herself wearing it) sealed the deal, and I'm excited to see how they turn out.
Card Box, Photo Guest Book and Cake Topper: Etsy.com seller SheaChicDesigns
Final review: A+ and more
Amanda has been simply amazing to work with. We have easily exchanged 100+ emails over the last 8 weeks and I can not rave about her enough. The cake topper isn't done just yet, but I can't wait to see it. If it's even half as gorgeous as the card box and guest book, we'll be thrilled to no end. I highly suggest her for any projects you just don't have the time or energy to DIY.
Update: I didn't see most of the pieces until I walked into the reception, and Amanda really came through. Everything was just beautiful and worth the time and investment.
Garter: Etsy.com seller GartersbyKristi
Final review: B+
They aren't quite the color I had in mind (a little more turquoise than I pictured) but the work is nice and the shipping was very fast.
Ring Pillow: Etsy.com seller regianna
Final review: A
I haven't seen the pillow yet because like many other things, it was shipped directly to the wedding destination. However, her responses were always very quick and it arrived in under a week. I have a feeling it'll be more gorgeous in person than it is in pictures.
Update: The pillow was gorgeous and just what I wanted.
Candles: http://www.candlesjustonline.com
Review: A
Fast shipping. Good prices. And they looked great!
Group accommodations: Marriott Residence Inn, Coconut Grove
Planning review: C+
These people have been horrible to deal with. They act as though they are doing you a favor by hosting your group. I know for a fact that they are very empty during my timeframe (because a friend works for Marriott and looked up their occupancy for my wedding weekend), yet I can not get them to do anything - like return messages or emails. If the hotel wasn't so convenient to my wedding I'd find another one. As such, I'm just stuck for now. But I will be following up with Marriott when the wedding is done.
Final Review - B
As I said above, I had a pretty miserable experience with them in the months leading up to the wedding. But all of the people I dealt with had been fired by the time our wedding rolled around. My biggest complaint about our stay was that they had a list with all our group room names, and they still put us all at opposite ends of the hotel. Plus, my contract specified that we had half-price parking and no one there had any of the info. So I still have to follow up with them in order to get the extra money refunded to all of my guests. But the location of the hotel, the breakfast and the manager’s reception all were really nicely done and overall it was a good value for the money.
Bridal/wedding night hotel: Sonesta at Coconut Grove
Final review: A
The one bedroom suite with the bay view was gorgeous. The servie was also fantastic. No complaints! Plus the suite had a jacuzzi tub, which I didn't know about until I arrived.
Travel: Carnival Cruise Lines, Kenneth Hagen
1-800-819-3902, 85904
Review to-date: A+
Kenneth has been so wonderful to work with. He has been very friendly and never seems upset when I send him 20 questions in any given email. He called to let us know they were having a double upgrade sale, and no one has been able to meet or beat that price since we put our deposit down back in November. I highly recommend using Kenneth if you're considering Carnival. If you do talk with him, let him know Melissa sent you.
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