GatorNicole's Reviews 02.21.09

Officiant - page for info - A+
He made the ceremony perfect. He knew the right thing to say and everyone loved him. He got to know DH and I and everything he said came from the heart. We wouldn't have wanted anyone else to have married us! (it was a Jewish ceremony)


Deering Estate (ceremony on lawn)- A/B-
A - The place is beautiful!! ; We had a huge flock of white birds pass over right before the ceremony began, there were manatees in the water behind us, the weather and lighting was also perfect!
B- - There was trash everywhere on the lawn. My DH was picking up trash when we were having the rehearsal the day before. Then when we had some family setting up our chuppah/arbor the day of, they were picking up trash as well. (Everything from plastic eating utensils, straws, cigarettes, etc). When I was walking down the lawn (on my way to getting married), I was avoiding trash. There also were boats docked near the water they said they would have moved, after persisting over two days an several times, they finally moved them. Security guards wandered aimlessly talking on their cell phones.
I still recommend Deering Estate. The place was beautiful. Despite the hiccups on the road, I would still get married there.


Photographer - Lux Images - A++
Andy and Oscar were there to capture our day. Amazing doesn't begin to describe them. They were our favorite vendor to work with since day one. DH who was apprehensive about taking photos now wants to do photo sessions with them in the future. We cannot recommend them enough!! EVERYONE who has seen the photos they put on their blog love them! (Also, Andy noticed the waiters at the reception taking our cake away before we cut it, thanks to him, DH and I were able to have our cake cutting!)


Videographer - George Y. - A
George and his son were great. They were there but we barely noticed them. They were waiting for us at the ceremony and stayed the entire reception. They worked great alongside the photographers and were reasonably priced. They also shoot in HD! I can't wait to see the final product! We are supposed to have the video in just 2 weeks! UPDATE: Video looks great!


Makeup - M./Bobbi Brown - A
Bobbi Brown in Miami
M. has worked there a while and done lots of weddings. She did me, my mom and grandmother. She basically gave me a free trial the day before the wedding and gave my mom a quick one when she went in. Typically you have to spend 50-60 dollars to get the makeover. We bought a TON of stuff from her on Saturday. She is SUPER nice. Extremely patient. I got TONS of compliments too. The makeup lasted all night! I definitely recommend her!


Crowne Plaza (reception) - B+
The event manager/coordinator was very easy to work with. However the guy who was in charge of the event didn't seem to care. When I initially met him the week before he seemed to be in a rush and annoyed with the meeting (IMO). I had forgotten about vendor meals and told the main event manager I wanted to feed four people. Soon the other guy who was overseeing everything that night came up to me and told me I had one meal left and he already fed another vendor who I did not want fed and never told them to feed. Then I was getting a hard time on them cooking something for them! There was also some miscommunication and they forgot to ask/I forgot to give, a credit card for them to charge the rest of the payment on and I didn't feel it was appropriate to be telling me this at the reception that I'm supposed to be enjoying. My MOH took care of everything, but they are lucky I had my wallet on me! Then my MOH told them we would be cutting the cake in 15 minutes and I have my photographer coming up to me and telling me they took the cake away! I had to run and find someone and explain to them not to cut the cake because DH and I hadn't cut it yet. That was a huge mistake that was avoided thanks because of Andy and my MOH who had also noticed. Most people said the food was good. I guess I wasn't a fan.
When everything was setup it looked beautiful, but I don't know how much that was my people or them. I would still have another event there. Gigi was fabulous to work with.


Cake - Edible Creations - A
Lily was great to work with. We sampled a few cakes and liked hers the best. We had vanilla rum (I have a piece to try in my fridge) and red velvet. We got the vanilla rum and red velvet. The cake didn't look exactly like the picture that we were expecting (there were supposed to be more swirls and not many of the "c's" and the top half was supposed to look like the bottom and be half blank, the ribbon, then the bottom half swirls... BUT it was still very pretty, very yummy, and a great price! I highly recommend Lily!


Millenium Limo - B
Everything was great in the beginning. Our driver was patient and nice. He didn't need a lot of directions as far as where to go/how to get to our places. I was unhappy when we told him that we were going to use him for additional hours so he'd be able to drive us to our hotel at the end of the evening, he told us he had another party to transport. This was annoying because when I signed the contract I said I was going to be using the limo for extra hours and now the driver was telling us when we had to leave our reception by and we suddenly left ourselves trying to find a ride to our hotel that night.


Flowers - J. Morgan Flowers - D (photo's on ProjectWedding.com)
Based on my experience, I did not enjoy working with this vendor and do not recommend them.

The reception was simple. I paid over $ 45 each centerpiece. Assorted colors of 'stock' were placed into our vases. (The $ 45 were for only for the flowers -- the centerpieces and candle holders were provided by me)

The bouts were simple. I paid over $ 40 for four single flower boutonnieres with green floral tape around the stem and a pin stuck through them.

I paid over $ 60 for three usherette corsages, each with three roses in them. One of them began falling apart before it was put on.

Below is a photo of the bouquet that I wanted and had discussed with Jacqueline from J Morgan Flowers (as well as emailed to her). However, I wanted the reverse of colors (more light pink with touches of off white, with a few added mini calla lilies that are the pale pink to off white color).

Below are photos of my bouquet. Their were no pale pink roses (which were stated in my contract), the calla lilies were hot pink and the roses looked yellow. I paid over $ 200 for my bouquet.

It was about the size (in width) of a roll of paper towels. Also, it was supposed to be tied in all satin (again, as stated in the contract), instead it was tied in satin and organza (and the organza was fraying).

I paid over $ 100 for petals to be in the aisle-way. The contract states a "heavy sprinkle." Below is a photo of the aisle-way with the petals I received.

I paid over $ 80 for the two bridesmaid bouquets you see below.

--- see my photos in my profile ---


Rings - Rogers Findings and Castings (Seybold Building) - A+
Lucy is great. The quality was amazing. Turnaround time was super fast. Prices were great too! DH and I love our rings! Mine was custom made and DH's was found at another store and they managed to get it. They also did a great job engraving our rings and dipping my e-ring. I DEFINITELY recommend them!


Dress - Pearl's Place - A
Everyone who answers the phone is VERY nice. There were a few very minor hiccups along the way which is why they are getting an A over the A+. After I left my deposit, I never received a copy of my receipt. After a short phone call, another one was sent out very quickly. I was told I should have my dress by Nov. 22nd, when I called them that day, they said it wasn't expected in until mid December. The dress showed up the second week of December. It was still packaged by the designer, Pearls Place seemed to be just a pit-stop in the shipping. Overall, I got my dress exactly the way I wanted (no ordering glitches) and saved some money.


Dress Alterations - Alterations by Reina - A
The dress came out beautiful and everyone loved it. She does quality work in a short amount of time. She is reasonably priced. I would definitely make a long drive to reach her!


Groom/Groomsmen - Mr. Tux (Kendall) - B-/C+
We went in there and called several times to make sure they had the groom's tux jacket pockets sewn in like they suggested when we picked the tux. Everytime we went in or called they kept "making a note." Of course, the day the tux was picked up the pockets weren't done and they didn't want to change them. After DH persisted, he got them to fix them. Also, my brothers tux was missing a button. They took it away from him and said they would fix it and ultimately shoved it back into a garment bag and wouldn't let him open it up in the store. The missing button made his tie crooked all night.


Veil - Occansey Designs/Obridal.com - A+
Great quality, fast service. I definitely recommend custom ordering your veil!


Rumor Has It Party Rentals - A+
Best prices, great furniture. Everyone was very nice to deal with. They setup everything how I wanted and did a great job. They also were prompt in picking everything up and even picked up our arbor/arch to temporarily store in their warehouse! I would definitely recommend them.


DJ Ubi - A-/B+
We had AJ for our ceremony and Lionel for our reception. Both did a great job and exactly what we wanted. We left a few parts of our song list blank, Lionel chose some good songs to fill in. They both were on time, easy to work with, and very nice. My only complaint is Lionel disappeared some for parts of the reception, leaving my brother and one of the photogs to figure out how to lower the volume because people couldn't talk during dinner. He disappeared periodically, but was there when the main dancing was going on. Otherwise, everything was good.


Hair - Gina - A
The hair looked great and lasted all night! Gina is sweet and patient and will do exactly what you want.


Invitation Design - Michelle Vega (page for info)/ Bella Michi/DIY - A+
Michelle designed the most gorgeous invites and put up with all the little revisions and tweaks. I give myself a B cause it took me longer than I had planned to get them assembled and mailed out.