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 LMG Events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LMG Events. Show all posts
MrsMichiBolooki's Reviews 08.01.09
Ceremony - Saint Patrick Catholic Church
Pre-wedding Thoughts:
St. Patrick is a beautiful church and the staff there is very sweet and very easy to communicate with. When I booked the church, the main secretary was out of town, so I actually never received a wedding packet. This was a bit stressing throughout the planning process because I always felt I was missing out on something. Other than that though, they were always open and ready to answer any and all of my questions.
The rehearsal was a bit disorganized and I wasn’t very happy with the coordinator from the church. She wasn’t very comfortable in English and kept going in and out of Spanish, when 99% of my bridal party does not understand Spanish. She also did not have the bridal party practice walking in and out correctly, so they were paired up wrong on the way in and out (even after being told this). In addition, she did not have the readers practice reading, nor did she know exactly how the ceremony would go. She kept saying that the priest would tell us on the day of the wedding. I think the priest should conduct the rehearsals because he knows exactly what he will do and it would have been much smoother. Everyone really felt like the rehearsal was pretty much a waste of time.
Post-wedding Thoughts:
The ceremony was BEAUTIFUL and perfect. Many people told me how beautiful it was. We did not have a Mass since Andrew is not Catholic and we believe that this was perfect for us. There was a really nice flow to the ceremony and it seemed to be the perfect length of time. The organist at the church did a wonderful job playing the organ and singing. He actually comforted Andrew right before the ceremony, told him what he had to do (since he had already forgotten since the rehearsal didn’t go so smoothly!) and even gave him a tick-tack to freshen his breath for our first kiss! ☺
Priest - Father Jesus Alberto Bohorquez
Pre-wedding Thoughts:
Father Jesus is a very sweet and caring priest. The only thing is that he has requirements for the couple to complete that are not required by the Archdiocese of Miami. Some of these things are costly and also very time consuming. I felt that these requirements were a bit unnecessary and shouldn't have been asked of us. However, we agreed to them upfront so I can't complain. Just be aware that if you get married at St. Patrick that the preparation with Fr. Jesus Alberto is more than the average church.
Post-Wedding Thoughts:
Father Jesus did a wonderful job with our ceremony. The ceremony was absolutely flawless. He spoke in English the entire time (something I was concerned about), he did the mantilla, and he also said a special prayer for Andrew’s father and had us light a memorial candle for him. All in all I think he did an excellent job. I wished he had conducted the rehearsal, as said previously, because at times we were a little confused about what to do, but it turned out perfect in the end.
Reception Venue - The Westin Colonnade
Pre-wedding Review:
Ivette is my coordinator at The Colonnade and she is AWESOME. She is always readily available via email or phone and is incredibly professional and efficient. Working with her throughout the year and a half planning process was a joy!
Overall Grade – A
Final Review Breakdown (I gave individual letter grades as well):
Coordinator –A+:
I think Ivette is an excellent coordinator. When I went to pay my balance a few days before the wedding, she informed me that she always tries to upgrade the bride’s suite the night before the wedding if the room is available (and if they are getting ready in the hotel). I had booked a regular suite the night before and she went to the front desk and then came back and let me know that she talked to them and they were able to move me to the presidential suite from the night before at the regular executive suite price. This was SO nice of her and made the getting ready process so much nicer, especially for the photos and video. I really appreciated this extremely nice gesture from her, which was completely unexpected.
On day of the wedding, Ivette stopped by the suite to see how everything was going and made sure we were happy. She also stopped by our private room during the cocktail hour to check on us again and make sure we had everything we needed. Finally, she sent champagne and strawberries to our room that night! Ivette was seriously a complete sweetheart, very organized and on top of things from the very beginning of the planning process, and I 100% recommend her to anybody getting married at the Colonnade.
Food/Drink – B-:
I didn’t attend the cocktail hour myself, but I was told by many of my family members that the cheese display disappeared almost immediately and that the appetizers were not plentiful. My friends and family said that the food ran out pretty quickly which makes me think that they didn’t plan enough food for the 170 people we paid for. Also, some guests complained that the appetizers were all coming from one direction, so the food would get scooped up by everyone on that side of the upper rotunda first and would never make it to them on the other side. I know that a round room may be harder to deal with, but I feel that they should try to come from different directions to make up for the awkwardness of the room.
Another negative thing we noticed about the food was that the Boston Bibb Salad was smaller on the day of the wedding then at the tasting. The presentation was definitely much larger at the tasting; however it was just as delicious on the day of. I was also told that the children’s meal was cold and not good at all. Several of the children complained that it was inedible and my family members tried it and said it definitely tasted old and was definitely cold.
Also, I was told that at the cocktail hour and during dinner that they had long lines at both bars because the bartenders were moving slowly. In addition, one bar had one set of mixes that the other bar didn’t. People were ordering a certain mixed drink at one bar and then would go to the other and that bartender couldn’t do it. I feel that was a little ridiculous (shouldn’t all the liquor and mixes be standard at both bars?). Finally, the drinks they were mixing were very weak and I was told that the bartenders were withholding liquor a lot. We all ended up ordering shots in order to get over this little hump ☺. On a positive note, the dinner was extremely hot and fresh when served and was DELICIOUS. We heard countless compliments on the food when we walked around the room. They made the “michi diet-friendly” meal for everyone, and it was definitely a hit. We had chicken with a mushroom sauce, parsley potatoes, and mixed vegetables. So tasty! Also, they set the salads on the tables right before the reception began, so the salad was fresh and didn’t take more time from the dancing to serve. They also went around with the salad dressing as soon as people came in. I was happy with the timing of this.
Also, they really blew me away with the “Bolooki Burgers” display. I had asked for mini sliders and French fries. I knew from the chef that the burgers were about 2 ounces each and that there would be a mix of sweet potato and regular French fries and ketchup. I did not know that they would also have sides of bacon, onions, and cheese for those that wanted to add it, along with mustard and mayo. The burgers and fries were DELICIOUS and totally hit the spot for all of our guests. People were waiting in long lines to get their Bolooki Burgers! They also had an attendant assigned to this station that was constantly refilling the burgers and fries so that they would be hot and fresh. Two weeks later and people are still raving about this treat.
Service - A:
They had a room for us to settle down and rest in during the cocktail hour, which was very nice. We had a platter of appetizers, champagne, and our own bartender to attend to us. I think this is pretty standard at all hotels, but it was still a nice treat and made us feel special.
We also had our own servers at our sweetheart table who were taking care of us all night and making sure we were 100% pleased. The captain was always visible throughout the evening and always checking in with us and with my dad as well.
I was also told that the service at all the tables was good and was fast. They were attentive to everyone’s needs and very friendly.
Overall Review:
I think the Colonnade is a gorgeous hotel and has very competitive prices. When I was looking around for venues, there were only a handful of reception locations in Broward and Dade that had packages that were under $100 a head with tax and gratuity. We thought the hotel was the most beautiful of that selection and booked on the spot. We had also heard only great reviews about the food and service. Even though the service and food weren’t perfect on the day of, I still think we got a lot of bang for our buck, and the food was still delicious. I would definitely recommend the Colonnade to other brides, either the Merrick or Rotunda. Also, I feel that another added benefit of this location is that fact that both rooms have built in lighting/scones around the room. This was something that I didn’t budget for and I felt that the ballroom looked gorgeously lit that night, with no extra cost going to lighting! I had been concerned because the room is in the middle of the hotel, but since the hotel is small there aren’t that many guests staying there and honestly I didn’t really pay attention or care when guests would peek over the balcony. The sound was not an issue at all. We had a DJ who patched into the house system and he did sound checks from early on in the day and made sure that the music wasn’t too loud. The sound was perfect and I was so happy about that.
Photographer - Alain Martinez
Pre-wedding Review:
Alain is one of my absolute favorite vendors to plan with. I feel like we have built a great vendor/client relationship. He is always available via email and quickly responds to all my questions. He is also very open and understanding when it comes to special requests, such as large formal family portraits, and working around my sensitivity to heat.
Final Grade (pending final product) – A+
Final Review (Pending final product):
PERFECT! I can go on and on about Alain. He is incredibly creative, professional, and just awesome to work with. I felt like I was hanging out with a friend all day, not a photographer. My mom and dad kept raving about him the morning after the wedding and telling everyone in the family to hire him!! He would come up with the most amazing and creative shots and the entire time kept encouraging us and by telling us how awesome we looked and how awesome the shots were coming out. Him and his assistant worked their BUTTS off all night and did not pause for a second to miss one shot. They were literally EVERYWHERE. I felt like we were being followed by the paparazzi! When I say he was creative, you have no idea to what extent that I mean. He was moving furniture around, having me climb on furniture, lay on tables, etc. He is so awesome!
Our pictures are AMAZING. I am in awe of how beautiful they are and how incredible everyone looked. I cannot wait to see all of them!! You can see a link to our awesome pictures here!: http://blog.alainmartinez.com/?p=2007
We also got a photo wall from him and this is one of the unique elements from our wedding that our guests really enjoyed. He put our parent’s wedding photos up on the wall along with a couple of our engagement photos and then had huge empty frames for people to stand behind and take pictures. He also had a box filled with fun props for everyone to use for the photos. I have already seen some of the photos and they are awesome! I plan on making prints for everyone and sending them with their thank you notes (Thanks to Letty for that idea!).
Videographer - Ray Roman Films
Pre-Wedding Review:
My FI and I were huge fans of Ray’s work but originally didn’t budget such a large amount of money for our video (we were actually going to totally skimp on it at first). Once we heard of Ray’s contest, we were scrambling to find something to enter and hopefully win. We were ECSTATIC (literally running around screaming) when we found out we won. I didn’t work with Ray much before the wedding (he and I were both extremely busy) but he was always available via email, Facebook, etc. to talk about the details of our day. His website also has a portal setup where you can login and fill out surveys out about the details of your day, which I thought was very awesome and organized.
Final Grade (pending final product) – A+
Final Review (Pending final product):
AMAZING! Every time I see our teaser/highlight reel I cry!! I have already watched it at least 30 times. All my family and friends have been raving about it and I have heard that even strangers (friends of friends or family) have cried watching it! The funniest thing is that even though he and his team were everywhere, they were not intrusive at all. My FI and I were wondering when half the shots were taken because we didn’t remember or feel him and his team there.
Also, Ray is so professional and creative, and him and Alain play off each other so well. They were working together all day and making sure that each of them had time to get the shots they needed. He was a joy to work with and so sweet and gave awesome direction. I cannot recommend him enough and even though he is pricey, I really do feel that he is worth every penny and is giving us incredible memories that will last us a lifetime. If I were to start planning all over again, I would DEFINITELY put a large chunk of money aside in order to afford him. I seriously would cut in other areas, up my budget, do whatever, in order to have his incredible talent capture our day. I am so so so grateful that we were chosen as the winners of his contest.
You can see our incredible highlight reel here! - http://rayromanblog.com/2009/08/michelle-andrews-highlight-reel/
Florist - Gil Sosa (786) 295-7535
Pre-wedding Review:
Gil is another favorite vendor. He is so sweet and has such a passion for his work, which I love. He also is extremely budget friendly and works hard to make sure that you get something amazing that is within your price range. He wasn't always the quickest at responding to emails, but he has always responded, even if it took a few days. He has become especially responsive when it comes closer to the wedding and has always been readily available via his cell phone. I also love that he is very open to making changes to your contract until you pay the final balance. I have met with him three times, made changes those three times, and he hasn't cared one bit!
I have to admit that I was a taken aback when I was called just one day before the wedding and Gil had was referring to a very old contract and thought my ceremony was at St. Hugh at 4:00pm. He also had my old cell phone number. I had updated the contract twice since I switched churches. This really made me nervous and I was a little scared that some of the details we had discussed wouldn’t happen. However, we quickly went through the contract details over the phone, he noted the time and church change, along with my new cell number, and then I just told myself to not worry about it and to trust him.
Final Grade – A+
Final Review:
BREATHTAKING!
First, our personal flowers were out of this world! My bouquet was so amazingly beautiful, and the crystals added a sparkle, which I wanted to match my dress. The bridesmaid bouquets were more than I had anticipated, with gorgeous orchids, roses, hydrangeas, and Queen Anne’s lace. My flower girl pomanders were also beautiful, all the little girls wanted to keep them and dry them.
The boutonnieres were also very nice (My FI and his groomsmen had orchids), but there was a little misunderstanding. My FI was supposed to have a rose and orchid bout, the groomsmen were supposed to have orchid bouts, and my father was supposed to have just a rose bout. Gil instead made all orchid bouts and one calla and orchid bout. I requested no calla in the bouts (because I don’t love callas), but in the grand scheme of things, this was totally not a big deal. My dad wore the calla/orchid bout and all the other men wore orchid bouts.
The ceremony displays were not what I had requested (I had wanted something similar to what was in my planning bio) but they were still beautiful and went with my theme. They were just more traditional then what I had wanted.
I did not peek at the ballroom all day in order to be surprised that evening. When I saw the entranceway display I literally GASPED. Everything was above and beyond what I had anticipated. I mean it was absolutely breathtaking all around. The flowers were so fresh and gorgeous, more than anything I could have ever imagined. I had actually only anticipated three floral displays on this entrance table, and was so surprised to see four. Gil also provided us with cocktail arrangements (which I have yet to see pictures of!), which was a total surprise to me and something that I had not even asked for!
Gil provided us with centerpieces that lit up from the inside, which added such a unique feel and look to the room. The centerpieces also had hanging votives and crystals, which were gorgeous. The fountain display was something that I don’t think the Colonnade has ever seen before. Apparently there was someone that wanted to take the display from the fountain before the wedding even began!!! The sweetheart table was also amazing. I loved the various white vases with different types of flower arrangements.
When we walked around the room to greet our guests, so many people commented on how gorgeous the flowers were. I was asked by quite a few people who my florist was. Even the hotel workers came to tell me (and both of our parents) that it was one of the most beautiful and elegant weddings they had ever seen (referring to the flowers).
Gil is a pleasure to work with and so incredibly sweet, I am so grateful for him for making my wedding decor an absolute dream come true! I cannot recommend him enough. Even though the bouts weren’t exactly perfect, and the ceremony displays weren’t what I expected, everything else was unbelievably beautiful (way above my expectations). I gave Gil TOTAL control over my entire day and told him to do whatever he wanted (within my color scheme and floral preferences) and I really feel that he is an artist and he does his best work when he isn’t very restricted. I know he isn’t organized when it comes to paperwork, but I felt he totally pulled through for me on the day of and is extremely talented.
Cake - Ana Paz
Pre-wedding Review:
At the time when I booked the Colonnade, there were only two cake vendors available, Ana Paz or Cake Designs by Edda. My fiance and I met with Edda first and were not impressed at all. The cake was extremely dry and tasteless and they wanted to charge us $2 per person for adding space between each layer of the cake for fresh flowers. I asked them why there was a per person fee for this, not a flat fee, and they had no answer for me. I met with Ana Paz immediately afterwards and it was a huge difference. The cake was moist and delicious (we went with their classic chocolate and vanilla flavors) and they did not charge me extra for leaving space between the cake. They also took my DIY cake topper and stored it for me in their store, two months before the wedding.
A few days before the wedding I got a call telling me that in order to have the five tiers of cake that I had originally had on my order for 182 people, I would need to pay $25 dollars more because I only had 170 people attending. I think this is a little ridiculous and felt that they were totally nickel and diming me because I had a package cake. I know that they told a friend of mine that you needed a minimum of 170 people for five tiers, so I think they just call you and charge you for the extra people if your amount is any less than what you told them originally. I ended up paying the $25 because I think having a fifth tier adds a lot to the height and made a big difference. If you are getting your cake from them, I recommend you ask them upfront how many people you need for the five tiers, commit to that minimum amount (if you have enough people) and then add people later once your venue balance is paid.
Final Grade – A-
Final Review:
I think our cake looked absolutely perfect, exactly what I had imaged it would look like. Half of that was due to Gil, since he decorated it with the flowers and he did the flowers for my inspiration cake as well. The reason Ana Paz gets an A- is because the taste wasn’t as good on the day of as it was at the tasting and also because they charged me more for the fifth tier. The vanilla was a little dry and stale tasting. The chocolate was just as good. Even though I felt this way though, I heard a lot of people liked it.
Drapery - Gables Linens
Pre-wedding Review:
Sarah and Wendy from Gables Linens were both a joy to work with. They are both very sweet and efficient. I made multiple changes to my order (went from ordering chair covers and linens for some of the tables to just getting drapery) and they never asked questions or cared that I made the changes. They are also extremely organized and even made changes for me over the phone and emailed me the updated invoice. Their customer service is definitely top notch.
Final Grade – A+
Final Review:
Once we switched to the rotunda, Ivette recommended that we get drapery for the entrance of the room so that we have some privacy (since the room is in the middle of the hotel). Since it was so close to the wedding, I had no time to meet with Gables Linens and discuss this with them in person. I made a call over the phone, they updated my invoice, emailed it to me, and that was that! I really had no idea what it would look like, and imagined almost a simple curtain for some reason. WOW is all I have to say about the end result. The drapery made ALL the difference and made the entrance look so grand. I am so glad we added this!!
Chivari Chairs, Linens, and Chargers - Hitched -hitched305@gmail.com
Pre-wedding Review:
Luis has been great to work with. He is extremely responsive via email (usually within minutes!) and negotiates. I had never had any interest in getting special chairs, linens, etc. for the wedding. This was just always an area that I cut in. Finally, after seeing a few weddings with chair covers, I decided to bite the bullet and put the extra money towards the chairs. I did some hard negotiations with Luis and was able to get him down to $3.50 a chair – woohoo!! This was such a deal. I also was originally going to get overlays from the Internet, but they had seams and I now needed to rent them as well. Luis offered me linens (not even overlays!) as such a good price that I ended up just paying extra to have them as well. A few days before the wedding, I was organizing my gold chargers and noticed that quite a few of them were damaged from my friend Katie’s wedding. I was planning on just using them anyway because we were having preset salads. Luis called Letty and offered gold beaded chargers to me at a great price and since they were the much nicer and more expensive looking chargers, I decided to add them as well. Can you tell I totally caved in this department?
Final Grade – A+
Final Review:
Luis and his team were great. They showed up on time, the linens were all pressed, the chargers were clean, and the chairs were in good condition. We actually needed one extra linen than anticipated on the day of because the entrance display that Gil had done was so huge that the place cards would not have fit (or looked good) on that same table. Letty contacted Luis, requested an ivory crushed satin linen (upon Gil’s request that it would be ivory and not gold to take the décor up a notch) and Luis had the linen delivered quickly and never even charged me for it. I highly recommend this company. They negotiate, worked with my budget, and pulled through on the day of even with a little mini crisis.
Ceremony Musicians - Claudio Osorio on Trumpet and String Trio (305) 595-1535
Pre-wedding Review:
I heard Claudio Osorio and his string trio play at St. Hugh when I originally was going to have my ceremony there. Let me just say that the music was INCREDIBLE. I cried at almost every song. Claudio is a busy man working the wedding circuit, but he has pretty good communication via the telephone. He isn't too responsive via email, but always returns calls within a few days.
Final Grade – B
Final Review:
Claudio and his musicians did a beautiful job playing and they played all the music I requested. They couldn’t play as much as they normally do for a Mass, but they played a little more before the ceremony in order to make up for this a bit. I still feel like they should have tried to squeeze even more music in, but I guess there was really no time for it.
Also, due to the size of St. Patrick and the size of the organ at St. Patrick, you could barely hear the other musicians. My FI and I felt that they should have had their instruments hooked up to microphones and speakers so that they could at least be near the same level as the very loud organ. I’m not sure if the church perhaps doesn’t allow them to do this, but I didn’t feel it was worth the money we paid. If I were to do it again, I wouldn’t have had these musicians; I would have only had the organist/singer from St. Patrick.
Cocktail Musician - Bob Folse
Pre-wedding Review:
We heard Bob Folse play at a friend's cocktail hour and loved it. He played a mix of Spanish/Classical type guitar with some popular hits as well. He plays an acoustic/electric guitar with the assistance of an ipod which makes all the difference. We loved the ipod playing background music because it adds some variety to the songs so every song doesn't sound like the same old thing. He has always been extremely responsive to me via email and telephone.
Final Grade – B
Final Review:
I didn’t attend the cocktail hour, so I couldn’t hear Bob play myself, but I heard that what he played was very good. My friends and family told me he was situated in a weird location in the upper rotunda, far away from people. I don’t know if this was due to the awkward shape of the room, but I know that some of the people couldn’t hear him because of this. I was disappointed that a lot of my relatives didn’t even know I had a guitarist. Like I said, I don’t know if this is due to the shape of the room, but I feel he should have arrived early to sound check and make sure he was in a good spot. I have heard him play at other weddings, so I would recommend him still, but if you have your cocktail hour in the upper rotunda, I would make sure you specify where you think he should be seated to play.
DJ - Kenny Mondo Productions
Pre-wedding Review:
We saw DJ Lindsay do a friend's wedding and loved his style. He isn't the typical cheesy DJ, but he also isn't quiet to the point where you don't know he is there. He talks when is necessary and kept the dance floor packed all night. We especially loved that he was able to mix two different of cultures of music easily. This was something that is important to us. Jerry, the person you interact with during the planning, is extremely responsive via email and is always available via phone.
Final Grade – A-
Final Review:
I think Lindsay did a very good job with our wedding. He arrived early to set up and sound check and made sure everything was perfect. He played the variety of music I asked for and kept the dance floor packed all night. The reason he gets an A- is because he said a couple of cheesy things (apparently that the Rotunda was one of the best places to get married in Miami – ick!) and also because after the garter/bouquet toss he started playing OUR song and wanted the couple to dance to our song with them. I actually was saying, “NO NO!” to him and then he played a slow song for everyone to get up and dance to. I don’t know if this was supposed to be a joke, but I thought it was very cheesy. He definitely saved it though and everyone got up to slow dance, so it was okay. He is older and he is slightly cheesy, but he definitely knows what he is doing and how to keep the dance floor packed.
Hair and Makeup - Amy Palma
Pre-wedding Review:
Hair and makeup was one of the HARDEST vendors for me to book. I went through four trials and many tribulations! I heard great reviews about Amy and decided to have a trial for my bridal shower. She did an EXCELLENT job. She is great with communication (we talked for 30 minutes the first time on the phone!) and is also great at communicating via email. When I met her in person, I absolutely loved her sweet and understanding personality. She listens to you and makes sure you are 100% happy. She doesn't mind if you give input or offer suggestions, which is something that was important to me. She is pricey, but I feel that she is worth it!
Final Grade – A+
Final Review:
I think Amy Palma did an EXCELLENT job on our wedding day. She arrived 30 minutes early and was relaxed and chatty which was nice. Since she arrived early, we were never rushed and had time to stop to eat and just not be in a hurry. She did my hair and makeup, and my mom and sister’s makeup. She also stayed until 30 minutes before I left for the church in order to continuously touch up my hair and makeup through the getting ready photos. This really meant a lot to me since sometimes my hair definitely needed touching up after the climbing Alain had me doing!
My hair and makeup lasted ALL night. I have curly hair that can definitely frizz, and even after being outside taking photos in the August heat and humidity, dancing all night, sweating, etc. my hair and makeup STAYED until I went to sleep. No, it wasn’t as perfect as it was in the beginning of the evening, but it looked pretty and I didn’t look like Mufasa from The Lion King. I only needed to reapply powder and lip-gloss once. She is incredible and worth every penny!
Dreams Belly Dance, Jenny - Dreams Belly Dance
Pre-wedding Review:
We had originally hired Nathalie to be the belly dancer at our wedding. We had seen her perform many times at one of our favorite restaurants and thought she would be a great addition to our wedding. We sent the deposit, signed the contract, and were so happy with our decision. However, I received a call from Nathalie about a month later letting me know that she accidentally booked us on a day where she would be out of the country for a performance. I was extremely disappointed at first, and thought that we may have to skip out on the belly dancer altogether, until she offered me an alternative dancer to take her place. She sent me photos and video footage of the other dancer and we were SO impressed with the quality and professionalism of the new dancer. She apologized profusely and considering how organized she seems to be, it seems that this double booking was a fluke. Jenny is now dancing for our wedding and after seeing her videos, we cannot wait!
Final Grade – A+
Final Review:
EVERYONE that attended our wedding has raved about the belly dancer. I mean EVERYONE! She was unbelievable. She came in with a candelabra on her head, danced with some wings, danced with a sword, did some incredible hip shakes, then pulled us up to dance with her. Then, she got the audience got up to dance as well. She was INCREDIBLE and worth even more money than what we paid her! After she performed, we looked around and NOBODY was sitting in the seats. She got the party started and entertained everyone. Highly, highly, highly, recommend!!
Day of Coordinator - Letty from LMG Events
Pre-wedding Review:
Letty has been AMAZING to work with thus far. Even before I had ever hired her as my planner she was offering me help and advice via facebook messages and IMs. I hired her in April and ever since then she has been SO much more than a day of coordinator. She has been available to give me advice on various situations (from etiquette, to family/bridal party issues, to just general advice on everything wedding related!). She has excellent taste so I absolutely love running ideas by her and getting her feedback, she really takes every idea I have and kicks it up a notch. She has also been able to de-stress me quite a few times via IM or the phone - love her! On top of that she has created and maintained a day-of timeline and will be contacting all the vendors the week leading up to the wedding to confirm everything for me. My family and I are 100% confident in her abilities.
Also, I came to Letty and told her that I wanted to do a “Bolooki Burgers” station for a late night snack at our wedding. I knew I wanted to do this, but had no idea how to execute it or display it. She took the idea and ran with it. First, she told me to contact the Colonnade and get quotes for sliders and fries from them from the chef. Originally, I was going to try to get the burgers from a restaurant and bring them to the hotel (to save money). Letty pointed out that this would probably cause the food to be cold and that the Colonnade also probably did not allow it because it would be outside catering. She was right on both accounts! She offered up her concession stand display that she has used for candy bars in the past for the burgers. She actually revamped her concession stand and made it look more fancy and also made it match my color scheme. In addition, she gave me the idea of having fry cones with a “Bolooki Burger” logo sticker inside. Also, she took the font from the logo and hand painted the “Bolooki Burgers” sign herself. I didn’t even know she was doing this until it was almost done! She really took this whole idea and made it incredible.
Final Grade – A+
Final Review:
Letty was the best wedding decision I made! Having her take care of our day made the entire day and evening so relaxing for my family and I. She did an incredible job and I know I can recommend her to anybody with my eyes closed.
She arrived early in the morning to make sure that Gil and Hitched were setting everything up according to plan. This is when the mini-crisis came up where we needed an extra linen. She immediately called Luis and took care of it. She also came in to check in on me while I was getting ready to make sure everything was going well.
During the setup, there was a much bigger crisis. The memorial candle vase that we had bought for Andrew’s father (which was lit by us during the ceremony and displayed during the reception) literally broke in her hands. The glass was cheap and just shattered!! I got a call from Letty that she had to leave the Colonnade in order to take care of a little crisis, but that she would take care of it and for me not to worry about. I decided there was nothing I could do about this unknown crisis, so I didn’t worry. About an hour or so later she came to my room and she handed me the memorial candle vase and asked me if it was okay. I was totally confused because I didn’t understand why she would be asking me this. I didn’t realize this was a NEW vase!!! She went to Michaels and purchased a vase, then went to Things Remembered and has the new vase engraved with the same information that we had on the original vase. UNBELIEVABLE! Talk about crisis aversion. If we didn’t have this vase it would have messed up that part of the ceremony and would have definitely hurt Andrew’s family’s feelings. Thank GOD we had her there to handle this!!
Sometime right before or after the ceremony somehow someone got lip-gloss on my wedding dress. I told Letty about this after the ceremony and when I arrived at the Colonnade she had club soda ready in our private room and removed the stain for me. At this time she also bustled my dress, which was SO difficult for my mom and sister to do when they were trying (they had never quite gotten it when Reina showed them). She had never even seen my dress before and did it in a few minutes!
The evening of the wedding I noticed that the linens on some of the key tables were pinned up in a swag. This was something I wanted to have done, but I asked Luis from Hitched and since he isn’t a linen vendor, he told me flat out that this is not something his team takes care of. I just let it go and figured it would look fine unpinned. I was so shocked to see them pinned up and I thought it looked so beautiful. I found out later that Letty saw that the linens didn’t look as good going to the floor so she pinned them up herself. I had never even discussed with her and I LOVE that she just thought that it would look better and took care of it.
There was another little crisis where I accidentally sat Andrew’s aunt, uncle, and children at my family’s head table. I had mistakenly printed their place card to seat them at Table 1 instead of Table 9. Letty saw that there was an error and then referred to the seating chart list I had given her and told them where they were supposed to sit. My mom said she was very sweet and professional during this little hiccup.
Throughout the evening she was checking in on me to see if we needed anything, let me know how the timeline was going, controlling the timeline, etc. She was always visible and ready if I needed her. She also let my parents and Andrew’s family aware that if there was absolutely anything they needed, that she was the go-to person to talk to. In addition, she went to my dad and got the money for the unpaid vendors and paid them as needed so my dad didn’t have to worry about it throughout the evening. Finally, she stayed until the very end of the party and cleaned up everything that I had purchased and packed it up for me and had it sent to my parent’s room. She did the same with the card box.
When I say Letty was worth every penny, I cannot stress that enough. She is extremely professional, has a great attention to detail, great taste, and knows how to solve problems quickly. I also love her sweet personality and loved planning with her. My entire family and bridal party all commented on what a great wedding planner I had. She’s the best!!
Rehearsal Dinner – Las Vegas in Hollywood
Final Grade – A
Final Review:
We had our rehearsal dinner in Las Vegas in Hollywood off of 441. The food was absolutely delicious (that is the best Las Vegas!) and it was affordable. They were also very accommodating for our very large party of about 45-50 people. The service was good and the parking was not an issue.
Day-After Brunch – La Palma Restaurant
Final Grade – B-
Final Review:
We chose to have a day-after brunch at La Palma in Coral Gables. This restaurant is known for their all you can eat brunch buffet. We invited our family and friends to meet there in the morning and had almost everyone pay their own way. Because we committed to having at least 20 people, we were able to have the rate be $30 per person including tax and gratuity (the price is typically $30 per person without tax and gratuity). The food was good, but we were disappointed with the omelet station. Also, the waiters and the manager kept making mistakes when it came to the bill. My dad was treating our out of town guests and he told the waiters and manager at LEAST five times which tables he was paying for, and they continued to get it wrong and had an attitude with him about it. The food was pretty good and the ambiance is nice, but I think $30 may have been a bit overpriced. However, it’s the Gables and things are typically overpriced there!
Pre-wedding Thoughts:
St. Patrick is a beautiful church and the staff there is very sweet and very easy to communicate with. When I booked the church, the main secretary was out of town, so I actually never received a wedding packet. This was a bit stressing throughout the planning process because I always felt I was missing out on something. Other than that though, they were always open and ready to answer any and all of my questions.
The rehearsal was a bit disorganized and I wasn’t very happy with the coordinator from the church. She wasn’t very comfortable in English and kept going in and out of Spanish, when 99% of my bridal party does not understand Spanish. She also did not have the bridal party practice walking in and out correctly, so they were paired up wrong on the way in and out (even after being told this). In addition, she did not have the readers practice reading, nor did she know exactly how the ceremony would go. She kept saying that the priest would tell us on the day of the wedding. I think the priest should conduct the rehearsals because he knows exactly what he will do and it would have been much smoother. Everyone really felt like the rehearsal was pretty much a waste of time.
Post-wedding Thoughts:
The ceremony was BEAUTIFUL and perfect. Many people told me how beautiful it was. We did not have a Mass since Andrew is not Catholic and we believe that this was perfect for us. There was a really nice flow to the ceremony and it seemed to be the perfect length of time. The organist at the church did a wonderful job playing the organ and singing. He actually comforted Andrew right before the ceremony, told him what he had to do (since he had already forgotten since the rehearsal didn’t go so smoothly!) and even gave him a tick-tack to freshen his breath for our first kiss! ☺
Priest - Father Jesus Alberto Bohorquez
Pre-wedding Thoughts:
Father Jesus is a very sweet and caring priest. The only thing is that he has requirements for the couple to complete that are not required by the Archdiocese of Miami. Some of these things are costly and also very time consuming. I felt that these requirements were a bit unnecessary and shouldn't have been asked of us. However, we agreed to them upfront so I can't complain. Just be aware that if you get married at St. Patrick that the preparation with Fr. Jesus Alberto is more than the average church.
Post-Wedding Thoughts:
Father Jesus did a wonderful job with our ceremony. The ceremony was absolutely flawless. He spoke in English the entire time (something I was concerned about), he did the mantilla, and he also said a special prayer for Andrew’s father and had us light a memorial candle for him. All in all I think he did an excellent job. I wished he had conducted the rehearsal, as said previously, because at times we were a little confused about what to do, but it turned out perfect in the end.
Reception Venue - The Westin Colonnade
Pre-wedding Review:
Ivette is my coordinator at The Colonnade and she is AWESOME. She is always readily available via email or phone and is incredibly professional and efficient. Working with her throughout the year and a half planning process was a joy!
Overall Grade – A
Final Review Breakdown (I gave individual letter grades as well):
Coordinator –A+:
I think Ivette is an excellent coordinator. When I went to pay my balance a few days before the wedding, she informed me that she always tries to upgrade the bride’s suite the night before the wedding if the room is available (and if they are getting ready in the hotel). I had booked a regular suite the night before and she went to the front desk and then came back and let me know that she talked to them and they were able to move me to the presidential suite from the night before at the regular executive suite price. This was SO nice of her and made the getting ready process so much nicer, especially for the photos and video. I really appreciated this extremely nice gesture from her, which was completely unexpected.
On day of the wedding, Ivette stopped by the suite to see how everything was going and made sure we were happy. She also stopped by our private room during the cocktail hour to check on us again and make sure we had everything we needed. Finally, she sent champagne and strawberries to our room that night! Ivette was seriously a complete sweetheart, very organized and on top of things from the very beginning of the planning process, and I 100% recommend her to anybody getting married at the Colonnade.
Food/Drink – B-:
I didn’t attend the cocktail hour myself, but I was told by many of my family members that the cheese display disappeared almost immediately and that the appetizers were not plentiful. My friends and family said that the food ran out pretty quickly which makes me think that they didn’t plan enough food for the 170 people we paid for. Also, some guests complained that the appetizers were all coming from one direction, so the food would get scooped up by everyone on that side of the upper rotunda first and would never make it to them on the other side. I know that a round room may be harder to deal with, but I feel that they should try to come from different directions to make up for the awkwardness of the room.
Another negative thing we noticed about the food was that the Boston Bibb Salad was smaller on the day of the wedding then at the tasting. The presentation was definitely much larger at the tasting; however it was just as delicious on the day of. I was also told that the children’s meal was cold and not good at all. Several of the children complained that it was inedible and my family members tried it and said it definitely tasted old and was definitely cold.
Also, I was told that at the cocktail hour and during dinner that they had long lines at both bars because the bartenders were moving slowly. In addition, one bar had one set of mixes that the other bar didn’t. People were ordering a certain mixed drink at one bar and then would go to the other and that bartender couldn’t do it. I feel that was a little ridiculous (shouldn’t all the liquor and mixes be standard at both bars?). Finally, the drinks they were mixing were very weak and I was told that the bartenders were withholding liquor a lot. We all ended up ordering shots in order to get over this little hump ☺. On a positive note, the dinner was extremely hot and fresh when served and was DELICIOUS. We heard countless compliments on the food when we walked around the room. They made the “michi diet-friendly” meal for everyone, and it was definitely a hit. We had chicken with a mushroom sauce, parsley potatoes, and mixed vegetables. So tasty! Also, they set the salads on the tables right before the reception began, so the salad was fresh and didn’t take more time from the dancing to serve. They also went around with the salad dressing as soon as people came in. I was happy with the timing of this.
Also, they really blew me away with the “Bolooki Burgers” display. I had asked for mini sliders and French fries. I knew from the chef that the burgers were about 2 ounces each and that there would be a mix of sweet potato and regular French fries and ketchup. I did not know that they would also have sides of bacon, onions, and cheese for those that wanted to add it, along with mustard and mayo. The burgers and fries were DELICIOUS and totally hit the spot for all of our guests. People were waiting in long lines to get their Bolooki Burgers! They also had an attendant assigned to this station that was constantly refilling the burgers and fries so that they would be hot and fresh. Two weeks later and people are still raving about this treat.
Service - A:
They had a room for us to settle down and rest in during the cocktail hour, which was very nice. We had a platter of appetizers, champagne, and our own bartender to attend to us. I think this is pretty standard at all hotels, but it was still a nice treat and made us feel special.
We also had our own servers at our sweetheart table who were taking care of us all night and making sure we were 100% pleased. The captain was always visible throughout the evening and always checking in with us and with my dad as well.
I was also told that the service at all the tables was good and was fast. They were attentive to everyone’s needs and very friendly.
Overall Review:
I think the Colonnade is a gorgeous hotel and has very competitive prices. When I was looking around for venues, there were only a handful of reception locations in Broward and Dade that had packages that were under $100 a head with tax and gratuity. We thought the hotel was the most beautiful of that selection and booked on the spot. We had also heard only great reviews about the food and service. Even though the service and food weren’t perfect on the day of, I still think we got a lot of bang for our buck, and the food was still delicious. I would definitely recommend the Colonnade to other brides, either the Merrick or Rotunda. Also, I feel that another added benefit of this location is that fact that both rooms have built in lighting/scones around the room. This was something that I didn’t budget for and I felt that the ballroom looked gorgeously lit that night, with no extra cost going to lighting! I had been concerned because the room is in the middle of the hotel, but since the hotel is small there aren’t that many guests staying there and honestly I didn’t really pay attention or care when guests would peek over the balcony. The sound was not an issue at all. We had a DJ who patched into the house system and he did sound checks from early on in the day and made sure that the music wasn’t too loud. The sound was perfect and I was so happy about that.
Photographer - Alain Martinez
Pre-wedding Review:
Alain is one of my absolute favorite vendors to plan with. I feel like we have built a great vendor/client relationship. He is always available via email and quickly responds to all my questions. He is also very open and understanding when it comes to special requests, such as large formal family portraits, and working around my sensitivity to heat.
Final Grade (pending final product) – A+
Final Review (Pending final product):
PERFECT! I can go on and on about Alain. He is incredibly creative, professional, and just awesome to work with. I felt like I was hanging out with a friend all day, not a photographer. My mom and dad kept raving about him the morning after the wedding and telling everyone in the family to hire him!! He would come up with the most amazing and creative shots and the entire time kept encouraging us and by telling us how awesome we looked and how awesome the shots were coming out. Him and his assistant worked their BUTTS off all night and did not pause for a second to miss one shot. They were literally EVERYWHERE. I felt like we were being followed by the paparazzi! When I say he was creative, you have no idea to what extent that I mean. He was moving furniture around, having me climb on furniture, lay on tables, etc. He is so awesome!
Our pictures are AMAZING. I am in awe of how beautiful they are and how incredible everyone looked. I cannot wait to see all of them!! You can see a link to our awesome pictures here!: http://blog.alainmartinez.com/?p=2007
We also got a photo wall from him and this is one of the unique elements from our wedding that our guests really enjoyed. He put our parent’s wedding photos up on the wall along with a couple of our engagement photos and then had huge empty frames for people to stand behind and take pictures. He also had a box filled with fun props for everyone to use for the photos. I have already seen some of the photos and they are awesome! I plan on making prints for everyone and sending them with their thank you notes (Thanks to Letty for that idea!).
Videographer - Ray Roman Films
Pre-Wedding Review:
My FI and I were huge fans of Ray’s work but originally didn’t budget such a large amount of money for our video (we were actually going to totally skimp on it at first). Once we heard of Ray’s contest, we were scrambling to find something to enter and hopefully win. We were ECSTATIC (literally running around screaming) when we found out we won. I didn’t work with Ray much before the wedding (he and I were both extremely busy) but he was always available via email, Facebook, etc. to talk about the details of our day. His website also has a portal setup where you can login and fill out surveys out about the details of your day, which I thought was very awesome and organized.
Final Grade (pending final product) – A+
Final Review (Pending final product):
AMAZING! Every time I see our teaser/highlight reel I cry!! I have already watched it at least 30 times. All my family and friends have been raving about it and I have heard that even strangers (friends of friends or family) have cried watching it! The funniest thing is that even though he and his team were everywhere, they were not intrusive at all. My FI and I were wondering when half the shots were taken because we didn’t remember or feel him and his team there.
Also, Ray is so professional and creative, and him and Alain play off each other so well. They were working together all day and making sure that each of them had time to get the shots they needed. He was a joy to work with and so sweet and gave awesome direction. I cannot recommend him enough and even though he is pricey, I really do feel that he is worth every penny and is giving us incredible memories that will last us a lifetime. If I were to start planning all over again, I would DEFINITELY put a large chunk of money aside in order to afford him. I seriously would cut in other areas, up my budget, do whatever, in order to have his incredible talent capture our day. I am so so so grateful that we were chosen as the winners of his contest.
You can see our incredible highlight reel here! - http://rayromanblog.com/2009/08/michelle-andrews-highlight-reel/
Florist - Gil Sosa (786) 295-7535
Pre-wedding Review:
Gil is another favorite vendor. He is so sweet and has such a passion for his work, which I love. He also is extremely budget friendly and works hard to make sure that you get something amazing that is within your price range. He wasn't always the quickest at responding to emails, but he has always responded, even if it took a few days. He has become especially responsive when it comes closer to the wedding and has always been readily available via his cell phone. I also love that he is very open to making changes to your contract until you pay the final balance. I have met with him three times, made changes those three times, and he hasn't cared one bit!
I have to admit that I was a taken aback when I was called just one day before the wedding and Gil had was referring to a very old contract and thought my ceremony was at St. Hugh at 4:00pm. He also had my old cell phone number. I had updated the contract twice since I switched churches. This really made me nervous and I was a little scared that some of the details we had discussed wouldn’t happen. However, we quickly went through the contract details over the phone, he noted the time and church change, along with my new cell number, and then I just told myself to not worry about it and to trust him.
Final Grade – A+
Final Review:
BREATHTAKING!
First, our personal flowers were out of this world! My bouquet was so amazingly beautiful, and the crystals added a sparkle, which I wanted to match my dress. The bridesmaid bouquets were more than I had anticipated, with gorgeous orchids, roses, hydrangeas, and Queen Anne’s lace. My flower girl pomanders were also beautiful, all the little girls wanted to keep them and dry them.
The boutonnieres were also very nice (My FI and his groomsmen had orchids), but there was a little misunderstanding. My FI was supposed to have a rose and orchid bout, the groomsmen were supposed to have orchid bouts, and my father was supposed to have just a rose bout. Gil instead made all orchid bouts and one calla and orchid bout. I requested no calla in the bouts (because I don’t love callas), but in the grand scheme of things, this was totally not a big deal. My dad wore the calla/orchid bout and all the other men wore orchid bouts.
The ceremony displays were not what I had requested (I had wanted something similar to what was in my planning bio) but they were still beautiful and went with my theme. They were just more traditional then what I had wanted.
I did not peek at the ballroom all day in order to be surprised that evening. When I saw the entranceway display I literally GASPED. Everything was above and beyond what I had anticipated. I mean it was absolutely breathtaking all around. The flowers were so fresh and gorgeous, more than anything I could have ever imagined. I had actually only anticipated three floral displays on this entrance table, and was so surprised to see four. Gil also provided us with cocktail arrangements (which I have yet to see pictures of!), which was a total surprise to me and something that I had not even asked for!
Gil provided us with centerpieces that lit up from the inside, which added such a unique feel and look to the room. The centerpieces also had hanging votives and crystals, which were gorgeous. The fountain display was something that I don’t think the Colonnade has ever seen before. Apparently there was someone that wanted to take the display from the fountain before the wedding even began!!! The sweetheart table was also amazing. I loved the various white vases with different types of flower arrangements.
When we walked around the room to greet our guests, so many people commented on how gorgeous the flowers were. I was asked by quite a few people who my florist was. Even the hotel workers came to tell me (and both of our parents) that it was one of the most beautiful and elegant weddings they had ever seen (referring to the flowers).
Gil is a pleasure to work with and so incredibly sweet, I am so grateful for him for making my wedding decor an absolute dream come true! I cannot recommend him enough. Even though the bouts weren’t exactly perfect, and the ceremony displays weren’t what I expected, everything else was unbelievably beautiful (way above my expectations). I gave Gil TOTAL control over my entire day and told him to do whatever he wanted (within my color scheme and floral preferences) and I really feel that he is an artist and he does his best work when he isn’t very restricted. I know he isn’t organized when it comes to paperwork, but I felt he totally pulled through for me on the day of and is extremely talented.
Cake - Ana Paz
Pre-wedding Review:
At the time when I booked the Colonnade, there were only two cake vendors available, Ana Paz or Cake Designs by Edda. My fiance and I met with Edda first and were not impressed at all. The cake was extremely dry and tasteless and they wanted to charge us $2 per person for adding space between each layer of the cake for fresh flowers. I asked them why there was a per person fee for this, not a flat fee, and they had no answer for me. I met with Ana Paz immediately afterwards and it was a huge difference. The cake was moist and delicious (we went with their classic chocolate and vanilla flavors) and they did not charge me extra for leaving space between the cake. They also took my DIY cake topper and stored it for me in their store, two months before the wedding.
A few days before the wedding I got a call telling me that in order to have the five tiers of cake that I had originally had on my order for 182 people, I would need to pay $25 dollars more because I only had 170 people attending. I think this is a little ridiculous and felt that they were totally nickel and diming me because I had a package cake. I know that they told a friend of mine that you needed a minimum of 170 people for five tiers, so I think they just call you and charge you for the extra people if your amount is any less than what you told them originally. I ended up paying the $25 because I think having a fifth tier adds a lot to the height and made a big difference. If you are getting your cake from them, I recommend you ask them upfront how many people you need for the five tiers, commit to that minimum amount (if you have enough people) and then add people later once your venue balance is paid.
Final Grade – A-
Final Review:
I think our cake looked absolutely perfect, exactly what I had imaged it would look like. Half of that was due to Gil, since he decorated it with the flowers and he did the flowers for my inspiration cake as well. The reason Ana Paz gets an A- is because the taste wasn’t as good on the day of as it was at the tasting and also because they charged me more for the fifth tier. The vanilla was a little dry and stale tasting. The chocolate was just as good. Even though I felt this way though, I heard a lot of people liked it.
Drapery - Gables Linens
Pre-wedding Review:
Sarah and Wendy from Gables Linens were both a joy to work with. They are both very sweet and efficient. I made multiple changes to my order (went from ordering chair covers and linens for some of the tables to just getting drapery) and they never asked questions or cared that I made the changes. They are also extremely organized and even made changes for me over the phone and emailed me the updated invoice. Their customer service is definitely top notch.
Final Grade – A+
Final Review:
Once we switched to the rotunda, Ivette recommended that we get drapery for the entrance of the room so that we have some privacy (since the room is in the middle of the hotel). Since it was so close to the wedding, I had no time to meet with Gables Linens and discuss this with them in person. I made a call over the phone, they updated my invoice, emailed it to me, and that was that! I really had no idea what it would look like, and imagined almost a simple curtain for some reason. WOW is all I have to say about the end result. The drapery made ALL the difference and made the entrance look so grand. I am so glad we added this!!
Chivari Chairs, Linens, and Chargers - Hitched -hitched305@gmail.com
Pre-wedding Review:
Luis has been great to work with. He is extremely responsive via email (usually within minutes!) and negotiates. I had never had any interest in getting special chairs, linens, etc. for the wedding. This was just always an area that I cut in. Finally, after seeing a few weddings with chair covers, I decided to bite the bullet and put the extra money towards the chairs. I did some hard negotiations with Luis and was able to get him down to $3.50 a chair – woohoo!! This was such a deal. I also was originally going to get overlays from the Internet, but they had seams and I now needed to rent them as well. Luis offered me linens (not even overlays!) as such a good price that I ended up just paying extra to have them as well. A few days before the wedding, I was organizing my gold chargers and noticed that quite a few of them were damaged from my friend Katie’s wedding. I was planning on just using them anyway because we were having preset salads. Luis called Letty and offered gold beaded chargers to me at a great price and since they were the much nicer and more expensive looking chargers, I decided to add them as well. Can you tell I totally caved in this department?
Final Grade – A+
Final Review:
Luis and his team were great. They showed up on time, the linens were all pressed, the chargers were clean, and the chairs were in good condition. We actually needed one extra linen than anticipated on the day of because the entrance display that Gil had done was so huge that the place cards would not have fit (or looked good) on that same table. Letty contacted Luis, requested an ivory crushed satin linen (upon Gil’s request that it would be ivory and not gold to take the décor up a notch) and Luis had the linen delivered quickly and never even charged me for it. I highly recommend this company. They negotiate, worked with my budget, and pulled through on the day of even with a little mini crisis.
Ceremony Musicians - Claudio Osorio on Trumpet and String Trio (305) 595-1535
Pre-wedding Review:
I heard Claudio Osorio and his string trio play at St. Hugh when I originally was going to have my ceremony there. Let me just say that the music was INCREDIBLE. I cried at almost every song. Claudio is a busy man working the wedding circuit, but he has pretty good communication via the telephone. He isn't too responsive via email, but always returns calls within a few days.
Final Grade – B
Final Review:
Claudio and his musicians did a beautiful job playing and they played all the music I requested. They couldn’t play as much as they normally do for a Mass, but they played a little more before the ceremony in order to make up for this a bit. I still feel like they should have tried to squeeze even more music in, but I guess there was really no time for it.
Also, due to the size of St. Patrick and the size of the organ at St. Patrick, you could barely hear the other musicians. My FI and I felt that they should have had their instruments hooked up to microphones and speakers so that they could at least be near the same level as the very loud organ. I’m not sure if the church perhaps doesn’t allow them to do this, but I didn’t feel it was worth the money we paid. If I were to do it again, I wouldn’t have had these musicians; I would have only had the organist/singer from St. Patrick.
Cocktail Musician - Bob Folse
Pre-wedding Review:
We heard Bob Folse play at a friend's cocktail hour and loved it. He played a mix of Spanish/Classical type guitar with some popular hits as well. He plays an acoustic/electric guitar with the assistance of an ipod which makes all the difference. We loved the ipod playing background music because it adds some variety to the songs so every song doesn't sound like the same old thing. He has always been extremely responsive to me via email and telephone.
Final Grade – B
Final Review:
I didn’t attend the cocktail hour, so I couldn’t hear Bob play myself, but I heard that what he played was very good. My friends and family told me he was situated in a weird location in the upper rotunda, far away from people. I don’t know if this was due to the awkward shape of the room, but I know that some of the people couldn’t hear him because of this. I was disappointed that a lot of my relatives didn’t even know I had a guitarist. Like I said, I don’t know if this is due to the shape of the room, but I feel he should have arrived early to sound check and make sure he was in a good spot. I have heard him play at other weddings, so I would recommend him still, but if you have your cocktail hour in the upper rotunda, I would make sure you specify where you think he should be seated to play.
DJ - Kenny Mondo Productions
Pre-wedding Review:
We saw DJ Lindsay do a friend's wedding and loved his style. He isn't the typical cheesy DJ, but he also isn't quiet to the point where you don't know he is there. He talks when is necessary and kept the dance floor packed all night. We especially loved that he was able to mix two different of cultures of music easily. This was something that is important to us. Jerry, the person you interact with during the planning, is extremely responsive via email and is always available via phone.
Final Grade – A-
Final Review:
I think Lindsay did a very good job with our wedding. He arrived early to set up and sound check and made sure everything was perfect. He played the variety of music I asked for and kept the dance floor packed all night. The reason he gets an A- is because he said a couple of cheesy things (apparently that the Rotunda was one of the best places to get married in Miami – ick!) and also because after the garter/bouquet toss he started playing OUR song and wanted the couple to dance to our song with them. I actually was saying, “NO NO!” to him and then he played a slow song for everyone to get up and dance to. I don’t know if this was supposed to be a joke, but I thought it was very cheesy. He definitely saved it though and everyone got up to slow dance, so it was okay. He is older and he is slightly cheesy, but he definitely knows what he is doing and how to keep the dance floor packed.
Hair and Makeup - Amy Palma
Pre-wedding Review:
Hair and makeup was one of the HARDEST vendors for me to book. I went through four trials and many tribulations! I heard great reviews about Amy and decided to have a trial for my bridal shower. She did an EXCELLENT job. She is great with communication (we talked for 30 minutes the first time on the phone!) and is also great at communicating via email. When I met her in person, I absolutely loved her sweet and understanding personality. She listens to you and makes sure you are 100% happy. She doesn't mind if you give input or offer suggestions, which is something that was important to me. She is pricey, but I feel that she is worth it!
Final Grade – A+
Final Review:
I think Amy Palma did an EXCELLENT job on our wedding day. She arrived 30 minutes early and was relaxed and chatty which was nice. Since she arrived early, we were never rushed and had time to stop to eat and just not be in a hurry. She did my hair and makeup, and my mom and sister’s makeup. She also stayed until 30 minutes before I left for the church in order to continuously touch up my hair and makeup through the getting ready photos. This really meant a lot to me since sometimes my hair definitely needed touching up after the climbing Alain had me doing!
My hair and makeup lasted ALL night. I have curly hair that can definitely frizz, and even after being outside taking photos in the August heat and humidity, dancing all night, sweating, etc. my hair and makeup STAYED until I went to sleep. No, it wasn’t as perfect as it was in the beginning of the evening, but it looked pretty and I didn’t look like Mufasa from The Lion King. I only needed to reapply powder and lip-gloss once. She is incredible and worth every penny!
Dreams Belly Dance, Jenny - Dreams Belly Dance
Pre-wedding Review:
We had originally hired Nathalie to be the belly dancer at our wedding. We had seen her perform many times at one of our favorite restaurants and thought she would be a great addition to our wedding. We sent the deposit, signed the contract, and were so happy with our decision. However, I received a call from Nathalie about a month later letting me know that she accidentally booked us on a day where she would be out of the country for a performance. I was extremely disappointed at first, and thought that we may have to skip out on the belly dancer altogether, until she offered me an alternative dancer to take her place. She sent me photos and video footage of the other dancer and we were SO impressed with the quality and professionalism of the new dancer. She apologized profusely and considering how organized she seems to be, it seems that this double booking was a fluke. Jenny is now dancing for our wedding and after seeing her videos, we cannot wait!
Final Grade – A+
Final Review:
EVERYONE that attended our wedding has raved about the belly dancer. I mean EVERYONE! She was unbelievable. She came in with a candelabra on her head, danced with some wings, danced with a sword, did some incredible hip shakes, then pulled us up to dance with her. Then, she got the audience got up to dance as well. She was INCREDIBLE and worth even more money than what we paid her! After she performed, we looked around and NOBODY was sitting in the seats. She got the party started and entertained everyone. Highly, highly, highly, recommend!!
Day of Coordinator - Letty from LMG Events
Pre-wedding Review:
Letty has been AMAZING to work with thus far. Even before I had ever hired her as my planner she was offering me help and advice via facebook messages and IMs. I hired her in April and ever since then she has been SO much more than a day of coordinator. She has been available to give me advice on various situations (from etiquette, to family/bridal party issues, to just general advice on everything wedding related!). She has excellent taste so I absolutely love running ideas by her and getting her feedback, she really takes every idea I have and kicks it up a notch. She has also been able to de-stress me quite a few times via IM or the phone - love her! On top of that she has created and maintained a day-of timeline and will be contacting all the vendors the week leading up to the wedding to confirm everything for me. My family and I are 100% confident in her abilities.
Also, I came to Letty and told her that I wanted to do a “Bolooki Burgers” station for a late night snack at our wedding. I knew I wanted to do this, but had no idea how to execute it or display it. She took the idea and ran with it. First, she told me to contact the Colonnade and get quotes for sliders and fries from them from the chef. Originally, I was going to try to get the burgers from a restaurant and bring them to the hotel (to save money). Letty pointed out that this would probably cause the food to be cold and that the Colonnade also probably did not allow it because it would be outside catering. She was right on both accounts! She offered up her concession stand display that she has used for candy bars in the past for the burgers. She actually revamped her concession stand and made it look more fancy and also made it match my color scheme. In addition, she gave me the idea of having fry cones with a “Bolooki Burger” logo sticker inside. Also, she took the font from the logo and hand painted the “Bolooki Burgers” sign herself. I didn’t even know she was doing this until it was almost done! She really took this whole idea and made it incredible.
Final Grade – A+
Final Review:
Letty was the best wedding decision I made! Having her take care of our day made the entire day and evening so relaxing for my family and I. She did an incredible job and I know I can recommend her to anybody with my eyes closed.
She arrived early in the morning to make sure that Gil and Hitched were setting everything up according to plan. This is when the mini-crisis came up where we needed an extra linen. She immediately called Luis and took care of it. She also came in to check in on me while I was getting ready to make sure everything was going well.
During the setup, there was a much bigger crisis. The memorial candle vase that we had bought for Andrew’s father (which was lit by us during the ceremony and displayed during the reception) literally broke in her hands. The glass was cheap and just shattered!! I got a call from Letty that she had to leave the Colonnade in order to take care of a little crisis, but that she would take care of it and for me not to worry about. I decided there was nothing I could do about this unknown crisis, so I didn’t worry. About an hour or so later she came to my room and she handed me the memorial candle vase and asked me if it was okay. I was totally confused because I didn’t understand why she would be asking me this. I didn’t realize this was a NEW vase!!! She went to Michaels and purchased a vase, then went to Things Remembered and has the new vase engraved with the same information that we had on the original vase. UNBELIEVABLE! Talk about crisis aversion. If we didn’t have this vase it would have messed up that part of the ceremony and would have definitely hurt Andrew’s family’s feelings. Thank GOD we had her there to handle this!!
Sometime right before or after the ceremony somehow someone got lip-gloss on my wedding dress. I told Letty about this after the ceremony and when I arrived at the Colonnade she had club soda ready in our private room and removed the stain for me. At this time she also bustled my dress, which was SO difficult for my mom and sister to do when they were trying (they had never quite gotten it when Reina showed them). She had never even seen my dress before and did it in a few minutes!
The evening of the wedding I noticed that the linens on some of the key tables were pinned up in a swag. This was something I wanted to have done, but I asked Luis from Hitched and since he isn’t a linen vendor, he told me flat out that this is not something his team takes care of. I just let it go and figured it would look fine unpinned. I was so shocked to see them pinned up and I thought it looked so beautiful. I found out later that Letty saw that the linens didn’t look as good going to the floor so she pinned them up herself. I had never even discussed with her and I LOVE that she just thought that it would look better and took care of it.
There was another little crisis where I accidentally sat Andrew’s aunt, uncle, and children at my family’s head table. I had mistakenly printed their place card to seat them at Table 1 instead of Table 9. Letty saw that there was an error and then referred to the seating chart list I had given her and told them where they were supposed to sit. My mom said she was very sweet and professional during this little hiccup.
Throughout the evening she was checking in on me to see if we needed anything, let me know how the timeline was going, controlling the timeline, etc. She was always visible and ready if I needed her. She also let my parents and Andrew’s family aware that if there was absolutely anything they needed, that she was the go-to person to talk to. In addition, she went to my dad and got the money for the unpaid vendors and paid them as needed so my dad didn’t have to worry about it throughout the evening. Finally, she stayed until the very end of the party and cleaned up everything that I had purchased and packed it up for me and had it sent to my parent’s room. She did the same with the card box.
When I say Letty was worth every penny, I cannot stress that enough. She is extremely professional, has a great attention to detail, great taste, and knows how to solve problems quickly. I also love her sweet personality and loved planning with her. My entire family and bridal party all commented on what a great wedding planner I had. She’s the best!!
Rehearsal Dinner – Las Vegas in Hollywood
Final Grade – A
Final Review:
We had our rehearsal dinner in Las Vegas in Hollywood off of 441. The food was absolutely delicious (that is the best Las Vegas!) and it was affordable. They were also very accommodating for our very large party of about 45-50 people. The service was good and the parking was not an issue.
Day-After Brunch – La Palma Restaurant
Final Grade – B-
Final Review:
We chose to have a day-after brunch at La Palma in Coral Gables. This restaurant is known for their all you can eat brunch buffet. We invited our family and friends to meet there in the morning and had almost everyone pay their own way. Because we committed to having at least 20 people, we were able to have the rate be $30 per person including tax and gratuity (the price is typically $30 per person without tax and gratuity). The food was good, but we were disappointed with the omelet station. Also, the waiters and the manager kept making mistakes when it came to the bill. My dad was treating our out of town guests and he told the waiters and manager at LEAST five times which tables he was paying for, and they continued to get it wrong and had an attitude with him about it. The food was pretty good and the ambiance is nice, but I think $30 may have been a bit overpriced. However, it’s the Gables and things are typically overpriced there!
Vanessa&Eddie's Reviews - 7.24.09
Letty, LMG Events A+++++
Letty was absolutely INCREDIBLE!! I would like to point out that I won her day of services in a contest and boy did I luck out! I feel blessed to have met Letty. Eddie and I cannot stop raving about her and how she completely blew us away. She was on top of everything, there is NOTHING she cannot do! She took care of everything single detail for us. I had such an incredible, worry free day thanks to her constant attention to everything! If something went wrong I did not know about it. Everything she does, she does 100% and this is what makes Letty so special. I can truly say that she is professional, generous, sweet, and hard working. I can go on for days about Letty! If you are thinking of hiring a planner please consider Letty!!! Girls if you already have her rest assure you are in great hands. Letty will make sure everything on your wedding day goes as planned!
Coral Gables Congregational A
From the first time I stepped into this church I knew I wanted to get married there. The church is absolutely gorgeous and overall very easy to deal with. Rev. Milan was great to work with as well. He delivered a wonderful ceremony. I was crying from the isle all the way to the end of the ceremony! The soloist they provided also had an amazing voice!
Jungle Island A+
I had 3 different coordinators with Jungle Island,and about 6 months prior to the wedding I was assigned to Jessica. At first I was not 100% satisfied with the service, but 2 months prior to the wedding they kicked it up a few notches! Jessica was on top of everything. She made sure everything was exactly how I wanted. The day of the wedding Eddie and I felt like royalty. The service was outstanding and the food was very tasty. We used Prime Card, so their prices cannot be beat. They were very accommodating in allowing me to bring in my own liquor, which most venues did not allow. Overall I was very happy with Jungle Island.
Studio by Carmen Wedding Pics A+ (Pending Pics)
After seeing Carmen's pictures on The Knot I knew I wanted her to be my wedding photographer!! Carmen and Favio were great to work with the day of the wedding. Eddie and I were super excited to work with them again after a wonderful engagement shoot back in October. Carmen is super professional and has a great eye. I was able to see one teaser from the wedding and it came out great! They were there on time and started taking pictures right away. I can't wait to see the outcome of our day I'm positive they did an amazing job! LOVE CARMEN!!
Blueshore Productions A++
I booked Jeremy about 1 month prior to my wedding, after deciding we really wanted a video. I am so glad we made this decision and even more happy we chose Jeremy! After showing Eddie a few samples of his work we instantly decided his style fit us perfectly. Jeremy has gone above and beyond!!! He truly takes pride in the work. If you're considering a video, please contact Jeremy! You will not be disappointed!!! :)
Ubi (DJ and Up lighting) A++
Woah did I have a party! Ubi had EVERYONE on the dance floor the entire night. I hired him based solely on recommendations, and boy did he live up to his reputation! I didn't provide Ubi with a playlist and basically just told him to play whatever he thinks would work. He's a true professional..super nice..introduced himself and made sure we were happy with the music. I highly recommend him. The hot pink uplighting was spectacular as well!
Elsa, Elegant Bodas A++++++
After meeting with about 7 florists. I finally came across someone who's work was impressive! Not only was she the only florist that actually got my vision, but she came in under my budget! The day of the wedding I was IN LOVE with my flowers. Everyone could not stop raving about how beautiful they were. I still have people calling me about my flowers! Elsa has awesome taste and really does spectacular work! She's pretty well known in the wedding business and has been doing this for years. Give her a try you will NOT be disappointed!
Leyani A+ Linens and Draping
They did an incredible job on the draping and the linens. The draping really helped to transform the room! Leyani and her staff are super sweet and really helpful. We were super impressed with the final product!!!
Ana Paz- C-
I had a very good experience with Ana Paz up until a week before the wedding. I had Ana Paz's assistant contact me letting me know that my cake would be 4 ties instead of 5 b.c my guest count had dropped to 144 people instead of 150. I was not happy about this considering that the 5 tiers was in the contract and didn't really understand how 6 people would constitute removing a full tier. Well lucky Letty resolved this issue for me, but the day of the wedding my cake was dry, had sugar flowers on each tier which I did not request, and was TINY! I literally started laughing when I saw the size of my cake. Thank God I got a cake stand, which brings me to my next complaint. The assistant also asked me if it was OK to charge the credit card on file $350 for the cake stand. I asked her what it was for and why there were CHARGING the card. She said they would refund me as soon as the stand was returned. I told her it would be OK to place a hold, but not to charge it. They obviously had my credit card on file and if it was not returned they can go ahead and process the $350 they claim the stand it worth. Well Letty took care of that issue for me as well. My third and final issue with them was my ribbon. I had dropped off a full roll of 100 yard ribbon at Ana Paz in coral gables a couple of days prior to my wedding for them to use on my cake, well I called them back (Doral location, which is where they prepare the cakes) after my wedding to see when I can pass by to pick up my ribbon and they had NO CLUE what I was talking about. They told me that they cannot guarantee that my ribbon would still there and that they usually only keep it if the bride requests for it back (which obviously I did). Plus who tosses 100 yards of ribbon?!?! Luckily I complained so much that they miraculously found it. The only reason I do not give them an F is b.c I had a pleasant experience prior to my wedding.
Hitched A+
Luis is super easy to deal with and a total sweetheart! He has the best prices around. I highly recommend him!
Meilan- A
Pleasure to deal with. The driver was on time and super sweet. The only reason why I do not give them a plus is the drivers side window was broken and didn't go up. Good thing it wasn't a super hot day in July! I actually enjoyed the breeze..lol.
Gloria Pelo- A
Gloria is super sweet and was there right on time. B.C she is pretty expensive she only did my mom, sisters and myself. She did a good job on my hair and makeup, but it was falling out a lbit after the reception started. Granted I have a lot of hair and it's very heavy, so I guess this was bound to happen. Overall I was very happy with the way everything came out. My mom and sister looked beautiful.
Jorge A+
Jorge did everyones makeup. He was there on time and did a wonderful job! He's reasonably prices and very talented!
Letty was absolutely INCREDIBLE!! I would like to point out that I won her day of services in a contest and boy did I luck out! I feel blessed to have met Letty. Eddie and I cannot stop raving about her and how she completely blew us away. She was on top of everything, there is NOTHING she cannot do! She took care of everything single detail for us. I had such an incredible, worry free day thanks to her constant attention to everything! If something went wrong I did not know about it. Everything she does, she does 100% and this is what makes Letty so special. I can truly say that she is professional, generous, sweet, and hard working. I can go on for days about Letty! If you are thinking of hiring a planner please consider Letty!!! Girls if you already have her rest assure you are in great hands. Letty will make sure everything on your wedding day goes as planned!
Coral Gables Congregational A
From the first time I stepped into this church I knew I wanted to get married there. The church is absolutely gorgeous and overall very easy to deal with. Rev. Milan was great to work with as well. He delivered a wonderful ceremony. I was crying from the isle all the way to the end of the ceremony! The soloist they provided also had an amazing voice!
Jungle Island A+
I had 3 different coordinators with Jungle Island,and about 6 months prior to the wedding I was assigned to Jessica. At first I was not 100% satisfied with the service, but 2 months prior to the wedding they kicked it up a few notches! Jessica was on top of everything. She made sure everything was exactly how I wanted. The day of the wedding Eddie and I felt like royalty. The service was outstanding and the food was very tasty. We used Prime Card, so their prices cannot be beat. They were very accommodating in allowing me to bring in my own liquor, which most venues did not allow. Overall I was very happy with Jungle Island.
Studio by Carmen Wedding Pics A+ (Pending Pics)
After seeing Carmen's pictures on The Knot I knew I wanted her to be my wedding photographer!! Carmen and Favio were great to work with the day of the wedding. Eddie and I were super excited to work with them again after a wonderful engagement shoot back in October. Carmen is super professional and has a great eye. I was able to see one teaser from the wedding and it came out great! They were there on time and started taking pictures right away. I can't wait to see the outcome of our day I'm positive they did an amazing job! LOVE CARMEN!!
Blueshore Productions A++
I booked Jeremy about 1 month prior to my wedding, after deciding we really wanted a video. I am so glad we made this decision and even more happy we chose Jeremy! After showing Eddie a few samples of his work we instantly decided his style fit us perfectly. Jeremy has gone above and beyond!!! He truly takes pride in the work. If you're considering a video, please contact Jeremy! You will not be disappointed!!! :)
Ubi (DJ and Up lighting) A++
Woah did I have a party! Ubi had EVERYONE on the dance floor the entire night. I hired him based solely on recommendations, and boy did he live up to his reputation! I didn't provide Ubi with a playlist and basically just told him to play whatever he thinks would work. He's a true professional..super nice..introduced himself and made sure we were happy with the music. I highly recommend him. The hot pink uplighting was spectacular as well!
Elsa, Elegant Bodas A++++++
After meeting with about 7 florists. I finally came across someone who's work was impressive! Not only was she the only florist that actually got my vision, but she came in under my budget! The day of the wedding I was IN LOVE with my flowers. Everyone could not stop raving about how beautiful they were. I still have people calling me about my flowers! Elsa has awesome taste and really does spectacular work! She's pretty well known in the wedding business and has been doing this for years. Give her a try you will NOT be disappointed!
Leyani A+ Linens and Draping
They did an incredible job on the draping and the linens. The draping really helped to transform the room! Leyani and her staff are super sweet and really helpful. We were super impressed with the final product!!!
Ana Paz- C-
I had a very good experience with Ana Paz up until a week before the wedding. I had Ana Paz's assistant contact me letting me know that my cake would be 4 ties instead of 5 b.c my guest count had dropped to 144 people instead of 150. I was not happy about this considering that the 5 tiers was in the contract and didn't really understand how 6 people would constitute removing a full tier. Well lucky Letty resolved this issue for me, but the day of the wedding my cake was dry, had sugar flowers on each tier which I did not request, and was TINY! I literally started laughing when I saw the size of my cake. Thank God I got a cake stand, which brings me to my next complaint. The assistant also asked me if it was OK to charge the credit card on file $350 for the cake stand. I asked her what it was for and why there were CHARGING the card. She said they would refund me as soon as the stand was returned. I told her it would be OK to place a hold, but not to charge it. They obviously had my credit card on file and if it was not returned they can go ahead and process the $350 they claim the stand it worth. Well Letty took care of that issue for me as well. My third and final issue with them was my ribbon. I had dropped off a full roll of 100 yard ribbon at Ana Paz in coral gables a couple of days prior to my wedding for them to use on my cake, well I called them back (Doral location, which is where they prepare the cakes) after my wedding to see when I can pass by to pick up my ribbon and they had NO CLUE what I was talking about. They told me that they cannot guarantee that my ribbon would still there and that they usually only keep it if the bride requests for it back (which obviously I did). Plus who tosses 100 yards of ribbon?!?! Luckily I complained so much that they miraculously found it. The only reason I do not give them an F is b.c I had a pleasant experience prior to my wedding.
Hitched A+
Luis is super easy to deal with and a total sweetheart! He has the best prices around. I highly recommend him!
Meilan- A
Pleasure to deal with. The driver was on time and super sweet. The only reason why I do not give them a plus is the drivers side window was broken and didn't go up. Good thing it wasn't a super hot day in July! I actually enjoyed the breeze..lol.
Gloria Pelo- A
Gloria is super sweet and was there right on time. B.C she is pretty expensive she only did my mom, sisters and myself. She did a good job on my hair and makeup, but it was falling out a lbit after the reception started. Granted I have a lot of hair and it's very heavy, so I guess this was bound to happen. Overall I was very happy with the way everything came out. My mom and sister looked beautiful.
Jorge A+
Jorge did everyones makeup. He was there on time and did a wonderful job! He's reasonably prices and very talented!
Lafemmelor's Reviews 06.27.09
Church: St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, Miami Beach
I went this this church because it was the easiest to book and the required steps were quite simple and short-- show up to the orientation, pay a deposit for my day $450, provide ONLY the baptismal certificates, attend the Engaged Encounter (total waste of time & $100), turn in marriage license, and attend the rehearsal. One thing that I didn't like is the fact that I cannot bring my own musicians, I would've loved to have a string ensemble but they said "no" and that I had to go w/ their music director who charges $300. I don't get to hear him until my actual wedding day. I'm trying to negotiate this music fee at the moment. The infamous Father Alberto was to have performed the wedding ceremony but there was a scandal and so I was assigned another priest, and it was no biggie to me.
Unfortunately, right next to the church a massive parking garage was under construction and the City of Miami Beach had construction on Lenox (the road in front of the church's main entrance).
Wedding Day Review: Walking to the church with the construction was a little tricky because of my dress and shoes, but I was ok and my guests parked in the back parking lot of the church and easily found their way without having to step on any construction debris.
The church's wedding coordinator, Adriana, was very organized and professional in getting us organized in walking down the aisle and reviewing our cues for the ceremony. The music director, Ivan Diaz, performed beautifully at the ceremony. Our priest, Father Julio Alvarez, performed a lovely and relatively quick ceremony with a thoughtful homily.
We were given 15 minutes for pictures and went a bit over so were warned by the coordinator who gave us an extra 5.
Overall Grade: A
Reception Site: Doral Park Country Club
I booked this venue waaaaay in advance and got a pretty good deal w/ a buffet dinner and 5 hour open bar package and I didn't have to pay a rental fee, which is something I'd have to pay with other venues. However, for cocktail hour guests would have to walk by the dining area w/ tables and see the setup because there is no wall.
One drawback (at the time) was that I had to find my own florist, dj, cake, lighting and any other thing as they didn't provide this. Looking back, I'm glad that it turned out this way as I was able to find vendors to my liking and avoided the 20% service fee that's tacked on the regular rate and taxes. I hear that now they do upgraded packages w/ the vendors.
I changed my wedding date w/ Doral Park a few times and when I finally booked a date w/ the church I asked DP to please change it and resend the contract. The catering manager did not charge me the $250 fee that the contract stated if I changed the date. She did however take over a week to get back to me w/ the papers after I had already booked the date w/ the church and was stressing over this.
With my selected package, basic linens and chair covers were offered but I didn't like them. Last year I upgraded the chairs but was charged a whooping $7 for each (and I needed 100)! Two months before my big day I began to do some research and got a fantastic deal w/ Hitched, who happened to be the very same vendor Doral Park was going to use. The assistant at Doral Park, Jessica, was very helpful and quick w/ communication via email/phone, but when I wanted to get the chairs removed from my catering agreement she didn't want to accommodate me. Luckily, her boss, Ana, said it was ok and took it off. Another thing I ended up upgrading was the glassware because it seriously looked cheesy like it came from the Dollar Store or something.
Finally, when I went to the last meeting prior to the wedding I was told that there would be another wedding reception at the venue after being told a year ago that they don't double-book events at Doral Park. I brought this up but Ana insisted that it was in another room and earlier than my event. If I hadn't had Letty Gobel, my day-of-coordinator, I would've been terribly nervous about leaving my items for decor and not knowing if someone from the other party would've taken something and it being a mess.
Wedding Day Review: As I hired a day-of-coordinator, I did not have direct contact with the venue regarding the arrival of the hired vendors and logistics, but was told they went back and forth with the timing. However, when I arrived to the reception site with my husband, we were kindly greeted by the catering manager and assistant (Ana and Jessica), we were immediately asked what we wanted to do/go and provided with a plate of our selected hors d'oeuvres, which were a treat! Throughout the night the two ladies were present and seemed to have things under control with their staff. Again, I had a DOC so I know she did many things as well.
On the food: All my guests raved about the five station buffet, and I had sampled a few items from it and it was scrumptious! In addition,the presentation of each station was very elegant and at the carving station there were three chefs all dressed up adding to the poshness of the event. I hired a second bartender and it seemed to help with the traffic of guests ordering drinks, and had no problem there. The waiting staff was very courteous.
All in all, the night was a success! :-D
Overall Grade: B+
Photography: Luis Manuel Photography http://www.luismanuel.com/index.php
Just like my reception venue, I booked this vendor a year in advance and was not aware of too many other photographers.
Michelle, Luis' wife, has been very professional in contacting me and providing all the information requested. They offer about 4 types of packages that include a matted album, a CD w/ images, unlimited shots of the event, 5 hour coverage, and a few portraits starting at $1750.
At my last meeting, we discussed what group photos would be taken and I said how I wanted detail shots of the reception as well. We also reviewed the types albums they provide. Michelle does most/all of the album designing.
Wedding Day Review: Luis showed up to the church on time and came in to the limo to take pics of my father and I in various angles. He followed the instructions given to him by the church's coordinator and priest and when the ceremony was over we were given only 15 minutes to take the posed shots at the altar. During this time a few of my family members were taking digital pictures as Luis was trying to take his, I could see he was annoyed by that as some of the flashing would interrupt his shots so he would joke w/ my family to stop. Some of them took this the wrong way, but I totally understood where he was coming from as a pro. Outside the church the sun was already setting and there was construction on the roadway to the church's entrance so Luis made sure we did not have any pictures in that direction, the lighting was great and he took some fantastic pics of my hubby and I at the church's doors and showed us right away!
At the reception Luis immediately got to photographing the reception, but some of the guests started to sit at the tables instead of being outside during the cocktail hour. He took photos of all the moments (cake cutting, garter toss, bouquet, etc)
I have yet to see his photos, but am hoping they look fantastic.
Overall Grade: A, Pending album review
Dress and veil: Leggenda's Bridal in Coral Gables
Mon Cheri in satin ivory w/ sweetheart neckline, mermaid cut.
($90 f/ alterations on dress, which included hemming and bustle.)
I tried various other bridal shops but they were either out of my budget OR didn't have a mermaid cut dress that wasn't made of lace. When I went to Leggenda's I actually tried on an oyster colored dress, which ended up being the one I bought but in ivory. So I never saw the actual dress and color until 7 months later! When I saw it on the hanger I was initially horrified and felt that it was a cheap looking dress, but when I put it on and the lady turned off the lights to show the "glowing effect of the dress" then I was totally loving my dress! I ordered my dress in August '08 and received it in April '09. Also, three days before my wedding I took it in for ironing and it was returned within an hour.
Overall Grade: A
Groom's Tux: Hugo Boss (Aventura Mall)
My fiance checked out the Men's Warehouse tuxes but didn't like the fabrics and already wears HB suits, so I told him to just buy one. Susana Rodriguez, the assistant manager, is very down to earth and helpful in finding the right suit for your guy. Alterations were also used and completed promptly. The final product made my husband look very dapper!
Overall Grade: A+
Bridesmaids (BM) & Jr. BM Dresses: Daisy Tarsi in Coral Gables; Lazaro & Jim Helm;
I had my mind set on getting a metallic blue and found a lovely style from the said vendor. I was considering of buying the dresses online but but wasn't comfortable buying something that might/might not be the real thing and didn't know of anyone who had. From my research only two local places in Miami carried the Lazaro & Him Helm so I went to the closest. At the store, the sales lady said that the alterations were overpriced there and recommended I go elsewhere and I ended up using my neighbor who I later found out makes wedding gowns and all sorts of alterations! With the purchase of 5 dresses I was given a 10% discount, although still pricey I ordered the dresses in late January (paid more than half the amount for the deposit) and received them at the end of May.
I called in between the waiting period to confirm arrival time and to make sure everything was going well. I received a call that the dresses were ready and picked them up promptly. When I asked about ironing the dresses as they were wrinkled the owner said to bring them the week of the wedding. So Just like my dress, I took the BM dresses for ironing but was told that they wouldn't be ready until two days later (a day before the wedding) and made the appointment. I was also informed that the fabric (silk taffeta) was very delicate and could not get wet as it would be permanently ruined. I said there should be a label or something informing the customer of this, so I asked the owner, why aren't there tags informing of the delicate nature of the fabric and she answered, "oh the Vera Wang dresses have them, but they're too big and we cut them off." WTF!
So in June when I arrived at the store carrying 5 dresses I find that the store was closed and I was getting upset. It took about five minutes for someone to arrive and open the store and then asked me if I had purchased the dresses (hello, the dresses were still in the bags provided by Daisy Tarsi that even had the name all over!) so I had to play it cool and dropped off the dresses and came back within an hour to get in writing that I had left those dresses there. I asked if I they would be ready at least by the end day and was told by the owner to call and see. I said "I'm getting married in two days and have a million things to do, can you please call me to let me know when I can pick up the dresses," the owner said to her employee to "write it down in the calendar."
Did I ever get a call from them? No. For two days I continuously called to follow-up on the status. The customer service there seriously lacks, starting with the owner who doesn't seem to care about the customer once she's got your money. However, when I picked up the dresses and inspected them, just as they did when I dropped them off I was helped by another employee to take the dresses to my car, which surprised me considering how I was treated the days before.
So basically I just want to inform you that Daisy Tarsi is overpriced and sucks when it comes to customer service!
Overall Grade: C
Groomsmen & Father's Tuxes: MW Tux (Aventura & Dadeland Malls)
At the Aventura store the young lady who worked there helped the groomsmen with the sizing and styles. The same could be said at the Dadeland store where the young man called me to review the styles of vests for my dad online.
I was not impressed with the quality of the ties and shirts and you would have to buy the handkerchiefs that would go in the outer pocket of the jacket and they didn't even match the ties in color. The actual tuxedos are okay and have adjusting buckles for varying waist widths. One of my uncles had a lot of trouble with it that it was loose and he had to carry the pants from the pockets! lol
When I went to pick up my dad's tuxedo I unzipped the bag and saw the shirt, vest, and tie had fallen from the hanger and requested it be ironed, which was promptly done.
Also, tuxes must be returned the next day or you're charged $20 for each day it's late.
Overall Grade: B
Florist: Gil Sosa
I choose him because his work is top-notch and his prices are not ;) At my first meeting with him he was really funny and showed my sister and I tons of pictures around my color scheme and suggested I change my centerpieces (see above color inspiration picture) as they wouldn't go well with the venue. I was hesitant at first because I felt that he was pushing what I think to be his signature centerpiece, but after seeing the demo at my venue I completely agree w/ his point of view. He isn't the best w/ communication, especially if you're event is months in advance but he was prompt w/ sending out a detailed list and pricing of the floral arrangements and bouquets discussed. He also informed me of when he received payment. Also, he was on time at the trial, something he prides himself in.
His son's wedding was actually a week before mine and he was kind enough to invite me and his other clients to view the reception decor a day before, which was absolutely breathtaking and stunning.
The week of my wedding Gil called to follow-up and review the contract detail by detail.
Wedding Day Review: When I arrived at the church (30 minutes early and a mass was going on) I contacted Gil via phone and asked about my bouquet and bridal party flowers, he said his staff was waiting for the mass to end to setup the altar pieces and provide us w/ the flowers. They absolutely delivered and the bouquet looked fantastic and was really heavy! The ribbon was done beautifully as was that of my bridal party's bouquets. The boutonnieres were also superb. The altar arrangements looks awesome, but the church placed those BEHIND the altar table and not on its sides :-(
At the reception, the centerpieces were so elegant and looked wicked with vase containing the blue water and long orchid stem. The sweetheart table looked just like the original floral arrangement I showed Gil at our first meeting but in ivory and included orchids too! The cake table was just as beautiful with a variety of orchids surrounding the cake. Finally, behind the sweetheart table there's a fireplace mantle that Gil decorated just beautifully.
Gil actually made the centerpiece arrangements on-site and was so generous with the flowers he put on display that made the reception look posh :) He truly delivered and used more flowers than what I paid for, which I am truly grateful. I would highly recommend Gil and use him again if I have a major event and require floral arrangements.
Overall Grade: A+
DJ/Lighting: Ubi's DJ & Lighting
I only met with him for this service and felt that he was very informative and even provided insight on my venue as far as service and food quality too! I had read from other brides that he isn't always the DJ at the wedding and asked him about this, which he said that depending on the music selection was how he determined who would be assigned for the night. Also, I booked him for uplighting and later emailed him about recommendations for colors.
He said that two weeks before the wedding to submit the playlist on his website and he'd contact me.
In searching for tracks for the reception, my fiance and I compiled a list of songs (Artist/Song Title) from a variety of genres and kept our guests in mind for the dancing portion, so we did our research using iTunes and Beatport.com.
Two weeks before the wedding, I submitted my playlist online and called him to make sure all was well. He said that I was the first bride to submit an entire playlist for a wedding and that I had to remove several tracks and limit it to 30, which I did and apologized for sending too many if that was the case. (My fiance and I are really into music, so much that he's a DJ and I use to have my own college radio show.) Anyhow, I promptly edited my list and let Ubi know. When we spoke again, I said it must be a good thing that I had given him a specific playlist but then he said "it's good for you, but not for us because it's more work." I thought to myself, but that's why I'm paying you for this! So I told him that for every song that I listed, I found it on iTunes or Beatport.com and it would be easy to locate. He seemed to take offense and said that he and his Djs don't use iPods for Djing and I was like ok, just letting you know WHERE you can find the songs. Ubi said he would be able to get the requested tracks and that it wouldn't be a problem.
Wedding Day Music Review: Ubi was not my DJ, rather it was Luis. I was not informed until I contacted my DOC. When I arrived at the reception, Luis was elegantly dressed in a tux and greeted us as a true professional. He briefly spoke w/ my husband about song selections and had the cocktail hour music (lounge/ambient) playing inside (songs that we had selected).
Dinner music (Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, etc.) was played just as requested and guests were enjoying the vibe.
Luis mentioned how some of the first dance songs were too long and if we didn't mind him editing them, so we were really happy he asked us and we said sure. When it came time for the bridal party entrance songs and first dances, Luis' MC skills were impressive and very professional, not too loud/obnoxious.
When it came time for the dancing portion of the night, Luis started off with the songs I listed but then started to play songs that wasn't on our list and I wasn't going to let it bother me, but I noticed that it was clearing the dancefloor. Since a few people were dancing, I didn't say anything to him and just made my rounds and greeted my guests with my husband. Luckily, 30 minutes later or so it was time for the fun part of the night: bouquet toss, garter removal, cake cutting, etc. So those requested songs were played and got the crowd roaring.
But, just like Luis did earlier he played other songs that were not on the list and slowly my guests started to leave. I'm not completely blaming Luis for emptying the dancefloor because it was getting late and some guests had to go, but I was disappointed that it wasn't more of a party atmosphere in which Ubi is supposedly known for maintaining at weddings.
At one point one family member said, "your DJ is playing too much of the same thing, do you mind if I tell him to change it up and play some Spanish songs," and I quickly said, "yeah, go for it!" So as requested, Luis played the Spanish dancing songs that were on our list and people started to get up and dance and get into the party vibe, but there weren't as many people at the reception by this time.
Wedding Day Uplighting Review: As soon as I entered the reception room, I was floored by how awesome the place looked with the requested blue uplighting.
Overall Grade: B (DJ), A (Uplighting)
DOC: Letty Gobel, LMG Events
While doubtful of giving a complete stranger access to my contracts and such, I used a variety of vendors and felt the need to hire a day-of-coordinator (DOC).
I went with recommendations from The Knot's SoFla board and met w/ Letty. My fiance and I immediately liked her and felt she was perfect for the job, so far she has definitely gone above and beyond.
She even looked for a sugar-free groom's cake and printed my menus (they were slightly problematic).
We met about 3 times and I gave her the personal items for display at the reception. By hiring her, I felt more relaxed and calm days prior to my wedding day.
Wedding Day Review: Letty and I went back and forth via text messages and she came by my house as I was getting ready to wish me luck. She stayed at Doral Park to receive all the vendor products/services and coordinated the logistics. She worked with her assistant and both did a lovely job in keeping my fiance and I on track with the timeline of events, receiving the gifts, and staying after the night was over to collect my belongings. Everything was exactly as I requested it to be placed. She also helped me get my dress bustled. If there were any real problems that night, I never heard about and truly enjoyed the night. This is a service that I felt was a true investment.
I asked her to help me find a vendor for bouquet preservation and the next day she immediately contacted me about it, in the end I didn't do it and she took it to my sister. She also took my cake stand back to Edda's while I went on my honeymoon.
Overall Grade: A+
Transportation: Padrino's Limousine Service, 2 white limos.
The location is east of the airport and in a warehouse district. There's a variety of vehicles in their fleet. If you want a classic car, they have them but not as many as Meilan. Since I'm not getting a vintage vehicle, it was not an issue and my fiance and I selected an SUV and limo. The prices include tip and the invoice was immediately emailed to me. More to come after the wedding and actual service.
(I went to Meilan first but when I arrived and even called in advance we looked at the beautiful vehicles at the garage and waited for someone to come and meet us as I told the lady that we were there and she pretty much ordered me to go through the office. I found it a bit confusing as to where to locate the office. When my fiance and I got inside the lady was busy on the phone and took about 5 minutes. When she opened the schedule, very old school notebook, she said that she had booked the last limo the day before and asked if we wanted a Rolls Royce, which was not in my budget so we proceeded to the next vendor.)
Wedding Day Review: The drivers for both cars called about 40 minutes before the arrival time to confirm addresses and arrived 10 minutes later. Both gentelmen were dressed in suits and assisted us. The drive was smooth and we also arrived to the church early and this gave me the chance to soak in the day and enjoy the fun I was having with my bridal party and take pics on my digital camera. I also got to see all my guests enter the church without them seeing me, so it was a really great experience.
After the ceremony, the driver waited for my husband and I to take our photos w/ the photographer and drove us to the reception. On the way, he drove at a comfortable speed that gave my husband and I to talk about getting ready and ceremony.
Overall Grade: A+
Make-up: George
An old friend recommended George who use to work for MAC and is now self-employed and tag-teams w/ Gus. I had my first and only trial w/ him at his apartment, he is great for conversation and makes the time fly. I went w/ fake lashes and gave him a few pictures of what I was looking for. I don't usually wear a lot of makeup so I felt that it was too heavy and some of the eye shadow was too pink for my liking. He said that w/ all the photography and wear that the color wasn't too much and would be fine. I took a digital picture and he was completely right about it. I did request to change the lipgloss color to something more natural and coral as my eyes were dramatic w/ pinks and gold and eyeliner. I don't have pics of the trial as my MacBook's hard drive died a few weeks ago and I LOST my wedding files and stuff :(
Wedding Day Review: George arrived to my house 5 minutes before scheduled (I was still at the salon w/ Gus!) and started to work on my family members. He was very professional and asked where he could set up and worked on over 6 people in my living room. He actually worked in the dark because the lighting was too yellow for him, but it seemed to have worked for him!
He asked me how I wanted my sister's makeup and I showed him a picture and did a fantastic job.
When it was my turn he dicussed the colors we used at the trial and I told him how I wanted to change the long fake eyelashes to something shorter (I spoke with him a few days before so he could bring them) and showed him another picture, so he proceeded to work on me (it took about 45 minutes but felt like 10). Everyone was really impressed and it was the best I've ever looked! He is very focused on his work and is more of an artist than a "makeup guy" he knows his colors and does wonders.
He offerred to help me put on my dress and veil and it was fun! Never did I imagine my makeup artist to be the one dressing me on my wedding day!
Overall Grade: A+
Hair: Gus @ D&L Hair Studio
I also had my hair done w/ Gus who's roomate is George and the trial hair was too high for my liking and felt too messy for the amount of money that I paid. Gus said that because it was only a trial he would make it look more polished on my wedding day. I will be going to the salon he works at, which happens to be owned by "Dee" the winner of Bravo's Sheer Genius and it's a fantastic place w/ a great vibe. The only drawback to the salon is that it's in Sunset and you have to pay for parking and when it comes to tipping you have to bring spare cash or pay w/ your debit card and request cash back, and it's a pricey place.
Wedding Day Review: I went to the salon and showed Gus the Emily Blunt picture of how I wanted my hair for the wedding. He promptly started to blowry my curly hair and chat away. The salon was surprisingly slow that day, which was to my advantage, and his co-workers offered to help him so I basically had a glam squad working on my hair. Gus used a curling iron and bobby pins to achieve the hair-do and loads of hairspray. I was at the salon for a full hour, but had a blast. I also brought my hair jewelry (see pics above) and he placed them on the right, back side of my hair and it looked quite lovely.
When I got home and bent over t o get something on the floor, one of my hair jewels was loose and a bobby pin fell out. I had George help me with this but it was stubborn and kept on falling most of the night so in some pictures I have a loose curl at the back of my head.
Overall Grade: A
Linens and Table Number Holders: Leyani Linens
I'm paying $20 f/ each table linen (10) plus a delivery and pickup fee.
At a bridal show I saw the linen and absolutely wanted those for my wedding and as my fiance and I are going w/ a fleur-de-lis motif we are getting table number holders in gold as well. When I called to borrow a sample of my selected linen for a table mock-up at the venue, the ladies at Leyani could not find the linen in the warehouse. I waited over 15 minutes with the cleaning staff and they told me that the linen wasn't even in stock. I was then given the one linen they had with the samples and nervous about them having the 10 linens
Wedding Day Review: All the correct linens were on the tables as ordered as well as the table numbre holders.
Overall Grade: A-
Glassware: A Party 4 Less, I had to order your basic water goblet and fluted champagne glasses as my venue has these hideous glasses that look like they're from the dollar store--no joke! I received a prompt email with the quote for the glasses and everything went smoothly.
Wedding Day Review: As far as I know, all the glasses ordered arrived and all the tables looked great!
Overall Grade: A
Chiavari Chairs: Hitched Events,
Fantastic deal @ $4 p/ chair compared to my venue $7 p/chair + 20% service fee
Luis is very quick with emails/calls/text messages. He called the week of the wedding to follow-up and then contacted my DOC for the logisitics.
Wedding Day Review: 100 Chairs were ordered and they sent 4 extra and made the room look elegant. At the end of the night (1:30 a.m.) his staff was waiting outside with the truck for pickup as my venue requested.
Overall Grade: A
Invitations: Encore (purchased online from An Occasion to Celebrate stationary store based in California)
Overall Grade: A
Guestbook: DIY from Blurb
The software is slightly complicated and the book was smaller than expected. Paper quality is nicer than Shutterfly's albums.
Overall Grade: B
Paper Menu: Paper & More (website)
A+ speedy delivery, ordered and received items in 2-3 days f/ reg. ground shipping, fantastic paper quality on champagne metallic card stock 5x7 (100 sheets) this will not work with regular laser printers and is more of a backing!
Overall Grade: B
Paper Ceremony Program: Paper & More (website) see above but champagne regular paper 8 1/2 x 11 (100 sheets)
I ended up using this paper as well for the menus (THANKS Letty!)
Overall Grade: A
I went this this church because it was the easiest to book and the required steps were quite simple and short-- show up to the orientation, pay a deposit for my day $450, provide ONLY the baptismal certificates, attend the Engaged Encounter (total waste of time & $100), turn in marriage license, and attend the rehearsal. One thing that I didn't like is the fact that I cannot bring my own musicians, I would've loved to have a string ensemble but they said "no" and that I had to go w/ their music director who charges $300. I don't get to hear him until my actual wedding day. I'm trying to negotiate this music fee at the moment. The infamous Father Alberto was to have performed the wedding ceremony but there was a scandal and so I was assigned another priest, and it was no biggie to me.
Unfortunately, right next to the church a massive parking garage was under construction and the City of Miami Beach had construction on Lenox (the road in front of the church's main entrance).
Wedding Day Review: Walking to the church with the construction was a little tricky because of my dress and shoes, but I was ok and my guests parked in the back parking lot of the church and easily found their way without having to step on any construction debris.
The church's wedding coordinator, Adriana, was very organized and professional in getting us organized in walking down the aisle and reviewing our cues for the ceremony. The music director, Ivan Diaz, performed beautifully at the ceremony. Our priest, Father Julio Alvarez, performed a lovely and relatively quick ceremony with a thoughtful homily.
We were given 15 minutes for pictures and went a bit over so were warned by the coordinator who gave us an extra 5.
Overall Grade: A
Reception Site: Doral Park Country Club
I booked this venue waaaaay in advance and got a pretty good deal w/ a buffet dinner and 5 hour open bar package and I didn't have to pay a rental fee, which is something I'd have to pay with other venues. However, for cocktail hour guests would have to walk by the dining area w/ tables and see the setup because there is no wall.
One drawback (at the time) was that I had to find my own florist, dj, cake, lighting and any other thing as they didn't provide this. Looking back, I'm glad that it turned out this way as I was able to find vendors to my liking and avoided the 20% service fee that's tacked on the regular rate and taxes. I hear that now they do upgraded packages w/ the vendors.
I changed my wedding date w/ Doral Park a few times and when I finally booked a date w/ the church I asked DP to please change it and resend the contract. The catering manager did not charge me the $250 fee that the contract stated if I changed the date. She did however take over a week to get back to me w/ the papers after I had already booked the date w/ the church and was stressing over this.
With my selected package, basic linens and chair covers were offered but I didn't like them. Last year I upgraded the chairs but was charged a whooping $7 for each (and I needed 100)! Two months before my big day I began to do some research and got a fantastic deal w/ Hitched, who happened to be the very same vendor Doral Park was going to use. The assistant at Doral Park, Jessica, was very helpful and quick w/ communication via email/phone, but when I wanted to get the chairs removed from my catering agreement she didn't want to accommodate me. Luckily, her boss, Ana, said it was ok and took it off. Another thing I ended up upgrading was the glassware because it seriously looked cheesy like it came from the Dollar Store or something.
Finally, when I went to the last meeting prior to the wedding I was told that there would be another wedding reception at the venue after being told a year ago that they don't double-book events at Doral Park. I brought this up but Ana insisted that it was in another room and earlier than my event. If I hadn't had Letty Gobel, my day-of-coordinator, I would've been terribly nervous about leaving my items for decor and not knowing if someone from the other party would've taken something and it being a mess.
Wedding Day Review: As I hired a day-of-coordinator, I did not have direct contact with the venue regarding the arrival of the hired vendors and logistics, but was told they went back and forth with the timing. However, when I arrived to the reception site with my husband, we were kindly greeted by the catering manager and assistant (Ana and Jessica), we were immediately asked what we wanted to do/go and provided with a plate of our selected hors d'oeuvres, which were a treat! Throughout the night the two ladies were present and seemed to have things under control with their staff. Again, I had a DOC so I know she did many things as well.
On the food: All my guests raved about the five station buffet, and I had sampled a few items from it and it was scrumptious! In addition,the presentation of each station was very elegant and at the carving station there were three chefs all dressed up adding to the poshness of the event. I hired a second bartender and it seemed to help with the traffic of guests ordering drinks, and had no problem there. The waiting staff was very courteous.
All in all, the night was a success! :-D
Overall Grade: B+
Photography: Luis Manuel Photography http://www.luismanuel.com/index.php
Just like my reception venue, I booked this vendor a year in advance and was not aware of too many other photographers.
Michelle, Luis' wife, has been very professional in contacting me and providing all the information requested. They offer about 4 types of packages that include a matted album, a CD w/ images, unlimited shots of the event, 5 hour coverage, and a few portraits starting at $1750.
At my last meeting, we discussed what group photos would be taken and I said how I wanted detail shots of the reception as well. We also reviewed the types albums they provide. Michelle does most/all of the album designing.
Wedding Day Review: Luis showed up to the church on time and came in to the limo to take pics of my father and I in various angles. He followed the instructions given to him by the church's coordinator and priest and when the ceremony was over we were given only 15 minutes to take the posed shots at the altar. During this time a few of my family members were taking digital pictures as Luis was trying to take his, I could see he was annoyed by that as some of the flashing would interrupt his shots so he would joke w/ my family to stop. Some of them took this the wrong way, but I totally understood where he was coming from as a pro. Outside the church the sun was already setting and there was construction on the roadway to the church's entrance so Luis made sure we did not have any pictures in that direction, the lighting was great and he took some fantastic pics of my hubby and I at the church's doors and showed us right away!
At the reception Luis immediately got to photographing the reception, but some of the guests started to sit at the tables instead of being outside during the cocktail hour. He took photos of all the moments (cake cutting, garter toss, bouquet, etc)
I have yet to see his photos, but am hoping they look fantastic.
Overall Grade: A, Pending album review
Dress and veil: Leggenda's Bridal in Coral Gables
Mon Cheri in satin ivory w/ sweetheart neckline, mermaid cut.
($90 f/ alterations on dress, which included hemming and bustle.)
I tried various other bridal shops but they were either out of my budget OR didn't have a mermaid cut dress that wasn't made of lace. When I went to Leggenda's I actually tried on an oyster colored dress, which ended up being the one I bought but in ivory. So I never saw the actual dress and color until 7 months later! When I saw it on the hanger I was initially horrified and felt that it was a cheap looking dress, but when I put it on and the lady turned off the lights to show the "glowing effect of the dress" then I was totally loving my dress! I ordered my dress in August '08 and received it in April '09. Also, three days before my wedding I took it in for ironing and it was returned within an hour.
Overall Grade: A
Groom's Tux: Hugo Boss (Aventura Mall)
My fiance checked out the Men's Warehouse tuxes but didn't like the fabrics and already wears HB suits, so I told him to just buy one. Susana Rodriguez, the assistant manager, is very down to earth and helpful in finding the right suit for your guy. Alterations were also used and completed promptly. The final product made my husband look very dapper!
Overall Grade: A+
Bridesmaids (BM) & Jr. BM Dresses: Daisy Tarsi in Coral Gables; Lazaro & Jim Helm;
I had my mind set on getting a metallic blue and found a lovely style from the said vendor. I was considering of buying the dresses online but but wasn't comfortable buying something that might/might not be the real thing and didn't know of anyone who had. From my research only two local places in Miami carried the Lazaro & Him Helm so I went to the closest. At the store, the sales lady said that the alterations were overpriced there and recommended I go elsewhere and I ended up using my neighbor who I later found out makes wedding gowns and all sorts of alterations! With the purchase of 5 dresses I was given a 10% discount, although still pricey I ordered the dresses in late January (paid more than half the amount for the deposit) and received them at the end of May.
I called in between the waiting period to confirm arrival time and to make sure everything was going well. I received a call that the dresses were ready and picked them up promptly. When I asked about ironing the dresses as they were wrinkled the owner said to bring them the week of the wedding. So Just like my dress, I took the BM dresses for ironing but was told that they wouldn't be ready until two days later (a day before the wedding) and made the appointment. I was also informed that the fabric (silk taffeta) was very delicate and could not get wet as it would be permanently ruined. I said there should be a label or something informing the customer of this, so I asked the owner, why aren't there tags informing of the delicate nature of the fabric and she answered, "oh the Vera Wang dresses have them, but they're too big and we cut them off." WTF!
So in June when I arrived at the store carrying 5 dresses I find that the store was closed and I was getting upset. It took about five minutes for someone to arrive and open the store and then asked me if I had purchased the dresses (hello, the dresses were still in the bags provided by Daisy Tarsi that even had the name all over!) so I had to play it cool and dropped off the dresses and came back within an hour to get in writing that I had left those dresses there. I asked if I they would be ready at least by the end day and was told by the owner to call and see. I said "I'm getting married in two days and have a million things to do, can you please call me to let me know when I can pick up the dresses," the owner said to her employee to "write it down in the calendar."
Did I ever get a call from them? No. For two days I continuously called to follow-up on the status. The customer service there seriously lacks, starting with the owner who doesn't seem to care about the customer once she's got your money. However, when I picked up the dresses and inspected them, just as they did when I dropped them off I was helped by another employee to take the dresses to my car, which surprised me considering how I was treated the days before.
So basically I just want to inform you that Daisy Tarsi is overpriced and sucks when it comes to customer service!
Overall Grade: C
Groomsmen & Father's Tuxes: MW Tux (Aventura & Dadeland Malls)
At the Aventura store the young lady who worked there helped the groomsmen with the sizing and styles. The same could be said at the Dadeland store where the young man called me to review the styles of vests for my dad online.
I was not impressed with the quality of the ties and shirts and you would have to buy the handkerchiefs that would go in the outer pocket of the jacket and they didn't even match the ties in color. The actual tuxedos are okay and have adjusting buckles for varying waist widths. One of my uncles had a lot of trouble with it that it was loose and he had to carry the pants from the pockets! lol
When I went to pick up my dad's tuxedo I unzipped the bag and saw the shirt, vest, and tie had fallen from the hanger and requested it be ironed, which was promptly done.
Also, tuxes must be returned the next day or you're charged $20 for each day it's late.
Overall Grade: B
Florist: Gil Sosa
I choose him because his work is top-notch and his prices are not ;) At my first meeting with him he was really funny and showed my sister and I tons of pictures around my color scheme and suggested I change my centerpieces (see above color inspiration picture) as they wouldn't go well with the venue. I was hesitant at first because I felt that he was pushing what I think to be his signature centerpiece, but after seeing the demo at my venue I completely agree w/ his point of view. He isn't the best w/ communication, especially if you're event is months in advance but he was prompt w/ sending out a detailed list and pricing of the floral arrangements and bouquets discussed. He also informed me of when he received payment. Also, he was on time at the trial, something he prides himself in.
His son's wedding was actually a week before mine and he was kind enough to invite me and his other clients to view the reception decor a day before, which was absolutely breathtaking and stunning.
The week of my wedding Gil called to follow-up and review the contract detail by detail.
Wedding Day Review: When I arrived at the church (30 minutes early and a mass was going on) I contacted Gil via phone and asked about my bouquet and bridal party flowers, he said his staff was waiting for the mass to end to setup the altar pieces and provide us w/ the flowers. They absolutely delivered and the bouquet looked fantastic and was really heavy! The ribbon was done beautifully as was that of my bridal party's bouquets. The boutonnieres were also superb. The altar arrangements looks awesome, but the church placed those BEHIND the altar table and not on its sides :-(
At the reception, the centerpieces were so elegant and looked wicked with vase containing the blue water and long orchid stem. The sweetheart table looked just like the original floral arrangement I showed Gil at our first meeting but in ivory and included orchids too! The cake table was just as beautiful with a variety of orchids surrounding the cake. Finally, behind the sweetheart table there's a fireplace mantle that Gil decorated just beautifully.
Gil actually made the centerpiece arrangements on-site and was so generous with the flowers he put on display that made the reception look posh :) He truly delivered and used more flowers than what I paid for, which I am truly grateful. I would highly recommend Gil and use him again if I have a major event and require floral arrangements.
Overall Grade: A+
DJ/Lighting: Ubi's DJ & Lighting
I only met with him for this service and felt that he was very informative and even provided insight on my venue as far as service and food quality too! I had read from other brides that he isn't always the DJ at the wedding and asked him about this, which he said that depending on the music selection was how he determined who would be assigned for the night. Also, I booked him for uplighting and later emailed him about recommendations for colors.
He said that two weeks before the wedding to submit the playlist on his website and he'd contact me.
In searching for tracks for the reception, my fiance and I compiled a list of songs (Artist/Song Title) from a variety of genres and kept our guests in mind for the dancing portion, so we did our research using iTunes and Beatport.com.
Two weeks before the wedding, I submitted my playlist online and called him to make sure all was well. He said that I was the first bride to submit an entire playlist for a wedding and that I had to remove several tracks and limit it to 30, which I did and apologized for sending too many if that was the case. (My fiance and I are really into music, so much that he's a DJ and I use to have my own college radio show.) Anyhow, I promptly edited my list and let Ubi know. When we spoke again, I said it must be a good thing that I had given him a specific playlist but then he said "it's good for you, but not for us because it's more work." I thought to myself, but that's why I'm paying you for this! So I told him that for every song that I listed, I found it on iTunes or Beatport.com and it would be easy to locate. He seemed to take offense and said that he and his Djs don't use iPods for Djing and I was like ok, just letting you know WHERE you can find the songs. Ubi said he would be able to get the requested tracks and that it wouldn't be a problem.
Wedding Day Music Review: Ubi was not my DJ, rather it was Luis. I was not informed until I contacted my DOC. When I arrived at the reception, Luis was elegantly dressed in a tux and greeted us as a true professional. He briefly spoke w/ my husband about song selections and had the cocktail hour music (lounge/ambient) playing inside (songs that we had selected).
Dinner music (Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, etc.) was played just as requested and guests were enjoying the vibe.
Luis mentioned how some of the first dance songs were too long and if we didn't mind him editing them, so we were really happy he asked us and we said sure. When it came time for the bridal party entrance songs and first dances, Luis' MC skills were impressive and very professional, not too loud/obnoxious.
When it came time for the dancing portion of the night, Luis started off with the songs I listed but then started to play songs that wasn't on our list and I wasn't going to let it bother me, but I noticed that it was clearing the dancefloor. Since a few people were dancing, I didn't say anything to him and just made my rounds and greeted my guests with my husband. Luckily, 30 minutes later or so it was time for the fun part of the night: bouquet toss, garter removal, cake cutting, etc. So those requested songs were played and got the crowd roaring.
But, just like Luis did earlier he played other songs that were not on the list and slowly my guests started to leave. I'm not completely blaming Luis for emptying the dancefloor because it was getting late and some guests had to go, but I was disappointed that it wasn't more of a party atmosphere in which Ubi is supposedly known for maintaining at weddings.
At one point one family member said, "your DJ is playing too much of the same thing, do you mind if I tell him to change it up and play some Spanish songs," and I quickly said, "yeah, go for it!" So as requested, Luis played the Spanish dancing songs that were on our list and people started to get up and dance and get into the party vibe, but there weren't as many people at the reception by this time.
Wedding Day Uplighting Review: As soon as I entered the reception room, I was floored by how awesome the place looked with the requested blue uplighting.
Overall Grade: B (DJ), A (Uplighting)
DOC: Letty Gobel, LMG Events
While doubtful of giving a complete stranger access to my contracts and such, I used a variety of vendors and felt the need to hire a day-of-coordinator (DOC).
I went with recommendations from The Knot's SoFla board and met w/ Letty. My fiance and I immediately liked her and felt she was perfect for the job, so far she has definitely gone above and beyond.
She even looked for a sugar-free groom's cake and printed my menus (they were slightly problematic).
We met about 3 times and I gave her the personal items for display at the reception. By hiring her, I felt more relaxed and calm days prior to my wedding day.
Wedding Day Review: Letty and I went back and forth via text messages and she came by my house as I was getting ready to wish me luck. She stayed at Doral Park to receive all the vendor products/services and coordinated the logistics. She worked with her assistant and both did a lovely job in keeping my fiance and I on track with the timeline of events, receiving the gifts, and staying after the night was over to collect my belongings. Everything was exactly as I requested it to be placed. She also helped me get my dress bustled. If there were any real problems that night, I never heard about and truly enjoyed the night. This is a service that I felt was a true investment.
I asked her to help me find a vendor for bouquet preservation and the next day she immediately contacted me about it, in the end I didn't do it and she took it to my sister. She also took my cake stand back to Edda's while I went on my honeymoon.
Overall Grade: A+
Transportation: Padrino's Limousine Service, 2 white limos.
The location is east of the airport and in a warehouse district. There's a variety of vehicles in their fleet. If you want a classic car, they have them but not as many as Meilan. Since I'm not getting a vintage vehicle, it was not an issue and my fiance and I selected an SUV and limo. The prices include tip and the invoice was immediately emailed to me. More to come after the wedding and actual service.
(I went to Meilan first but when I arrived and even called in advance we looked at the beautiful vehicles at the garage and waited for someone to come and meet us as I told the lady that we were there and she pretty much ordered me to go through the office. I found it a bit confusing as to where to locate the office. When my fiance and I got inside the lady was busy on the phone and took about 5 minutes. When she opened the schedule, very old school notebook, she said that she had booked the last limo the day before and asked if we wanted a Rolls Royce, which was not in my budget so we proceeded to the next vendor.)
Wedding Day Review: The drivers for both cars called about 40 minutes before the arrival time to confirm addresses and arrived 10 minutes later. Both gentelmen were dressed in suits and assisted us. The drive was smooth and we also arrived to the church early and this gave me the chance to soak in the day and enjoy the fun I was having with my bridal party and take pics on my digital camera. I also got to see all my guests enter the church without them seeing me, so it was a really great experience.
After the ceremony, the driver waited for my husband and I to take our photos w/ the photographer and drove us to the reception. On the way, he drove at a comfortable speed that gave my husband and I to talk about getting ready and ceremony.
Overall Grade: A+
Make-up: George
An old friend recommended George who use to work for MAC and is now self-employed and tag-teams w/ Gus. I had my first and only trial w/ him at his apartment, he is great for conversation and makes the time fly. I went w/ fake lashes and gave him a few pictures of what I was looking for. I don't usually wear a lot of makeup so I felt that it was too heavy and some of the eye shadow was too pink for my liking. He said that w/ all the photography and wear that the color wasn't too much and would be fine. I took a digital picture and he was completely right about it. I did request to change the lipgloss color to something more natural and coral as my eyes were dramatic w/ pinks and gold and eyeliner. I don't have pics of the trial as my MacBook's hard drive died a few weeks ago and I LOST my wedding files and stuff :(
Wedding Day Review: George arrived to my house 5 minutes before scheduled (I was still at the salon w/ Gus!) and started to work on my family members. He was very professional and asked where he could set up and worked on over 6 people in my living room. He actually worked in the dark because the lighting was too yellow for him, but it seemed to have worked for him!
He asked me how I wanted my sister's makeup and I showed him a picture and did a fantastic job.
When it was my turn he dicussed the colors we used at the trial and I told him how I wanted to change the long fake eyelashes to something shorter (I spoke with him a few days before so he could bring them) and showed him another picture, so he proceeded to work on me (it took about 45 minutes but felt like 10). Everyone was really impressed and it was the best I've ever looked! He is very focused on his work and is more of an artist than a "makeup guy" he knows his colors and does wonders.
He offerred to help me put on my dress and veil and it was fun! Never did I imagine my makeup artist to be the one dressing me on my wedding day!
Overall Grade: A+
Hair: Gus @ D&L Hair Studio
I also had my hair done w/ Gus who's roomate is George and the trial hair was too high for my liking and felt too messy for the amount of money that I paid. Gus said that because it was only a trial he would make it look more polished on my wedding day. I will be going to the salon he works at, which happens to be owned by "Dee" the winner of Bravo's Sheer Genius and it's a fantastic place w/ a great vibe. The only drawback to the salon is that it's in Sunset and you have to pay for parking and when it comes to tipping you have to bring spare cash or pay w/ your debit card and request cash back, and it's a pricey place.
Wedding Day Review: I went to the salon and showed Gus the Emily Blunt picture of how I wanted my hair for the wedding. He promptly started to blowry my curly hair and chat away. The salon was surprisingly slow that day, which was to my advantage, and his co-workers offered to help him so I basically had a glam squad working on my hair. Gus used a curling iron and bobby pins to achieve the hair-do and loads of hairspray. I was at the salon for a full hour, but had a blast. I also brought my hair jewelry (see pics above) and he placed them on the right, back side of my hair and it looked quite lovely.
When I got home and bent over t o get something on the floor, one of my hair jewels was loose and a bobby pin fell out. I had George help me with this but it was stubborn and kept on falling most of the night so in some pictures I have a loose curl at the back of my head.
Overall Grade: A
Linens and Table Number Holders: Leyani Linens
I'm paying $20 f/ each table linen (10) plus a delivery and pickup fee.
At a bridal show I saw the linen and absolutely wanted those for my wedding and as my fiance and I are going w/ a fleur-de-lis motif we are getting table number holders in gold as well. When I called to borrow a sample of my selected linen for a table mock-up at the venue, the ladies at Leyani could not find the linen in the warehouse. I waited over 15 minutes with the cleaning staff and they told me that the linen wasn't even in stock. I was then given the one linen they had with the samples and nervous about them having the 10 linens
Wedding Day Review: All the correct linens were on the tables as ordered as well as the table numbre holders.
Overall Grade: A-
Glassware: A Party 4 Less, I had to order your basic water goblet and fluted champagne glasses as my venue has these hideous glasses that look like they're from the dollar store--no joke! I received a prompt email with the quote for the glasses and everything went smoothly.
Wedding Day Review: As far as I know, all the glasses ordered arrived and all the tables looked great!
Overall Grade: A
Chiavari Chairs: Hitched Events,
Fantastic deal @ $4 p/ chair compared to my venue $7 p/chair + 20% service fee
Luis is very quick with emails/calls/text messages. He called the week of the wedding to follow-up and then contacted my DOC for the logisitics.
Wedding Day Review: 100 Chairs were ordered and they sent 4 extra and made the room look elegant. At the end of the night (1:30 a.m.) his staff was waiting outside with the truck for pickup as my venue requested.
Overall Grade: A
Invitations: Encore (purchased online from An Occasion to Celebrate stationary store based in California)
Overall Grade: A
Guestbook: DIY from Blurb
The software is slightly complicated and the book was smaller than expected. Paper quality is nicer than Shutterfly's albums.
Overall Grade: B
Paper Menu: Paper & More (website)
A+ speedy delivery, ordered and received items in 2-3 days f/ reg. ground shipping, fantastic paper quality on champagne metallic card stock 5x7 (100 sheets) this will not work with regular laser printers and is more of a backing!
Overall Grade: B
Paper Ceremony Program: Paper & More (website) see above but champagne regular paper 8 1/2 x 11 (100 sheets)
I ended up using this paper as well for the menus (THANKS Letty!)
Overall Grade: A
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