I have used this board so much over the past year and a half
of wedding planning and it was so helpful! I wanted to make sure I wrote a review for all
of the vendors that were involved in our wedding and maybe it will help some of
you too! Our wedding was the first
weekend in December and everything went PERFECT!! I really cannot complain
about anything. Good luck to all of the brides to be out there and enjoy every moment of it!!! If you have any questions about any of the vendors feel free to message me or comment on this discussion!
Wedding Planner –
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I did a lot of the planning because I really enjoyed it, but
I work a lot of hours and had SO MANY questions and ideas that it was very helpful to
have Shelley turn my ideas into reality! I could email or text her at any time
and she would be there to help me. She
was constantly researching things for me and sending me all of the information.
My mom and I did not have to worry about a thing leading up to the wedding and
the day of the wedding was completely stress-free. Having Shelley by my side on
our wedding day was one of the best decisions I made during the entire process. I cannot say enough nice things about her, but she will be a friend for life!
Even if you can only afford a Day-of or Month-of
Coordinator, I highly recommend it. Shelley’s prices are reasonable and she was
there for anything I could possibly need.
Venue/Caterer - Board
of Trade/Pigeon Catering
To be honest, I wanted to get married here ever since I saw
this venue 4 years ago! My fiancé also proposed at The Board of Trade because
he knew how much I LOVED this venue. Therefore, it was a no-brainer that we
would get married here, but Leah with Pigeon Catering really blew me away and
there was no other option! Leah was
always quick to answer my many questions, calls or emails and never seemed annoyed
by them. I really liked that I could
email her with questions about the food or venue and she was ALWAYS friendly. They recently did some upgrades and it has made this historic venue even better. I wish I could
have another event there or someone I know have a wedding there because I love
it so much!
Photographer – Roddy Orgeron
Roddy is awesome!!!! He took our engagement, bridal and the
wedding photos and they all came out SO GOOD! Roddy was very easy to work with
and constantly made us laugh! My husband does not like taking pictures AT ALL
and he really enjoyed working with Roddy. He knows how to make you feel
comfortable and guide you, but look natural. For the engagement pictures, Roddy
was willing to go wherever we wanted and even have our puppy in some of the
shots (my favorite ones)! At the
wedding, he was everywhere! I do not even know how he captured some of the
pictures because we did not notice him and his assistant at all. His turn-around time is also very quick! All
of our wedding pictures are done and he mailed me a flash drive already… our
wedding wasn’t even a month ago!! I cannot wait to order prints and display
them all over our home!!!!
Videographer - Brock
Gomez
I cannot wait to see the video!! I have seen a lot of his
work and have loved it all. He and his
assistant were so much fun on the day of the wedding! My husband and I really
enjoyed working with him! I will post
another review, once we receive the video!!
Décor – Luminous
Events
I started emailing Lisa a year ago about all of my ideas for
the wedding and she had everything exactly how I wanted it when I met with her.
Lisa was very nice and easy-going, she also didn't mind when I
wanted to make changes after our initial meeting. You can tell she loves what she does because
she seemed as excited as I was for our wedding. I know this sounds crazy, but I
had dreams about all of the candles for weeks before the wedding and everything
was exactly how I pictured it. I am so thankful the rain stayed away, so we
could have the courtyard decked out with candles!
Flowers - Nola Flora
Flowers were not a big concern for me because I wanted as
many candles as possible but I LOVED all of our flowers. When Shelley and I met
with Ashley, I told her my budget, showed her a few pictures of what I liked, stressed
that I did not like ANY green and I left everything up to her. If I had known
how perfect their flowers are, I probably would have had more flowers. Every
bouquet and boutonniere looked like something out of a magazine. They were
beautiful!
DJ – Omega Sound
& Ent.
They were very easy to work with and I liked how everything
is done online. Selecting the music was
very easy and when I had questions, David was there to answer them. I had originally booked David Storm, but a
few weeks before the wedding he said he couldn’t do it and that Rusty would be doing
the music. At first, I was bummed because I have been to a lot of
wedding where David was the DJ and really enjoyed it. Which is why I booked
with Omega Sound to begin with, but Shelley (my wedding planner) reassured me
that Rusty was very good and I would not be disappointed. My husband and I had
the BEST time dancing all night! We don’t have a huge family, so the majority
of our guests were younger and it was great that Rusty could read the crowd and
played songs that kept us going. I didn't leave the dance floor!
Second Line –
Storyville Stompers
Woody was so sweet and also very quick to respond to my
emails. Everything from booking them to the actual wedding day went
smoothly. They were on time and even
played inside the BOT because the route wasn’t very long. People are still talking
about how much fun they had during the second-line! It was definitely something
we will never forget!
Hair – Salon Couvie
It was very important to me that we had someone that was
good, but reasonably priced and Rachel and Lynn were awesome! My hair does is
very difficult to curl and it came out beautiful. It was very relaxing having
Rachel and Lynn come to the hotel and they made sure they had plenty of time
for each girl. Some of the girls are very picky about their hair and everyone loved it!
Makeup – Ashley Sievert
Ashley previously did my makeup for a friend’s bachelorette
party and wedding and it turned out great! I emailed her the second we picked a date
because she books up fast! I cannot say enough good things about her and the
products she uses/sells. You will not be disappointed and you will probably
want to buy everything she uses! She brought 2 other people with her since we
had so many people, we did not feel rushed at all. Everyone loved their makeup!! I will be using
her for every event I have!
Photo booth - Mobile Memories
I was skeptical about using Mobile Memories because I never
heard of them before. I read a review on this board about how they give each
person in the photo a picture and loved that! They had a sale going on for
Christmas last year and I decided to book them.
They were very professional and on time. They are the only company I
found that gives every person a picture AND one for our book. Everyone was able
to enjoy the photo booth, but did not have to take a multiple pictures just to
get a copy.
Grooms Cake – Nola Pie
Guy
My husband is not a huge fan of cake, but LOVES apple pie!
We contacted Nathan with Nola Pie Guy to see if he could make large pies for
our wedding because I did not think we would be able to afford individual pies. The mini pies were very reasonably priced and
tasted/looked awesome!! We will definitely be ordering from him again.
Invitations –
emDOTzee Designs
I really did not want the traditional wedding invitation, I
wanted something more fun and that matched everything else (light blue, gray,
white and chevron). We looked through a ton of different websites, blogs and Etsy
but could not find anything I liked in my price range. I gave up and made my own on Word, but I was
nervous they would not right. I searched one last time and found her website.
She has a bunch of layouts she has already made, but she can also make a new
one. I sent her my desings and she made
them ten times better! They were perfect and very reasonable priced.
Hotel Block –
Staybridge Suites
There was a huge convention in town, which made finding a
room block impossible! Staybridge Suites was the only place that would give me
a room block close to the Board of Trade. They were very friendly!
Bridal Suite - Windsor
Court
LOVED my bridal suite!! I was already splurging by booking a
suite here, but when we checked in, our friends upgraded us to a Club Level
Suite. We had 2 people come to the room to do our hair and 3 people for our
makeup. We had so much room for 12 women to get ready in! Every person was very
sweet and willing to get us whatever we needed.
Rehearsal Dinner –
Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse
My husband and I met at Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse, so
having our rehearsal dinner here meant a lot to us. The management, kitchen and
servers went out of their way to make sure everything was perfect and it
definitely was! My husband and I are biased when it comes to Dickie
Brennan’s Restaurants because he works there, but every person at the dinner
has been raving about every course we had.
Manis/Pedis – La Riviera
Salon and Spa
One of my favorite moments of our wedding weekend was taking
all of my bridesmaids to La Riviera Salon and Spa for Manicures. Michelle was
very accommodating and so nice! If you book a certain number or amount of
services, they picked you up in a limo and dropped off. They also include a
full bar. The limo driver is AWESOME - they ran out of something and he went to
the store for us, even though we told him not to. Being able to relax with my
best girlfriends before the big day is definitely something I will never
forget.