Got married October 18, and now that things are finally settling down, time for reviews! Enjoy! Ceremony/Reception location: A Seagrove Park/L'Auberge I had my ceremony at Seagrove Park in Del Mar, and the reception at L'Auberge. L'Auberge is rather pricey (though having the event on a Sunday helped A LOT) but it includes a TON of services. I didn't need to rent a single thing - they have gorgeous linens (not a huge variety but there was a perfect chocolate brown satin for me), plenty of chairs/cocktail tables/teak furniture on the patios, etc. Plus, they will take care of reserving Seagrove Park, and they set it up with chairs, umbrellas, sound system, and refreshments. So especially in terms of minimizing shopping around, I LOVED L'Auberge. The only negative was that during my planning, they seemed to go through a lot of staff turnover, and they didn't really have a system to ensure that a client's preferences were noted for the next employee. Month-of-coordinator: A++ Alison Sansom L'Auberge requires a coordinator for at least the day of, and they provide an in house coordinator for the month of at a very competitive rate. Alison Sansom was my coordinator, provided by L'Auberge, and she was fantastic. She really walked me through every detail, and was very responsive to my (millions of) emails. She even helped shepherd my ring bearer down the aisle! Plus, she incorporated all my DIY items (hand fans on the seats for the ceremony, favors, family wedding pics at the escort card table, etc) so there was literally no work I had to do beyond handing over the fans/pics/etc. Caterer: A++++++++++ L'Auberge L'Auberge provides all the food (except for the cake, see next review), and their food is a MAJOR reason why we wanted our wedding here. All our guests are still raving about the best food they've ever had at a wedding. SO, SO GOOD. Plus, they were super helpful in accommodating our vegan/vegetarian guests. I could go on about the food, but it's making my mouth water just thinking about it... Bakery: A++ CAKE This bakery has an agreement with L'Auberge, such that if you use them, there is no cake cutting fee. Plus, while not the least expensive bakery we checked out, they were reasonably priced and SO TASTY!!! Suffice to say, we did not save our top layer for the first anniversary . . . we ate it over the following week.
Also worth mentioning - we did buttercream frosting, but it was so smooth and flawless that everyone thought it was fondant! String trio: A++ Jim Zagami, through Music As You Like It Jim's trio was perfect!! They played at our ceremony and our cocktail hour. I never even really got to meet Jim, but setting up the music was a snap - I just emailed him saying, I want this for me, and maybe something by so and so for the party, and then whatever else you think is appropriate. He emailed me back his plan, and done. One really awesome thing - DH wanted to walk down the aisle to Metallica's Fade to Black. Jim's trio totally handled this request, and impressed the pants off DH's Metallica-loving friends! DJ: B+ Nick Schol, through Music As You Like It First a word on the DJ company, Music As You Like It: there are two people who answer the phones, Sonjia and some other guy. If you reach the guy, just hang up. He is the least helpful person on the planet. Sonjia, on the other hand, is fabulous! We chose Nick because he could provide karaoke as well as more traditional DJ fare. He was a good DJ - good selection of songs, emceed the evening without being obnoxious. Nothing spectacular though. Also he would play this weird elevator music between karaoke songs, and we had to let him know that we would prefer to dance between karaoke. Florist: A++++ Rae Florae Paula was great!!!! She really understood the feel I was going for, and nailed it. Everything was gorgeous, and people are still talking about the chuppah she provided and decorated. She even made an adorable pillow for the ring bearer, but it somehow got lost in the shuffle before the ceremony, and our ring bearer walked down the aisle empty handed (well, his thumb was in his mouth...)! Photographer: A+ Kevin Roche Kevin and his team were great! They made me feel like a supermodel. They made sure to get a combination of traditional posed shots and lots and lots of candids, and they stayed late into the night to capture some karaoke glory! (No extra pluses because I haven't gotten to see any of the pics yet!) Officiant: A+ Rabbi Ben Leinow Rabbi Leinow was a great officiant for us, as an interfaith couple. He kept things pretty universal, focusing more on the marriage of the two of us than on religious significance, and every Jewish tradition that we did want to include, he was sure to explain for the guests. The best thing about him was the way he kept everything light - inserting little "aww" jokes about the way DH and I seem to him, etc. It made for a lot more smiles than tears (even if they were tears of joy), which was perfect! Wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses: A++++++ Ballew Bridal I actually traveled to Ballew Bridal in Memphis, TN to get my gown. It was so worth the trip. Mrs. Ballew and her staff were SO helpful and attentive! The dress I chose was actually one they picked out for me! I also got my veil and comb there, and even with those details, her staff stood around with me helping me come to a decision. They really really know their merchandise! Also, the seamstress there is amazing - it only took one fitting to get it done, and her work was really professional - I had no worries about those alteration horror stories. For my bridesmaids, they were scattered all over the country, and Mrs. Ballew made it so easy. They just had to fill out a form with their size info, shipping address, etc., and she ordered the dresses and shipped them out, making sure that each girl had her dress with plenty of time for alterations if needed. Tux rental: C+ Men's Wearhouse Ugh I hate Men's Wearhouse...DH gets his work suits there. But, ultimately, it is the most convenient way to go when your groomsmen are spread far and wide across the country. My brother, who was my Man of Honor, has his own tux, and he is a hard-to-find size, so I asked him to wear his tux and just rent the vest, shirt, shoes and cufflinks. First, his local Men's Wearhouse wouldn't allow him to rent part of the ensemble without hearing from me, so I called them and spelled out exactly what he should be renting. Then, he arrives in San Diego to find that they only gave him the vest - no shirt, no shoes, no cufflinks. Plus, my father's shirt was wayyyy too short in the sleeves. After some minor temper tantrums from the MOB, and many many phone calls to other SD county Wearhouses, we were able to fix everything, but getting the staff to be helpful was like pulling teeth.