Need your planning advice for the San Diego-area

Knot Annie

Hey Knotties,

We want to hear from you for the local mag. Getting married (or just married) in San Diego-area? Who are your favorite vendors you’ve worked with? Tell us why you love your florist, cake baker, photographer, the salon where you bought your dress or had it altered or even you limo driver! We want all the details for possible inclusion in the local magazine.

Post below, and thank you so much in advance!

Annie

marinad05

Wedding is November 5th so I can't give reviews on the day of stuff but I have worked with all my vendors enough to feel comfortable reviewing them so far!

Venue: Bali Hai. Awesome prices! That is what first drew me to the venue was that their prices were amazing and you get so much good food for not too much $. Jenny, the woman I am working with gets back to all my crazy emails within 24 hours and has really worked with me to get exactly what I want! I love that I am getting a water front view, ample parking, a hotel within walking distance, amazing service and wonderful food without paying an arm and a leg!

Photographer: Melissa McClure. I first emailed her thinking there was no way I could afford her, she was so nice! She and I worked out a package that fits my needs and my budget. We had our engagement shoot and she made us feel so comfortable and got him to enjoy getting his picture taken! She is so upbeat and fun and takes amazing pictures. I am so excited to see our wedding photos! She also gets you teaser pictures really quickly which is awesome!

Coordinator: Divine Events by Helena. She is amazing! She was one of the first people I hired, I am using her Month of package but she has been an amazing help throughout the whole process. It was through her recommendations that I got the majority of my vendors! She is always there to answer a question for me and I am 100% confident that I won't have to worry about a thing the day of!

Florist: Hard to really judge now but our meeting went really well and she was able to see and help me put into words what I had in my head. I knew I didn't want standard centerpieces and she has been very helpful in creating unique pieces!

Cake: Shirley the Cake Lady. I had my heart set on cupcakes...until I met Shirley! I had emailed her asking if she did cupcakes, she said she could but she didn't recommend it. Well, she had gotten such amazing reviews, I was inclined to believe her! I went for the tasting and never looking back! Her cakes are UNBELIEVABLE!! I even got one for my mom for her birthday and it was a hit! She doesn't do fancy designs on the cakes, which was fine for me because I will take taste over design any day! She is also much more reasonably priced than other bakeries I looked into. Her cakes are unlike any I have ever tasted and I am so excited for my guests to try her cake!!

Officiant: Ceremonies by Bethel. Bethel is awesome!! We went to our initial meeting with her and quickly knew who our officiant would be. She is so vibrant and excited about her job! She has amazing ideas and truly cares about her clients. She has come up with so many unique ways to make our ceremony like "us". I am probably most excited about the part of our homework that we had to keep a secret from each other. We don't get to hear what the other said until the day of! I honestly didn't think I'd be really excited about the ceremony part, since they have all seemed the same at the weddings I had been to. But, I really feel that since we hired Bethel, I am the most excited about the most important part of our day! I can't wait to see wha we come up with!

lsvensson

Hi Annie,

My photo booth recommendation below:

Recorded Memories Photo Booth Rental

www.recordedmemories.org

Though I didn't use these guys for a wedding, I just used them for a corporate event (we had them in our video game booth at San Diego Comic-Con) and I had such a great experience with them and they were so nice that I felt compelled to review them here in case any SD-area brides are thinking about having a photo booth for their wedding.  I cannot recommend Recorded Memories highly enough-- quite literally some of the best vendors I have ever worked with, ever.
From my first contact with them back in June to their staffing of the actual event, they were professional, friendly, and more than willing to handle any of the (pain-in-the-butt) requests we had for them.  They have a fleet of really neat, compact photo booths that print out high-quality pictures in about 8 seconds, and our fans at the booth loved being able to see themselves on-screen while posing for pictures. 

They also offered us an online photo gallery where our guests could go to get digital copies of the pictures and one-click share them on Facebook, Twitter, etc.  They also branded out their entire photo booth machine with our company logos, etc which really made the photo unit fit in seamlessly with our booth decor (and they told me that when they do weddings they could brand out the booth with your engagement pictures or your wedding monogram).

On top of that, the two guys who own the company (brothers-- family owned!) cut us an amazing deal with unlimited printed pictures and they could not have been sweeter.  Our fans LOVED it and our booth was a hit because of them.  I'm getting married next year and I only wish I were local to San Diego so I could use them for my wedding (sadly, I'm a Vegas Knottie and they're not available in Vegas quite yet).  

If you're considering having a photo booth at your wedding, definitely look into them-- www.recordedmemories.org.  Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

KellyRenee1979

marinad05 =
My Fi & I met Bethel at the Bridal Bazaar last Sunday and we *loved* her!  We must have talked to her for at least 15 minutes and by the time we were done we both were hugging her!  I'm just starting to plan, so I don't have any vendors signed yet... but I can't wait to book Bethel.  After all, the ceremony is the reason for the whole day!  Congrats & thanks for sharing about your vendors.


Knot Annie =
I would love to share more for the website and magazine once I have my plans solidified.   :-)