Nebraska

Vendor Reviews - Long

I can't believe it's already been a week since our wedding.  It was spectacular despite all the bumps in the road.  Although, considering we did all our planning from Virginia, a few bumps were expected.

All the best to all the upcoming brides.  I'm glad to share more inforamation or pictures to anyone looking for them.   I may have a few things I'll be wanting to part with in the next couple of weeks.  If you are looking for anything in particular let me know.  Our colors were red, black (and bling) and our theme was hearts.  =)

And now, for the Vendor Reviews!

J’Maries Bridal – We got my Alfred Angelo gown and my MOH’s Alfred Angelo dress here.  The Omaha location at Shadowlake closed in Dec ’10.  However, they have a shop in Lincoln and they have changed the name of that shop to Alfred Angelo Bridal.  Everyone here was very helpful.  The alterations were incredibly reasonable and the work was outstanding.  I truly enjoyed my experience with this shop.

Men’s Wearhouse – This place can’t be beat if you have people coming from out of town.  Not only were we coming from Virginia, the FOG was from Virginia, the BM was from Virginia, and one of my ushers was from Arizona.  All were able to get their tuxes measured and ordered.  Not to mention they gave my groom a $400 coupon toward a new suit because he had 5 tux orders.  The guys picked up their tuxes on Friday, the FOG’s jacket was WAY too big, the BM’s jacket was WAY too small the groom’s pocket silk was the wrong color.  However, they had everything fixed within an hour and the guys all looked perfect on THE day.  =)


Mulhall’s – This was an interesting experience with Mulhall’s.  Met with Frank Piccolo in December and February to set up and finalize the details for our wedding.  I was super confident and pleased with that experience.  I go in for my final appointment on March 8 (4 days before the wedding) and find out that Frank has RETIRED!  Talk about totally freaking out.  I ended up meeting with Jill Hodges instead and we went through my order.  She is very nice, but we really should have started from the beginning.  The candelabra arrangements were wrong and they had to run back to the nursery and make the correct ones.  My MOH’s bouquet was wrong, it was supposed to be white and red roses and it was only white.  My ring bearer’s boutonniere was supposed to be a smaller sweetheart rose, instead it was almost as big as his head and looked silly.  They did well putting together the centerpieces I had designed for the reception and their prices are also very reasonable.  However, their decision not to tell customers that Frank is gone until they come in 4 days before the wedding was really unfortunate.  Brides have enough stress that week without adding these types of surprises.  If you met with Frank and Mulhall’s is doing your flowers, you may want to call and make an appointment with Jill.  Save yourself the shock and the miscommunications.


Pettit’s Pastry – We LOVE Denise!!  She deserves her own TV show, she really does.  She was out on medical leave for a few months, but she got back just in time to do our cakes.  I was so happy when she called me to say she was back, that I cried.  If you have met with Carolyn or judged Pettit’s on her work, please call and meet with Denise.  You will not be sorry.  She made my husband a 2-foot 3-D Virginia Tech Hokie Bird out of Red Velvet cake and cream cheese frosting that was OUTSTANDING!  Our wedding cake was almond cake with raspberry and strawberry filling.  Everything was beautiful AND delicious.  Not to mention that Denise truly has a heart of gold and is so sweet.  Not to mention that her prices are unbelievably reasonable.   By all means, AVOID CAROLYN!  Her work is horrible, she charges 3 times as much because she doesn’t have much experience and everything takes her 3 times as long, she is rude and awful to deal with, and her ego does not allow her to accept her own limitations.  Did I mention, WE LOVE DENISE!  I have pictures if you want to see her work!  =)


Regency Marriott – We had both our ceremony and reception in the Grand Ballroom at the Regency Marriott.  Started out with their wedding coordinator Kate Parsons who went on medical leave in December, she was excellent to work with and very accommodating.  Maggie Kotlarz and Kristen Grieb stepped up in her absence to help us through to the big day.  They did an AMAZING job!  Everything was perfect and we were SUPER happy!  They were very accommodating and tried to give us everything we wanted.  They even helped my MOH fix all the little problems that went wrong so that I didn’t even know about many of them until the next day. 

The wait staff, banquet captain, bartenders, front desk personnel, everyone we dealt with was so professional and just plain Nebraska friendly.  It was so refreshing to be treated with top-notch customer service. 

Chef Michael is wonderful, the food was soooo good!  We had prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli, chicken parmesan, and a pasta bar with penne marinara, fettuccini alfredo, and macaroni and cheese.  The kids had chicken fingers, fries, fruit cup and milk.  We also had a late-night snack of pizza.    Everyone RAVED about the food, and they were kind enough to box up some of everything and bring it up to our room after we had left the reception.  Which was nice because we only got a few bites of everything before we had to start mingling.


Complete Music – Wow, was I disappointed.  I do take responsibility for some of this.  Since I was coordinating this wedding from Virginia my Mom and Sister (aka MOH) did a lot of leg work for me.  One of the things they did was go to the bridal show for me.  Here they met Ken Bouth from Complete Music.  After talking to him and a bride who had hired him for her wedding that had taken place 2 weeks earlier they signed a contract requesting Ken by name on the contract.  I didn’t hear from Complete Music until 3 days before the wedding when we made an appointment to meet the next day to go over details.  We went to the meeting, but didn’t have our contract with us.  At this point, I could not remember the DJ’s name that was on the contract.  We meet with Chris Chima, mentioned how he met my mom and sister at a bridal show, the whole thing.  We go through every detail, including what icebreakers I want and don’t want, what type of music to play and not play, etc.   I was a little confused because he just didn’t seem at all like my Mom and Sister had described.  It wasn’t until 1.5 hours prior to the wedding when Chris interrupts our pictures to ask us some questions that both my Mom and Sister tell me that is not who we hired.  Nothing I could do, my fault for not having my contract.  So, this is a warning for you all because he was horrible.  It was like he didn’t listen to anything we said in our meeting.  He played the icebreakers we didn’t want, and didn’t play the ones we did want.  He didn’t play the type of music we wanted.  His “helper” was downright rude to us because we were 5 minutes late returning from pictures between the wedding and reception.  Nearly every time they took the mic there was HORRIBLE feedback.  Very, very disappointed. 


Complete Video – Brandon was our videographer.  He was very nice and you hardly noticed he was there.  He worked very well with our photographers.  He was there from the beginning until almost the very end of the night.  I can’t wait to see the video. 


Image Society – Megan and Scott own the company.  They worked our engagement session and the wedding together.  They are WONDERFUL people and soooo talented.  We not only enjoyed their work, we really enjoyed them as people.  They were so helpful throughout the day.  Scott was pinning on flowers, Meg was helping lace up my dress…we really felt like they were there to help make our day as special as it could be.  Their vision for their craft is unbelievable.  They see things and capture moments most people would miss.  I’m so excited to see our pictures I can hardly stand the suspense.  Even before seeing them, I can tell you I couldn’t be happier with their work and I would recommend them to everyone!


Grand Illusions – Another disappointment.  I selected a picture of a setting Terry had done for a previous wedding and also asking for a ceiling to floor silk backdrop for the alter area in the ceremony room.  Not only was the backdrop a foot short, the room didn’t look anything like the picture I had requested.  As a matter of fact, he had hung silk from the ceiling in such a way that it created a wall that wouldn’t let half of my guests see us during most of the wedding.  When my sister told him this wasn’t what I asked for, he told her he had discussed the “new” design with me and I had agreed.  That was a lie, and the “new” design was horrible!  Thank God for my Sister and the Marriott who came up with a solution.  For the money Terry charges for his services, we should not have had to fix anything.

The chair covers and uplighting in the reception area were nice, but I would never recommend Terry.


Blush Makeup Artistry – Christine is a doll!  She does such a good job and is so reasonable in price.  My makeup was spectacular.  She did a free demo with us at her home in December, and then came to the Marriott the day of the wedding and did makeup for four of us.  We all looked amazing.  I am so grateful to her.  Don’t pass up the makeup, it stays put all night and makes the photographer’s jobs that much easier.  =)


Garbo’s Salon, Regency Location –  The good: Four of us had our hair and nails done.  It was unfortunate that we weren’t able to have appointments at the same time, so we were all scattered and spent very little time together.  However, Bobby did a great job on my hair and they were able to save my broken ragged nails and still give me a lovely French manicure.  I was very happy with their hair and nail services.

The bad:  The four of us also had massages and/or facials done a few days before the wedding to help us relax.  The two who had massages said they were awesome, and they were relaxed for the entire day.  The facials my sister and I had with Lori were HORRIBLE.  My face is just now recovering!  She said she used this stuff for super sensitive skin and to reduce redness.  Wow, it burned and I had her take everything off.  As for her technique, maybe I am spoiled from the other facials I’ve had, but her technique needs work.  She was constantly surprising me and making me jump.  She was also trying to have a conversation with me when I was just there to zone out and relax.  I do NOT recommend their facials.


Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse – We had our rehearsal dinner here.  It was REALLY good.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and the food and service were excellent.  It has an awesome atmosphere and the room we were in was nice and cozy without being crowded.

Happy Weddings to All!

Re: Vendor Reviews - Long

  • edited December 2011
    oohhh...I have CM for our DJ and I'm wiggin' out. :S I've heard this kinda stuff about them, but we'd already paid and signed by that time. Glad everything else was wonderful for you!
    "The best thing about loving and being hurt is that you get to know what true love really is. For as gold is tested in fire, and so will love be perfected in pain."
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  • edited December 2011
    rachjim - call CM and ask for Ken Bouth by name.  He is super awesome and I've only heard others rave about him.  He is the reason we signed with CM.  Just make sure that he is who you get.  =)  Otherwise don't stress too much, even with the crappy DJ the can't ruin your wedding when you are marrying the love of your life.  =)
  • edited December 2011
    We have Nick D. right now....I'll look into it though. Thanks! 
    "The best thing about loving and being hurt is that you get to know what true love really is. For as gold is tested in fire, and so will love be perfected in pain."
    Image and video hosting by TinyPic
    Planning Bio/Blog

    Follow Me on Pinterest
  • edited December 2011
    so glad the marriott was great--that is where our reception will be! :-) congrats on your wedding!!
  • edited December 2011
    Kristen Grieb is a really good friend of mine!  We used to work together at the Marriott.  I told her about the shout out and she was happy to hear it.  However, she said Marriott just switched ownership, so unfortunately she's not there anymore.  @snh, that shouldn't have any impact on you since this isn't the first time ownership has changed, but I really recommend you review your contract with the coordinator and the banquet captain before the wedding just to make sure everything looks right (because we did have quite a few issues with contracts not getting updated properly). 
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