Our wedding was two weeks ago and I am so happy to report back to all of you that it was a great success and we are so happy with the way everything turned out. Because everyone's reviews were so helpful to me during my planning process, I wanted to come back and return the favor (I am also posting this to the stickied thread above).
As an FYI, our wedding was a traditional, Conservative Jewish wedding with glatt kosher food.
Also, I am not reviewing our photographer (Gregory Paul) and videographer (Martin Reinhardt) until we receive the final products. I think the reviews will be more helpful that way.
I am also waiting to review our florist/DOC (Vivian Colls) because we had some major issues with her that we are working to resolve and I would prefer waiting to review her until resolution of those issues.
Venue - Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center:
A+ We held our ceremony at the synagogue at Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center and the reception at the attached ballroom (using the in-house caterer, Events by Premier, which is also awesome and reviewed below). This venue is just gorgeous. The synagogue is modern, clean, and very well-kept. The ballroom is prettier than all of the hotels we viewed. My husband fell in love with ATJC as soon as we walked in the doors. Even better than the appearance of ATJC is the way the staff operates. They are so professional, responsive , and warm. We were so happy we booked this venue and I highly recommend it to all Jewish couples!
Caterer - Events by Premier: A+ Events by Premier was one of the best vendors we hired. The catering director, Steven, is amazing. He is super responsive (often emailing me back within five minutes of my emails) and super warm and friendly. The glatt kosher food is so delicious and so well-done. We received non-stop compliments from our friends and family on the food. I really cannot say enough about how great Events is. If you are looking for an amazing kosher caterer, do not hesitate to use Events by Premier!!
Cake Baker - Gallery of Cakes: B+ Overall, Gallery of Cakes was great. Our initial tasting was very personalized and they were very responsive regarding design ideas throughout our wedding planning. The cake on our wedding day was yummy (maybe not quite as yummy as at the initial tasting but still very good nonetheless). We were very happy with the quality of the cake (particularly since finding a kosher parve cake that tastes good can be tricky). My one complaint was that the cake did not have the look I had requested. It was somewhat similar but not really what I had asked for. The taste of the cake was more important to me than the way it looked but it was a little disappointing to see something that wasn't what we had discussed on the day of the wedding. That being said, I would still recommend Gallery.
Hair/Makeup - Sissi Ceballo: A+ Sissi did both my hair and makeup as well as makeup for my bridesmaids and my mother. She did an amazing job on everyone and I can't say enough about how talented she is. She is so flexible and does not hesitate to change things or start over if the hair or makeup concept is not working. She was on time, efficient, and made my hair and eyes look unbelievable. I received so many compliments on my eyes and, based on the photos my photographer showed me, my makeup looked unbelievable. Sissi is one of the warmest, friendliest people I worked with while planning my wedding and she made getting ready an absolute joy. I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone!
Band - The Music Machine: A We hired The Music Machine because we needed a band that could do a great mix of traditional Jewish music and fun, secular dance music. The Music Machine definitely delivered. Our guests were up and dancing all night. The selection of music this band could play was awesome and their performance was so great! Our guests were really complimentary of the band. Overall, they were fantastic and I would definitely recommend them to my friends.
My only complaint was that the band had told us initially that if we gave them songs not already in their repertoire with ample notice, they would learn the songs to play at the wedding. Well, three months prior to our wedding date, I sent them two specific songs (with sheet music and YouTube videos of the songs included). I requested that they learn and play these songs at the wedding. Instead of learning the songs, they played recordings of the songs and pretended to play/sing. It wasn't a huge deal. It was just annoying how they made it seem like they were going to learn and play these songs when they obviously did not.
Officiant - Rabbi Hector Epelbaum: A+ Our ceremony was amazing. I was blown away at how moving and meaningful Rabbi Epelbaum made our ceremony. Our guests continued to come up to us to tell us how they had never been to a ceremony like ours before. The rabbi conducted the ceremony in both English and Hebrew, which was great, and kept it very traditional while injecting some contemporary, modern aspects. Rabbi Epelbaum is fantastic and one of the nicest, warmest people I have ever met in my life.
Transportation - Holland Limo: A+ Holland was recommended by some fellow Knot members and I am so glad we hired them. We needed a one-way transport for our 10 person bridal party from the hotel to the venue (3 miles). They charged us $130 (tip and tax included), which was a great price! The limo was clean, new, and the driver was super polite and on time!
Invitations - Ruth Cohen Printing: A+ We were looking for a printer who could do invitaitons in English and Hebrew at a reasonable price. Ruth Cohen has a huge array of choices at every price point. I chose a beautiful design which was promptly printed and sent to us and then I added my own touches (ribbon and embellishment). Ruth was very easy to communicate with and was very responsive and quick to make changes and speak with me about my ideas. I would definitely recommend Ruth Cohen Printing.
Dress Boutique - Coral Gables Bridals: A+ I went into CG Bridals on a whim on a Saturday without an appointment and they very nicely accomodated me. I fell in love with a dress above my price range and they actually called me when the sample was available because they knew I wanted the dress. They gave me a fantastic deal and actually stored the dress free of charge for a year until my wedding date!
Dress Alterations - Alterations by Reina: B+ Reina is very sweet and warm. She works very quickly and is super responsive. My only complaint is that the ultimate fit of my dress was a little off. When she added a bra to my dress something about the fit of the bodice was never quite right and, despite her best efforts, it was still not right on the day of the wedding. It seemed that no one noticed but hopefully it did not affect the look of the dress in my photographs!
Custom Chuppah - Nahanni Rous, NahanniFabricArts (Etsy.com): A Nahanni makes gorgeous custom chuppahs and since we wanted a keepsake to hold on to forever, we hired her to create our chuppah. We actually had a major miscommunication over the design of the chuppah very close to the date of our wedding (which could have been disasterous) but Nahanni handled the situation beautifully and very professionally. When I received our chuppah in plenty of time before our wedding, I was so happy. It is gorgeous! I am so happy we hired her and have this beautiful keepsake as artwork for our home.
Ketubah - MP Artworks: A+ This company has ketubahs at all price points and styles. They were very easy to work with and shipped very quickly. Our ketubah is beautiful and we are so happy with the quality.