Hi - Sorry I'm delayed on this but I thought I'd share vendor reviews from our April wedding in Biloxi. Photographer - Neil Ladner of Gulf Portraits - A++ If you go to Neil's website you can get a view of his work. I liked him because he does lots of journalistic style photos, not just posed. He showed up on time on wedding day, had lots of great ideas and made everyone feel comfortable. He will also let you purchase the cd of your portraits, which is a great deal. I bought the cd and had more than 1,000 images from my wedding. His website is
www.gulfportraits.com Videographer - John LeStrade of Take Two Productions - B I haven't received the video yet and that's my only gripe. Otherwise, John was awesome on wedding day. He put everyone at ease, had lots of great suggestions. But I think his Twitter site mentions that he's on November weddings now. According to their current editing schedule, we won't get our video til end of the year, early January. And that's a long time! So that's why Take Two gets a B - but if the video comes early - even Sept. - I would definitely bump them up to a A grade. Music - Fine Arts Ensemble - A+ We hired a harpist with Fine Arts Ensemble out of New Orleans for $300 for the ceremony. The musician was on time and it was just the right feel for our wedding, which was outdoors. I would definitely recommend them again.
www.fineartsensemble.com or contact Dmitri at (504)931-5450 Linens - Apex Rentals - B- In the end, Apex got the job done but I found cheaper linens and more options could be found from online vendor Connie Duglin Linens. Connie Duglin basically ships you a bag to return the items in and the shipping is already included - so it's a really easy process. When I tried to ask Apex about the disparity in the cost and the options, the owner seemed to get angry with me. And that bothered me as a consumer - hence the B- vote for Apex. But the linens were delivered on time to our wedding site. DJ - Alonzo Tate Music - A++ Alonzo came over from New Orleans, was highly recommended and did a good job of playing to the mood of the crowd. And he was on time! 504-460-4074 Wedding Coordinator - Michelle Knight of MK Knight Designs - D We hired Michelle because she billed herself as being hourly, which I thought would save us a little money. In the end, we got really taken so my advice would be 1. make sure you go with a coordinator recommended by other brides, not someone who just advertises themself. You really need those firsthand accounts. 2. Make sure you get a contract that spells out exactly what hourly means. I did the bulk of my planning and arranging and just needed someone for random odds and ends ahead of time and coordination day of. Unknowingly,Michelle ran up a bill of close to $2000 even before we got to wedding day. Example: She priced fish for ceremony arrangements and charged me $85 for one hour of work (which we know it takes maybe 10 minutes to price fish in the pet store) but also charged me one hour each way of travel time. Hence a fish pricing came out to almost $300. Another example: A friend and I came up with my centerpieces, I showed her an example of our creation, which included floating candles in water that had been dyed teal. She took it home and then charged me an hour's worth of work because she said she wanted to test the dye. (even though I had supplied dye and directions for day of) So I definitely feel I was misled as a bride/consumer. So again, I would just say spell every expectation and cost up front and defintely write it all out in a contract. Michelle was the only vendor I didn't have a contract with - and she's the only one I had a problem with. Flowers - Pughs Florist - B- Not much to say here. My flowers were on time and they were okay but they weren't stunning. The florist definitely didn't put anything extra into them. But they didn't look horrible in pictures so I'll give them a B-. I think that's all of our vendors. I would also tell brides to check online for a lot of supplies. I got most of my centerpiece vases and other items from either Ebay or PaperMart and saved a ton. Don't be afraid to surf for savings! Hope this helps! Good luck!