I'm a little behind in posting these reviews (I was married on 11.3.12), but I had a team of amzing vendors that I would highly recommend to any bride. We were married at the beautiful Cathedral Basilica in St. Augustine and had our reception at the gorgeous and historic Llambias House. I am copying my personal Wedding Wire reviews below. I didn't write a review on Wedding Wire about the Cathedral Basilica, but our ceremony was absolutely breathtaking. My husband is Jewish and we were able to have an interfaith wedding at the Basilica that was co-officated with our favorite priest, Father Tim, and Jewish Cantor Debbi Ballard. I have a review for Cantor Debbi listed below. If you have any questions, about any of these vendors, please feel free to email me at
llambias113@gmail.com.
FLEUR DE LIS EVENT CONSULTING (Day of Coordinator) A++
I am so grateful that I was referred to Valerie at Fleur de Lis Event Consulting. Valerie was a HUGE help in making our day unbelievably special. I hired her as a “Day of Coordinator”, but she went way above and beyond that title. She kept in contact with me during the planning process, and was always quick to respond anytime I called or emailed. Before the wedding, she sent monthly checklists that I found to be very helpful. Valerie worked with me on a wedding day timeline and was extremely patient when I would take a long time to get back to her. With her timeline, everything ran perfectly on track without feeling like we were on a schedule. I was able to relax and enjoy the day without being worried or stressed about little things because Valerie had it all under control. Our wedding went off without a hitch, I really couldn’t have asked for it to be more perfect!
Another nice little extra was after our wedding. We left for our honeymoon the morning after the wedding, so we weren’t really able to see any pics. When we got back in town, we were pleasantly surprised to see a CD in the mail that she sent with pictures she took (and let me tell you, these were beautifully taken pictures—she should consider adding photography to her repertoire). It was so great to see that since it was so soon after the wedding and we had not received our professional pics yet. Thank you Valerie!
KRIS GRAHAM PHOTOGRAPHY (photographer) A++
We thought selecting a photographer was going to be one of the toughest decisions in wedding planning, but when we met Kris and Kate, the decision came quite easily! They were one of our favorite vendors and we are sad it’s all over because we will miss them! These are truly talented professionals with a great eye for unique pictures. I actually teared up looking at all our photos because they captured everything so beautifully.
Our advice to future brides and grooms when picking a wedding photographer is to ask to see a few albums in their entirety. Obviously, when you visit a photographers website/blog, they are going to have the best of their best up. We had met with a few photographers prior to finding Kris Graham Photography and when we saw an entire album, we were stunned at the complete difference in quality. This was not the case with Kris Graham Photography. EVERY single picture in their wedding albums was just as beautiful as the pictures on their website/blog, and this definitely held true with our own album! So if you are looking for true quality, look no further.
Thank you Kris and Kate for all your hard work and dedication. There is no way to fully express our gratitude for the absolutely stunning work you did capturing our special day. It is impossible to pick favorites because we love them all. Even though we live in different cities, we will without a doubt be giving you a call one day when it’s time for maternity photos
D-VINE CUISINE (caterer) A++There are not enough great things that I can say about Hope and the d'Vine Cuisine staff. Hope was one of my favorite vendors to work with. I felt that she really cared about my big day, and went above and beyond what you would expect out of a caterer. She always had a great attitude and was quick to respond to my emails/calls (which is extremely important from a vendor when you are going throught the stress of planning a wedding). She always had great ideas for me whenever I had questions (even if they weren't "food" related). On the day of the wedding, I was absolutely blown away. She knew that my theme was "vintage St. Augustine" and she really went all out to have the food tables/bar match my vision. She had brought pictures that she already had of old St. Augustine and other decor that matched my theme which I aboslutely loved! Also, her staff was extremely professional and kind.
Now lets talk about the food.....AMAZING!!!! At the wedding, I constantly had guests coming up to me saying how delicious the food was and that they had a hard time picking a favorite dish because it was all so good. It has now been about a month since my wedding, and I am still having people rave about the food. I have to say, that you do not have to pay an arm and a leg for a great caterer with quality food. Hope worked within our budget and really delivered. My husband and I did not get to eat at much as we would have liked to at the wedding, but that was ok because Hope had a care package for us with all the food that was served, which we thoroughly enjoyed when it was just the two of us
Tammy at Parker's Events did a stunning job with our wedding flowers. I did not think it was going to be possible to get the fairy-tale flowers I had envisioned while staying within budget until I met Tammy! Parker’s Events has very competitive prices without lacking any quality. Also, Tammy is incredibly sweet and was able to give me really great ideas that I had not thought of before. I absolutely LOVED my bouquet! It was incredibly gorgeous and exactly what I wanted! When I got to my reception, I blown away with my centerpieces! Everything was so beautiful and I cannot thank Tammy enough. I would definitely recommend Parker's Events!
LLAMBIAS HOUSE (reception venue) A++
This is an absolutely gorgeous venue for a wedding. We had our reception here and the words we constantly heard from our guests about the Llambias House were: beautiful, magical, fairytale and stunning. Angie was the event coordinator there and she was such a pleasure to work with. She always had a great attitude, is very knowledgeable and is so easy to get along with. Just a heads up to brides and grooms, there is a noise restriction at this venue so if you are looking to party hard this is not the place for you. But if you are looking for an intimate venue that will wow your guests, the Llambias House is definitely worth checking out.
Thank you Angie for helping make our day truly memorable.
JEWISH AND INTERFAITH WEDDINGS BY CANTOR DEBBI BALLARD (co-officatiant) A+++
On November 3, 2012 I got married in St. Augustine Florida. My wife is Catholic and I am Jewish. We had an interfaith wedding that took place inside a Catholic Church. We had two officiates one of which was Cantor Debbi Ballard and the other was a priest. I would highly recommend Cantor Debbi Ballard. Not only does she go above and beyond but she is very knowledgeable, has a great personality, is always available to make time for you during the planning process, preforms a beautiful ceremony and is very punctual. Debbi showed up early to both the rehearsal and wedding. She was always available to talk and get advice from. She makes you feel very comfortable. I cannot say enough good things about Cantor Debbi Ballard. If you having an interfaith wedding Debbi Ballard is who you want!