Hello ladies
very late on the post here, but I wanted to make sure I eventually did it, 1- because I owe it to all of our great vendors to give them a review, and 2- because I felt I benefitted so much from the reviews of others while I was planning. The last step will be to actually post about the wedding items that are STILL taking up so much space in my house, but that's another storey
Ceremony: St. Louis Cathedral- A+Our ceremony was everything we wanted it to be; the church was beautiful and we didn't decorate a thing. Kevin was such a pro, I know communication is sparse between the coordinators/brides during planning, but trust that they know what they are doing
we had a bit of a snafu when one of our singers backed out last minute (stage fright) and I literally had to tell Kevin two seconds before I was walking down the aisle. He was able to arrange for the cantor to sing Ave Maria and it saved the day. The only thing I would warn potential brides is to have a solid clear plan that guests are aware for leaving the church....I guess I sort of forgot about all the OTHER people that would be outside when we exited! I had thought we would all easily round up for our second line after immediate family took photos in the square, but it was utter chaos
Luckily everyone got together in the end, but keep in mind that there will be loads of people present who are not affiliated with your wedding
Photographer: Lauren Carroll- AWe hired Lauren Carroll last minute when our family photographer bailed (she felt she was going to miss too much of the wedding). She was so easy to work with, gave us a great rate and was willing to get exactly what we wanted for photos. I love the look of her images, and she was completely flexible with whatever we wanted to do. We hired her for only four hours, so it was crazy hectic since one hour was before ceremony, the next was mass, the next was our hectic transition from church to second line to dropping guests off at the cocktail hour and trying to take our couple-only pics, then finally the reception venue and first dances. I regret that we didn't hire her for the whole time, but moneywise we couldnt afford it and she had a previous obligation for later in the night anyway. She did a great job considering she had to go from church to hotel to church to second line to all of our locations for pics in almost no time....it was crazy. The ONLY thing I would do differently if working with her again (or as advice to other brides) is to really have a plan for posing and what you want/don't want in the background etc. (She may actually do this at weddings where there is more time, but I'm not sure) I felt a few of our pics with the Cathedral in the background weren't exactly what I was looking for (we were blocking it , the steeples coming out of our heads like horns), and in EVERY picture I am holding the bouquet in front of me, which made me look thicker and hid the really beautiful sash I was wearing.....so that's it- I would have given her an A+ if we had a little direction, but again, she may already do this with folks whom she has more time with.
Reception Venue: Bourbon Orleans Hotel: A+Coordinator Alyssa Mistretta- A+We visited 7 different venues and chose the Bourbon Orleans hands down. It was exactly the look we wanted, was close to the Cathedral and was available for a seated reception which we wanted. We had just over 100 guests, and I have to say to me it seemed a little big for that- (I flelt it seemed a little empty once people spread to the bar, the dance floor and the balcony). The food was great, they totally tailored it to our wants/price points, and everything went seamlessly. The decor came out exactly as I had envisioned (we brought a LOT of stuff with us for decorating) and Alyssa was always so cool calm and collected.
We had our two year old son who was going to be staying with the sitters in a separate room, and these sitters were also going to be watching my best friends 3 month old twins, and the hotel was fantastic about getting them adjoining rooms. this was a lifesaver, as my son was obviously up a lot of the times the twins were sleeping, and they were able to put the twins in the other room. Also made it so my friend didn't have to transport all of her stuff to the sitters room and during the reception the sitters were easily able to bring my son by the reception for a bit since the rooms were on the same floor as the ballroom. Our suite was as well, and this was so convenient during the day for setting up.
The room block went perfectly here, and it was really just so conveniently located for our ceremony and also for guests to go out afterward in the french quarter.
Flowers: Christina O'Malley- A+
I know many have concerns about communication with her, and if that is something that is important to you she may not be the best choice. I had minimal flower needs (bouquets and 5 simple centerpieces) and wasn't concerned about reply time via email, and she was perfect for me. The bouquets were huge, far exceeding what I expected, they were fresh and perfect, and exactly what I wanted. She helped me save $$ when I mentioned green hydrangea (which are extremely more expensive than white) by recommending floral tint which I think came out amazing. For me she was perfect!
Cake: Haydel's Bakery- A+The cake was delicious, so moist, and completely bigger than I expected. We did the triple layers (which solves most people's complaints that the Haydel cakes are too low and wide) and they were able to match icing to paint swatches I sent in! We did our grooms cake from there too, and it also came out perfect. this picture really doesn't even do it justice, as the flash washes out the colors (the gold was really gold, not yellow as it looks here).
DJ: David Storm- ADavid was a pro and super easy to work with. The song choices were great, and we had predominantly young people which I had told him. The only downfall (and this is really me more than him) is that besides our first dance he played no slow songs. Now I say this is me, not him, since I had told him not to worry about playing too much slow stuff or older stuff, but I didn't really mean none
Again, this is really my fault since we had the option of creating playlists (which everyone should do!!) unfortunately music fell by the wayside in our planning, and we never got around to it. He did a great job with our first dance songs and intros, since even this was pretty much communicated to him the day before! Everyone danced and had a great time, definitely recommend.
Obviously we had tons of other vendors, but these are the ones I felt really deserved a review. (We didn't have anyone bad, or I would have reviewed them here to warn others
Hope this helps some of you, and feel free to ask if you have any other questions about any of these! Our wedding was perfect and I wouldn't change a thing.
I will be posting separately sometime soon, but if anyone is interested the dress (and accessories), the tableware (stemmed votive holders, vases and tablecoths/runners, gold napkins and gold chargers) are for sale along with free stuff I can send along too.
