Hi Ladies,
I used this board a lot to plan my wedding so I wanted to write the reviews before I forgot. I was amazed at how well things went. We had so much fun and felt so loved.
Venue - Rosy's Jazz Hall - A
We were really happy with them. The food and drinks were awesome and there wasn't much for us to do. We had the ceremony in the courtyard as well as the reception there. Darlene is the coordinator and by New Orleans standards she was really responsive to any questions. She ran the show really well and I didn't have to worry about much the day of the wedding. We brought all the decor to the rehearsal and she set it up for us. The bridal suite is really nice and there was white wine ready for the girls up there. It really cut down on my stress since I didn't have a day of coordinator.
Rehearsal dinner - Dick and Jenny's - A
My MIL hosted the rehearsal dinner but since she is OOT we set it up together. She was super happy with it. The food was REALLY good and plentiful, and the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich for dessert was to die for. The service was good, both quick and responsive. The only thing I wasn't 100% happy with was that I thought we were going to be in one of the smaller areas in the back by ourselves but we were in the main dining area. Since the dinner started at 5:30 it didn't start to get crowded and noisy until we were getting ready to leave so not that big of a deal.
DJ - David Storm with Omega sound - A+
He was so awesome. My DH has very specific musical tastes and this is the one thing he really cared about. All I cared about was that people had fun and danced. He did such a good job of blending our musical tastes and appealing to the crowd. At one point I even heard a guest say "I haven't heard a bad song yet". My sister played a mini second line with her trumpet around the room and he was able to pick up the music when she got tired seamlessly.
Flowers - Fresh Market (at St Charles and Louisiana) - A
We didn't use a florist to save money since decor was low on my priority list. I bought silk flower bouquets for me and the BM from another knottie and they were so easy to deal with. I really loved it. For the centerpieces we preordered flowers from the fresh market and arranged them ourselves. They were beautiful and fresh.
Cake - Cake Designs by Meg - A+
The cake was beautiful and delicious and less expensive than most of the bakeries. I gave her my cake stand a week before and she brought and set up both at the venue.
Photographer - Sabree Hill - tentative A
I loved working with her. She was friendly and responsive as well as professional. We took a bunch of pics in Audubon park and I can't wait to see them. She did a great job arranging our first look. The pics aren't ready yet so I will come back with a full review once they are done.
Officiant - Judge Kevin Centanni - B
His voice is great for a ceremony and he did a good job. The only issues I have is that I specifically said I didn't want him to ask "who gives this woman?" and he did. We also wanted to be introduced as myfirstname and his firstname his last name and he introduced is and Mr and Mrs Hisfirstname Hislastname.
Transportation - A Regal Limosine - D
I bought a living social voucher for 3 hrs of limo service. The fine print stated that there was a mandatory 20% tip and 5% fuel surcharge which was fine and I was prepared for. They were there on time which was good. However we went out after the wedding and when the 3 hrs was about to be up some of the wedding party wanted to go and DH wanted to stay out. We let them go with the limo and we took a cab. When they got to the hotel the driver told them that we owed them an additional $120 and that the voucher only covered the ride from the venue to the destination. This obviously upset me though they didn't tell me till the next day since they didn't want to upset me. The service was fine but the hidden charges were not cool.
Hair and makeup - Two Sisters Hair and Makeup - A+
They were awesome. I changed a lot of stuff I wanted at the last minute and they totally rolled with it. They were quick and we all looked beautiful. I do wish I would have gotten some of the lipstick to reapply after photos and before the ceremony but that was my fault for not thinking of this.
All in all it was a great day and everything went pretty smoothly. Good luck and happy planning
