For some reason I feel the need to preface my reviews by saying that some of the things that were hiccups in these reviews may not bother the average person. But I work in the hospitality industry so my standards are a little higher than most (especially when it comes to hotel behavior)
Karma Goddess
Planning A++: Vanessa is awesome! She was everything we were looking for, someone down to earth who could goof off with us and keep us calm. We aren’t high maintenance people so some of the snootier wedding planners weren’t our style. Vanessa is so calming, there were so many vendor meetings that I would just get frustrated (especially during the venue search!) and she would just take over and get us out of there! She would read our expressions and know that it wasn’t for us. She negotiated all of our contracts and saved us lots of money through her connections (especially linens!). She was my absolute lifesaver with dealing with Acqualina. We actually became really great friends throughout the process and I highly recommend her!
Flowers A+: Compared to other companies, Vanessa was much more affordable for what we wanted for flowers. She worked really hard at getting our vision and trying to keep within our budget (well in the end I kind of splurged!) Because she was also our planner we knew that she would have our vision better than any other florist. I was a little bummed because some flowers weren’t available in the colors I wanted for the wedding but that wasn’t anything Vanessa could control. But when the garden roses weren’t available for my bouquet she upgraded my flowers to PEONIES! My flowers were gorgeous!
Brett Tyler A:
Brett’s pictures are gorgeous. We did 2 engagement shoots with him and the pictures were gorgeous. He blogged us 2 days after the wedding! Which is unheard of! The pictures on the blog are gorgeous and just what I wanted! The only reason he didn’t get an A+ is because I had a hard time communicating with him. He is very artsy and it is difficult to explain what you want because he thinks his way is always best. Ultimately I gave him a list of what I wanted so that I knew he would get what I wanted at the wedding and from the pictures on the blog he got everything I wanted. We actually received our CD with proofs within three weeks of the wedding! While Brett and I struggled communication wise I can say that his work is amazing.
Blue shore A+ (pending video of course):
Jeremy is awesome. I booked him over the phone because I liked his work so much. We met him a week before the wedding and seemed so confident in what he does that we had absolutely no worries with him. He was so nice and calm during the wedding, just took charge when he needed shots and made us feel super confident in him.
South beach makeup studio A+:
Amy Palma and team were awesome! The team took care of mostly bridesmaids and moms and Amy Palma took care of me. My makeup was flawless! Even looked good when I slept in it and had breakfast with my family. Amy is perfect because she is really calming which is what I needed on the wedding day. When I started to get overwhelmed she did deep breathing with me and told me to picture the Nordstrom’s shoe department lol. It was perfect. Even with a demanding bridesmaid the team was awesome! My hair was gorgeous and I seriously felt Iike a princess!
Jos A Banks
we used the Longwood location which was great. Paul was super nice and ordering was simple even though people were located all over. The only problem I ran into was with the Jos A Banks in Boca Raton, I don't recommend them. They are idiots. My dad ordered from them and first they said he never paid or got measured ( he went in twice) then they tried to put him in the same thing as the groomsmen. I eventually went to the store and the guy kept saying it was Longwoods fault, but no one else had problems. They never ordered my dad a shirt he had to buy one last minute. His shoes and tie came in after the suit like two days before the wedding. It was just ridiculous!
The collection bridal
This is where I bought my wedding dress in Winter Park FL. They were awesome! They were so patient when I tried on the dress like four or five times. I couldn't decide between two dresses and they never pressured me like other stores. Mimi was the best! Highly recommend for shopping. Alterations I’m not so sure, it didn’t feel like my dress fit perfectly. We had to keep pulling it up and some fixes I asked them to do were not done.
Acqualina hotel vs catering
I want to rate our hotel stay separately from the wedding
Hotel: B
so this is a 5 diamond resort.i work for a 4 diamond so I feel like i know what should happen. Anytime we had a request, ironing, more towels etc. it took three calls to get what we needed. This is just ridiculous! We ordered cheese and fruit to be delivered to our parents room ( at our cost) and the put a note from the GM with it. While they took it off my bill they still didn't seem like that was inappropriate they just said everyone gets a note from the GM. The night of the wedding there was nothing special in our room( even though my contract said something about a bridal amenity). Then a driver who took us to dinner told us how he gets fresh rose petals for special occasions for people. I guess our wedding night wasn't special enough! They lack consistency in their service. The only good thing they do is recognize you in person. I was disappointed with the service. The only reason they get a B because our room was gorgeous and the view is spectacular!
Wedding/catering A-
Susan was the catering person we had the most contact with. Acqualina had no minimum when we booked (don't know if that is still true) but during negotiations it seemed like she was just nickel and diming us. But that wasn't really the worse part, she would take weeks to get back to us. If you use Acqualina I highly suggest a wedding planner! Also she didn't keep up today's notes on our wedding so the final BEO she presented us with was $10,000 over budget (which gave me a heart attack). Susan was definitely not the easiest catering person to work with, she wouldn't even work with us on rehearsal dinner so we had to go elsewhere. On the day of everything was really really smooth, and the wedding was amazing. But I don't really credit that to Susan or Acqualina. Just a quick note on food, the tasting was delicious but the day of food wasn’t as good. It was typical banquet taste.The positives are that this venue is absolutely gorgeous! I think the ceremony location can't be beat for a beach view.
Uplyte A
Our lighting was absolutely gorgeous. I was only bummed that there was no lighting at cocktail hour. We had 24 uplytes which when we discussed it was going to light up cocktail hour, the tent and then the dessert stations. We moved the dessert stations in the tent but they missed cocktail hour and it seemed a little bland and kinda dark up there.
Platinum tents C
We picked them because they were the most cost effective. But I was disappointed in a couple of things. First the good things: the flooring was nice, they even added a ramp when I requested it for my grandma and the tent looked nice. The things I was disappointed in: they delivered the wrong dance floor at first (luckily they delivered on Friday for my Saturday wedding) then when they delivered the correct one it was all marked up and gross. The Acqualina staff was actually trying to clean it for me but it didn’t really work. Its almost like it was the only white dance floor they had left at the last minute. My contract said white and I got the ugly white with marks all over it and was pretty gross. The one that really pissed me off is that they said that the sidewalls weren’t included with the tent! My planner has worked with them numerous times and never had that problem. So they ended up charging me for sidewalls at the last minute because we needed them with 30% chance of rain! I think its BS they charged me for sidewalls, it’s a tent it comes with all the pieces!
Contempo A-
We rented chargers, chairs, lounge furniture and pillows and chair dressings for bride and groom chairs from them. They have some amazing stuff, really modern and fun. They were a tad annoying because I picked out a linen and they never mentioned that they were Custom linens so it was over $100 a table! We ended up using two different companies for rentals and I think it saved us a lot of money and got the look we were going for.
Atlas A+
We rented linens, tables, napkins etc from them. They were very accommodating and the price on our custom linens just could not be beat. It was simple which is always good!
Rev Eddie Rodriguez A++
He is amazing! He is the only officiant we met with. We just knew instantly than he was perfect for us. Our ceremony was spiritual but not religious. Everyone raved about him and asked where we found him. We didn't have him for rehearsal but he is so good at making you feel at ease on the day of it was all smooth. He uses a questionnaire to make the ceremony very unique and special. I highly recommend !
Juan Areco A+:
He was our guitarist for the ceremony and cocktail hour. It was beautiful! He learned a song from Keith Urban for me to walk down the aisle and even recorded a background track so that it would be perfect! He was a little more pricey than others but he came highly recommended from our officiant. I only wish JT and I could have enjoyed him a little more!
Vision DJs James A++:
I got a little nervous before the wedding because vision has mixed reviews. But James was awesome!!! He played amazing music and kept us in the loop all night! He came to me and JT all night and let us know what was happening next. We felt very taken care of. He even heard that my family was Portuguese and asked if he should try salsa music. He was all about getting the crowd into it. We never left the dance floor! I highly recommend!
Photo booth social A+
They were super easy to work with! We had props and got a CD of the images (I still have to find it in all the wedding stuff!) They have a cute old school style photobooth too! They even designed the strips to go with the other paper products that I had.
South Beach Choc fountain A+
I didn’t even want a chocolate fountain. My dad only asked for a couple of things and one was a chocolate fountain. We had to find one that had a wind guard because I was doing a tented wedding. They had the best wind guard. They were a little more expensive than other fountain companies but they were super nice! They had a shortage of strawberries around the time of our wedding and they promised that if they could have them they would but they agreed to also throw in pineapple for free even if they have the strawberries. They were super accommodating!
Donut divas B+
These were my favors. They designed an adorable label for them. However on wedding day they had no labels. The person who prints the labels went to the hospital so no one else could print them. It kinda sucked and made me sad bc our labels were adorable. But I understand things happen. And the non personalized bag of donuts was still delicious, but definitely a bummer.
We Take the Cake (Wedding Cake) A++
I think they make the best cake hands down! We went on at least 4 tastings and were just so unimpressed with cakes in the Miami area. I just wanted a plain vanilla cake that tasted good! Finally we tried We Take the Cake and just loved it! I compromised on a more simple design so that we could have a buttercream cake. The cake was absolutely amazing on the wedding day! It tasted fabulous and it was beautiful! Seriously perfect! Highly recommend!
Filled and Frosted (Grooms Cake) A++
Brittany was one of the tastings we went on for the wedding cake. We loved her red velvet flavor but I didn’t want it for the wedding cake. So when we talked about a grooms cake she was our gal! She took JT’s idea and brought it to life! The cake was awesome! Everyone was so impressed and it tasted amazing! Even the fondant tasted good because it was her special marshmallow fondant! She was also incredibly cost effective as well! Highly recommend!
Doubletree Sunny Isles (Rehearsal Dinner) B
I was disappointed with them. Simply because they didn’t read the BEO. We had a cash bar for alcohol but non alcoholic drinks were free. When I arrived everyone was paying for all drinks. I had to located the banquet captain to fix it. All night it felt like I was contacting the banquet captain for things that were wrong (I wasn’t even hosting this event! I just work in the industry so I know more than my in laws). They also never contacted my inlaws for a final count so we were short about 5 chairs. It seemed like we could never find a server when we needed something. The food was pretty good though, that is why they still get a B.
Some smaller vendors from online:
Etsy sellers
Mudcards: Our cake topper! Amazing A+
Unique and Trendy: Bridal party hoodies. B+ There were some rhinestone flaws when I got the hoodies. But they were still good
Twisted words: Mrs. Lastname hanger! A+ It was adorable I loved it!
Lizzieand company: Hubby/Wifey Signs A+. She was super accommodating with my requests!
OliniFloral: My hair flower A-. It was very pretty but it took a while to ship.
Palomas Nest: Ringbearer bowl. A+ It was so cute
The Knot: I bought personalized napkins from the knot and loved them!
WeddingChicks: I bought personalized bridesmaid totes from them. They were great!
BHLDN: bought drink stirrers (they were a tad large), and colorful straws (they were adorable)