Description Category: Wedding Dresses

Designer: Oleg Cassini

Name: Ct 258

Original Price: $1,150.00 USD

Asking Price: $700.00 USD IF I HAVE TO MAIL IT $500 FOR PICK UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

condition: /Like New

Has been altered

Silhouette: Ball Gown

Neckline: Sweetheart

Dress Color: White

Train: Chapel

Label Size: 4 Street Size: 4 Bust: 34 Height w/shoes: 5' 2" Original Owner: yes Has Receipt: yes been dry cleaned..  slip is incluede 
keep in mind if you buy a new dress you pay for alterations,and tax..SEIROUS BUYERS ONLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, there are no missing beads, stains, or tears . That is definitely important :)

Terms of Sale: all sales are final and I WILL email you more pic upon request..

Payment Methods Accepted: PayPal or cash email (contact me) caplocksid@yahoo.com

Year Purchased: 2010

Location

Country: United States

City: San Diego

State: CA

Terms of Sale: are final..

it has a bustle

 I HAVE TO BUY ANOTHER DRESS FOR MY WEDDING IN AUGUST 2011.

IF YOU LIVE IN SAN DIEGO CA AND CAN PICK UP IT IS $500. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!
EMAIL ME AT caplocksid@yahoo.com

Photographer: Stephina – A

We knew choosing a photographer would be difficult, since my now-husband actually does some wedding photography on the side. We knew we would need to find a photographer that not only took great photos, but also put up with my husband’s questions and requests. Stephina fit the bill nicely. Stephina is a team of two photographers- Stephanie and Tina. They have great energy and work well together.

They provide you with a CD of all the photos they take, and then you can print whichever ones you want yourself. (They do give you some prints too, depending on the package you choose). This worked perfectly for us. We had an engagement session with them a month before the wedding, and while we thought the photos were nice, nothing really jumped out at us.  However, when we got our wedding day photos we were blown away, including my picky husband.  They did a great job of blending both artistic/stylistic and photo-journalistic elements to provide a great storybook of our wedding.

One thing we would recommend is giving your photographer (regardless of who you choose) a detailed list of all the “must have” photos- formal family photos and all the group shots you want taken during the reception (a lesson from my husband). This list helped speed up the taking of formal photos right after the ceremony and also ensured that we weren’t left at the end saying, “I wish we would have gotten a photo with our Happy Hour friends.”

Stephina also got some great humorous shots, and a lot of candids (which was exactly what we wanted). They were upbeat, fun, and have positive attitudes.  We really enjoyed having our photos being taken by them and love our wedding photos.

Venue: Omni Hotel (Julie) – A+

The minute we walked into the Omni and met Julie we knew we wanted to have our wedding there. First, the venue itself is beautiful- very elegant and classy but not stuffy at all. It has a great downtown feel and really shows off San Diego. The ceremony and cocktail hour were out on the 6^th floor outdoor pool deck, which has amazing views of downtown. The reception is in a downstairs ballroom, with doors that open to an outside deck so you don’t feel confined to the room. It didn’t have a “hotel” feel at all.

Second, there is Julie herself. She is so professional and competent. From the first time we met with her we felt confident that she would take care of every detail, and we wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. Julie is the Food & Beverage Manager, so her main role is to make sure all the food and drinks come out at the right time throughout the ceremony and reception. She is not a wedding coordinator. Having said that, she went far, far above and beyond her role. She was available for our constant emails and questions. She made sure we thought about details we wouldn’t have considered (like making sure the rented chair covers were the same fabric as the table linens the Omni was providing so everything looked like it matched). She worked with all the vendors to make sure they knew when and where to deliver and set-up and actually interviewed one she wasn’t familiar with. She provided invaluable advice about all things wedding throughout the whole process. Julie has obviously had a lot of experiences with weddings, and she never hesitated to share her opinion or advice when we asked for it. She is very knowledgeable and we definitely appreciated her guidance!

Despite the many, many weddings Julie has put on, she always made us feel like our wedding was the most exciting wedding ever. In the weeks prior to the wedding, she emailed how excited she was and how she couldn’t wait for our big day. She was very genuine in her enthusiasm. Three weeks before the wedding, after one of her emails, I remember thinking, “she has an event every weekend, and probably one this coming weekend. She’s busy. And here she is taking time out of her day to tell us how much she is looking forward to our event. Amazing.” Of course we were excited as the day got closer, and having Julie there encouraging us along the way just made it even more enjoyable.

The day of the event, everything went perfectly. Every space looked beautifully put together, and there were even some extra touches by the Omni that we hadn’t known about in advance. We are sure there was a lot of running around behind the scenes, but Julie and the team took care of everything and we just enjoyed the day. We are so, so happy that we chose the Omni. We could not have imagined a better experience.

Also- the food was AMAZING. We got many, many compliments regarding the food, all the way from the appetizers served at the cocktail hour, the amazing filet & shrimp and filet & chicken entrees, to the chocolate dipped strawberries that were decorated like tuxedos which were served at the end of the meal. We had some pretty tough “foodies” in the crowd, as well as ourselves, and all of them were impressed by the quality of the food.

DJ: Artistic Productions (Merrylin) – A-

Merrylin and her husband Bob run Artistic Productions. Although only one of them DJs your wedding, both of them work together on the music prior to the wedding. From our first meeting with Merrylin and Bob, we felt instantly comfortable. In fact, they were the first vendor we met with and we decided to go with them right away. It was so easy. They have a website that is relatively easy to use which you use to tell them which songs are “must play” and which ones you don’t want to hear. Closer to the wedding, we also met with Merrylin and she got to know us well enough that she just created a “vibe” for each portion of the wedding based on our preferences (ie. the cocktail hour, dinner, etc.). We of course chose specific songs for different parts of the wedding like the processional, sand ceremony, first dance and cake cutting, but we didn’t have to choose a bulk of the songs- she just “got” us and what we wanted to create. Also, we did choose some very specific songs for different parts of the ceremony and reception that were not on their website, but Merrylin was happy to go on iTunes and purchase the versions we wanted. The ceremony/reception turned out great- Merrylin kept the evening moving and kept everyone dancing!

Hair: Dennis Sparks – A-/B+

I originally contacted Theresa Piazza from recommendations off TheKnot.com. Unfortunately, Theresa already had a wedding on our date but she referred me to Dennis. When I first met Dennis I brought in a few photos of what I wanted. I wanted a pretty simple, half-up style with curls cascading down. I did not want to look like I was going to the prom, and I definitely didn’t want the hair-sprayed look. My hair is pretty thin, and I think Dennis was surprised during the trial when he styled it and the curls fell out almost immediately. Still, he said it would be no problem to get my hair to work in that style on the day of the wedding. He assured me that he could get the curls to stay in! I was a little apprehensive since nothing really worked out at the trial, but I decided to trust him. On the day of the wedding, he and Shauna (who did my make-up) came up to our getting-ready room at the hotel and they worked their magic. My hair turned out GREAT! I was amazed at the difference between the trial and the day-of. Dennis totally got my vision and carried it out perfectly. And the curls that I was so worried about falling out stayed so well that even after I took out the bobby pins, my hair was still curly at the morning-after breakfast we had for our guests the next day.

Dennis was very nice. However, he definitely does have a way he wants to do things, and if you as the customer don’t agree, it can get difficult. My mom asked him if for the day of the wedding he could just put her hair back in a bun, so it would stay out of her face, and he agreed. The first time he pulled it back for her, he gave her a huge poof on the top of her head. My mom is not a poofy-hair kind of person, and she asked him if he could fix it a little so it was less poofy on top. He seemed very put out by this, and pretty annoyed. He did fix it, but you could tell he was not happy about it. We all agreed it looked better after he made the top a little less pronounced.

Overall, I was really pleased with my hair and I think if you go in with an idea of what you want, and let Dennis make it happen, you will be happy.

Make-up: Shauna – A

I don’t wear very much make-up, and originally I thought I would just ask a friend to do my make-up instead of paying someone to do it. However, several people told me that I should have it done professionally, for the photos, and I am so glad I did! Shauna did an amazing job! I was afraid of looking too “done up” and Shauna was very conscious of my wishes and kept me looking like me- only better! I know nothing about make-up and I pretty much just trusted her and it turned out really well! My skin is somewhat oily, but I did not need a touch up at all the entire night. And the make-up looked great in the photos!

Coordinator: Epiphany Events (Melissa)

We did a lot of the planning ourselves, and we are pretty organized and detail-oriented so we didn’t need much help with the pre-wedding day planning. We were mostly looking for someone to coordinate all the vendors and items on the day-of.  Melissa was recommended to us by our photographers at Stephina Photography because she was just starting her own wedding coordinating business.   We had been debating whether we needed a coordinator, but had done a lot of planning already so it seemed like a good fit for both parties.

Melissa met with us several times before the wedding. She went over details, timelines, etc. When we asked her questions she wasn’t sure about, she was pretty good about getting back to us with the answers. Two weeks before the wedding, Melissa asked that we give her everything for the wedding: centerpieces, place cards, favors, etc. This worked out well because it meant we had to have everything done and ready before we may have originally done. This allowed us to focus on other things during the last two weeks. That made the last two weeks a lot less stressful.

Melissa was very positive, encouraging and energetic about helping us through the planning process. She was available to give advice and answer questions in the months prior to the wedding. On the day of the wedding, Melissa helped out tremendously. She made sure all the “stuff” was in place -and there was a lot of stuff! She set up everything and then cleaned up everything afterward, which was a huge undertaking. She made sure everything got to the proper place at the end of the wedding (presents to our room, florist’s items in a box ready to be returned the next day, etc.). She kept us informed about what was coming up next and what we needed to do.

Because this was Melissa’s first wedding we expected it would be a learning curve for all of us. Even though Melissa was very nice and personable, there were a couple things that happened that we were disappointed with. A couple days before the wedding, we were looking over the numbers for vendor meals and noticed that an additional meal was ordered.  When we called Melissa, she told us that she was adding an assistant to help her and that it would be her husband.  It’s not surprising that she would need an assistant, but it wouldn’t have been an issue if it had been brought up more in advance and it seemed “coincidental” that it was her husband.

There were also a few very minor things such as our special wine glasses for our sweetheart table that got left in a box until we were sitting at dinner and had to ask for them.  Also, we notified her a week prior that a few guests wouldn’t be arriving and that those place cards shouldn’t be put on the tables but saw them out on the table.

Overall we think that with some more experience, Melissa will do a good job as a wedding coordinator.

Chair Covers: Concepts Events – B

Concepts did an ok job. When we followed up closer to the day of the wedding, we discovered that Concepts hadn’t written down our final chair cover choice and we were happy that we called to check.  On a separate occasion, we were emailed someone else’s bill with their event and billing information.  However, on the day of the wedding, all the chairs were set up and everything went smoothly as far as we know.

Florist: Metro Floral Designs (Peggy Walker) –  A

Peggy Walker is the main reason I did not have a huge breakdown in the middle of our wedding planning. In the beginning, we planned to go to Wholesale Flowers, choose the flowers and do most of the arrangements ourselves. We just wanted something that looked nice. We’re not huge flower people and we thought that was an area we could keep simple and save a little money. “It’s flowers, how hard can it be?” We soon realized that was a horrible idea.

When we met with Wholesale Flowers, they asked us so many questions and I got so overwhelmed that I almost started crying. A family member referred us to Peggy and so I stopped by one day after work. I pretty much told her, here are our colors, here’s what we want the “tone” of the wedding to be, here’s our budget … Help! “Can you just make us something that looks good?”

Peggy not only created some beautiful arrangements, but she helped us develop a whole vision for the tables. She integrated all the ideas and things that we wanted into an overarching theme that made sense. She also helped us work within our budget by allowing us to borrow all the vases, containers, stones, etc. that we needed – a huge cost savings! She was so generous with her time and materials. Once we knew that we all had the same vision, we just trusted her to run with all the flower details and she did a fabulous job. The arrangements looked great, our bouquets were gorgeous, and the tables looked amazing. We could not have been more pleased. We recommend her 100%, especially if you need someone to help you see the “big picture” and how all your components can work together.

Cake: Sweet Cheeks Bakery (Elaine) – A

Oh, the cake. We cannot say enough good things about our cake from Sweet Cheeks. Before the wedding, when people asked us what we were looking forward to, we said, “The cake! Make sure you try the cake!” This is no ordinary wedding cake. It is delicious. The cake was so good that the food & beverage captain said that it was the first wedding where the *entire* wedding cake was eaten.  We were sad, because we wanted the leftovers! Everyone raved about how great the cake was.

Elaine and her team do a wonderful job. They took our theme and made a beautiful, unique cake to match it. Also, we have to say we enjoyed the cake tasting at Sweet Cheeks more than at any other place. Elaine gives you different containers with all the fillings, and then pieces of each cake flavor, and each frosting so you can taste them all separately and come up with your own combinations. We settled on a dark chocolate cake with peanut butter and cream cheese filling, and a tiramisu cake with pistachio and hazelnut mascarpone. They were both so yummy we wish we had more right now.

Photo Booth: Photo Booth Los Angeles (Bo) – A

I worked with Bo and Photo Booth Los Angeles at a prior event so I knew I could trust them to be there and take care of everything in a professional manner. Bo did not disappoint me at all. He was there early, and had everything set up before the guests got there. He kept the photo booth up and running all night. Many guests said they loved having the photo booth and went in several times!

A week after the wedding, we got a CD with all of the individual photos as well as all of the 4x6 photo montages that the guests got to take home. Prior to the wedding, Bo worked with us on the design of the photo screen and the backgrounds for the 4x6 take home photos. He made it easy to do. We definitely recommend having a photo booth, and Photo Booth Los Angeles is the most reputable company in Southern California. Their prices were great and service was exactly as promised.

Officiant: Aline Rozok – B+

The officiant was actually one of the hardest things for us to pick. Choosing who is going to marry you is a difficult decision. We did a lot of research online and met with several officiants in person. Aline was very personable and easy to chat with. She offered a “Love Story” portion of the ceremony, where she interviews the bride and groom separately a few weeks before the wedding, and then includes their love story in the ceremony. This was a great feature that our guests really liked. Since we had people that knew us at all different times in our lives, separately and together, it was interesting for them to hear our story and get a little insight into what makes us, us. It was also great for us to hear what the other person said in response to the questions.

During the ceremony, there were a few mishaps (she forgot to have the groom say the “I promise to…” part, but we reminded her, she said “husband” instead of “wife” once) but overall we were very pleased with the ceremony. We especially liked the personalization of the Love Story. Aline also allowed us to integrate family and personal traditions into the ceremony, which was really nice.

We did not have Aline do the run-through of the ceremony the day before the wedding (our coordinator walked us through it), but in hindsight I probably would have paid the extra money and had her do the run-through. I think that would have eliminated the little mishaps that occurred, and it also would have made us feel more comfortable with the flow of the ceremony.

Wedding Dress- RSVP Bridal (Karen) – A

Karen was a pleasure to work with! I found my dress at a store with less-than-stellar reviews, so I called Karen. She was able to order the dress at about $150 less than what the store was asking. Plus, she provided individualized attention throughout the whole process. I visited her home office and she measured me, made size recommendations, and then kept me updated on the delivery date. When the dress was delivered (a couple weeks early), I went to her office for a fitting to make sure everything was ok. While I was there, Karen helped me find the perfect veil, which I also ordered through her. Karen was very professional and helpful throughout the entire process.

Alterations – Rose Anderson – A

Rose did a wonderful job on the alterations for my dress! She is a pleasure to work with. She has great ideas and will put in a lot of extra work to make sure your dress fits perfectly! One of my favorite things about working with Rose was that she leaves the seams open so as we got closer to the wedding and I lost a few pounds she was able to make the dress more form-fitting. I loved my dress before I brought it to Rose, but I loved it even more after she worked her magic!