Vendor Reviews:
10-20-13 Wedding<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Hi—I was an OOT bride and used the local New Orleans board on the Knot for vendor
recommendations during our planning process and it was so helpful! I wanted to return the favor and post our
vendor reviews. We had such an amazing
wedding day—no issues, all great reviews, and we wish we could do it all again
next year. J We don’t have our pics back yet, but here is
the link to our Photographer’s blog where she put a handful up to give you an
idea of her work and the cake/flowers/candles/etc.
http://laurencarrollphotography.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/amanda-joel/
Ceremony/Reception Venue:
Latrobe’s on Royal A++ The space is absolutely gorgeous, the
food is incredible, and the staff is extremely attentive and professional! I will admit that during their busy season,
they do take longer to return emails/phone calls, but we knew they would pull
it all together in the end and they did!
We are so happy that we chose Latrobe’s for our wedding ceremony and
reception—it was perfect! A side note…we
may have several guests that are now addicted to Pimm’s Cups after having
several at Latrobe’s. They do make a mean Pimm’s Cup. ;-)
Day of Coordinator: All About Events A+ We worked with Rhoda for the Day of
Coordinator services. Everything went
smoothly as far as we know, so that must be a good sign! There was only one mistake in that she sent my
sister down the aisle too soon so there was a delay before I walked down. But obviously that’s not a big deal at all. J Rhoda was awesome, made sure everything
flowed throughout the night, that people had whatever they needed, and even
helped us tip the second line band when we spaced out and didn’t bring enough
cash! (we gave her a check the next day)
Hair/Makeup: Just Face It A+++ Angele did my hair and
airbrush makeup for a trial run and day of (and did my sister’s hair/makeup the
day of). She is such a sweet and
professional person and did AMAZING work!
Our makeup and hair stayed all day and night and we received tons of
compliments. Highly recommend!
Ceremony Musicians: Dr. Jazz A+++ So professional, and very talented! They performed our ceremony music and truly
set the scene! They played all of the
songs we requested and our guests were very impressed.
Second Line Band: Kinfolk Brass Band A++++++++++ OMG THESE GUYS ARE
AMAZING! As an OOT bride, I knew the
Second Line was something we had to do to bring in the local culture and some
extra fun to the wedding. We had Kinfolk
come in at the end of our ceremony and play for a minute (while the girls at
Latrobe’s did my bustle) and then they led us through the Quarter on an amazing
second line and back to Latrobe’s for the reception. I cannot describe how much fun it was! They have very high energy, are extremely
talented, and had all of our guests dancing the entire time, swaying
handkerchiefs, etc. We actually booked
them through White Oak Productions (A+)—Mimi
was very easy to work with/great communication/etc.
DJ: Jack Magic Entertainment A+++
John is awesome! We loved his
website where we could plan out songs we liked/loved/etc. He was so much fun and kept people on the
dance floor all night long—highly recommend!
Cake: Gambino’s A+ Due to transportation
issues, we were never able to do an actual tasting with Gambino’s. I just emailed them some inspiration pics,
asked them to recommend the most popular/delicious cake/filling flavors and let
them go from there! The cake was
delicious—moist, flavorful, and decorated just as we’d envisioned! I believe we went with Almond flavor cake
with buttercream frosting—one layer with just buttercream filling, one layer
with strawberry cheesecake filling, and one layer with chocolate filling. All great!
Florist: Christina O’Malley-Beagle A The flowers were beautiful and arrived in
time for our first look. The
centerpieces all gorgeous—all nice work!
I will mention that if flowers are important to you and you want to be
heavily involved in what the outcome/finished product will be, Christina may
not be the best choice for you (particularly if you are an OOT bride). She was very sweet and quick to respond, but
she doesn’t do mockups ahead of time, or Skype, or anything, so you basically
just send her emails back and forth with what you are thinking and any
inspiration pics you have and that’s it.
We were happy with the outcome, but honestly weren’t sure of what we
were going to get, how big the arrangements would be etc.
Candle Décor: Luminous Events A+++ Lisa was fantastic and
so helpful in the planning process! She
works with Latrobe’s quite often and really took charge of planning out the décor
for the entire space, tables, etc. She
worked very well with our limited budget and made the entire space absolutely
perfect. We were very impressed!!
Officiant: Rob Savoy A+ We wanted a laid back,
non religious, quick (but meaningful) ceremony and Rob was recommended to us by
a few different people. He’s a local
musician, and a very down to Earth and genuine person. He gave us quite a few examples of various
ceremonies and we basically took snippets from those mixed with a few new
things we found on our own and sent to him for review. We met him a few days before the wedding for
coffee just so we could meet in person beforehand---he was very professional,
dependable, and did such a great job! We
were very happy with our choice!
Transportation: Bike
Taxi Unlimited A+ Although Latrobe’s was only 2 blocks from our
hotel, we opted for a pedi cab to pick us up after the reception and take us
back to the hotel before heading to the after party. We were so happy we did! They were there about 10 minutes early just
in case we wanted to put a Just Married sign on or anything…our driver was
super friendly/fun and it was a nice break off of our feet after
dancing/running around all night to take the breezy ride a few blocks.
Photographer: Lauren Carroll A+++ Very sweet,
professional, and lots of fun! Our
wedding was Sunday evening, and she had sent us a handful of edited pics as a “sneak
preview” all before we left for the airport on our honeymoon Monday
morning! Within a week, she had edited even
more and blogged them—very impressive! From what we have seen, she does amazing
work and we cannot wait to see the rest of the pics!
Welcome Party: May
Baily’s Place A- We were staying the Hermann House at the
Dauphine Orleans hotel, so we decided to have our “welcome party” on Saturday
night at their bar, May Baily’s Place.
We just did open bar for 2 hours in their side room off of the main bar
area (where the hotel does their breakfast in the mornings). Our personal bartender was very friendly,
handled our crazy crowd well, and it was such a good time! Our guests said they loved the idea of the
welcome party because it got everyone together to meet/catch up BEFORE the wedding
so that the wedding day could let them focus on partying. J The only reason for the minus in the “review
grade” is because that bar seriously stinks so bad (definitely must be from the old carpeting/must/etc) and I think they served us
a lower quality beer than we selected in our contract. I was so anxious about the wedding that I
didn’t even notice the beer issue, but my husband pointed it out to me a few days later. Not a huge deal, but something to note.
Hotel Blocks: Country Inn & Suites A+++, Dauphine
Orleans A, Hotel Mazarin A, Hotel le Marais A
We were entirely an OOT wedding…everyone needed a place to stay so
we needed plenty of blocks. No
complaints from any on them, but Country Inn & Suites was by far and away
the easiest/best to work with. Jonathan
was so quick to reply, very helpful, and checked back in with us prior to the
wedding to update us on rooms (I had to ask the other places for info). He even asked if there was important
information on the wedding location, any welcome party, etc that they should
know so that they could preprint directions for guests ahead of time should they
need it. Seriously, FANTASTIC customer
service!