Way behind in posting reviews (and getting thank-you cards out!). I'll try to be brief, and if anyone would like more details, please message me.
California Hotel and Casino: A+++ We LOVED this place! Had not really stayed downtown before (one time, briefly) but this was perfect. Picked initially because they are the only place I found that has mini-frig's in every room, and there is no resort fee. Everyone so friendly, and it was connected to Main Street Station and had many restaurants and shops. Also close to Fremont Street, so an easy walk but not so noisy at night. Karen Shizuru from Group Sales was amazing, and got us a really great rate for our guests and also upgraded us to a suite just before our arrival. That helped so much. We had about 40 of our 45 guests staying there, which she said was a great turnout for a destination wedding. We enjoyed the restaurants, especially Triple 7 Brewery in Main Street Station, where Antoine Salloum arranged everything for us to be sectioned off so not so noisy and the servers were wonderful with people arriving at different times and such. Food was very good, and they have some really good beers of their own. Most amazing, the dealers and pit bosses (who we lost a lot of money to, but as I liked to say, I didn't really lose money, I just had the most expensive cocktails in the WORLD!). It got to the point where if we mentioned we were getting married, the staff would be like, are you the Mob Museum people?! Everyone was talking about it and I saw my favorite Blackjack dealer, Pamela, on my way out to the limo. Had no idea, though, our last day there, one of the pit bosses we'd met early on, Peggy, asked when we were leaving. And when we said that day (or maybe it was the next day), she left for a few minutes and came back with 24 packs of cards that had been used at the casino the day of our wedding. They will be a really nice souvenir to go with thank-you cards...er, they are also thank-you cards. lol
Mob Museum: Overall, A+ with some hitches along the way. Turns out, if I understood correctly, we were only the 2nd ceremony there? Maybe since new management, I'm not sure. But the "first" with a full ceremony, processional, music, etc. It was absolutely amazing, the courtroom needed no decoration, the photo ops were endless and Karri from the Museum was exceptional, particularly the day of. They had someone following me the whole time, someone with my husband, and everything flowed perfectly, to getting us in and up the elevator to a private room (for me) until the ceremony. The guests loved it, only thing, I would REALLY recommend arranging to get the museum entrance wristbands the evening before and REALLY encourage your guests to go visit earlier in the day, before the ceremony. Although we did this, many did not, thinking there would be time after the ceremony, but it didn't turn out to be much time before the shuttles were there to take us to reception. If you have unlimited resources, I would definitely recommend buying out the museum and doing ceremony and reception after hours. This way, guests can wander around at their leisure, and you're not fighting for space for photos, etc. But it is much more expensive than we could afford. I think the least expensive option was $6500 for a cocktail reception for 25 and then $80 or so each for over that and up to 50. As it was, I think our final cost was about $1300, and that was the ceremony, the officiant (Rev. Roland), one hour of photography from Imagine Studios and all the photos/rights on a CD, and entrance to the museum all day for our guests.
Reverend Roland August: A+++ He was truly wonderful! Played a mobster for the ceremony, not too cheesy, though, and worked his comments around the Miranda Rights, tying them in quite nicely to marriage. (Perfect, for my profession as a federal law enforcement officer.) Everyone LOVED him, and thankfully, he ignored my request to do personal vows...neither of us wrote anything down and stumbled even at the reception! Ceremony was perfect. We also got some more time with him the following day, as we'd both forgotten the marriage license, and had to get it to him for recording. Loved, loved, loved him!
Bahama Breeze: A+ also with some hitches. Initial meet with Momi (Events/Sales) was so great, I considered using them for the whole deal, ceremony and reception. She really sold us on the place and I am definitely happy with it. However, as pre-warned by a Yelp reviewer, she is very laid back and not so quick to respond to questions. The closer we got to event, the more non-responsive she was. We did get their Main Deck for no additional charge, as we had about 50 total, but couldn't use microphones for toasts and such because we didn't buy out the whole area (that would be paying for 100). Food was awesome (we did the sirloin steak, Calypso Shrimp Linguine and Chicken Cilantro Crema), and drinks very good. Cost per person turned out to be maybe $45, that was including 20% gratuity and a $650 bar tab. We also tipped the servers extra, they were so awesome...3 servers took care of all of us, and also dealt with serving the wedding cake, although they hadn't been told about that in advance. I had specific emails from Momi they could do that but turned out no one knew how! No complaints from me, for all the great service but I do fault Momi for not making sure it was thought out...the bottom and middle cake layer should have been served (and were different flavors, for some choice) and only the bottom layer was, and very skimpy pieces.
Bell Trans: C See my comments in the Transportation thread, here. I won't go on and on but there was confusion just before the wedding, they reverted to the initial manifest, which had been drastically changed. And about an hour before ceremony, they called and told me my card was declined for "too many transactions." Thankfully, I got call and gave another card and all went through but it made a day with very tight logistics even more stressful. Also, my card company shows nothing was declined. For all we know, they entered the number wrong. Either way, it went through ok, the drivers were very good, I'd just recommend grilling them in advance to make sure details and payments are in order!
Harmony Tapia (Hair and Make-Up): A+ LOVED Harmony! I'm not a make-up person but she accentuated my best features wonderfully (I got LOTS of comments on my eyes and hair), and was just a really nice person to have around me the morning of. She did my bridesmaids and me, I think the total was about $560 or less, with placement of birdcage veil and 20's ornament. Bridesmaids looked gorgeous, we were all very happy with her work. Definitely recommend.
Freed's Bakery: A++ Elia helped me customize one of their Bride on a Budget cakes (the Rose Cascade) to make sure it matched out colors and it was gorgeous! More important, extremely delicious - moist and flavorful. We had the top layer (for us) and the middle layer with the chocolate and raspberry puree and the bottom layer vanilla cake with Bavarian Cream. I know that sounds kind of plain but it was delicious and everyone loved it! (Thankfully, as the middle layer never got served, see above.) Definitely recommend Freed's, and Elia particularly will go out of her way to make sure she has everything you want.
Enchanted Florist: A+++ Awesome experience, Kathryn was great to work with and I think it was Jacqueline who designed our bouquets, bouts and presentation flowers. I admit, the initial estimate was above my budget, but they worked with me to design something just as beautiful for the price I needed. (And honestly, I think they upgraded a bit, esp. on the bridal bouquet because I think it was closer to my original design.) They provided vases for all the bouquets and delivered to my hotel in a partitioned box to hold everything securely. The bouts were amazing (I don't think the guys really gave a hoot but they were beautiful!) and we did a corsage for my mom that was gorgeous and single roses with some baby's breath and ribbon for aunts and my husband's sister.
Imagine Studios: A+ The photographer, Sean, was amazing, I love our pictures from the Museum. He was so good at getting us photo ops, considering the Museum was open to regular customers, also. They also gave us a videographer (forget his name right now), and they have us 1/2 hour for the ceremony, which turned out to be only $125. Since the photos were included with the Mob Museum wedding package, we got the CD with all photos for no extra charge. We are sending a gratuity to the photog. and video guy, and I'm going to look at having a photo book done with them, because they were so great.
Reflecting Hands (Massage Therapy), W. Sahara: A++ I had a 7 hour drive to my now husband's and then 3 hours to Vegas and pinched a nerve or something. I couldn't breathe without sharp, stabbing pains going through me. My husband called around but it was July 4th, we figured no one was open. About an hour later, Taylor from Reflecting Hands called and said they had a reschedule and could see me at 4pm. Then, she called back and said they could do a couples massage, so we both went, my husband for his first ever professional massage. He got the "nicer" one, since I had an issue, I got worked over! But I think my therapist was DInah, she was amazing and got the knots worked out and such where over the next few hours, I was back to normal. Prices were great, I think it was $50 or $60 each for an hour. Definitely look them up (and it's close to both the David's Bridal and Mens Wearhouse, where we were dropping off dresses for steaming and picking up tuxes).