Venue: Doubletree Hotel A+. This venue is a hidden gem. We wanted a hotel venue with a beautiful courtyard. Food was delish! We also wanted a venue that had experience in doing a luau pig. Their alcohol prices were also great as they allowed us to prepurchase bottles of wine and liquor for a great price. Service was phenomenal! On top of this, the venue coordinator was awesome! Carleen is extremely organized. She was responsive throughout the planning. She also helped me negotiate some of our vendor prices.
We also received a complimentary hospitality suite for 3 nights, which we used as a gathering place for all our out of town guests. We hosted the suite the entire weekend with an open bar and snacks.
Officiant - Rev Joe A. We wanted an officiant that had experience in the Spanish traditions. I had a little bit of trouble communicating with him after we booked him. He was grumpy when I requested a hard copy of the order of ceremony. I was really worried but the day of, he was really nice, joyous and spoke clearly.
Day of Coordinator: Buon Affare Events, Kristi Treadwell A+. I wasn't sure if I needed a coordinator since most venues do come with a coordinator. I am so thankful that I had one as she filled in as the officiant during the rehearsal and she made sure my day stressfree. I had a long list of special things to handle and she took care of everything.
Florals: Last Petal with Melanie A+. I am still in love with all the florals. We changed venues midstream. I gave Melanie my color swatches and a budget. I requested callas, orchids, hydrangeas and roses and requested simple, clean arrangements. Eveything was so beautiful.
Invites: A+ I used etsy seller Inkedpapers. She did our invites, table numbers and design for our seating chart.
Cake: Kayla Knight Cakes A+. We were pleased with the final design and the cake was moist and yummy! She also had reasonable prices.
Dessert Station: Chocolate Dreams with Julie A+. This was to die for!! We had a chocolate fountain with all the fruit, pretzels and marshmallows. Our guests love this and thanked us for having one.
Lighting: PSAV lighting A+. This was my venue's preferred vendor. I paid for 5 uplights and they surprised me with 12 uplights for the same price.
Linens: Platinum Linens B. My linens were beautiful and were reasonably priced. The only complaint was that they were so slow to respond to any of my emails and phone calls.
Rehearsal Dinner venue: Pappadeaux A+. We hosted the bridal party and their family and out of town guests. Their banquet room was able to accommodate 40+ guests and they also sectioned off tables outside the banquet area as we did use all the space. They honored their catering lunch prices even through we got there after 3pm and they were really reasonably priced. Food was excellent!
Makeup: MAC Cosmetics at the Domain. B. It was OK. I asked for lashes and one of them was not put on correctly so luckily one of my BMs fixed it when I got home.
Transportation: R & R Limo. A. We used them for a limo ride to the venue and we also used their party bus for my bachlerotte party. For the limo, they arrived 30 minutes early which was great. For the party bus, the driver also arrived early. One of my BMs arrived late and was needing a ride from the airport so I asked the driver pick her up en route to our destination and she did without any extra charges.
Photographer: Cna Roberts I'm still waiting on all the photos and the book so I won't have a review until I have everything in my hands.
Photobooth: Hill Country Photobooth A+. This was a hit!! We took about 700 pictures and what a blast. They provided a scrapbook which was our guestbook, props and unlimited printing. The CD of pics arrived before we got back from our honeymoon.
Entertainment: DJ Mr Dig Productions A+. Roc is a friend of my hubby's. Not only he knew how to cater to the crowd but he was instrumental in getting the word out with the different stations and photobooth.
Entertainment: Tropical Events A. We asked for polynesian, carribean dancers and they put on a spectacular show. The show was also interactive and we had a lot of participation from our guests. The show was an hour long and while some guests appreciated it, some left.
One complaint was that we didn't have a contract and I completely forgot about their vendor meals. They requested 20 vendor meals for 10 dancers. Luckily, my venue coordinator comped their meals since we had 20 no shows.
Happy planning ladies! I had mentioned in my previous post that I really wished we would have gotten a videographer.
Thank you for all your posts as it helped me tremendously with all the planning.
