DOC: Beth Carrick/Flawless Occasions A+
What can I say about Beth that hasn’t already been said? She was probably the best decision I made in regards to vendors. I debated whether to hire a DOC, and I am so glad I did. Everything can out exactly as I had imagined it. Poor Beth was running around all day in 95+ degree heat. We communicated through email, since I was OOT, and everything worked out great.
Photographer: Erick Runyon e-photographics A+
I don’t see Erick mentioned too often around here, but he is really great. Picking a photographer was the hardest vendor choice for me, and I am so happy with my final choice. Erick came to the rehearsal and welcome dinner and took pictures there, and then was there for the ceremony/reception and then came back on Monday to do a TTD. All our wedding pictures were fully edited and posted by 5pm on Monday. I gave him no direction at all, assuming he knows what he’s doing, and I have no complaints whatsoever. Some of our TTD pics are up on his blog.
Videographer: Ian Movie Magic Productions Pending Video
We don’t have our video yet, but Ian was extremely nice. He was all over the place all day, and from what I’ve seen of his work, I’m sure we will be pleased.
Cigar Roller: Rodriguez & Menendez Cigar Factory and Store B+
I honestly had no interaction the day of the wedding with the cigar rollers. I did knock down their grade a bit because they showed up late. All in all, it wasn’t a huge deal, but they were supposed to be there by 5:30 and showed up about 6:15. I’m not sure why. Everyone loved the cigars and had a good time with it.
Hair/makeup: Julissa from Beauty Brought Out A+
Julissa was wonderful. I had hair and airbrush makeup, and my 5 bridesmaids all had their hair done, 1 girl had makeup. Everyone looked fantastic and we were all ready early.
Cake: Publix Treasure Island A+
I don’t really like cake, so I didn’t actually eat any, but everyone said it was good. It was there on time, looked nice, no complaints.
DJ: Rob Sword A+
Rob was great, no complaints. He made sure to keep checking in on my elderly grandparents, since it was so hot out that day, and I really appreciate that.
Welcome dinner: Sloppy Joe’s on the Beach A-
I had called and spoken to several people to set up the welcome dinner over the past few months. We were going to be having 50 people, and they took all the info, said no problem. Thursday morning, I decided to stop over there and make sure they didn’t need a deposit to hold the space or anything. They had no idea what I was talking about, nothing was in the book, etc. They were able to accommodate us, and it didn’t turn out to be a problem, but I thought after speaking to several people, it should have been in the book like they told me it was.
The night of the dinner was nice. The waiter and waitress assigned to our group certainly worked their butts off. The food was great, my only complaint was that I had given them menus that I had made off of their menu, and they decided to go ahead and place their drink menu (with $20 fishbowls, etc) on the tables as well. I didn’t notice until the huge drinks started coming out, so I had to cut that off. I felt rude doing so since some people had already ordered them, and other people were told no. It would have been nice if they had run that one by us first.
Bilmar Beach Resort Ceremony/Reception A+
We really had a wonderful day. Everything turned out exactly as I had pictured. I really have no complaints or concerns from the day of.
Room blocks:
We did not end up blocking any rooms for our guests. Which is kinda funny since we had 70 guests, all from out of town. The Bilmar was not really willing to work with us on the rates, so I chose not to block any rooms there. We were actually able to get a really good deal on expedia and travelocity when they had the rooms on sale, and we passed the info along to everyone. So, overall, it worked out for the best for my guests, I was just disappointed with how it was handled from the Bilmar’s end. To me, basically saying to the bride & groom: “we don’t care if you do a block, the rooms will sell out regardless” is pretty rude. Our party did book about 25 rooms total at the Bilmar.