Hi knotties! I know I'm not a regular around here, but I thought you would still appreciate vendor reviews.
We were married April 24 at the Pink Shell Resort in Fort Myers Beach. Here ya go (in no particular order)!
Pink Shell Resort & Spa - A+ -- Near perfection. This place really knows what they are doing. We worked with Dony... I felt at times she could be a little harsh, but at the end of the day she was just such a blessing. She kept me calm, she took care of everything (including bustling my dress which my BMS and I forgot, and getting little gifts for the FG and RB!). I couldn't find a card box I liked - she provided it. Needed table number holders and reserved seating signs -- she provided it. I was totally stress free, and not to mention the wedding was absolutely gorgeous!!!
NOTE: There are almost always more than one wedding per day, and it freaked me out for a while since there was an outdoor reception going on at the same time as my ceremony, but it was handled professionally and my guests really didn't have a clue there was something else going on.
Libby's Flowers -- A -- My flowers were beautiful and affordable. I made several changes along the way and Amanda was able to work with me to keep my order updated and correct. I only did bouquets and two arch pieces, so I can't speak for centerpieces, but my flowers were pretty! They showed up on time and were in and out so as not to bother us getting ready. The reason it's not an A+ is because my coral flowers turned out a much paler shade than I expected (almost peach) but I kind of blame myself because I wasn't 100% clear about what I wanted, and coral can be a weird color. Oh, and they let me keep the vases the bouquets were in!
Yum Yum Cakes -- B+ -- Again, a color issue. The reason this bothered me is because Doris at YumYum made a big deal that I send her a color swatch so she could specifically match the cupcakes to the wedding colors, and then they were incredibly pale and did not match. However, they were DELICIOUS -- like literally the best cupcakes I've ever eaten. Everyone thought they were beautiful, too, just not exactly what I had asked for.
Jamie Cintron (hair and makeup) -- A+++++++ -- I can't say enough about Jamie. She and her assistant knocked out hair for 8 people plus myself and a flower girl in less than four hours, and it all looked stunning. My (very picky) bridesmaids all loved their styles, as did I!! We had a few who messed themselves up and Jamie was happy to fix it. It was one of the windiest days on the beach ever, and I danced at the reception all night and my hair stayed perfectly in place until the wee hours of the morning. Very affordable, very efficient, very beautiful. I would recommend Jamie in a heartbeat (which is good to know for those located in the Ft. Myers area where hair/makeup people are limited).
Leap Year Photography -- Grade TBD -- I don't have my photos yet, so I really don't want to grade them. This is a husband/wife duo.... Erin, the wife, can be a little bit abrasive, but Scott (husband) balances her out. My wedding party felt a bit bossed around, and about things other than pictures where it was bordering on inappropriate. There was quite a bit of tension. But, the few pictures I saw on the camera looked fantastic, and that's what matters in the end.
Sean Corey Entertainment -- C+ -- I have to say that Sean Corey is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Very professional, as well. But we felt he kind of dropped the ball when we needed him. We made a dinner mix CD, and when it ran out and people were still eating, he asked if he wanted him to play some other music to which we said yes. He literally hit play on a Michael Buble CD. Good at first, but some variety would have been nice. Then, we had a pretty extensive list of music we liked, and a vibe we were going for. However, as it got going we realized our parents and their older friends weren't having a great time, so we asked Sean to play something for the 50+ crowd. He literally said "I don't know what to play!" How is that possible??? Thanks to a couple of requests (and probably some liquor) everyone ended up having a great time, and he played many of the songs we asked for, but he wasn't able to take the reigns when he should have been able to and it was a real problem.
Eddy Lugo -- B- -- I never met Eddy, as he traveled from Tampa for the wedding. We communicated mostly by email and he was very professional, and from what I could tell a great guitarist. Unfortunately he played our songs in the wrong order, so I walked in to what was supposed to be the seating of the mothers, my bridesmaids came into my song, etc. No one noticed (not even me!!!) but it was disappointing to realize my songs were wrong after the fact.
Hope that helped -- if anyone wants more information on the above feel free to email me at rachel dot doernberg at gmail dot com!