We planned our wedding in less than 5 weeks. It was very stressful, but despite of the time crunch, rain, and other little hiccups, my wedding was amazing. My vendors were amazing. I thought some of them were going to be late because of the rain that day, but all of them came early.
Transportation: A+. Florian’s Classics. They were the most affordable, and we rented a beautiful white antique Rolls Royce. Our driver, Juan was very personable. He got to my hotel 45 minutes earlier than the time he was supposed to be there. Juan was very nice and helped a lot, especially in trying to get me to the church dry. (It was raining a lot)
Invitations: A+. Zazzle, Audrey Jeanne. Since it was such short notice, and the regular invitation shops would have taken 4-6 weeks to produce my invitations; I went to Zazzle and found this wonderful designer, Aubrey Jeanne. She had a beautiful peacock design and was extremely helpful and accommodating. My invitations came out so nice and no one noticed that they were not done in a fancy print shop. I highly recommend her. Not only did she do wonderful work, but she rushed my job and gave me suggestions for paper, etc. They came out beautiful! See them here: http://www.zazzle.com/peacock_feathers_wedding_invitation-161876739946412959
Photographer: A++. We got our photographer 3 weeks before the wedding. Actually my husband did. His name is John Bouma. He was very reasonable, and he worked with us. Everyone had nothing but good comments about the way he worked during the ceremony and reception. My pictures are beautiful, and I can’t wait to see the rest. John Bouma http://www.johnbouma.com/
Ceremony: A+. I had a Catholic wedding at St. Francis de Sales church in South Beach. The priest, Father Gabriel, helped us out from the beginning to the end with everything, including with little hiccups here and there getting some documentation. He went above and beyond to even open space to marry us in such a short notice. I’ve called a lot (if not all) of the catholic churches in Miami and some in Broward to get married. He was the only one who was very receptive, and willing to marry us in less than 6 weeks.
Reception Venue: A+++! Amuse Restaurant at Casa Moderna Hotel, Downtown Miami. Actually, I don’t remember who in this forum suggested this restaurant. We went there, and they were very reasonable, made a menu based on our budget, and closed the whole restaurant for my reception. The restaurant is modern, beautiful; it didn’t need a lot of decorations. The salesperson was a delight to work with, and the entire staff was extremely helpful. My guests loved the food, the ambiance and the personal attention from the staff. I highly recommend this restaurant if you want to do a dinner reception or wedding for less than 50 people.
Flowers: A. Well…after a bumpy start with my florist, she went above and beyond my expectations. She did simple small arrangements since the venue didn’t need much decoration. Everyone commented on how exquisite the arrangements were including the hotel staff, my guests, etc. She was very affordable too. La Orquidea Design. I couldn’t be happier with them.
Dress: A++. Well…finding my dress was a challenge. I’m a size 14…and most of the sample dresses are sizes 10 and under. I went to a lot of places and finally found my gown at Sira D’Pion. I got it the week before my wedding and she did the alterations needed over the weekend with no rush fee or extra charge. I also added some applications to it. The dress fit like a glove. I’m very thankful to Sira for doing everything in a merely 4 days and worked around my tight schedule.
Cake: B. Ana Paz, I’m a fan of her cakes, she created a simple, but elegant cake. However, the actual cake didn’t taste exactly like the one I tried on the cake tasting, but it was ok. The design was beautiful.
Favors: A+. I did cupcakes as favors from 2 Girls and a Cupcake. I gave out their cupcakes inside a clear box with marshmallows and decorated with ribbon and a label. They were a big hit! People asked me who got them from to order them too! I chose the “Oye com va” and “Beach Bunny” flavors.
Makeup: A+. Makeup by Vane. Simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. She did a wonderful job on me, my mother and maid of honor. No only was she is amazing with her work, but she was very reasonable and accommodating. https://www.facebook.com/PeaceLoveLashesVane
Hair: A. Hairbyromanoinc.com. With such a tight schedule, I got my hair stylist the day before, and it was a recommendation from my makeup artist. We didn’t do a trial, I showed her a few pictures of what I wanted and she did a beautiful side bun like I wanted.