Florida Gulf Coast Vendor Reviews

cbaber

Hoping this information might benefit other Gulf Coast Brides. My wedding over Labor Day weekend couldn't have been more perfect. I married my best friend of 17 years.

Here are my vendor reviews: DRESS
Vendor: Bride Beautiful in Atlanta, GA Very happy with the level of service I got from this dress shop. The gowns they carry are in an affordable price range with a good selection of designers. I give them an A. DRESS ALTERATIONS Vendor: Simply Elegant in Fort Walton Beach, FL After moving from Atlanta to the Gulf Coast (3 months before my wedding), I needed to find a place to do alterations to my gown. Typically, if a shop doesn’t sell the gown to you, they won’t do the alterations. Simply Elegant made an exception to their rule for me and took in about 4 inches thru the midsection of my gown and added a bustle. They did a great job with a fast turnaround. I give them an A. CEREMONY Vendor: Forever I Do in Destin, FL I have been really struggling with how to write a fair review of Forever I Do. Here is the thing . . I LOVED them the ENTIRE time I was planning my wedding. The ladies there could not have been more friendly and attentive and quick to answer all my questions. They were AWESOME. Fast forward to the day of my wedding . . the minister . . I think his name is Larry Wietzel. He was HORRIBLE. . . he was literally reading the paper with the service on it and stumbled the ENTIRE time. His voice level was a normal speaking tone so most of my guests (indoors since Hurricane Lee kept us off the beach) did not hear anything he said . . it was so bad that at a certain point I realized I had tuned him out and had to force myself to snap back and pay attention . . What really got me was the fact that I was told to pick my service from 1 of about 8 or so that they said he "does all the time" and could "pretty much do from memory". I figured that would be great since I didn’t want somebody to just read from a paper and stumble which is exactly what he ended up doing. My advice, make sure you do a run thru with the minister first. That was a HUGE mistake on my part. I made sure to go thru everything with every single vendor EXCEPT the minister . . big mistake. I give them a C+ since it doesn’t matter how good you are during the planning if you screw up my vows. (ugh!) RECEPTION VENUE Vendor: Fudpucker’s of Destin/ A la Carte Catering This venue isn’t for everyone. The place is kind of quirky with an Alligator Farm and writing on the walls but, for us, it was perfect. Our planner (Mia Henderson) couldn’t have been more helpful. She worked with me to create a menu that stayed within the budget and was very responsive to emails and phone calls. I give them an A. BAKER Vendor: Custom Cakes by Sara. She does FREE local deliver to Crestview-Defuniak Springs area and Delivery for a fee from Panama City to Pensacola. Find her on Facebook or email her at mycustomcake@aol.com I found photos of Sara’s work on Facebook and knew I had to have her as my baker. She is incredibly talented and can do (literally) anything you want. The cakes (3 tier wedding and groom’s cake) were exactly what I wanted and tasted great. I strongly recommend her to anybody doing a Gulf Coast wedding or anybody who lives in the area and needs a birthday or other special occasion cake. She is the best! I give her an A++, smiley face, check, and star!! DJ Vendor: Brent LeMaster of Beachside DJ in Destin, FL I am a bit of a control freak. I admit it. I planned our playlist and supplied a timeline of exactly what I wanted and when I wanted it. Our group had a wide variety of ages, ethnicities, etc and I wanted to make sure everyone had a good time. It seemed that Brent was more comfortable with a less “enthusiastic” type crowd and, at times, I had to ask for the music to be turned up and for him to stop playing the “dinner selections” during the dancing time. Example: “Today was a Fairytale” by Taylor Swift is great for background music during meal time. However, it caused everyone to leave the dancefloor when he played it mid-way thru the party. It wouldn’t have irritated me if I hadn’t been so specific about what to play and when to play it – but, I was. He showed up on time and announced the few things we needed announced to keep the agenda moving along. If you have a more conservative group or just love disco – you would probably love him. I give him a B. PHOTOGRAPHER Vendor: Ransom Photography in Buford, GA Michelle was amazing! She traveled the day before to photograph my wedding and did an outstanding job. We invited her to our Welcome Dinner the night before and she took photos during that event as well. What was supposed to be a beachside ceremony (with all those great sunset photos every bride wants) turned into an indoor wedding at a dimly lit venue (due to Hurricane Lee dropping in on us unexpectedly) and Michelle was great at capturing all of our special moments even though the “must take” list was, in effect, no longer a possibility for me. I hardly even noticed her taking my photo and only realized she had gotten a particular shot after she posted it to her site. She is friendly, easy to work with, reasonable priced, and has a creative eye for detail. I strongly recommend her work. You can find her on Facebook or email her at michelle@ransomshots.com I give her an A++, smiley face, check, and a star!!