I'm married! Our wedding was this past weekend and it was truly the happiest day of my life. So many of our guests told us it was one of the most beautiful and fun wedding they had ever been to! Considering everyone was from OOT, this means a lot. Planning from Denver was challenging at times, but all of the hard work certainly paid off. I used the Knot Boards througout the whole process, and hope these vendor reviews help you. Good luck and happy planning! Enjoy every second!!! ~A Saint Stephen Catholic Church A+++ Not only is the church breathtakingly beautiful, but working with Dixie was smooth and enjoyable. Betsy coordinated the rehearsal and the wedding and everything went off without a hitch. I feel so honored to have been married in such an amazing church. Omni Royal Orleans A+++++ We chose the Omni for two reasons, 1) the location was perfect and the hotel beautiful, 2) Celeste Myers knows what she’s doing and we completely trusted her. We were not disappointed in our decision for a second. The reception took place in the Royal Garden Terrace and the indoor/outdoor space was PERFECT for our crowd. The staff took care of our guests and I felt like a princess. If you are considering this venue at all, my advice is BOOK IT! In addition to the reception, we organized food and drinks for the Changing Room the morning of the wedding (the room was part of the package) and a Farewell Breakfast the morning after the wedding on the rooftop by the pool. Once again, GREAT SERVICE. We had a room block and Ben helped immensely with our accommodations. This place really knows how to go the extra mile for their guests. By far, the best decision we made when planning the wedding. Country Inn & Suites A+++ We stayed at this hotel during all of our planning trips to New Orleans (4 total) and also had a room block here. Lisa Camp and the entire staff were great and gave our guests a really good rate. Ralph’s on the Park A+ We had our rehearsal dinner here and could not be more pleased. The ambiance was perfect, the food excellent, and the staff really worked with us on our needs (budget, décor, timing, etc.). If you’re looking for a great New Orleans restaurant with slightly lower prices than those in the French Quarter, check this place out! Bustles & Bows A+++ Stephanie and Shelly were FANTASTIC. I spent a lot of time in the store on more than one occasion and I never felt rushed. We shopped at a few other boutiques before finding this store, and Bustles was the only place that made me feel special. I also ordered my bridesmaid dresses from here, and everything went smoothly (all of the dresses were a little big, but that may be typical of the designer). Men’s Wearhouse A So easy to work with! All of the groomsmen were fitted in their respective towns and we had the tuxes shipped to the location in Metairie. The only reason I didn’t give them an A+ is because the tuxes were almost shipped to the stores they were fitted in. Bob Bradford Photography A+ I haven’t seen the pictures yet, but everyone loved working with Bob and his assistant Connie. Our timeline was different than they were used to (early afternoon wedding with a several hour break before the evening reception), but they used it as an opportunity to get some great shots during the break. Connie did so much to help—she set up the shots, pinned on boutonnières and fluffed my dress! Kori’s Floral Boutique B+ I chose Kori because she was less expensive than most of the florists I considered and because I heard she was good at giving brides exactly what they wanted. My flowers turned out beautiful! I am very pleased with Kori, but gave her a B+ only because she was kind of hard to get in touch with during the planning process, my MIL never got her corsage, and the greenery in the bridesmaids bouquets wasn’t as dark as I had hoped. Flawless Bride/Heather Ramirez A+ I had a great experience with Heather!!! We scheduled multiple hair trials with her and she even ended up coloring my mother’s hair the week of the wedding. My hair turned out PERFECT and all my bridesmaids looked gorgeous. She brought in a team of 4 other ladies to do a total of 8 women’s hair and airbrush makeup. Everyone showed up right on time and stayed to do touchups. Ashley Toman (harpist for ceremony) A+ Ashley was probably the easiest vendor to work with. She sounded amazing and her husband played the trumpet for the processional and recessional. Omega Sound B Our DJ was Johnny Liggio and he did a great job of feeling out the crowd and playing the appropriate music. I gave them a B because they changed DJ’s on me twice during the planning process (once the week before the wedding). The music was very important to me and it honestly caused me a little stress to not know the DJ’s personality (we originally booked Omega Sound based on David Storm’s good reputation and I hadn’t heard of the other DJ’s). Nevertheless, everything worked out and our guests danced the night away! Smitty Dee’s Brass Band A+ I had one guest tell me the second line send off was the best in wedding history, and I have Smitty Dee’s to thank! They really got the crowd going and made the wedding especially memorable for everyone. Haydel’s Bakery A+ Both the wedding cake and groom’s cake turned out exactly like we wanted! It took us a very long time to nail down a design because DH and I had different tastes, but Tonya was very patient. I had many people tell me it was the best wedding cake they had ever tasted. American Luxury Limos A+ My dad coordinated the transportation, but from what I’ve heard, the limos and cars we clean and the drivers were on time (we had two limos and 2 sedans). David Band (Rolls Royce) A+ David was on time and his car was gorgeous. So many people complimented us on the Rolls. David even popped a bottle of champagne for us to enjoy on the way back to the Omni! Hotard A+ We chartered a bus to take the wedding party and their dates to the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. We made it everywhere we needed to be on time and the bus was in great shape. MountainCow.com A+ I ordered my invitations from a stationery store in Denver, but I printed everything else at my home printer. I ordered the computer program and all paper from
www.mountaincow.com and got SO MANY COMPLIMENTS. I did my own STDs, brunch invitations, info packets (I mailed out info on the wedding and the city to each guest after we received their rsvp in lieu of welcome bags), programs, RD invites and RD escort cards. Great website!