Louisiana-New Orleans

05-15-2011 Vendor Reviews VERY LONG

Just had my wedding this Sunday. I am actually on my honeymoon and it's pouring down rain so I figured I'll help out some other brides while we wait out the rain. 
My sneak peek photo: 


Photography, Babs Evangelista, A++++++++++Babs was absolutely incredible.  Her pricing varies according to your needs, but at 2700 we got 2 photographers for 6 hours on the wedding day, a professional album with edited images, full printing rights to all of the hi-res digital images, and an engagement shoot with full printing rights to all of the images and editing on 30 of the images.  The best part about Babs, though, is her incredibly fun and creative personality. She can make ANYONE relax in front of the camera and is extremely assertive about getting the right family members into the right photos quickly so we didn't miss much of the reception at all.  She planned an incredible first-look.  She surprised both of us by asking Audubon for a Golf Cart and she had Matt drive up to meet me with my back turned while he played one of our favorite songs on her iPod. All her idea. It was an incredible surprise and is just one small example of how thoughtful and awesome she is. 
Cakes (wedding and grooms): Flour Power, A+
Flour Power was absolutely amazing. The cakes were delicious (grooms was chocolate with Frangelica mousse and hazelnut crunch between each layer, wedding was white cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries between each layer).  The sugar flowers on the cake were incredible and looked so real.  She also made an incredibly realistic looking sugar version of our beloved cat on the grooms cake.  Ronda was incredibly easy to work with and very friendly. But most of all, the cakes were delicious.  Also of note, she did this awesome thing with the cake pulls where they were surrounded by hardened puff ball things so that they pulled out of the cake completely free of icing, etc  Far less messy!  550 for both cakes.   They are also one of the few bakeries that do fake layers of cake that will actually save you money (lots of people on these boards believe that this is a myth: not at Flour Power). 

Flowers: Fat Cats Flowers, A+
Diane at Fat Cats is absolutely incredible.  Simply tell her your budget and she will work around it to come up with something absolutely beautiful. She's honest too: she won't let you use a flower if she knows it will start wilting almost immediately.  She is also probably the best vendor I've worked with in terms of checking in as the day gets closer. Its so easy to get bogged down in those last weeks because there are so many vendors, and she is great about taking the initiative.  One other thing, the coordinator at my venue added a bunch of tables without telling me and Diane ordered all the flowers for the additional centerpieces.  I was surprised by the price increase and asked if we could cut the extra centerpieces and she did it without hesitation--even though the flowers had already been ordered.  I really appreciated that.  2000 got us my bride bouquet, 3 BM, 4 GM boutonnieres, 6 dad/grandfather boutonnieres, 7 mom/grandmother corsages, 10 orchid centerpieces, 3 larger family table centerpieces, 1 HUGE centerpiece for the food station room, a large centerpiece for the guest book table, 6 aisle markers, the stand for my cake, and flower petals for the aisle. (Flowers used were primarily peonies, ranunculus, orchid, gardenia, hydrangea, and snap dragons). 

Venue/Catering: Audubon Clubhouse, A
I am dividing Audubon into 2 sections because the actual food and production team the day of the wedding should not be lumped in with the sales manager I worked with leading up to the wedding. The day-of people were awesome.  The food was PERFECT.  The staff was incredibly quick about picking up empty glasses and plates so things never looked sloppy. They provide a bridal attendant whose job is simply to make sure that you are happy: need a drink? Got it. Need your best friend? She'll find her.  They provide up to 4 LARGE bags of food to-go for the end of the night (we took one and gave one to each of our parents).  They were just incredibly professional and it was a well-oiled machine all night.  One draw back: if you use Audubon to get your chairs or other event rentals they do charge an additional fee (40% of the job) to take care of it for you.  But it was really well worth it to have nothing to worry about on the day of the wedding.  I also noticed halfway through the night that the uplighting in the oak trees that we had ordered wasn't on (see venue coordinator below), but the attendant immediately sent someone out to hook it up and made it right immediately.   Also a point worth noting: this is not the kind of venue that gets all weird about guests spilling/carrying drinks on the dance floor/etc.  I appreciated that they just let everyone boogie.  Also, they don't appear to charge for vendor meals. They let your vendors eat off of your food stations (and there was PLENTY of food) at no charge.  Sunday evening rental fee: 1500 for Clubhouse, 500 for ceremony site at Newman Bandstand, and 4500 food and beverage minimum. 

Venue Coordinator: Bernadette, B
Bernadette was my sales manager.  She's okay.  I really like her personality-wise, and she's really good with details, and just about everything the day of the wedding was perfect, but she was really, really difficult to reach sometimes.  I had a couple emails that were never returned which ended up pushing a lot of my wedding planning back into final exams (I just finished law school) and that was irritating.  We also missed a tasting because I RSVP'ed and never heard back.  I would still use her again, but I would be more diligent about trying to reach her and ALWAYS use her cell number---it tends to be much more reliable than her office phone or email. 

Ceremony/Cocktail Hour Music: Dr. Jazz, quartet, B+
Dr. Jazz was really good.  Russell Steele is their leader and he's very quick and diligent about communicating before the wedding and during the booking process. One problem: they stopped playing for the guests to come serenade my DH and I as we snuck some food before our entrance.  I appreciated the sweet gesture, but I am fairly certain my guests sat in silence during that time.  Awkward.  700.00 for 2 hours and 4 musicians.

DJ: Decades, Alex, C
Not impressed with Alex at Decades although he seemed like a really nice guy.  He introduced us with an INCREDIBLY bastardized pronunciation of our new last name (I mean, come on, unless you're POSITIVE how to say it, at least ask the venue coordinator first).  He also just didn't seem to be very experienced with how to do weddings.  During the cake cutting he turned the music off completely rather than simply turning it down and playing something cute. It was quiet and awkward.  There were also weird gaps after each of the special dances and I had to go over and nudge him to start playing the music.  A more experienced DJ would have known better. Decades has two levels of DJ: level 1 and level 2, and we picked level 2.  I guess we got what we paid for.   One plus: he was extremely faithful to our requested playlists.  (Almost to a fault--I think a more experienced DJ might have snuck in some other crowd pleasers/slow songs at appropriate times even if they weren't on the lists).  We were expecting our lists to be more of a guide, but I'd rather someone stick to the list than completely ignore it (and our request for no "group dance" songs of any kind was honored scrupulously).  450.00 for 3 hours. 

Officiant: Judge KK Norman, C+
She did a nice job of officiating and I thought that she put lots of cute little touches into what could have easily been just a bland, legal ceremony.  But she said my last name INCREDIBLY wrong.  I mean, seriously?  I just feel like that is something that you should be sure to get right.  Otherwise, I liked her....until she interrupted pictures after the ceremony to ask us to contribute a testimonial for a book she is writing and asked for a photo of us with her to include in the book.  Weird.  250.00 plus costs for the license. 

Hair: Glenda's Cuttin' Loose, Alis, B+
Alis is my regular hair stylist and she's WONDERFUL at up-do's.  I'd recommend her to anyone based on her talent alone.  BUT, she was almost 40 minutes late and that really added some stress to the day because we had to hustle to get to the venue on time. 150.00 on location fee, 50.00 starting rate for hair (it goes up if you want something totally cray-cray). 

Dress: Leslie Walters, seamstress, A- 
I loved my dress.  Leslie saw my vision and executed it flawlessly and even added POCKETS without my asking. =)   There's no limit on fittings: she'll keep going until it's right. 230.00 for the labor and materials (I provided my own seersucker fabric for the dress).  The only reason she doesn't get an A or A+ is because she would text me to ask if she could move back appointments by a few days.  It didn't really bother me, but for a busier bride that would be a huge inconvenience. 

Guys Outfits:  Joseph A. Bank, Hampton, A+ 
Hampton at the downtown Jos. A. Bank is awesome.  He offered us the guy's suits for 158.00 each (sticker price 350) and was incredible about getting alterations done quickly and perfectly. 

Re: 05-15-2011 Vendor Reviews VERY LONG

  • edited December 2011
    I am also using a Level 2 DJ from Decades.  How did you know which DJ you were getting?  Did ya'll find out the day of the wedding or can you ask them for the name?

    Thanks and I hope you enjoyed your day!
  • edited December 2011
    He sort of mentioned it in an email to me right around the time of the wedding (we were talking about deposits and he said something like "I'll make sure to let Alex know about your no 'group dances' thing"  

    Yeah....I'd take care to specify that there are specific songs you want played quietly DURING times that don't involve dancing (cake cutting, etc.)  Also, I'd send a phonetically spelled version of your last names, etc. to make sure they get it right. I am still getting flack from our friends about it! =) 

    Good luck! I hope these pointers help you out. 
  • edited December 2011
    Congratulations!!  I'm glad you had a beautiful wedding!  Enjoy the honeymoon!
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  • AvrilmaiAvrilmai member
    Seventh Anniversary 10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    How big was your wedding cake? How many ppl did it serve? I've heard great things about Flour Power. I'm trying to get an idea of how much my cake will be.

    Your sneak peek picture is amazing!
    Congratulations!

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  • edited December 2011
    These are the pics. If you're curious about what's up with the texture of the wedding cake, I was wearing seersucker and she emulated the texture in the fondant.  I've seen them do much more elaborate stuff though. 

    The bottom layer of the wedding cake is fake.  We had a ton of sheet cake (same flavor, etc. as the "display cakes") in the back.  I think total we had enough cake to serve about 150 (even though we only had 70 at the wedding so the venue sliced and bagged the extra to send with our guests). 

  • edited December 2011
  • AvrilmaiAvrilmai member
    Seventh Anniversary 10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    thanks so much! it looks like you had an amazing wedding
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  • Queen JaneQueen Jane member
    Fifth Anniversary 1000 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Congrats! Your dress turned out amazing!
  • edited December 2011
    Great review! Thanks for all the info!  Enjoy your honeymoon!
  • edited December 2011
    NOLAbride - congrats on the wedding! I am having my reception at the Clubhouse this October. I am glad to hear you enjoyed the location. I am debating getting a band. Do you this a band would work in the space? Any information would be greatly appreciated. T

    Thanks
  • edited December 2011
    The band was wonderful. I'd highly recommend it. =) 
  • edited December 2011
    Thanks so much for the review.  We have many of the same vendors (cake, flowers, officiant) and I'm considering Decades to DJ.  Glad to know to request level 1, if I do go w/ Decades.  I appreciate you taking the time out of your honeymoon to let us know.
  • Thanks for the detailed review. I am debating between a Level 1 or Level 2 DJ from Decades. The Level 2 is really more suited to my budget, but my fiance and I both have difficult to pronounce last names and I am very concerned by what I read in your review. Having my name mispronounced at my reception would really bother me. I also don't like how there were gaps where you had to ask him to start playing music. I might see if I can adjust my budget to allow for $300 extra dollars so I can get a Level 1.
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