Louisiana-New Orleans

Vendor Reviews 10/3/09 - very very late (and very long)

I know this is extremely late, but hopefully it will be useful to some brides out there...I turned to this board many many times during my 22 months of planning, and I hope I can share a word of advice or two to some out there. This is going to be a long one.

Rehearsal DInner - Cajun Ballroom @ Swap Exhibit at the Audubon Zoo. This was extremely unique and fun. My mother-in-law planned the whole thing and I was so thrilled with the result. I still can't believe how elegant that room looked at night all decorated. If you want info on this, contact Audubon catering as you would the Tea Room. Same menu.
 
Bridesmaids Luncheon - Ralph's on the Park. This was fantastic. I paid less for the bridesmaids luncheon than for a brunch for our parents the day after the wedding. Plus, we had a private room with a balcony overlooking City Park, an attendant, a personalized menu, and unlimited mimosas. It really is a great deal. 

Hotel - Windsor Court. We had a large corner suite with awesome views. I had an in-room massage the night before the wedding (through a private masseuse) which I highly recommend ;) The room was great, the staff was accommodating, and the "Club Level" turned out to be a great convenience. If you want to take photos, reserve a time slot in advance...and be on time. 

Church- Holy Name of Jesus. Everything was great except I wish I slip-coverd the plastic chairs that the MOH and BM sat in on the altar, haha. Liz Broekman was the coordinator, and I can tell she has done it a thousand times. Very easy to work with. Of course, you have to use their organist, but he was fantastic. My fiance and I had such a great time sitting alone in the church with him picking out music. I had done some homework before meeting with him and had LOTS of options..and he played them all for us. 

Vocalist - Kathryn Claverie. I only spoke to her once over the phone, but she was great. I was very impressed with her voice and she improvised during communion (evidently 2 songs weren't enough for our 300+ guests). 

Limos - A Regal We had 1 Rolls and 2 limos (1 for bridesmaids and 1 for groomsmen). My husband said their limo wasn't "as nice" as the other, but I did not see it. Unfortunately I must say that the limos were 15 minutes late picking me up form the hotel, which caused the wedding to start late. They were very sorry and even offered a limo to stay through the reception to bring my husband and I to the hotel, which was a great convenience. The lesson learned is to schedule the limos EARLIER than you think you will need them. Let them wait on YOU not the other way around. Overall, they really made up for their boo-boo and the drivers were all very nice.

Police Escort- JPSD. Thank god for the 7 units that escorted us or else the wedding would have started SO much later. Plus, it felt like royalty. 

Reception - Audubon Tea Room. My coordinator was Vivan. She had a lot of great ideas and was very helpful. Everyone loved the food. I was glad I went to a number of tastings before the wedding because of course there is no time to eat that night. Unfortunately, the Tea Room booked a wedding the day of my wedding. The reception was to start at 8 and, from what I was told, at 5 pm the room hadn't been cleaned yet form the last wedding. It was a ridiculous rush to set up for my wedding. It all got done, but caused some serious headache. As a twist, I had guests enter through the front of the zoo and through the Tea Room gates to the back garden area. Many people commented on how fun this was and that they liked seeing the flamingos haha. We did have a few issues but contact me if you want more info. Overall, the biggest hit was the food. You can't go wrong with the Tea Room in that aspect. 

Band -Louisiana Spice My parents picked out the band and I was happy with them. I loved all the horns and the large-member band. I did screen the list of songs they typically play and gave them a DO/DON'T list. Unfortunately, as I was about to cut the cake I heard the Cupid Shuffle, which was NOT on the list I screened of songs they played; I would have put it on the DO NOT PLAY list if it were. As it turned out, it got people on the dance floor having a great time, so it just goes to show that they know what they are doing. 

Photographer - Fine Art Exposure. I cannot say enough good about Jessica and her team. ALWAYS professional and on top of things. I was very pleased with my pictures as well as the ease of working with this group. They were extremely accommodating, especially when I contacted Jessica and got bridals done and back within two weeks of the wedding. She was amazing. Oh, and my pictures were back when I got home from the honeymoon. 

Videography - Chad Dyle. Chad is a sweetheart and easy to work with. He has done this so many times and knows exactly what he is doing. Just remember that your man has a tiny mic on during the WHOLE ceremony! haha

Cake - Melissa's Fine Pastries. As far as aesthetic, my wedding cake was beautiful and EXACTLY what I had in mind. But if you are going to go with Melissa, choose one of her many different flavors of cake and filling. my cake was 6 tiers with alternating layers of traditional almond cake and chantilly cake with fresh strawberries, topped with buttercream icing. I heard guests did not enjoy the traditional almond layer of the cake saying it was too plain. I personally liked Melissa's light version of this cake but it is DEFINITELY not what southerners are used to (very sweet and rich almond flavor, tastes like a snowball). SHoe does a great tasting, though if you want to try it out. 

Chez Ru Rene- groom's cake. I didn't plan on having a grooms cake but at the last minute (like a week before the wedding) I decided on a whimsical cake for my groom, which received many compliments. I have never had a bad experience with this bakery. The cakes are always fresh and, although traditional, the flavors are great. 

Favors - DIY. We stamped fleur-de-lis tiles and wrapped a set in ribbon, tied with a little personalized gift tag. They were a huge hit. Some people took way more than one set each. 

Extras - Roman Candy. Since I have an obsession with Roman Candy, we had the cart park out front the Tea Room at around 10. As guests left, they picked up taffy. They loved it, and it made for my absolute fav picture of the night (see our blog)

Sushi Bar - Johhny form Little Tokyo. This was just one of those things my fiance and I had to have. Our guests are still raving about how awesome it was. My husband and I, and his family, eat at Little Tokyo just about every Friday, so Johnny did this as sort of a favor for us. Usually you would have to go through the Tea Room to contract outside vendors, but I know Johnny has done weddings before there.  

Rentals - NO Event Rental. After a couple of quotes and much debating we only ended up renting 200 + chiavari chairs and the tables and chairs for outside. They are expensive especially since you HAVE to rent them through the Tea Room. 

Other DIY items - Linens My mother made tablecloths and runners for every table. We found this to be so much less expensive than renting (crazy, huh). It was just something I reallly wanted to bring color to the tabletops and I absolutely loved them. We got fabrics from Jefferson Variety, Hancock, and JoAnn. They all looked great too. My poor mom did all the hard work. 

Dress- Pearl's Place. Let's just say I ordered my dress in Dec 2008 and, although it was special ordered, it came in wrong twice and wasn't ready until 2 weeks before the wedding (which is why my bridals portraits were taken so late). Because we were waiting on the dress to determine which veil and length, I did not have a veil two weeks before the wedding. Pearls blamed it on the manufacturer of course. I suppose people know what to expect. 

Veil - My mom actually made my veil (~$12). The tulle came from Promenade on St. Charles (but it is really the same tulle you get anywhere) and the tiny lace trim was cut out of an old lace my mom had (I think it was a tablecloth, haha) Moral of the story - just get a veil when you try on your dress. If you wait for your dress to come in you may not have a veil to wear. 

BM Dresses - Vera Wang ordered from Ballin's They were so sweet and the dresses came in on time. I should have had the BMs check what size they were ordering though, because some of the dresses were ordered SOO big and had to be altered down a lot. The JR.BM dress was made by a seamstress tho lives uptown named Nancy. I think she made the dress for ~ $100, which beats the $300 cost of a Vera Wang that would have been way too big. Instead of ordering the Vera Wang fabric ($80 / yd), I went to Linda Lee and got something very close that was $30/yd. It wasn't perfect but I couldn't justify spending $300 on a 10 year old that would grow out of it in a week. 

Stationery- Alexa Pulitzer. I was such a pain to work with and Alexa was patient and great. I loved the overall result and, I am so pleased with how unique everything was. We got Invitations, 2 sets of envelopes, reply cards + envelopes, TY notes + envelopes, 400 gift tags (went on favors), and 3 x 3 all-purpose cards. We thought of using them as "well wishes" cards but ended up using them on the programs, which looked amazing. 

Calligraphy - Tanya Henriques  Tanya did a great job and helped a bunch with invitation etiquette. She even ordered and ink to match the invitation ink (which was a french/slate blue). great work.

Day-after Brunch - Commander's Palace As a thank-you to our parents, my husband and I took them for brunch the day after the wedding. This was a great way to end the weekend and we just could not stop talking about the wedding and how much fun we had. I highly recommend doing this if you can. 

Bridesmaids gifts -I only had 5 and I felt like they needed to be given a gift at the Bridesmaids luncheon but not be left out at the rehearsal dinner so they got spoiled with gifts a both. For the RD, they (as well as the FG and Jr. BM) received small engraved jewelry boxes with their monogram. At the BM luncheon, they were given the Swarovsi earrings they wore on the wedding day (FG and Jr. BM got pearl sets) Lastly in the hotel room on the morning of the wedding, I gave the BMs champagne glasses etched with their monogram. (I got myself one too with my new monogram which the photgs used as prop)

Lastly, my mother owns a flower shop in Harahan, Flowers by Janice, so needless to say, her shop did my flowers. It doesn't feel right giving a review since it is family and OF COURSE i got exactly what I wanted. If you want info about her shop you can contact me. 


I hope some of this helps!!!
Link to Blog -

Re: Vendor Reviews 10/3/09 - very very late (and very long)

  • janderson0004janderson0004 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hey Dani!!!
    Your pictures look great! I ended up taking my bridals in Longue Vue because I liked your so much. Hope everything is going well for you. Maybe the next time I'm in town you, Brooke and I should grab a bite to eat.

    Tall Friend
  • tnrivertnriver member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Wow the same thing happened with me at Pearls! I didnt get my dress until a week before my wedding because it came in wrong 3 times! You're right, you can't really expect much out of them. I am taking my "bridals" this month, even though my wedding was in December because of this exact reason.
  • edited December 2011
    Your photos were beautiful - and I always get a little thrill out of seeing photos from Holy Name - I'm getting married there too :)

    Can I ask where you got your second line umbrellas?

    Thanks!
  • edited December 2011
    The umbrellas were too a DIY project :)
    The plain black one and lace one both came from Jefferson Variety. 
  • mhebe49mhebe49 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Where did you get the tiles for the favors? That is such a cute idea!!
  • mhebe49mhebe49 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Also, I am looking for a vocalist.  Do you have Kathryn Claverie's phone number?
  • edited December 2011
    SUre! The tiles came form Lowe's. I think they were $.40 each. I also bought cork paper from Michael's for the backs of the tiles. (I found this in the scrapbook paper aisle). The ink is called Staz-on and it comes form Michael's. It is permanent ink designed for porcelain and other like materials, costs about $8 a pad, and comes in a variety of colors. Lastly, I sealed the tiles with clear coat (Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel) from Lowe's.

    Kathryn's Email - [email protected] I think I emailed her and she called me back. 
  • edited December 2011
    HEY PLEASE EMAIL MORE INFO ON THE TEA ROOM MY RECEPTION IS THERE IN 6 MONTHS, I NEED ALL THE DO'S AND DONT'[email protected]
  • AnneMargaretAnneMargaret member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I really like the idea for the favors too!  Can you send me a picture of how they came out?  Also, how long did it take for you to make them?  I'm not really a DIY-er, generally because I don't have the patience for it!  TIA!  [email protected]
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