It’s been a month, but I swore I would get to these! Thank you to everyone who has posted vendor reviews while I was planning – they were super helpful and now I’m happy to share my own. FYI, I planned from NYC so most of my vendors were booked online – hence why I included websites. See my profile for photos – I tried to include bridesmaid dresses, flowers, cake, painting, etc.. There’s also a link to our highlight video under the videographer review I’m happy to share!
Ceremony & Reception Site: Louis XVI Courtyard at St. Louis Hotel
http://www.stlouishotel.com/
Grade: A+
I am so glad that we chose this location for our wedding. We looked at almost 10 different courtyards in the French Quarter and this has to be the largest and most beautiful. Since we’re from the north, we wanted a sit-down buffet dinner where each guest had a seat at an assigned table. We originally planned for 100 people, which would be 10 tables of 10, but ended up with 76 (8 tables total) and it did not feel crowded at all! There was plenty of space for dancing and I’m confident that we could have seated 100 people no problem. To save space in the courtyard, I opted for the buffet and bar to be placed inside the Robespierre Room and we also had a DJ who took up minimal space. I do recommend placing the buffet inside rather than around the fountain – it provides much better photo-ops and no squeezing by the buffet during the ceremony. Instead, we placed our cake next to the fountain – this made for fabulous cake cutting photos with the fountain in the background. I have to say, we toured the courtyard during the day and it was very nice, but nothing prepared me for how beautiful it looked at night! I remember taking a ‘mental snapshot’ at the wedding because I never wanted to forget how gorgeous it was at that moment, all lit up (see our video for footage). Our coordinator at the St. Louis, Rachel, was so friendly and helpful and they even provided a bridal attendant at the wedding who was so sweet and never let my drink go empty. I barely had a chance to eat (they did bring me a plate of everything, but I was just so preoccupied), but I heard the food was amazing and what I did try was very good. If we could change anything, we probably would have added an extra half hour to the 3 hour reception – it just went by way too fast!
Videographer: Josh Enos, Prodigy Media Group
http://www.prodigy-mg.com/
Grade: A++
Josh did such an amazing job with our video! We never expected the video to be a highlight of our wedding, but it has become one of our most cherished memories. Josh created two short videos for us, in addition to providing full wedding coverage – one is a Pre-Wedding Interview ( http://www.vimeo.com/10969833 ), which we screened at our Welcome Party the night before, and the other is a Wedding Highlight video ( http://www.vimeo.com/11198013 ) done in a music video/movie trailer style. Everyone has raved about our videos and I love having the highlight film – it’s like reliving the wedding all over again without going through an hour of footage. Josh did such a great job capturing the mannerisms and personalities of ourselves and our guests – it’s the little things that aren’t always portrayed in photos. Definitely one of the best wedding-planning choices we made!
Flowers: Fat Cat Flowers
http://www.fatcatflowers.com/
Grade: A+
Loved Diane! Nicest woman – she was great about answering my questions and addressing my concerns. I was very specific about my bouquet and it turned out exactly how I wanted it! I was nervous in the beginning when she gave me a quote saying she would use less flowers than the other florists had quoted me. Turns out she was right - her roses were bigger. I felt like there was no request she couldn’t handle. In hindsight, my only wish is that I had also ordered an arrangement for the fountain (didn’t think of it!).
DJ: Hot Wax Unlimited
http://hotwaxunlimited.com/
Grade: A
Jeff was super professional and mailed us a detailed packet of information and songs – he even mailed us a flash drive of music we might like. The sound was great – we upgraded the sound system to ensure we heard the speeches – and he played every song I requested. There was lots of dancing! There was a slight glitch with the timing of the entrance/first dance, but this was a communication failure on my part. I highly recommend him to other St. Louis brides – he is very familiar with the courtyard and knew the best way to setup to allow for maximum dance space. He was well dressed and neatly setup in a corner – we’re very happy to have booked him.
Cake: Haydel’s Bakery
http://www.haydelbakery.com/
Grade: A+
I had a very specific design in mind for our cake – I actually saw a photo on one of those wedding cake shows, so I paused my tv and took a picture, lol! Our venue has a cake allowance for Swiss or Haydel’s. I contacted Swiss first and sent them the photo – they told me that they would not be able to recreate the cake. Then I contacted Haydel’s – should have contacted them first! They were so friendly and were great about coming up with creative ways of recreating the cake – I felt like there was no request too big. They even allowed me to send them my own cake pulls. The cake turned out PERFECT. It looked just like the photo I sent, down to the color and the smallest detail. It also tasted soo good. I only had a bite at the wedding, but had a full piece two days later and it still tasted good! Our guests commented on how tasty it was as well. Everyone I spoke with/emailed with there was super friendly and easy to deal with. Highly recommended!
Room Blocks: Ritz Carlton & Iberville Suites
http://www.ritzcarlton.com/neworleans/
http://www.ibervillesuites.com/
Grade: A+
We stayed at the Ritz Carlton and loved it! Both the Ritz and Iberville are under the same management, which made having two room blocks easy. They both gave us great rates (and I looked everywhere) and all of our guests were happy with their rooms. Our coordinator at the Ritz, Kimberly, was one of the nicest people I dealt with in the whole wedding process – she made sure I had nothing to worry about and offered to handle any concern that came up, even non-room block related. Customer service there is definitely top-notch. We stayed in the Club Level – which is actually it’s own tower called the Maison Orleans. I highly recommend upgrading to Club Level – the rooms are slightly larger and the 4th floor is a 24 hour lounge with fabulous food, drink, wine, etc in a cozy setting that feels like a home. We ended up using the lounge quite a bit to entertain friends and family – some of them even switched their hotel to the Ritz Club Level. Beautiful hotel, loved our room – highly recommended.
Ceremony Violinist: Zorica Dimova, MusiConsultant
http://www.musiconsultant.com/
Grade: A
We had a solo violinist for the ceremony. Zorica was very nice to deal with in the planning process and gave me plenty of samples and advice for the music. I was in such a whirlwind on the wedding day, that I never got to meet her – however, what I do remember of the music sounded lovely. I honestly can’t even tell you if she played what I requested, but I’m sure she did. It’s funny to think of the time I put into selecting the songs and in hindsight I didn’t even pay attention! She also played into our cocktail hour before we were announced. I’m sure she did a great job and I’m happy to recommend her.
Second Line Band: Algiers Brass Band
http://whiteoakproductions.com/bands/algiers_brass_band.htm
Grade: A+
Loved our Second Line Band!! We booked them through Sami at White Oak who was super nice to deal with. They were absolutely fantastic and everyone had a great time. I never stopped dancing. At the end they played ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’ – one of the members even sang the song! That was a pleasant surprise. I loved their uniforms and the leader was great. I highly, highly recommend them!
Transportation: Limo Livery
http://www.limolivery.com/
Grade: A+
I booked just a basic towncar to take us across town to the photo location and back to the ceremony. Our driver was a godsend! I was running very late and she knew the back roads to get us there quickly! This is a serious benefit considering all of the road construction and traffic on a Saturday. Saved the day. On the way back, everyone else followed and we were right back on schedule. I could tell she dealt with brides on a regular basis – she was great at getting me and my enormous dress in and out of the car. I highly recommend.
Live Artist: Brandon Delles
brandon_delles@yahoo.com
Grade: A+
Brandon was our live artist – we had him paint our wedding reception (I think you can see it in the video). I absolutely love the painting! He really did a fantastic job capturing the evening. Every detail was there, from my dress and the favors, to our guests and even the sliver of a moon that was out that night. Definitely one of my favorite ‘keepsakes’ from the wedding!
Bridesmaids Tea: Le Salon at the Windsor Court Hotel
http://www.windsorcourthotel.com/
Grade: A
What a great New Orleans tradition! I totally got this idea from the forum here. It was so nice spending time with the women in my family. We were a group of 10, so they sat us on the couches – it had a living room feel. The tea and canapés were delicious. The room was a bit darker than I expected, but otherwise very charming. I recommend the champagne tea – it’s nice to begin with a toast.
Second Line Hankies: Szabo’s Party Supplies
http://www.szabospartysupplies.com/
Grade: A
I shopped around and this place had great prices and good selection. We went with silver on red – I thought they were fantastic.
Dress: The Bridal Garden (New York)
http://www.bridalgarden.org/
Grade: A+
The Bridal Garden is a non-profit bridal boutique in New York that sells couture gowns for 70% retail price. I got an amazing deal on an Ulla Maija gown and for a good cause! I know this is a New Orleans forum, but anyone planning on dress shopping in NYC should definitely check it out!
Veil: Occansey Designs
http://www.occanseydesigns.com/
Grade: A+
Kathy was wonderful to work with – I had a very specific custom design and she was able to create it all via email. She really understood what I wanted down to the smallest detail – she actually recreated a design I liked using appliques. There is so much information on her site – I didn’t realized until I researched how sheer of a veil I wanted and it turned out perfectly. I highly recommend!
Bridesmaid Dresses: Coren Moore
http://www.corenmoore.com/
Grade: A+
I was in love with our bridesmaid dresses – I wish I had one for myself! Customer service there is excellent and I was very happy with them. My bridesmaids did say that the dresses ran quite big, but that is certainly better than running small. Definitely recommend.
Photographer:
You may be wondering why there is no review for our photographer. Well, we have received our photos back and they are not up to my expectations. I can’t say that it’s the photographer’s fault – I do think he performed up to his expectations and I just didn’t realize how high mine were. In hindsight, I could have communicated better – I took for granted that certain shots would be taken when I should have spoken up. Our photographer specialized in candid shots and I just assumed that some traditionals would be included – that was my mistake. I’m finding out now that I am more traditional than I originally thought. I was also running behind schedule, which prevented some shots from happening. To be fair, he did get some greats shots – he did a good job capturing my gown. The photographer does not deserve a negative review, but I am just not happy enough with the photos to write a positive one either. My advice to other brides: envision your wedding album and be sure to make a list of shots you would like, even the obvious ones! I’m now making my own album and trying to fill in the gaps that are missing. I wish I had thought about the album before booking the photographer, it probably would have changed my decision. (FYI: In case you were wondering or assuming, our photographer was not the same photographer associated with our videographer.)
Happy Planning!!
Samantha