Hey all! I am still trying to recover from my wedding weekend, but I just had to write my reviews of the vendors because I looked at this board a lot during my engagement for guidance! We had an awesome time and everyone I have talked to since the wedding told me that they had a blast and I know it was because of some of these vendors! I grew up in mid-city and we liked to hire vendors that were 'in the hood' has my mother called it because we wanted to hire people we knew and trusted for years. We had a perfect day without any problems! I feel so blessed to say that all my vendors were A+!
Ceremony - Holy Rosary: I grew up really close to this church and once I knew I was marrying a catholic boy, I knew I had to get married here. The wedding coordinators were great and the rehearsal and ceremony were perfect.
Reception - Pavilion of Two Sisters, City Park: Again, since I grew up practically across the street from City Park, I have known since I was a little girl that I wanted my wedding in the park. They were my first phone call after I got engaged and they were booked for most Saturday nights in June when I got engaged 15 months out! I had to go with a Friday so that I could get both here and Holy Rosary. So I recommend booking ASAP if you want a wedding here! Cathy was our coordinator, and she was great. She was a little hard to get a hold of early on, but once we got close to the wedding, she was super quick to respond to emails and phone calls. Unfortunately, the week of the wedding, she was out of town to attend her niece's wedding, but Denise stepped in and was perfect. The reception was all I could dream of. Denise and Shawn (our attendant) executed everything look exactly like I described to them without me being there to help set up. A day of coordinator is a waste of money with this venue because they are awesome! The food was perfect and everyone told me that they really really liked it. Our attendent, Shawn, was on the ball the whole time. If I needed to put my drink down, he was there to take it. When I needed it back, it was a fresh cold one. He kept everything on schedule. I couldn't have been happier.
Photographer - Collin Richie: I actually found Collin through a Facebook ad. He is out of Baton Rouge, but travels to NOLA to do weddings all the time. He met me in New Orleans so we could have a face to face interview and I booked him on the spot. He is super professional, but also fun and makes you feel like a friend and not just a customer. I had my bridals taken about a month out from the wedding and they were awesome. The day of, he was really efficient and got all the family pictures done super quick even though I have a huge family and a weird family dynamic. I can't wait to see the finished product of the wedding!
Videographer - Bella Productions: Korrey and his assistant were great. We never met face to face before my wedding day, but he was always super quick to email me back if I had any questions. He was really reasonable with prices, and every video I've seen posted, has been awesome. I can't wait to see it!
Hair & Makeup - Flawless Bride: Lyndsey Hager was my artist and she was super sweet and everything looked awesome! I had her do my trial for my bridals, hair and makeup for my rehearsal dinner, and then the day of. Everyone complimented me on my hair and makeup. The girls with Flawless bride were professional, fun, and sweet! Definitely recommend them!
Band - Harvey Jesus and Fire: Hands down, the best decision I made for a band. They were SO much fun. Everyone during and after the wedding told me that they were one of the best wedding bands they had ever heard. They made the reception a blast. He played a great variety of songs and even had some new hits that are on the radio now that everyone knew. Definitely recommend them a thousand times over.
Florist - Adrian's Christian Flowers: Also keeping it in the hood, we booked Adrian's because my family has used them for arrangments for years. They do a lot of weddings at both Holy Rosary and in City Park, so they were super knowledable about everything. If you go in for a consultation, make sure you bring photos, because they don't have a lot of recent and modern pictures of arrangements, but they executed exactly like I described to them. The prices are really reasonable for the amount of flowers we ordered too.
Wedding Cake - Swiss Confectionary: Swiss was a part of the package with City Park. They only have traditional cake flavors and fillings, and they are awesome at them. I wasn't looking for anything untraditional, so it was perfect. A lot of people at the wedding complimented the cake and said it tasted great. It was exactly like I wanted.
Groom's Cake - Gambino's: My H wanted a grand piano cake since he loves piano and tries to play. The cake was delicious! It didn't feed that many people, which was unfortunate because everyone really liked it and wanted to taste it!
Wedding Dress and Bridesmaid Dresses - Town & Country: I received SO many compliments on my dress and the bridesmaid dresses. T&C has a beautiful selection of upscale dresses. However, after we had bought the dresses from them, we felt like they didn't give us much attention. The alterations of my dress by Bab's were flawless.
Guys' Attire - Men's Warehouse: I guess this would be the only vendor that I had a problem with. My H and I have always had a good experience when walking into the store in the past, so that is why we wanted to give them our business. However, when all the guys were picking up their tuxes, they were all HUGE. It seemed like either the person who fitted them didn't know what they were doing, or they just put whatever size suit in the style we ordered in the bag. One of the groomsman, who wears a 32 waist was given a pair of pants that were a size 40! Luckily, they were able to give all the guys the proper sizes and they looked great the day of. The manager was great with fixing all the sizing issues.
Photobooth - Southern Gem Photobooth: Awesome! They had 2 attendants and both were great. I was told by so many guests that they thought the booth was an awesome and fun idea. Definitely worth the money!
Hotel Block - Hotel Intercontiental: I booked the Intercontinental through
www.hotelplanner.com (which was awesome!). We had a little hiccup about 2 weeks before my wedding with some misconceptions about our contract (PM me if you need to know why), but Dena Aicklen (our coordinator) fixed everything and the hotel suite we stayed in for the weekend was great!
Ceremony Music - Cathy Anderson (Harpist): Cathy is the parent of one of my little sister's friend. She plays harp for the Louisiana Philaharmonic. She coordinated a violinist, a cellist, and our vocalist for us. She helped me SO much with picking out all the music for the ceremony. When I was up on the alter, I took a moment to really listen to the music, and the harp sounded so great. I am so happy I used her!
Transportation - Limousine Livery: We used 3 limos and 2 limo buses. All the drivers were on time, professional, and the limos were really clean!
Here are some pictures:
H and I
Our cake from Swiss
Groom's cake from Gambino's
Some crazy family members in the photobooth!