Vendor Reviews - 10/20/12 (long!)

mnols

First off, thank you to everyone on this board!  I wasn't sure how it would go planning a NOLA destination wedding, especially being a bit OCD and needing thorough research on every vendor, but I was able to do it with all of your help.  All of our guests asked how we pulled it off, and every time I answered with this message board  We had a flawless day!

Venue - Board of Trade - A+The BOT and Pigeon Caterers were absolutely fabulous.  Leah was very responsive and patient with my numerous and lengthy emails in advance during the planning.  The ceremony was set up beautifully.  My only issue with the ceremony was that there were not enough chairs set out for everyone, but that may have been a communication issue, it wasn't something I had thought to separate out.  The food was AWESOME.  We had done several stations and did not want a buffet effect.  It turned into a buffet, but I think that was more because our northeast guests didn't know what to do with all-night food stations, it's a foreign concept for them  We also found out later that they ran out of vodka towards the end of the reception, but it was towards the end, and I hadn't even thought of how many of our guests drink vodka to request extra (was being a bit selfish, I don't drink vodka so didn't think of it).  They also did a great job of cleaning up the hall including finishing the painting the night before, including uplighting in the colors of our choice, and making all the food changes we requested.  I also shipped several things in advance including chargers and table numbers which they received and put out for us.  Would absolutely recommend!   Music - Jack Magic Entertainment - A+ John was great.  He allowed us to see him at another wedding when we were in town back in May.  His website is fantastic for planning.  John also handled the music for our ceremony, he just asked for the songs and timings and executed perfectly.  He kept the party going and honored our requests.  At one point when someone requested a song on our do-not-play list, he gave them a polite excuse and then sent a friend over to me to double check and just took my "thumbs up" from across the room.  We had several last minute changes for announcements, speeches, etc. and he just went with the flow.  Mixed in our requests with other songs that kept people dancing.  Great reviews from our guests also!
Second Line - Smitty Dee's - A+ The absolute highlight of our wedding!!! I know someone recently had a not as great experience with them, but we were thrilled.  Dimitri called me the night before to see who he could meet beforehand to collect the final payment, and gave me the option of calling or texting since he knew I was busy.  He sent me a sweet congratulatory text the morning of the wedding.  A friend worked with him before the ceremony to wrap everything up.  He found me right after the ceremony just to let me know he wouldn't be able to parade because of knee surgery, but wanted to congratulate me in person and apologize for not personally parading.  The band was great though, definitely the highlight of our wedding!  If anyone is considering not doing a second line, it's worth every penny!  Take out something else if it means the difference.  All of our guests listed it not only as the highlight of the wedding but as the highlight of their entire trip to New Orleans.  My dress was filthy at the end and my feet were bleeding (don't assume you don't have to break in flip-flops!), but I was still smiling ear to ear the entire time.  The band was great and since the parade was a bit shorter than expected they played 3 more songs when we got back to the venue.  
Candles - Luminous Events - A+ The candles made all the difference in our decor.  A bit pricey, but I knew they were essential to creating the setting/vibe we were going for.  Luminous Events is so easy to work with, and they do beautiful work.  They are a bit pricier than other options, but not by much, and every single venue we interviewed recommended them, so you have a guaranteed fabulous vendor!
Flowers - Christina O'Malley - A I'm an instant-reply email, detailed contract, typical northeasterner.  Christina is the opposite  But she does great work.  Took a bit to get used to the different communication style, but she took our ideas and delivered exactly what I was hoping for.  I gave her requests that were simultaneously specific and vague.  I wanted specific sizes, colors, but didn't know what kind of flowers and options created that look.  She delivered!  I was worried since she didn't have many pictures to work off of, but was thrilled with the results.  I actually ran into her as we were doing our first look photoshoot and she asked if we could please send her pictures because she rarely gets photos from the brides for her portfolio, so I'll post some soon here too.  I was a bit surprised as the price of some things, but they were even more expensive elsewhere.  She was very sweet and accommodating especially when I changed several things right before we finalized the proposal a few weeks before the wedding.

Photographer - Babs Evangelista - A++ SOOO great!!  Haven't even seen any pictures yet but I know they'll be great.  When we tried to book Babs, she was already booked for another wedding but her right-hand person (Sam) was available (and that saved us a little bit of money as well).  Sam ran the show on the day of the wedding and she was absolutely fabulous.  Anna was the secondary photographer and also terrific.  Both ladies helped keep everyone calm and also on schedule.  They even had bandaids for my feet when no one else did!  The two of them organized our first look photoshoot perfectly so we had a private moment with great timing.  And Sam was a trooper trekking around our hour-long pre-ceremony bridal party shoot and our secondline while carrying all her equipment while 5 months pregnant.  Babs handled all the pre-planning and was the one to talk me down when I really started to freak out a week in advance.  She came up with some great ideas to make everything work in the timing we had.  All three were wonderful to work with!  Can't wait for our photos!    Officiant - Judge Centanni - A++Judge Centanni was recommended to us by both Pigeon and this board.  He was fantastic!  As one of my guests put it, he was straight out of central casting  We went to his office 2 days before to file paperwork and pay (FYI, he is out in Kenner, I had managed to not hear that the several times they told me, luckily we had time to go out there).  His office was packed with people for hearings, but he made time to sit with us and go through the ceremony.  We wanted a completely non-religious ceremony and he made all the necessary edits without question (or judgment!).  He is incredibly sweet and even gave us quiet direction during the ceremony when he knew we needed to move slightly to the left or right for better pictures. Also, in going through our photobooth pictures today we discovered that he and our DJ apparently ducked in a took a series of pictures while we were secondlining, hilarious! Photobooth - Big Easy Photobooth - BI was happy with their pricing and package options, we had them create our guestbook.  I also wanted some props but not too many as I hate it when you can't even tell who is in the photos, so they let us bring our own props and made sure they returned them at the end of the evening.  The guest book is great, they have all the pictures linked on Facebook, and they gave us a thumb drive with all the pictures at the end of the night.  I would look into other options if we did it again though.  In looking at friends' weddings, I never realized the difference made by a light or dark background.  Go for light!  Also, it's a standing booth, so for shorter people it's challenging.  We didn't even have any kids, but I have a bridesmaid who is 4'7" who barely shows up in the pictures.  For the payment, they take the final payment the night of, which is fine, but the guy attending the booth went up to me, my mother, my mother-in-law, and the best man asking for it.  We had it, and we gave it to him, but because he went to so many people we had 10 people running around trying to figure out who had the check for 45 minutes after they had been paid.  Me and my groom were going nuts trying to track it down not knowing someone had already given them the check.  It put a damper on the first hour of our reception.  Guests had a great time with it though...at least those over 5 feet tall. Hotel Block - Country Inn & Suites/Omni Royal Crescent - A+ Country Inn & Suites was great.  They gave us a good price (after a bit of negotiation) and were patient with my constant requests for updates and expansion of number of rooms.  They took all of the tux deliveries for us and held them for us for the return pick-up. They handled all of our welcome bags without a fee.  Apparently after the wedding a lot of our family wanted an impromptu after party but didn't want to go out.  Country Inn let them use the conference room (my mother offered to pay a nominal "rental" fee) where they let them bring in food and drinks and party late.  Would definitely recommend! Omni Royal Crescent - also great to work with.  Steffanie was fantastic and helped down to arranging specific rooms so that my bridal party was staying in the rooms nearby, but so that we wouldn't have anyone we knew in the room immediately next to us (could have been awkward...).  We were able to rent the boardroom on the 8th floor for $50 for everyone to get ready in so that I had some space and quiet in the bridal suite.  They were going to charge us for welcome bags but nicely waived that due to the number of rooms we had booked.  Also, a great bloody mary at the hotel bar!
Welcome Bag Goodies: Leah's Pralines - A -- We got the 100 pralettes which got rave reviews from our guests.  They had emergency construction the night before we were supposed to pick them up (something broke?) so or pick-up was delayed several hours but it all still worked out.  I only called a few days before to order them so we couldn't get personalized labels, but weren't planning on that anyway.  Great pricing too.
Tabasco Company - A -- we ordered the mini tabasco bottles.  They shipped them to us at home with no issue.  However they did not survive the re-shipping to New Orleans as well, one had broken leaking all over the bubble wrap bag.  Not a great smell.  My bridesmaids had to rinse each little bottle ruining the labels.  I had ordered them online as they were a great price through the website and I had seen them for 50% more at the shops.  However when we got down there I saw them for only a few cents more in the shops.  Save yourself the trouble, buy them at a shop in the French Quarter!     Transportation - A Regal Limousine - A+/C We actually didn't use any transportation the day of the wedding, but we were flying down with my mother, brother, and his fiancé, so I wanted to start the trip off right with a limousine ride from the airport.  Only called 2 days before but they arranged a limo for us.  The driver was inside and waiting for us, handled getting all of our luggage to the car, and was patient as my family insisted on taking pictures outside the limo.  The website said limo rides include champagne, but when I asked they said they don't usually include it for airport pick-ups since they aren't that long, but they added a bottle of chilled champagne for us for no extra charge.  Reason for the mixed review is we *think* the driver tried to get tips from multiple people.  First off, 20% gratuity is included, but for his help with the luggage and the champagne I handed him a little extra cash.  He then did the extended hand out thank you/handshake with my husband and brother, they didn't know I had already given him cash but I had luckily mentioned to them earlier that gratuity was included so they didn't feel pressured.  Maybe he was hoping to get extra tips, maybe not...
John's Tuxedos - A+ John's was great!  We opted for the delivery and pick-up, which they didn't seem thrilled by because they wanted the guys to try everything on, and if anything needed to be altered or changed, they would have to go to the shop.  But I loved that they were willing to do last minute alterations and changes.  We had a different tux for the groom than the groomsmen/bridesmen, and they handled that easily.  We also arranged for a back-up jacket for the groom since we were worried about stains on the ivory coat.  Good thing!  During the first look shoot my bright red lipstick got all over his coat and we had the back-up ready to go!  When we were requesting some weird things, the staff politely recommended alternates that made more sense.  So glad we listened to them!  Great prices, and the ease of the delivery/pick-up service saved several headaches!   Rehearsal Dinner/Welcome Party - Tujague's - A Mark was very patient with my despite my detailed calls & emails.  I clearly learned that there is a different style of doing business in New Orleans in general!  We had the rehearsal dinner for about 30 people that then turned into a welcome party for about 100.  The rehearsal dinner food was FANTASTIC.  We were allowed to bring in our own food for the welcome party since we had so many people and they don't really do a la carte appetizers and hors d'ouevres, but I was still impressed that they let us bring in outside food.  They set up a bar upstairs and let us have the whole balcony.  We were 30 minutes late for dinner and they helped us catch up so that we weren't still eating when the welcome party guests arrived.  Only downside was that I thought we were going to have the whole upstairs and did  not.  We have 75% of it and the entire balcony, but having that extra party of about 12 people in the one front room was a bit awkward once we had 100 people.  Also, some of the guests from that party kept coming into our room during the rehearsal dinner for the bar.  I was not only concerned with being charged for drinks from another party, but also they were asking for complicated drinks when it wasn't a full bar and were standing there while we were making thank you speeches.  Awkward.  The bartenders assured us they were keeping their tab separate, but it was more the intrusion on private moments.  After I said something again they finally told the other party that it was a private bar for our party.  Overall very happy though, and the balcony was a great experience for all of our out-of-town guests.   Rouse's - A+ We used the Rouse's on Royal Street for the welcome party food.  Only downside was they don't deliver food, and we ordered A TON.  Luckily we had some cousins anxious to help who went over and carried it all to Tujague's.  Food was great though.   My mother ordered from Rouse's in the CBD for the morning of the wedding.  Just some fruit, cheese, snack platters while we were getting ready.  She was wow'd, and she's a hard woman to impress.  They were very consultative and even delivered everything.  Highly recommend!
Second Line Hankies - Wedding Lagniappe - BThey had the best pricing of anyone, but they take 6+ weeks to deliver.  I ordered far in advance but it was still down to the wire.  I had sent an email a week before we were scheduled to fly out and they said they would ship out the next day.  Wondering if they would have shipped then if I hadn't asked... They turned out nice though, they were several stuck together with the resulting text bleeding a bit outside the lines, but I think that's standard with any screen printing?  If you have enough time in advance, it was the best pricing I could find.  
I'm sure there are other vendors I forgot, just let me know if there's anything specific you have questions about!

louisianablue

Congratulations on your amazing wedding.  I can't wait to see photos.  Just as an FYI, Board of Trade only has 100 ceremony chairs, but can fit up to 200.  I rented an additional 100 chairs from another vendor so I could accommodate my guests.

Judge Centanni also officiated my wedding and was fantastic. 

mnols

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_louisiana-new-orleans_vendor-reviews-102012-long?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:84Discussion:ee84ea5f-0711-4211-a12a-b4895c6b0874Post:59271f65-4fd0-4e96-890d-ca38911eb545">Re: Vendor Reviews - 10/20/12 (long!)</a>:
[QUOTE]Thank you for your reviews!  Sounds like everything went very very well!  I am happy to read the good ratings for Jack Magic, Luminous Events and Christina O'Malley as we're using them too.   Looks like you are doing OK from the hurricane too since you have internet?  We are in Jersey City--no flooding in our house, but were lucky/happy to have power/hot water/cell service back on Friday. 
Posted by amenter[/QUOTE]

<div>Yes, we got power back around midnight Thursday, right as we got back home from the honeymoon (our return was delayed a few days due to the storm and airports being shut down).  Glad to hear you guys have it back too!  We only had minor exterior damage, very lucky.</div>

ChrissyBeachBride

Congrats on a wonderful wedding and thanks for sharing your reviews!  I always find these so helpful an interesting.

BTW So glad everyone in NJ is doing well!

tlc35

Congratulations and thanks for posting your reviews. I always find then really helpful as well.

KLS123

I'm getting marriend at the BOT as well. Glad to hear everything went so great! Congratulations on your beautiful wedding