Hola senoritas and senor! We are back from the HM and I did my reviews on the flight home.
Words of Advice: If you are going on a beach HM, don’t wear your wedding ring(s) snorkeling, mine flew off in the Caribbean sea and I think a sea turtle ate it. Luckily I left my engagement ring in the safe of our hotel room. 
04.23.2012 Recap:
Overall the day went great! There are only a few small things I would change but the day went very well and was the best day of my life. I am generally pretty laid back but I had severe anxiety up until the wedding, part of that I attribute to PMS and part to trying to keep everything on schedule.
Timeline:
*First Look/Couple pics, 1:45 p.m. (Mandalay Bay lobby)
*Strip Photo Tour, 2:30 – 5:30: We stopped at the LV sign, Freemont St, & Bellagio. We would have had time for one more stop (I wanted to go to the empty “Hangover” lot with the skyline backdrop) but we had to take a ½ hour break on Freemont.
*Break/Freshen up in room, 5:30 – 6:30 pm
*Ceremony, 7:00 pm, After pics 7:30 pm
*Cocktail Reception, 8:00 – 11:00 pm
Just a few thoughts to future brides:
*My hair got rocked by the wind during the photo tour (especially at the LV sign) and I was trying to fix it for the rest of the tour. Hopefully it still looks ok in the pics! I had a friend touch it up before the ceremony but it never fully recovered. LOL. If you are doing a strip tour before I would have time set aside to “freshen up” before the ceremony.
*EAT! I had so much trouble with this during the whole weekend! I was anxious/excited which made it hard for me to eat, my body didn’t want to. This led to a small breakdown on Sunday for me. It’s really easy to not do this, even though my BMs were very helpful to get food I just couldn’t eat. For the first time, I spend 4 days in Vegas and LOST 5 pounds. Its back now of course thanks to the all-inclusive honeymoon.
*Expect at least something to go wrong and roll with it. Even though it may change your plans, you can fix it.
*Get as much done and setup as you can before you go. I only had a few things to take care of when we were down there and it seems like there isn’t enough time!
Ceremony - Mandalay Bay Valley of the Falls, Coordinator: Jaimie – A+
This location is gorgeous and we loved it. The waterfalls are loud with blocks out any street noise and the sound system is loud enough for people to hear the music, officiant, vows, etc. Our officiant was Rudy and he was very dynamic and personalized the ceremony. Guests raved about how gorgeous the location was, I don’t think with a “Vegas wedding”the expected this type of location.
My WC Jaimie was a great communicator and quickly responded to all my little questions I emailed he over the 9 months of planning.
Reception Venue/Food/Beverages - House of Blues Foundation Room Patio, Coordinator: Amber, Sales Manager - A+
I was a little nervous about this location because I had not seen it in person and was unsure about the size …. it was perfect! The view is amazing! The lighting and ambiance is nice too, we had candles and the DJ’s lighting and that was it. My guests were so excited. They also loved the private FR elevator and the guest list access, said it made them feel like VIPs.
We did heavy hors d' oeuvres + open call bar and it worked well. There were couches with low tables and high boys with chairs along the railing. It is perfect for 50-75 people (max space is 100 but that would have been crowded). The catering manager was very nice and helpful and they set everything up and gathered everything up for us to take with us at the end (guestbook, cards, etc).
It is definitely a “WOW” venue, my guests are still talking about it. I wouldn’t change it. If you are wanting a cocktail style evening reception it is perfect. Guests are still telling me that it was the best wedding they had ever been to.
Reception Music - DJ Godzilla – A+++
I love Calvin. He is my new favorite person (next to my husband of course). Our guests loved him too. I remember looking over at him during the reception when no one was near him and he was mixing the music, just looking down with a big smile on his face. I didn’t provide him with much direction, I just told him no country and that we wanted mellow music during the first hour while they eat and rock/dance music after. He nailed it.
I was originally going to use my iPod playlist but it was $250 charge at HOB just to hook up my iPod plus I would need to purchase additional music for the playlists. Choosing DJ Godzilla was one of the best choices we made and I genuinely don’t think our reception would have been such a success without him.
One of my BMs even bought a souvenir cactus and named it DJ Godzilla.
Cake - Retro Bakery (8 inch cake with mini-cupcake tower) - A
Very tasty and so cute! I am glad we did the mini cupcake so the cost was lower and guests could try several flavors. We did 8 dozen for 65 guests. We had about 30 leftover which we ended up giving to the staff at MB to enjoy.
They did seem very disorganized when I called to order and when I called to confirm but it all turned out well.
Floral - Mandalay Bay (Package) - A
The floral was nice and my bouquet matched my picture provided. I do think the MB floral is overpriced but it met my expectations.
Mandalay Bay Skyview Suite (upgraded package included room) – A+
We upgraded this room from Spa Suite included in our package. I am so glad we did, this room is great and the view was gorgeous!
I used this room the night before (hubby stayed at NYNY room) and we used it for the girls to get ready in. We were not guaranteed the view but put the request in when I booked it 4 months ago. We were happy to find out we had the view when we checked in. We could see the whole strip with wall to wall windows in the common area and bedroom. TV in the bathroom, nice furniture.
One annoying thing is that if you use the fridge you will get charged for mini bar items. Even if you just move them. You can order a fridge for charge but we didn’t feel we needed it.
Would highly recommend this room as a bridal suite if you are getting married in that area.
New York, New York (Main Hotel – booked on Orbitz) - A
This is one of my favorite places to stay in Las Vegas but the resort fee is ridiculous, such a scam. We had two rooms here for most of our trip and chose for the kids so they could use the arcade, roller coaster, pool, etc. The pool didn’t open until May 1st so we couldn’t use it but we found this out before heading down. The kids used the pool at MGM and Mandalay Bay so this was ok. Quite a few of our guests stayed here and Luxor as they are more affordable and close to MB. No problems.
Hair & Makeup - Harmony Medina – A+
Harmony is a sweetheart! The eye makeup during my makeup trial was a little too dark for me so I told her I wanted something a little more subtle on the wedding day and she said no problem …..and when she was done and I looked, it was perfect! The airbrush makeup was awesome and stayed on all day and night.
She brought a few flower hair accessories to use in my hair but I didn’t really like the flowers with my look. I had the idea to use part of my bouquet wrap as a headband (it is 3 identical blinged ribbons I had custom made on Etsy) and she used a safety pin to turn it into a headband and vwalllllllla headband! Then I just used two for my bouquet. It worked perfectly.
Two of my bridesmaids and a friend did the airbrush spray tan with me and that was great too, just a subtle glow. You can do“Sunkissed Glow” or “Medium Tan”. My friends all did Medium Tan and they looked great. I was unsure so she mixed the two for me and I ended up in the middle.
Photography - Bentley & Wilson (8+ hour package w/photo tour) – A+++
What can I say about Todd that hasn’t already been said? He was great! Showed up on time and started taking photos. I showed him my details, dress, etc and he immediately started setting up shots. He rolls with everything and kept me calm.
I haven’t received the photos quite yet but I am confident they will be great. Will share when they arrive!
Ceremony Photography - $$Cashman$$ - B
We only used Cashman for ceremony pics. I told our photographer to scram as soon as it was done so Todd could come do our family and WP shots. She had me sign that I dismissed her and that was that.
The next day meeting went fine, the rep didn’t push sales as hard as I expected but did have a video prepared and a book and framed photos. And of course, they aren’t called Ca$hman for nothing, not cheap. We really only had 30-40 photos or so, we picked out our 24 5x7s and 4 8x10s included in our ceremony package.
They let you take your 5x7s but one thing I found annoying is that they charge you $15 to ship your selected 8x10s and photo album to you. I feel like they should pay that (or print them there while you wait) since the photos are included in your package. But that’s small stuff, just a side note. They ship quickly because the package arrived a week after the wedding while we were on our honeymoon.
The DVD quality is just okay, they add in your music which is cool. Pictures were pretty good but we didn't do any posed photos and that is what I had seen bad reviews about.