Hello everyone! I am happily married now! I don't post a lot on this board, but I do lurk a lot and since I'm local, I thought I would post reviews for other locals (and for any DW brides who are looking for something off-strip).
Dress:
Allyse's Bridal (Beautifully Modest line)
Brenda Andreasen (seamstress)I bought my dress in September of 2010. I'm a very modest person and this store was entirely modest. Their prices were extremely reasonable and I was happy with their selection (I had seen all of their dresses on their website before I went in). We bought my dress and left it with them until my first fitting that should have been around mid-December. A month or so later, I got a message on a Saturday afternoon stating that their store was now closed (they still have a store in Utah) and that I had to pick up my dress that week. They did have a seamstress who had worked with them on hand to make appointments for alterations if we'd like. My mom and I met with her and agreed to send my dress with her. She made some alterations and I had my 1st fitting with her in January at her home. I had 2 more fittings and when we went to pick up my dress a couple weeks before my wedding, she had the dress already steamed and ready to go for me. She was so nice and very professional (she doesn't have a website, if anyone is interested in her contact info, just send me a PM and I'll send it to you). I'm disappointed in the Bridal shop and how they closed up shop over night, but I am so happy with my dress and wouldn't hesitate to recommend their dresses if anyone is looking for a modest gown.
Reception Venue (our ceremony was held at our church):
Black Mountain Golf & Country Club in Henderson (contact person: Illa)We thought they would be out of our price range, but we were blown away by what they offered us. We invited around 170 and had around 140 guests show up. They provided and arranged for the DJ and photographer (I'll review both in a minute), a buffet meal (and tastings - we did 2), all table linens and chair covers/sashes, champagne or cider toast for everyone (not just bridal party) and no cake cutting fee. The buffet meal included a roast beef carving station, we chose the chef's special chicken (cooked in a white wine/lemon pepper cream sauce), steamed veggies, garlic mashed potatoes, rolls and a salad bar. Illa and her team were amazing. She always got back to me right away (unless I emailed on her day off and then she got back to me as soon as she was back). On the day of the wedding, everyone commented on how good the food was (and we could tell they were telling the truth by the plates piled high with food and how many people went back for seconds) and how beautiful the room looked. I just can't give high enough praise for Illa and her crew - it was all and more than I could have asked for.
DJ:Good Vibrations (Jane in the office; Dan was our DJ)I received a letter from Jane not long after we booked our reception with Black Mountain. She asked me to call or email with any questions (and I had a ton of them). I sent her an email with my questions and she actually called me to answer all of my questions in detail not 10 minutes later. They have an online form you can fill out with all the details of your reception (they do the ceremonies as well if you need them to). Again, 10 minutes after I filled out the form, she called to go over it all and get pronunciations of names, etc. She left the country for the month of February, but called me before she left to go over details for the day of the wedding and told me she would still be available via email for the time she was gone, she wanted to make sure we were taken care of. When we got to Black Mountain, Dan met us at the limo to introduce himself and went around finding each member of the bridal party to make sure he knew their faces and make sure he was saying names correctly. He went over his plan for the afternoon with us and told us if we had any questions or changes during the day to just let him know. We ended up changing the order of a couple things and he just went with the flow as if it had been planned that way the entire time. He was very upbeat and did an amazing job.
Photographer:
John Lunetto (he doesn't have a website, but send me a PM and I'll provide you his contact info)We contacted John before we booked with Black Mountain to ask him a few questions - my dad ended up talking to him for 1/2 hour. He doesn't have a website, he's mostly word of mouth and does a great deal of work through Black Mountain (they have a couple albums of his work on display that we got to look through) After we booked, he called to introduce himself to me and we talked for 1/2 hour. He answered all of my emails quickly and had a very calming affect whenever we communicated. He made arrangements with our pastor to check out the church before the wedding and he even came to our rehearsal. He was so easy to work with and I can't wait to get our pictures from him (he will be giving us a CD with rights so we can print as many and what ever sizes we want).
Cake:Albertson's Bakery on College & HorizonI've been eating cake from different Albertson's around town for years. They were at the Bridal Show we went to in August and were also one of the cake vendors that Black Mountain uses a lot (they're just around the corner from Black Mountain). The cake samples we had at the show were so good. We got a coupon for 10% off at the show, so we went to order our cake (for a cake to feed 150, with the delivery charge, the cost was around $260 total). We took in a couple inspiration pictures and they captured it our vision for us. Our cake was chocolate with Bavarian Cream filling and chocolate fudge frosting. I had to finish the piece we cut before we could finish pictures, it was just so good, very moist.
Limo:Bell Trans (A)
Las Vegas Limos (F)We decided we didn't need a limo - most of our guests were local and the OOT guests either had family here that were letting them use a car or they rented one. Our plan was to just have my brother drive us over in our car (my dad even got my car washed and vacuumed the day before the wedding for us). We started to leave the church to head out to our car and we were stopped and up drove our limo. One of my bridesmaids and her husband had been planning it from the start. I got the story from her and my mom...she had originally contacted LV Limos and had clicked on the wrong service, when she called them to fix it, she was treated so poorly. She went round and round with them and finally just told them to cancel and got her money back. She called Bell Trans and had the complete opposite treatment. She was so happy with their customer service. Our limo driver was so professional and respectful, he even had ice cold bottles of water waiting for us. The 1st time my husband leaned in for a kiss, he immediately put the privacy screen up and never said another word.
Wedding Night Hotel Room:Green Valley Ranch Hotel & CasinoAnother bridesmaid got us a room for the night as her gift to us. She had a little trouble making the reservation (she didn't want us to have to even show a credit card and she finally got that through to them that it was a gift and they sent her a form to fill out - we had to remind them of that when we checked in, but got it resolved very quickly and were so nice about it). They upgraded us to an executive suite for the night. It was a beautiful room. My parents decided to provide us with room service for dinner that night and breakfast the next morning. The food was incredible. When my husband called to order breakfast, they asked how he was and he told them he was great since it was his 1st full day as a husband. When the waiter got to our room with the food, he let us know they had brought us some extras at no charge to celebrate our wedding (mimosas and chocolate covered strawberries that looked like little tuxes) and the morning wait staff all signed a congrats card for us.
Sorry this was so long and thanks so much for reading. I hope this helps future brides. Since we don't have our professional pics back yet, thought I'd add a couple pics taken by one of my friends.
