Hi ladies - It's been over a month and I've been dreading writing this vendor reviews. Mostly because I know how long winded I am
However, as an out of town bride I used these boards religiously with lots of questions.
I also wanted to let people know a few details about my wedding because I think it's only fair we also post budgets so people can know what's affordable and what's not
Our total wedding budget was $21,000. The overwhelming majority of our $$$ was spent on our Venue, which we fell in love with.
Wedding Planner Extraordinaire: Weddings by LuLu
Grade: A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (book her now)
-I booked Lu about 8 months before the wedding and I was instantly amazed. The things that took me 2 weeks to accomplish she did in 2 days. I was constantly e-mailing and texting her, and I'm certain I was one of the most irritating brides she's ever had. (I just checked my gmail and I sent her 73 pages of e-mail - bahahaha).but I wanted to mix a tiny bit of DIY with the wedding and she was game. However, that doesn't mean she didn't have back ups. For example, all of the decor I shipped was broken (and yes we found out about 2 days before the wedding). . .Lu was prepared and just replaced my stuff with her stuff. . .no fuss, no problem.
She is the picture of calm! During the rehearsal she was so calm and almost soothing, when I was really nervous and irritated with the lateness of family and friends. She really kept us organized and on time (this was my #1 pet peave is a late wedding).
The day of the wedding Lu had THREE ASSISTANTS - mind you I only had about 85 people. One was in my room and 2 were helping her set up. The assistant in my room sewed my sisters dress (it was suddenly 3 sizes too big) and kept hair and makeup on time.
Most importantly, we had booked Rebirth and they DIDN"T show - but no one noticed. Lu did not run around frantically and noone bothered us. When our wedding was done, we still had a second line - and no I have NO earthly idea how she pulled that off, but she did!
I have promised all of my family members that when they get married I am buying Lu for them. . .seriously! The e-mail I wrote to Lu was that I never thought I could have/nor that we could afford to have the wedding she gave us.
PS - I had to edit this because I almost forgot. I am a simple girl and was going to just walk the 3 blocks from Bourbon Orleans to Latrobes. The day of Lu completely surprised me with a town car. It was AWESOME! She also surprised me with personalized cocktail napkins in our wedding colors that were printed for the wedding. These things were all at no cost - she just wanted to make it special for us
Venue: Latrobe's on Royal A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I've seen a lot of people complain about Latrobe's being slow to respond but I didn't have that experience. Honestly, they were always quick to e-mail or call me back. I honestly think this complaint is just from OOT brides who have never lived in the South (things work on a different system there - ha!, and I can say that as a former Southerner for 12 years)
The week of the wedding they let me bring my family and friends in a bunch to show them around. They are sweet women who have done THOUSANDS of events. The day of we had a personal attendant, and there were absolutely no hiccups.
Also, after the wedding they delivered food to our hotel room (I was all excited so I could barely eat at the wedding)! It was DELICIOUS. Our fear is unseasoned wedding food and it was not that at all! They are amazing and just want to make you happy.
Ceremony Music: Mykia Jovan A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Music was VERY important to me. I used to be a singer and did not want a traditional wedding song when I walked down the aisle. Most of the typical places wanted to charge a few hundred dollars to learn a new song and then a few hundred dollars for 45 minutes. WE just didn't have that in our budget and I started to wonder if I could just find a local NOLA musician to do this and I did. Mykia has an assistant that was super easy to work with and I honestly just e-mailed her from her you tube page. She used to sing with Kermit Ruffins and was able to bring in a guitairst for our ceremony. She sang a bunch of jazz standards - and friends say the crowd was swaying while she was singing
during the pre-ceremony events. When I walked down the aisle she learned a song that was meaningful to hubby and I - a neo soul/R&B song and then as we were exiting she sang Smashing Pumpkins tonight, tonight (we have eclectic taste). Needless to say she is so versatile and EXTREMELY nice! Before she left she came back and said she loved seeing us get married
AND SHE IS SO AFFORDABLE!!!
Music: DJ Captain Charles A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I got this recommendation from another bride because we are from Atlanta and wanted a real party!. . .like an Atlanta hip hop club. DJ Captain Charles is a local DJ and knew instantly what the crowd wanted. We get CONSTANT comments still from friends and family about how fun the music was. After the club music he made sure to play some old school R&B for the older couples and lots of group dances. He is also ridiculously affordable!
Photographer: Sabree Hill A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Although we wanted great pictures we couldn't believe how much they were. Sabree is one of the few photographers that was in our budget and is so loved by knotties. A few days before the wedding she came to the hotel and did an entire outline of photo's and timing for us. it really helped us think through exactly what we did and didn't want. Honestly now I can't even imagine showing up and never having met the photographer - it would have been really harried. Our photo's are AMAZING (see below) and Sabree really captured exactly who we are!
Videographer: Clawson Media Grade A-
Hubby and I had a tiny bit of $$ about two weeks before the wedding and decided to get a videographer. There were only a handful under $1,000 and even fewer that were willing to negotiate on price. I negotiated on price and got Clawson Media to come. They were great the day of and super easy to work with! The only reason I give them an A- is because although we have a highlight clip, the entire ceremony and the two toasts we don't have anything else on the videos. I would have loved to see a 4th section which was the reception and second line.
Additionally the sound on the video is quite fuzzy during the ceremony but I can't blame that on them - that may have just been the acoustics in the venue.
Second Line Band: To Be Continued A+++++++++++++++
So again, don't ask me how Lu organized this but we were originally supposed to have Rebirth. I can't judge them except to say F for failing to show up!
Anyway, To be Continued was AWESOME - they totally got into it and even sang an old Arrested Development Song, Everday People. They allowed Hubby and I plenty of time to dance and it was a leisurely second line down Bourbon. Seriously one of the best moments of my life!
Bakery: Maurice's - B
Hubby and I didn't want cake and didn't care about cake. We instead ordered a croquembouche and a sheet cake for his grooms cake. The croquembouche looked WONDERFUL and although I didn't get a piece I heard it was delicious
However, the grooms cake had the wrong initials on it (it was for his alma mater). Additionally, the morning of Maurice's said they had the wrong credit card # and I had to have a bridesmaid call them when in fact all of that was taken care of and confirmed.
Hotel Blocks
Bourbon Orleans - B
Hyatt - B-
Prince Conti - A
Drury Inn & Suites - A
I had to have several hotels for all different budgets sine everyone was from out of town.
The Bourbon Orleans was where we stayed and everything was great except for the fact that some guests had the non wedding rate charged to them until they called. We could never figure out where that discrepancy was.
The Hyatt gets the lowest grade because most of my guests ended up in other rooms or other hotels because they were overbooked. Although guests were comped I just didn't like that this happened at all and thought since we had a wedding room block why were our guests being inconveninced.
Prince Conti - no problems and easy to work with!
Drury Inn & Suites - no problem and easy to work with. My guests on a budget and those with kids loved staying here because there was a large free breakfast
Rehearsal Lunch/Welcome Party - A+++++++++++++++++++++
We had our rehearsal dinner at an upstairs room in the Bourbon House for about 30 people. It was SO great! The food was delicious and service was excellent. Everything went smoothly and you are not charged for the private rooms, just the food. It really was WAY fancier than I expected and everyone commented on how nice it was - the rooms are beautiful and service is a seated meal.
After the rehearsal lunch the rest of the wedding guests were invited to a welcome party where drink tickets were given for us to see our guests and mingle before the wedding. The servers were SO good and accomodating at this! (I only wish I would have extended this from an hour to 1.5 hours) just so I could talk more with people.
Hair/Makeup
Lu got my hair and makeup team that were former Ringletts employees. My contact was Laccee Gonzalez (I have her e-mail address if you want it). I am African-American and had a super multi cultural bridal party so it was important that our stylists could do really diverse people. I've attached a photo so you could see that although I look done I still look like myself
Anyway, I hope this helps someone!