I did not post much during my wedding planning but did use the board for ideas. So I wanted to give vendor reviews to help other brides. I apologize in advance for the length.
ceremony– our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church A+
while my husband is not Catholic, it is really important for me and my family that I get married in the Catholic Church. My uncle is a deacon and I really wanted him to marry us. Our Lady of Guadalupe has to be the most laid-back church the city. It's really affordable, and I think beautiful. Father Tony is awesome. He answered all my questions and made sure we had everything order. My only complaint is that on the day of my wedding Father Tony wasn't able to attend, which was okay since my uncle was marrying us, but I had no place to go before the wedding, so I ended up standing outside in the heat. I probably should've conferred more with father Tony about where I was supposed to go. Other than that it worked out beautifully and I recommend church to any bride who wants to get married in the city but not pay the exorbitant fees that other churches have.
reception – the federal ballroom A+
I did not want a ballroom when I first started wedding planning. However I fell in love with the federal ballroom. Rebecca is great. I didn't have a wedding planner or anything like that, so Rebecca was in charge of setting everything up for us. She set it up exactly as I wanted. My mom dropped off all of the table runners and centerpieces the day before, and Rebecca had everything perfect. she even set up our candy bar. she kept the flow of the wedding going, and never had to worry about what was coming next. The room itself is gorgeous.
Caterer - Capdebosq A+
Capdebosq is the caterer for the federal ballroom. Our guests are still raving about the food. They provide you with so much food, and it's all delicious. The owner was wonderful as far as setting our menu. We had a few guests with severe allergies, and they made special plates for them. The bar is included with the catering, and from what I hear, they're pouring pretty strong drinks. One of the bartenders even offered to go get one of my bridesmaids an energy drink. She declined the offer but was very surprised that he would have done that for her. Boxes of food were delivered to our honeymoon suite so we had the opportunity to try everything. the only issue we had was my husband asked them to cut a piece of cake for his nephews after we had cut the cake, and he had to ask at least three times before they would do it.
Flowers - Sam's Club/Fiftyflowers.com A+
My husband's aunt is a florist in Georgia, so she made all the arrangements, bouquets, corsages etc. however I ordered all the flowers. I ordered the flowers from Sam's Club and fiftyflowers.com. I cannot recommend them enough. All the flowers were delivered on time. They all arrived looking "thirsty." Once we got them in water, they began to bloom beautifully. The flowers were exactly what I ordered and I couldn't have been more pleased. I also shared arrangements at the church with a bride who got married the same day. The church flowers came from Iris floral and event design studio. I can't really speak as to them, but I can say the church arrangements were beautiful.
Cake - Swiss A+
cake came with our catering package. We chose Swiss. The taste I had was delicious. We got a King cake from them for the grooms cake. It was a last-minute addition, and it wasn't very good. But the wedding cake was good and looked exactly like the picture we had given them.
Wedding Dress - Bustle & Bows A+
my wedding dress came from Bustle & Bows. I ordered it during one of their sample sales. I ended up choosing a dress that was not a sample, but I so received a discount for ordering during the sale. I ordered my dress in June, and I believe it came in in August. The staff was really helpful and friendly. After I had it altered, they steamed it for free.
Bridesmaids dresses: Netbride.com A+
I did not want my bridesmaids paying alot of money for a dress that they would only wear once. I found netbride.com from another message board. While it was nerve-racking ordering from an online retailer, I wouldn't change a thing. The dresses were at least $30 cheaper than any bridal store. We ordered in December and they arrived by February. When I ordered, I ordered one wrong size. As soon as I noticed I called their customer service, and they were able to contact the manufacturer and address the issue. All the dresses were perfect.
Groom & Groomsmen suits: Jos A. Bank: F
this was by far the most stressful part of the whole wedding planning for us. I didn't want tuxedos. So we decided that we would order suits for the guys as part of part of their gift.
We went to Jos A. Banks in January. We picked a suit. We were then told we could not get that suit. So we then picked a grey seersucker suit. We were told we would have them all in a few weeks. There will be no problem getting them because it's a popular suit. So we pay for 12 suits. About a month later we get a call saying we can't have the grey seersucker. So after discussion we decide to go with blue seersucker. We were again told that this wouldn't be a problem. blue seersucker is popular, and we should have them all in a few weeks. In March, we received a postcard (A POSTCARD!) saying that they could not fulfill three of the suits. A postcard was the first heard about this. I called the customer service immediately and questioned them. She said that she could try and find three suits by going through individual stores inventories. I then e-mailed the store manager we have been dealing with, who was really good throughout this whole process. He called customer service and told them that he was working on it. Customer service then called me back and told me they found the three suits and I could calm down. Her comment about calming down angered me because not once, did I yell or raise my voice. It was two months before our wedding and we are just now hearing that we can't get three of the suits.
finally, all the suits come in, and two of the suits have a different style pant (pleated as opposed to non-pleated). When we questioned them about it, they told us there's nothing they could do. and we could pay their tailor to take the pleats out. Needless to say two of our groomsmen had pleated pants because we were paying to have them removed. The bottom line is we paid for 12 specific suits, and they couldn't fulfill our order. At the end it didn't matter. The suits looked great but the whole process was very frustrating. If we could do it all over again, we would have just rented tuxes.
Second Line Band - Smitty Dee's A+
the absolute best decision we made was having a second line. We had a fair amount of out-of-town guests, so we really wanted to give them a New Orleans feel. My husband wanted a second line from the beginning. Even though I'm from here, I had never participated in a real second line. It was amazing. Smitty Dees was great. They were easy to get in contact with. They showed up on time, and they played awesome. Our second line was a bit long (7 or 8 blocks), but was worth every penny we spent. Perhaps the most stressful part of the second line, was not getting our permit until the week of the wedding. If anyone is on the fence about having a second line, I recommend you do it. People lined up on the street to watch us. It was so memorable.
Wedding Band - The Moonlighters A++
this was the surprise of our wedding. The band we picked is my cousin's father-in-law. They don't do many weddings, but I have no idea why not because they were amazing. We paid probably half the price that our friends paid for their band, and I think ours blew them out of the water. The dance floor was filled all night. They made sure to play a song that my father-in-law wanted. They would've learned our first dance song had we wanted them to. This is another thing that people talk about from our wedding.
Photographer: Krisliz Photography A+
Kristin is an amazing photographer. My mom, mother-in-law, and I met with her, and we knew immediately that we loved her. She's really down to earth. She drove to Baton Rouge twice for our engagement pictures without any complaint. We having gotten our wedding pictures back yet, but I loved our engagement pictures. For the wedding, she really had everything together. My husband and I did a first look, and she set everything up for that. After the required pictures at the reception ( you know, toasts, cake cutting, etc.), she blended in and was taking candids, which is exactly what i wanted. I really can't wait to get our wedding pictures.
Videographer: Clawson Media - A
I can't really review them yet because I don't have my video of course. But they were great to work with. It is a husband-and-wife team, and they are so nice. I really love the clips they have, and I'm very excited to receive our video.
Transportation: Limo Livery A+
we rented a shuttle bus from limo livery. We had it for three hours. The first hour was to be used to transport bridal party to the first look site. Because traffic was so horrendous that weekend, the bus driver showed up 30 min. early, and didn't charge us. After the bridal party, it was used to shuttle guests to church. I didn't hear any complaints about that. The bus then stuck around and shuttle guest who did want a second line to the reception. Also no complaints.
makeup - Wink! A+
Natashia with wink is amazing. Everyone looked so beautiful. My makeup was flawless. One of my bridesmaids does not wear makeup, and they did not overdo it on her. One of our guest like our makeup so much that she told her friend who is getting married and they booked Wink. They came to our hotel, and was finished will before the time.
Hair - Revive to go A+
Revive is a hair salon in Luling. One of the hairdressers is a friend and sister of two of my bridesmaids. Nicole is amazing. She tweaked my hair after the hair trial and it was perfect. All my girls looked great as well. she brought two others with her.
Hotel Blocks
Astor Crowne A+
the majority of our guest stayed at the Astor Crowne, including my husband and I. haven't heard of any problems with them. The only thing is they do charge for welcome bags. they gave my husband and I a bottle of wine for getting married. I haven't heard any complaints about noise even though it is on the corner of Canal Street and Bourbon Street. I recommend this for hotel block.
The Sheraton - C
not many of our guests stayed here, but the ones who did have complained about the Sheraton. Apparently there was an issue with the rooms. There also really hard to get in touch with. Overall I would not recommend a block here
My mom made table runners, made the centerpieces ( except for the flower part), did the candy bar and made our second line umbrellas. my aunt made all of our handkerchiefs for the second line. one of my bridesmaids and her husband designed our save the dates and letterpress invitations. our RSVP card was mad lib style, and our guests really enjoyed filling them out.
again sorry for the length, and hope I didn't forget anyone.