New Future Las Vegas Bride! :) (Photography and Flamingo Help)

pennyluwho

Hello all!

I am a freshly engaged (May 6th!) future Las Vegas bride! I have been stalking the boards for a while now, and like a lot of you, I have millions of questions! I am amazed and impressed at all of the information I have taken in! We are from out of town, and will be planning completely from a distance (Eek!!).

We are looking at a wedding at the end of September, 2014 of no more than 50 people. After doing lots and lots of research, we really like the idea of the Gazebo Chapel at Flamingo’s, a Double Decker Bus tour and then Maggiano's for a dinner reception. It is exciting to start making these decisions, but I’m a bit terrified at all of the details!

One question (of about a million, lol) that I have is photography. I have been reading all of the sketchy Cashman Photography-like vendors, and I think I really want to avoid that! Who have people used as an alternative and how long did you use them for? I am not really interested in the getting ready photos, but would like ceremony, double decker bus and at least some of the reception photographed.

One more question! For anyone getting married at the Flamingo, how did you choose your package? I am not concerned about having extra flowers other than bouquets, and I definitely want outside photography. Any suggestions would be SO helpful!

I really appreciate all of the positive and constructive comments on this board! It has made me really excited to get married in Las Vegas!

sunni96

Welcome to the board and congrats!  I believe 98% of us on this board are planning from a distance so no worries.  This board is a tremendous help.  I am also having my reception at Maggiano's so if you have any questions about that please ask.  Missmo on this board is also having her reception at Maggiano's and ceremony at Flamingo and she is fabulous too!  As for photography, there are a couple of good options out there.  I will share who I booked and allow others to share theirs.  I went with Todd from Bently & Wilson Photography.  He is very popular on this board and very reasonably priced which is good since you would also be paying an outside vendor fee.  He also gives you rights to all the photos that he takes.  Here is his website and it has prices listed too!  http://wilson702.com/index2.php  Good Luck and happy planning!

missmo14

Haha im a flamingo gazebo chapel bride getting the DDB and reception at Maggianos. Ive got the endless love package because I have a lot of outside vendors. We picked Todd from Bently & Wilson for an 8 hour photography package. We have also booked Langdon for 8hrs of videography.

Flamingo is very accommodating with outside vendors (at $150 each) so its really up to you and your budget how much you want to get through the flamingo and whether you go with external vendors.

If you are happy with flamingo flowers you should check out the lavender package or tulip package if you want their videography.

Im going on a scouting trip there in September so I will post pics and videos of the venues when I get up.

sunni96

See Penny, I told you Missmo was great!  lol.

missmo14

Nawww shucks

pennyluwho

@sunni96 - Thank you! That is actually who I have been looking at... I found a couple of examples of their work and it looked great!

@missmo14 - Lol! that's hilarious. I swear that was not intentional. I will have to call Flamingo and chat with them about the different options.

Bently and Wilson seems like a no brainer now! Do they do videography as well? My mom always told me that is a have-to-have for a wedding, so I have to do it!

Thank you both so much! This board gets me seriously excited to get married in Vegas.

sunni96

They do not do videography.  It is actually only one guy that comes - Todd the photographer.  I have videography included in my ceremony package but I am still up in the air about for the reception.  It's funny how I have found the little things to be the most difficult to decide on besides H & MU.  ha ha.  

pennyluwho

Lol! The little things are definitely overwhelming. I'm blocking most of them out at the moment, but a few are freaking me out...

Valeriecruz82

I'm also a flamingo bride! I've booked the tulip package. For photography Bentley and Wilson was booked on my date so I booked glitter lens photography for a couple hours
To do our strip tour photos they're prices are very affordable and have been great so far! I think flamingos prices are really good too as far as upgrading your floral choices I'll be there next month for a friends wedding and have an appointment with my coordinator to see the different sized suites to help decide since we will be taking our guests up to our suite for about an hour for some food and refreshments since we will have an hour gap between our ceremony and the strip tour

pennyluwho

@Valeriecruz82 - That sounds great! I was thinking of doing a little snack something for guests before the double decker bus tour... enough so that they aren't hungry, but not too much that they won't have room for lots of dinner and cake!

missmo14

We are having snacks and drinks for guests at the carlos ncharlies deck. I like thst location at the flamingo because its right on the gardens and they were happy to do a short 45 minute "event" with no minimums etc.

This will be while FI and I get our pics taken hopefully we will be able to join in to the last 15 minutes or so

pennyluwho

Ohh that's a great idea!

J9lawrence

I am using John Morris Photography. He has a good range in package options from just a brief period to full day coverage. So far, he has been great to work with. My MOH also used him for her wedding and there wasn't a single photo of hers that I didn't like. Have fun planning!

pennyluwho

Thanks! I just contacted him for a quote.

Jiimanie

To throw another photographer in the ring, I have booked Joey Allen, he is slightly more expensive than Todd but I really love his style of photography and he has some rave reviews (on here and elsewhere!)

http://joeyallenphoto.com/

thesepinkdays

We are going with Tyler Freear he has been a dream to work with so far!

Vireyda

Mike and Courtney of Mike L Photography are fantastic to work with!  Love them so much and our photos are amazing!

mnupp

I'm in love with my photographer, Rachel at Brilliant Imagery: http://www.brilliantimagery.net/

She describes herself as a photojournalist in a boutique studio and limits the number of weddings she does every year (also due in part to her small children), so her level of detail and response rate is incredible.

She wrote a blog recently about how to choose a wedding photographer that's worth checking out ... even if you don't go with her, it raises some good questions to ask a potential vendor:

http://www.brilliantimagery.net/2013/06/how-to-hire-a-wedding-photographer/

mbenoit03

Congrats & Welcome! I had my reception at maggiano's last month...here's my review....

MAGGIANO'S CALABRIA ROOM A+++++++

Beth & Sabrina are both sweethearts! We had a lunch reception from 12:15pm to 3:15pm. I was speechless when i walked into the reception, it blew me away and i almost cried. They were so creative and went above and beyond with the decorations i provided. And the cake table/candy buffet looked stunning! They even expanded our room into the Dicarlo room free of charge, which added the dance floor automatically. I owe them my life-lol. We had 50 guests & we would have been crammed in the Calabria room alone. Hubby was in shock, he had no idea it was going to turn out so nice, he was so proud of me for planning all of this from out of state. Our guests were very satisfied with the lunch buffet. We had a cash bar (and the bartender told us me & the groom get all of our drinks comped, best news all day, but we had about 3 each because there wasn't time to even remember to drink lol. We brought an ipod for music and  just played it on there speaker's, my cousin MC'd for us and he did a fabulous job. 3 hours was just the perfect amount of time. We had our first dance right after lunch, we combined our Father/daughter & mother/ son dance,  we did the garter/bouquet toss, cake cutting, and then opened the dance floor for about an hour (we did not have a money dance being that there were lot's of traveling expense's for our guests). We used the patio for a photoshoot but it was 105 degree's so that lasted about 15 minutes. They were in no hurry to get us out of there at 3:15 but we were drained and ready for a nap so we all left about 3:20 and the Maggiaano's team packed & cleaned up everything, again life saver's!! I picked up all the decor Monday and left the candy buffet behind cus Hubby said no more clutter back at our apmt lol 

pennyluwho

@Jiimanie @thesepinkdays @Vireyda @Mnupp Thanks so much for the suggestions! I have a lot of new photographers to look into now.

@mbenoit03 I actually have read your review! It was so awesome that I think it was one of the posts that pushed me over the edge! I had never even heard of Maggiano's before I came to this board. I keep telling my fiance all of the cool places and vendors I am finding from here alone and he is amazed! It's so cool!

mbenoit03

i'm still waiting on all my picture's but i will post them after i get them so you can see how it all turned out

Amylegnot

What suite did you end up going with at the Flamingo?

kellamity

I used Bently & Wilson. I made a few vendor review threads and the one labelled "photography" has my review of Todd and a few sample pictures, if you want to get my in-depth thoughts on his work. Overall though he is great, I have no real complaints!