Hey ladies my wedding was 10/09 and I'm here to share my vendor reviews. I researched my vendors and expected all of them to do an awesome job. There were a few disappointments, but overall, the wedding was beautiful and we had a great time. A link is posted to pics of the wedding highlights under the photography review.
Chef Nelson Cake studio-F
Not impressed at all. This vendor actually made me cry on the phone 2 days before my wedding. The deposit was paid months in advance and they were prompt to request the remaining balance. When I made the final payment, I asked if everything was set to go and they said that everything was fine and I didn’t have to worry about anything else. I gave them the crystal cake banding and Swarovski crystal cake topper when I made the deposit. I wanted a very simple 3 tier wedding cake with no design. The crystal ribbon was to be placed at the bottom of the tiers and the topper on the top tier. That’s it, nothing complicated at all.
Three days before my wedding, they called and told me that they couldn’t find my cake topper. As a matter of fact, they tried to tell me that I didn’t leave it with them and tried to replace it some cheap looking metal topper. When I said no to this, they said I should get flowers from my florist. UNBELIEVABLE. This was so unprofessional and tacky. I didn’t want flowers on my cake hence a very simple cake with no additional design which they still managed to screw up. He added some kind of piping design around the base of the tiers when all I wanted was the ribbon. The topper was a DIY project that I was very proud of. It was a blinged out monogram topper of our new last name initial. It was costly too because I used Swarovski crystals to make it. This was not only special to me but also my fiancé because our married last name was new for him also. FI’s name change to his dad’s last name did not come through until the month before the wedding. So we were really looking forward to showing off our new last name.
I would not recommend using them. We only used them because we wanted a ‘white show cake’. We had a friend make the traditional cultural cake for us which was a huge hit at the wedding. No one raved about Chef Nelson’s cake and it was such a huge disappointment. The bottom layer should have been carrot cake with cream cheese filling but it tasted like buttercream icing was used as the filling. Again, a huge disappointment and he was very rude about the whole situation.
Bayanihan Arts and Events Center B
This venue is absolutely gorgeous. I worked with Ann Bartlett and everything was moving along smoothly until 1 week before the wedding. We scheduled to have our rehearsal there 2 months in advance and 1 week before the wedding, I found out that they had double booked and we were out of a rehearsal space. I was not impressed by their unapologetic attitude and their lack of flexibility in accommodating us at another time. We finally worked out a time for the rehearsal and when we arrived we were prevented from entering the building and told to enter from the side door. After the planner made a call to the manager, we were ‘allowed’ to come inside but the space provided was very small. Our ceremony went overtime due to the lack of access to the hall on the night of the rehearsal. The ceremony lasted 1 hour and 15 mins!!! On the day of the wedding a new coordinator, Joel, was assigned to us and he was a pleasure to work with. I wish that we had been working with him from the very beginning. The room was more beautiful than I could imagine and Joel made sure that everything ran smoothly. I was pretty impressed because we utilized our plan B because of the rain and guests did not know about any of the changes made. They said all of the transitions were smooth and that everything was planned well.
Arlene floral Designer A++++++
Where do I begin, Arlene was an absolute pleasure to work with. She knew what I wanted before I even asked. She made sure that everything was perfect for me. When I told her about the cake topper on Friday, she said not to worry about anything and that she would take care of the cake table. She personally delivered our flowers to the hotel in the pouring rain and made sure that we had everything we needed. My bouquet was simply gorgeous. When I first met with her I told her I wanted peonies and orchids in my bouquet. Well, peonies were out of season for my wedding and while I expected orchids, I never thought that I would love my bouquet so much. The floral arrangements at the venue were stunning. When I saw the ceremony space, I was in awe because she took care of every detail. There were even floral arrangements in places I didn’t even think about. Our sweetheart table was beautifully decorated and I know for a fact that I was going to use my bouquet as the floral arrangement for that table but when we got to it, Arlene had another floral display on the table. To this day, people are still asking about the flowers at my wedding. Arlene went above and beyond to make my day so special. She even stayed until the end of the night. Our families took the floral arrangements home and they lasted for 1 whole week after the wedding!
Delectable Catering A++++
I met with Delectables a fews months before our wedding. We were unable to attend their once a month tasting but they arranged a private tasting for us. I worked with Marilyn from day 1 and she was such a pleasure to work with. Her attention to detail was remarkable. Our families wanted to cater the wedding but when we met with Delectables, they were blown away by the presentation and agreed to have Delectables cater our wedding. They were so accommodating and I’m so grateful for this. They worked with us in creating a tasty menu, and adhering to our dietary guidelines, and even allowed us to prepare a special dish. The food was tasty and they were so professional. Our guests raved about the food and said it was the best food they’ve ever had at a wedding. Even our vendors raved about the food. My husband and I did eat at our wedding and we loved it. The food was served piping hot and the hor dourves were a big hit with the guests. We provided the vegetarian entre and they served it without any problem. Because over 1/3 of our guests were vegetarian we wanted to make sure that they had enough options and Delectables did such an awesome job. They cut and served the cake, provided an ice sculpture and assigned a server to me and my husband. We had so much food. We had some food left over at the end of the night and I forgot about packing Tupperware. This was not a problem for them, they packed up the leftovers in disposable containers and we were able to have someone take them home for us. Everything was perfect and they were a pleasure to work with.
Kate Ryan Linens A+++++
Kristin did an awesome job. I walked into her office not knowing anything about linens lol. I told her what my colors were and she worked her magic. My mom and brother actually decided on the linens and she was so laid back and easy to work with. I can’t believe that everything looked so good. She even threw in a few extras to make the sweet heart table extra special for us. From the folded napkins with the menu cards, to the color of the linens, to delivery and pick up Kristin was flawless!
Jason Angelini Photography
Engagement Session A++++++
We had so much fun taking our e-pics. When Jason arrived he recommended starting the pics outside because it was about to rain. It rained, but we made the best of the session. We found a corridor and didn’t let the rain bother us. The pics were so gorgeous. Jason and Lucia made us look like models! Everyone raved about our pictures.
Wedding day- pending
I’m sure Jason did an awesome job. It was raining again so we had to take all of our pics inside. We had some cool outside pics lined up too so it was a bit of a bummer at first but we got over it quickly. My only regret is that we didn’t get a pic with our extended family BUT… Jason was game enough to go around to each table at the reception with us to get photos of us with our family. Their rating is pending because there were I few pictures that I expected to see but they weren't in our proofs. Waiting for their response about this but the pics we do have are beaufiful.
Here's our preview: clicky
Brogen Productions Videography- pending
I’m so looking forward to seeing Travis’ work. He arrived on time and I’m sure he did an awesome job.
Ambassador Limousine- A
We picked out our limo 3 months in advance and paid in full on the spot. Ambassador was one of the few vendors that had the car FI wanted. Well, on the day of the wedding, they sent us the wrong car and the wrong color. We were never notified of a limo change. The driver was totally sweet and courteous and was so pleasant. He arrived on time, rolled out the red carpet, helped me out of the car, brought us hor dourves and took us on a romantic drive following the ceremony. After giving them a call and explaining what happened, the manager worked with us to make up for the mixup.
Daisy- A
Daisy is such a nice lady. She hemmed and bustled my dress and added straps to the BMs dresses. She also did the alterations for my mom’s dress. I loved the way my dress fit and she did an awesome job. My bustle broke at the end of the night but it was a heavy dress. I would highly recommend her.
ETA:
vendors I forgot
Destiny and light hair and makeup A++
Melody did a wonderful job on my makeup and she's so sweet. I would highly recommend.
Fabulous Photo booth A++++
Their name says it all. They were fabulous and got the job done. The props were great and the photo booth was a huge hit at the wedding. The sent us a disc of the images within a week of the wedding.
No. 1 Wedding planner A++
Jo did an awesome job. Everyone thought she did a really good job too. She kept the wedding moving and everyone knew what they were supposed to be doing. I would highly recommend her. The only downside is that she's based out of Orlando so communicating with her in person was a bit difficult but we got everything done over the phone.