I have not one bad review to write and I would use any of these vendors again! Thank you everyone and anyone for vendor rec's you provided!
Accomodations-Vdara at City Center We had a great contact there that set up a block of 15 rooms for us at a great rate and it was really easy for our guests to book on a private link that they set up for us. The Vdara was the best hotel I have ever stayed in on the strip and the non-gaming/non-smoking aspect was perfect for our guests. It’s connected to the Bellagio and steps away from the Aria and Cosmopolitan, so it’s very convenient. One of the BEST parts about the Vdara was our informal meet & greet- we met our guests down at the ‘bar vdara’ in the lobby, and half of us brought drinks down that we had mixed in our room. We took over a lot of the bar seating and no one cared. It was cozy and convenien. We also got a Cabana for our guests on Thursday, which turned out to be a bit more expensive than we were planning on (due to alcohol costs) but it was still fun. If I had to do it over again though I could’ve just used that money for a cocktail meet and greet in a Vista Suite. The pool at the Vdara is great though and they’ve remedies the ‘death ray’ problem. Our first look at the Vdara in front of the bamboo stalks was the perfect spot too. We will definitely stay there again.
Ceremony- Caesars Palace- Our ceremony was perfect and the photos of the Classico do not do it justice! It’s way more grand and impressive in person. My WC, Shani was awesome, she was so friendly and welcoming, I felt at ease right away. And the minister Michael Liggett did a wonderful job pronouncing everything correctly and making the ceremony flow seamlessly. I am so glad we shipped CP the aisle runner and rose petals ahead of time too, they really added to the beauty of the chapel. However, I did specifically tell/write that I wanted the petals on the border of the aisle and NOT scattered (so they didn’t stick to shoes), and they spread them all over the aisle and of course stuck on nearly everyone’s shoes (annoying to pick off for photos). We had to pay $50 for them to set up the aisle runner and petals so I feel like they should have gotten the directions correct, but oh well. Reception- Magianno’s-Another vendor that was everything we expected and more. Only a few minor glitches (not even worth mentioning). The food was nothing short of spectacular, and a number of guests even commented it was truly the best reception meal they’ve ever had, and especially loved the Raviolis & cheesecake. Our banquet coordinator, Jeremy, was on top of everything and met us at the door to go over the reception agenda. Everything I had shipped out there (decor, placecards, menus) was set up exactly as I had wanted. They even held them items 4 days after the reception until we had time to go back and get them. I can’t wait to go eat there again, kinda glad we don’t have one near where I live beacuse we’d eat there too often!
Luxor Hair Salon.-Victoria K, at the Nurture Salon in the Luxor did my hair and it stayed pretty much the entire night! The salon was very accommodating to my BM’s and the moms. I am sure it was pricey (my mom paid for everyone’s) but it was well worth it. One minor mishap was that I forgot to bring my veil with me (I sent it with Debi for steaming), but when Debi dropped everything off I went down to the Vdara salon and had a stylist secure it in my hair. She did such a good job I had trouble taking it out at the end of the night and it was so windy that day but still it never moved.
Floral- Pam from the Palette- Of course the bouquets, bouts and corsages were amazing. I think we may have even gotten an extra corsage (or I ordered 1 too many). Either way she delivered exactly what I had ordered on time and I was blown away by how beautiful the flowers were. They lasted for days too, and they were so hardy we didn’t even need to put them in water during the photo tour. I still can’t believe how little we paid for such amazing work. So glad we paid the outside floral vendor fee at CP! I used the bouquet included in my CP package as my toss bouquet, and the bout I gave to my nephew (ring bearer) since he smashed his original at some point. Debi with Fit for a Bride. -Debi was as amazing as expected. She picked up all our WP & mom’s dresses the day before the wedding and dropped off exactly when promised the day of. It cost less for all our dresses to be steamed by Debi than it would have cost for 1 dress through our hotel, including delivery. Also, the SWA crew took my dress into the pilots closet on our way out there (without me even asking) because there was really no room in the overhead bins (flight was packed). On the way back, I didn’t have the dress on a hanger since I cut off the straps and it was actually so much easier to carry it through the airport.
Presidential Limo.- We rented an escalade for 3 hours to pick us up from the airport and help us run errands. They have always been on time and friendly when we’ve used them and they were this time as well, but I feel like our driver didn’t take us to a grocery & liquor store that were in our best interest when we asked him to. The grocery store was nasty and the liquor store was way overpriced (he got a kickback for taking us there I’m sure). If we had to do it over again we would’ve just rented a car from the start and kept it all week. The Escalade for 3 hours cost as much as a week’s car rental would have! Not smart on our part...Parking for our marriage license would have been a breeze too since we were the only ones in the bureau on a Wednesday afternoon. After we rented a car and were able to get off the strip easily and cheaply, life was much better.
Double Decker Bus.-The DD bus was so much fun! It was very windy on top but we still loved it and I think most of our guests did too. Most of our guests purchased drinks in one of the CP bars/lounges while we were taking photos in the chapel, and enjoyed them on the bus. It took half an hour to go from CP to Maggiano’s because traffic was so bad, so I’m glad we didn’t plan a strip tour or anything. A couple guests that missed the bus from CP and walked to Maggiano’s actually beat us there! We really should have rented the DD bus for a return trip from Maggiano’s though, but we had no idea the taxi line at the Wynn would be as long as it was that night and it was probably faster for guests to walk if they could.
All Night Long Entertainment. -We paid them separately from our Maggiano’s ticket, to avoid the 20% gratuity. Dustin was our DJ and we could not have asked him to do a better job. The music was exactly what we had wanted, he played most of the songs we requested (not all due to time constraints), and announced everything perfectly. He did such a great job you would’ve thought we had met with him for hours beforehand to go over the reception agenda. All night long was also another very affordable/reasonable vendor that I would recommend anyone to use if you can. Travis Allen#1. -'Young Elvis" . WOW. So glad we had him come to our reception. I cannot tell you how big of a hit he was. Everyone loved him. He was sexy, but not creepy sexy. He really does sound just like Elvis. We had him come right after dinner ended and it was perfect timing, he got everyone on their feet and towards the dance floor. He did not leave until every guest that wanted a photo with him had gotten one. No doubt he will be the most memorable part of our reception for most of the guests. If you can book him definitely do it! He is worth every penny if not more, in fact my parents were stunned at how affordable he was and we tipped him generously (not planned) because everyone had such a good time with him there.
Photography- 3 vendors!
Trey Tomsik-Trey was awesome. He came with an 8 person limo for the entire time which was exactly what we needed. It was very clean and plush. We took photos at the Vdara (first look), Vegas Sign, Mirage, Venetian, Caesars & Bellagio in under 3 hours on a Saturday of a holiday weekend! He knows the best routes, exact photo opp spots and timing of the fountains. At the Sign and Caesars he literally cleared a way for us to take photos rather than wait, and he stayed out of the way at the reception but was taking photos constantly. I think the reception photos are my favorite because they’re so candid.
JD Photography-We also used a photographer from All Night Long (JD photography) for getting ready and the first part of our reception when Trey was shooting another wedding. Her photos from were just as good, but I’m glad we used Trey for the photo tour. He is more our ‘style’ of posing (simple, effortless). I would recommend either of them though.If we had to do it all over again I would definitely do the first look and photo tour pre-ceremony, it really helped to calm our nerves and get most of the photos out of the way. BUT I would not have taken our wedding party on the photo tour and I would’ve shortened the photo tour by an hour, 2 hours would’ve been fine. I also would’ve taken more indoor photos because in a lot of them my H is squinting from the sun.
Imagine Studios-Our photos turned out AWESOME! Despite the price, if I would’ve known they’d be that good I probably would’ve booked more pre-ceremony time with them. We had plenty of photo opps while we were waiting in the Roman or Tuscany Chapel (not sure which one) for the ceremony to start. I am glad we had the last ceremony of the day in the chapel (6pm), because we spent at least 30 min on post ceremony photos and they didn’t rush us at all. We also got to use the ‘bridal’ dressing room for another 15 min after that to relax and touch up my make-up while we waited to board the DD bus. I am also really glad we got the CD of the Hi-Res ceremony photos right away. It was expensive but worth it IMO. Caked Las Vegas. -We ordered 6 dozen cupcakes in 4 different flavors, at no extra charge (no other bakery I contacted would to that). Carolyn, the owner, was so nice and responsive. I heard the cupcakes were very good, unfortunately I did not get to try one myself and I am still mad about that. They looked delicious. Carolyn had the best prices of any bakery hands down (although I just ordered plain cupcakes, nothing fancy), and she frosted them generously as I had asked. Next time we go to LV I’m going to stop by the bakery and get a half dozen so I can actually try them.
Rebel Party Linens. -Jill from Rebel linens was just like Carolyn, so nice and responsive. Their prices were better than RSVP’s too, and then table linens looked beautiful and added some color to the room. The chair bows were kind of a waste because they ended up slipping down the chair backs once guests sat on the chairs, but I had no way of knowing that beforehand.
Mon Ami Gabi. -This is one of my favorite restaurants in LV. We went there for my bach dinner and they were very accommodating for a group of 15 (we had a reservation for only 12). They also split the bill 8 ways for us, which a lot of restaurants I contacted weren’t willing to do for a group. We were indoors but had a great view of the fountains. The service was also much better than previous times I had been there.
Rio World Carnival Buffet. -The Rio buffet was a perfect pre-wedding day dinner venue for us! For a small gratuity fee (per person) they allowed us to reserve an entire section for our guests! It was more than enough seating than what we needed. The buffet was amazing for the value. They also allowed our guests to pay individually as they came in, instead of putting us on 1 bill like most restaurants would. This was a huge help as we didn't want to host the event but still wanted to be able to have dinner with our guests. This is now my favorite dinner buffet in LV. If I would’ve known how accommodating they were going to be I would’ve used our personalized napkins and confetti on the tables we reserved.