This is so long I don't even know if it will fit in the box! I really wanted to get these done and out of the way, as you can see I did not really have one bad experience! The trip was truly a dream and I couldn't have done it without the previous knottie experience before me! I felt like I owed it to get it done soon.
Practically everyone who came to our wedding (about 75) was so impressed with how it was put together, nearly all vendors came off this board in one way or another! So many also complimented me saying Vegas was the way to go--I couldn't agree more!! I wouldn't have done ONE thing different! Airline-Southwest- They were kind of difficult at first because they didn’t have a space to put my dress and said it would have to go in the overhead. I was a little upset, but it worked out perfectly fine because we got an empty overhead and put it in that. The flight attendant was awesome—I gave her 4 drink coupons and she hooked friends and I up with free alcohol on the way to Vegas. A+ Hotel- Bellagio-They didn’t upgrade our room, which was kind of a bummer, since for some reason they gave my mother an upgrade and not us…but it was still a nice lake view room. Check in was quick and the concierge was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. We never had to wait long in the cab line and there was always someone to help if we needed it. My husband stayed in a suite with 3 other guys and it was SUPER nice. My dad and his girlfriend also had a smaller suite and it was very nice as well. We had sandwiches delivered and fruit the day of the wedding before and they were served on beautiful silverware and the service was excellent. A+ Café Bellagio-We ate here a few times, once right when I got in, and I had a portabella sandwich, it was great. Ate Huevos Rancheros for breakfast one day, it was fabulous and then the Maryland Crab Cakes Benedict the day we left which was excellent as well. Moderately priced. A Wednesday night-Downtown/Fremont Street-Really fun, highly recommended for cheaper and less intimidating gambling! A+ Tony Roma’s-It’s Tony Roma’s. It was just standard grub; we ate there because we were really hungry. The steak wasn’t that good, but what can you really expect. They have these in Texas where I’m from, so I wasn’t that impressed, but the service was mediocre and it was decent food. B Pool at the Flamingo-We had a lot of friends staying here so we went to the adult pool. It was $10 to get in, but there were plenty of chairs and places and our friends and I to hang out. The bar had no line and mixed drinks were about $10. B+ Thursday night- The Bank @ Bellagio- I was hesitant to go here because I thought it would be a little snooty and lame, but we got some tickets for free vodka, so we went for two hours. They immediately put us in the VIP line because it was my bachelorette party and we had a bunch of girls so we didn’t have to wait. The bartender was quick and the drinks tasted great. We even got free shots! The music was awesome too. We stayed until about 1 am and had a great time. A++ Thursday night - Tryst @ Wynn-Seemed like we waited in line for a long time, probably about 30-45 minutes. Tons of people were coming out but no one was going in which made us kind of mad. It was $20 bucks to get in, even though we brought a group of girls. When we did get in, the waterfall inside was beautiful and well worth the wait. The main reason we went is because the concierge at Bellagio told me it was the best place to go on Thursday night. Drinks are pricey, but that’s typical Vegas. The atmosphere was great, it was pretty packed. The music was good and there was a little room to walk around. I didn’t have to wait long for the bartender to get me a drink. A+ Rehearsal Lunch @ Ricardo’s-I cannot say enough great things about this restaurant! From day one, the service was EXCELLENT! I mainly dealt with Susan, one of the hostesses. We were able to get a buffet style lunch priced at about $15 per person and hosted beer and wine. Originally we were going to host $600 of alcohol for about 30-35 people, but I guess we didn’t come close to what we drank by the time we left so they just charged us for what we drank. My husband said the bill was a lot less than he thought it would be. They gave us a private room, and had it set up with a big table and multi-colored linen napkins that were folded into fans. They even had little pieces of paper on each place setting saying our names, wedding date, welcome and congratulations, as well what type of beverages we were hosting. This personalization was such a nice surprise! The food was great as well and since we ate around 130-200 it was like we had the buffet to ourselves fo the wedding party. There were enchiladas, chilaquiles, a taco and tostada bar. It was great! We all took cabs to Ricardo’s from the Bellagio and the cab fare was a little less than $20. A+++++ Friday night- Mesa Grill-A bridesmaid, her husband, and her parents as well as another bridesmaid had reservations at Mesa Grill. One bridesmaid got sick and it was going to be a $50 charge if they didn’t show up with their full party. That is so lame! So, I stepped in to help save the day, only because I thought this would be a cool place to eat since it is Bobby Flay’s restaurant. We had to wait a while past our 8:45 reservation time to get a seat, but the food was well worth it. It takes about 20-30 minutes for your food to come out, so they recommend you get an appetizer. I had a salmon dish which was delicious with a double baked potato with a horseradish sauce. Everyone in our group loved their food. We had to wait forever for the check which was a little ridiculous, but all in all it was pretty good. A+ Cake Designs of Las Vegas-I worked with Dawn to custom design my cake. She was amazing from the very start! I didn’t know what I wanted, but together we came up with ideas and the cake turned out absolutely beautifully. It was a 3 layer with German Chocolate on the bottom, lemon with raspberry in the middle, and marble with chocolate Bavarian crème on the top. She did an exact replica of the monogram on my invitation and an excellent job on the paisley design, replicating the invitation as well. I got so many compliments from people that it was the cutest and best tasting cake they had ever had! The cake was affordable and she did a great job…highly, highly recommended! A++++ Décor- Inventive Incentive-This is the company that did the décor at our reception. I had a little sticker shock at first, but come to find out most other décor prices and they were reasonable and worth EVERY PENNY! It was breathtaking walking into Trevi and seeing the reception site set up so beautifully. Even the restaurant servers complimented on how nice it looked. I order brown linens with coral table runners, hurricane centerpieces with a candle surrounded by river rocks. It was gorgeous!! Cassie was the vendor and she was extremely helpful. They set everything up and took everything down. Highly recommended! A++++ Reception location - Trevi-Well, after something happened to my original coordinator, I was a little displeased. Then, I started working with Michelle who was truly outstanding! We picked 3 types of passed appetizers, and they were AWESOME! The servers made sure my husband and I were fed and continually came around to us. We had Caesar salad, penne putanesca (which the kids said was a little spicy), and roast pork tenderloin. They had a great menu that I customized in a buffet-style manner. I was so full by the time we were done I was practically popping out of my dress! We had everyone eat and then made table visits, and didn’t realize our servers had our food waiting for us at our table when we went through the line. Nonetheless, the service was EXCELLENT! The bar was stocked and we hosted alcohol. They made sure to tell us when we met our consumption, which was about 2.5 hours in. We were also able to host a cash bar for those who wanted it. Trevi is a BEAUTIFUL location and we had the entire top floor to ourselves. One of my bridesmaids made a playlist on her ipod and they let us use it for background music. I really could go on and on about how many people completely raved about EVERYTHING here, the service, décor, food, it was the total package! A++++ The Cohens Photography-It doesn’t seem like they get too much publicity on this board, but THEY SHOULD! They completely surpassed my absolute highest expectations! I never met them in person until the day of the wedding, but I had this great genuine vibe from them that they were kind people who knew their photography. I love their more modern and less posed style and I can’t wait until I see all the pictures they took! They arrived in the morning when I was getting ready and immediately went to work taking pictures. Even during the planning process, I went to them for several recommendations for different vendors, and it panned out great! They are beyond generous and completely professional and down to earth. All our wedding party loved them! We went to Lake Las Vegas to take pics, and they knew exactly the best spots to go to. I was totally on the fence about hiring an outside photographer from our package at the Bellagio, but I know they are worth every damn cent! Another vendor I could go on and on about…I wouldn’t ever consider anyone else! A++++++++++++++ Lulu’s Bridal in Dallas—This is the shop where I got my dress. They were super and professional and this is the most fun place to find a dress! They give you a lady who pays special attention to you and you have little clothespins to go around and clip to the dresses you want to try on. My dress was bought in November and came in around April (it was made in Spain). They gave me a free veil with the purchase of my dress and my mother a discount on her dress as well. The seamstress at Lulu’s, Ruth, is exceptionally talented. So, if you’re from Texas, I think this is the place to go to get your dress! A+++ Bellagio Wedding Chapel-I didn’t do any decorations because I was already over budget and knew it was going to be a super short ceremony. Our wedding coordinator throughout the process was super sweet (her name is Ashley) and very helpful. She always responded to my questions very promptly. We did a rehearsal and she was great and helpful, and I had a particularly unruly groomsmen side…ha ha. The chapel in itself was beautiful enough and our guests were impressed with the minister, who I also thought was fantastic! The live broadcasting of the wedding is the main reason I did it at the Bellagio, I had so many friends, family, and co-workers watch from all over the country! It was honestly priceless. A+++ Glamsquad- I called a couple days before to see if one of my bridesmaids could get her hair done and James brought along Ester. I was so happy they were able to squeeze her in so she was able to do the other bridesmaids hair! James got in a little late, but he went straight to work. I’m telling you, this guy knows what he’s doing!! He came with an arsenal of tools! He did my hair first and I wasn’t sure what I wanted because I have hair down to the middle of my back, but we went with a half up, half down hairstyle. He put the half up part in pin curls and curled the bottom half. I loved it!! He clipped in my veil to the bottom. The curls didn’t hold up so well and had to be redone right before the ceremony, but it’s all good. He did airbrush makeup on me and made me look like a polished version of myself, I felt flawless! I didn’t have to retouch my make up once the entire day! And this is after standing out in 90 degree heat for probably close to 45 minutes at LLV. It took him maybe an hour and a half to do hair and makeup and he was so nice and personable. Yet another high recommendation!! A++++ CLM Transportation-I had read a ton of bad reviews about several transportation companies and hadn’t seen anything about this one on the board. The Cohen’s recommended them, and now I know why! We got a limo bus for our huge wedding party and their was plenty of room. Our driver showed up EARLY to the Bellagio and stayed with us at LLV. We stopped for beer on the way there and on the way back. The limo bus had a stripper pole in it and it got VERY rowdy and fun on the way back! Our driver Mark was super nice and professional! I called at 1045 to confirm they were coming at 12 on the day of and they knew who I was by name. A++++ Cashman Photography- Pretty standard, nothing really impressive, but nothing deserving of a poor rating either. We got back late from LLV so it put us at crunch time before the ceremony, but I didn’t really care because I knew I’d have tons of great shots from the Cohen’s. Our photographer, Fasil, went really fast to get us through some places at the Bellagio and did a nice job staying on schedule. The pictures were up on the website by Monday morning, so that was nice. A+ J.Crew-We got our bridesmaids dresses from J.Crew and couldn’t have been more pleased! The girls loved them and I got a ton of compliments on them from guests. They were on sale and sold out before all the girls could get them. I called the wedding department at J.Crew and they looked for the dresses in the right size at different stores for me. Overall, I was very pleased with the level of service. A+ Stationary-Hodge Podge in Lubbock, Texas-Dinah owns this store and is BEYOND amazing! I am telling you, I went in way overwhelmed and didn’t even know where to start. She sat down with me and helped me pick the colors I wanted and a design. She did a custom monogram for our invitations and what I wanted for the RSVP card which I took from another knottie who took from another knottie. They turned out AMAZING and were so affordable! She even designed a little “Welcome to Las Vegas” logo on the back of the envelopes. I got SO many compliments on the invitations, they turned out perfectly! A+++ Etsy seller – cutthecake – I bought a guest box from her and it is so precious. I was cutting it really close to the wedding and hadn’t gotten it yet. A friend was able to pick it up for me the day before the wedding when she flew out to Vegas and was able to bring it. Tara was great in being able to make this work for me! She offered to refund my money in case I didn’t want the box anymore, but I told her it was so darling and it would be ok because I wanted to chance having it! Ok…I really hate to do this because I love the knot…but this is the worst review! I ordered 144 little tins for my Jordan Almonds for favors from theknot wedding shop. I only got 12 in the mail and they charged my credit card for all of them and I STILL haven’t gotten them! I’m going to give them a call tomorrow and find out what happened…maybe there was some type of miscommunication. My mom was able to get little pouches for the JA which probably worked out better, but I was still like, “what the heck?” If she hadn’t rented a car, I would have had 4 lbs of Jordan Almonds and nothing to put them in! C- Oh Nuts! – Picked the color of Jordan Almonds, very true to image online. Took a little long to ship but they arrived on time and easy to transport to Vegas. A