I apologize for the length, but I wanted to share sites, ideas, and vendors that we used for our wedding on 3/10.
I was somewhat of a budget bride who did some DIY projects. I was also what I consider an "anti-bride", very relaxed and not very opinionated.
Somehow, everything came together with only 1 minor hiccup that was out of our control.
Feel free to contact me for pictures (professional shots aren't back yet), questions, comments, etc.
I hosted a "Wedding Work and Wine Night" the Wednesday before our wedding to get help with last minute projects. So many of my friends offered to come over and we had the best time! I provided the wine and snacks and they provided the help!
Hope this helps someone, as I recieved a lot of guidance from reading Knot posts.
Church- Munholland United Methodist: we started going about a year ago and I became a church member as I was looking for a church home. The church is gorgeous and Sione performed our ceremony. We had SO many compliments about how great our ceremony was and how much they enjoyed our minister. The church coordinator was great, very helpful. My cousin was our soloist, and the organist was great. Their rules are reasonable as well.
Reception- Parkview Terrace City Park: Gorgeous venue, we invited 150+, probably had between 140-150 show after roughly 160 yes RSVPs. Somewhat of a tight squeeze, but the weather was gorgeous and we were able to utilize the terrace for outdoor seating and an additional bar. Prices are very reasonable compared to other venues. We had lots of compliments about the food, service, and location. Our sales manager was very flexible and provided plenty of support and assistance.
Florist- Christina O’Malley: Our flowers came out great! I communicated with Christina strictly through e-mail, we never actually met. She sends out a great questionnaire to see what your style and wants are and comes back with a great proposal. I was honest with her about being a budget bride and she definitely met my needs. I started off with a bare minimum order, then gradually added to my order. She was also supportive knowing my mom wanted to do reception centerpieces and offered advice if needed. Everything was delivered on time and was fresh and well made.
Band- Bottoms Up: this is a band that my girlfriends and I have seen at bars for about a year and a half. They are awesome, fun, and SO nice! Their typical bar set list differs from their wedding set list, but they played a great mix of new and “old” at our reception. Our guests LOVED the band. They kept everyone dancing, asked me and my bridal party to join them on “Don’t Stop Believing” (made for some awesome pics) and everyone LOVED that! Anything they didn’t play that we needed was supplemented with an ipod. I would definitely check them out if you’re looking for a band that isn’t in the top 5 usual wedding bands around here.
Photographer: Rick King Photography: Rick was actually booked for my date, but his wife Melissa and assistant Nicky shot our wedding. I can’t wait to see pictures. Nikki spent time with us girls, she was great! They were both so nice and helpful. Rick shot our engagements and we loved them as well. Nikki even went above and beyond and asked the reception venue for 15 extra minutes since our ceremony start was delayed, but sadly they said no.
Limos- Luxury Limos: My husband and his dad took care of this aspect. We had a shuttle bus for 30 running for our guests as well as 1 10 passenger limo for bridal party pick up. Unfortunately, there was an Irish Italian parade in the quarter the night of our wedding, which we had no idea about. Apparently the limo company didn’t either and our pick up was late and had to cross through the parade between floats AFTER we had to walk from Hotel Monteleone to Royal and Common. Though it was nerve wracking and panic inducing at the time, I think we’re going to end up with some awesome pics of the 10 of us, plus Nikki hiking to where the limo could get to. People were also cheering us on and complimenting us throughout the walk. The limo company did extend service time to make up for the late pick up. We were only about 15 min behind schedule but of course it caused everything to be delayed, including our reception start time, and let me tell you ladies, that time flies! Know what’s going on in and around your venues the night of your wedding.
Cake- Haydels: the cake tasting leaves nothing to write home about, but the actual product was great! We had a 3 tier cake, it came out just as we asked. We also had a king cake groom’s cake, and a 2nd chocolate cake that was a surprise for my husband, and “designed” by me, and Haydel’s make it exactly like I had in mind
Hair and Make up- Just Face It: I ended up in kind of a bind about a month out from my wedding when my usual hair girl kind of flaked out. I contacted Just Face It on a whim after picking up a business card at a bridal shop. Jessica was extremely sympathetic to my situation and checked her and her staffs’ schedule to see if she could work something out. Thankfully she was able to book my party. We did a trial for hair and make up the Thursday before my wedding and she did exactly what I had in mind. The day of, Angele came to the hotel and did my girls’ hair, and Jessica came in the afternoon to do their make up, my hair and make up, and curl my flower girl’s hair. All of my bridal party was pleased and I feel like it was fate that Jessica was able to accommodate us. I would use them again in a heartbeat and definitely recommend their services.
Rehearsal dinner- Mother’s Next Door: My father in law handled most of this, but we LOVED it and our guests loved it. We had around 60 people and did a traditional steam table buffet. Ronnie, the events manager, was great! You also get a poster that doubles as a sign in, we can’t wait to frame ours. We added Bloody Marys to our package and were delicious! We made really cute Mardi Gras themed centerpieces, message for details!
Hotel Blocks: Hotel Monteleone, Wyndham Garden Baronne Plaza, Country Inn and Suites
Alterations: Babs who works from her home in Kenner. I have no idea what her last name is, but she made my veil and did my dress alterations and was great and so reasonably priced!!!
Gem’s Printing: Invitations, 2nd line hankies, 2nd line umbrellas, cake bags, and napkins
Tie the Knot Specialty Shop: Unity candle (though you could totally make your own at a fraction of the price I paid for mine), cake pull bracelets, ring bearer t-shirt, ring bearer pillow, garters
YourHappilyEverAfter: Etsy shop where I ordered cards to ask my bridal party to stand
Apinchoflovely: Etsy shop where I ordered embossed fleur de lis notecards to write notes to my bridal party
Thepinkkoala: Etsy shop where I got custom Mizzou and LSU tiger cake toppers for our 2nd grooms cake. The shop owner was able to turn my order around in a matter of days!
Yourethatgirldesigns: Etsy shop, owned by a dear friend. She created our custom save the dates! She also has a variety of wedding related products available in her shop
http://www.customweddingshop.com/wedding-cake-keeper-box-5272-prd1.htm ordered this cake box, we’ll see how it does in about a year!
Oriental Trading: we ordered stuff for our kid’s goody bags here, as well as Mardi Gras themed butter mints, plastic gift bags, ribbon
Welcome bags: We bought mini bags of Zapps, individual packets of Advil, and Kentwood water from Sam’s. I ordered Mardi Gras themed mints, plastic black gift bags, and gold curling ribbon from Oriental Trading Purell wipes from Amazon, complimentary maps and guide books from the NOCVB, and created 50 welcome bags to hand out at our rehearsal dinner instead of dealing with hotel handouts. We printed our top 5 things to do in NOLA on a business card, and also printed welcome to NOLA stickers from products bought at Office Depot.
Monogrammed Express: had robes for my bachelorette party girls and parental/groom hankies monogrammed here
Sam’s: ordered flowers for rehearsal dinner and reception centerpieces
http://www.jubileerhinestones.com/Bridal-Wedding-Transfers/ Ordered rhinestone iron on transfers to make tank tops (ordered from Old Nacy) for my bridal party- came out super cute and resulted in cute pics while we got ready day of.
http://www.wholesalemart.com/Wholesale-Romantic-Hurricane-Candle-Lamp-p/13180.htm ordered these to put in the church windows
Pier 1: Found beautiful mosaic hurricane vases (small and large) on clearance that we ended up buying for reception centerpiece use, ended up being a great find!
Favors: Roman Candy, tied ribbons to the ends, it was a hit!
1st dance song: “Say” by John Mayer
Father/daughter: “My Little Girl” by Tim McGraw
Mother/son: “Rainbow Connection” by Kermit