California-San Diego

Vendor Reviews

I know when I was planning my wedding I found vendor reviews very helpful. 

Venue - Admiral Kidd Club B
The view here is amazing and that is why we chose this location.  I got so many compliments on the site, it is along the harbor in Pt. Loma, it overlooks downtown.  We worked with Melissa.  The 1st time we met with her, all Friday and Saturdays were booked in the next year and a half and she blew us off.  After changing our minds and deciding to get married on a Thursday so we could use the venue and a few phone calls she was more approachable.  I found it best to communicate via email with her - which is perfect for me.  I was not told the guests needed a base pass to gain entrance until I had sent out my invites, so this created more work for me by having to send out passes to our guests as a second thought.  On our wedding day there were 2 other groups of people doing their rehearsals - which was frustrating because we are trying to get wedding pictures and they are refusing to leave or move out of our way.  My DH went to Melissa and she did not want to deal with this.  After the ceremony the staff brought my WP beer, wine, and appetizers, it was wonderful!  However the staff did not tell the guests there was a wine bar or a keg outside on the patio.  Also they do not let you start decorating early.  I was told I could decorate the reception room 2 hours before the reception started, which was 1 hour before the wedding.  I worked with Melissa to get it 3 hours before, but it was not enough time for me to help decorate how I wanted it and I had to leave this up to my family.

Flowers - Mary's Creative Florals = A
I found Mary via Craigslist.  I was planning on DIY my own flowers to save $ but did not want the stress @ the end of the day.  Mary was affordable, I was nervous @ how the flowers were going to turn out.  I was so impressed.  I never met with her face to face but communicated via phone and email, she did amazing work, I had a lot of compliments on our flowers.  Mary met our best man to give him the flowers, she waited around a few hours for him because he was in a car accident.

Cake - Shirley the Cake Lady - A+
http://www.shirleythecakelady.com/index.php
We found Shirley through a catering faire @ the Admiral Kidd Club.  Using her for our cake was the easiest decision we made.  Her cake is amazing, DH loves it, we had soo many compliments on the cake.  We had amaretto poppyseed and lemon poppyseed.  We tasted cake in her home, she is so welcoming, friendly - we love her.  I had told Shirley our inspiration for the wedding and she came up with a unique idea for the cake.  We were also able to use my parent's and grandparents' cake topper on 2 side cakes.  I will definitely use her again and again.  My only complaint was she did not want my Mom putting mints and nuts on the cake table, she was very adamant about it.

DJ - Bill Calhoun - A+
billcalhounmobilemusic.com
We were referred to Bill by our cake lady, he was great.  Very timely in communicating with me.  He was affordable.  We had a great time, he read the guests well, 1 time when everyone left the dance floor he stopped the song and went back to music he knew would get people up dancing.  He was great with keeping us on track with the time line.  We used him for our ceremony and also for our reception. 

Photography - Myda Clark Photography/Weddings We will Forever Be - A
We orignially chose Myda because my DH had grown up with her and because she was very affordable.  I love her work, she is easy to work with and communicate with.  For both of our engagement sessions and our wedding we had an abundance of pictures taken and so many to choose from.  It took longer than I would have liked to receive our engagement photos, which was frustrating when you are really looking forward to seeing them.  Myda was open to letting my family and friends take pictures when she was the whole day of the wedding - many photographers will not let you do this. 

Hair & Makeup - Belinda @ Bellagio Salon B+
Belinda is my normal hair dresser and adore her.  The only reason why I am giving her a B is because the price for my BMs was changed after they had all booked appointments, so 2 of them dropped out from getting their hair done.  I was not 100% happy with my hair trial and told Belinda what I wanted changed on my wedding day and it was perfect.  My hair stayed all night - which is amazing, my hair is very soft and silky and does not hold in anything.  My makeup, especially my eye makeup remained through the entire day and night, through my crying.  Of course I had to add more powder from all of my dancing. 

Re: Vendor Reviews

  • edited December 2011
    thank you for that help :)

    if you don't mind me asking, what was your budget. just so i can see if its around the same as me and they are affordable for me
    Mrs. Meeks
  • edited December 2011
    congrats on your wedding I know Belinda did your hair can you email me some pic thanks caplocksid@yahoo.com
    image
  • edited December 2011
    Chaument - I PM'd you. 
    Bella - I will send you some pics, my SD card was stolen from my camera, so it is just what my friends have taken.  I can send you more when my family arrives back in Nebraska and posts pictures. 

    I also forgot: 
    Dress - Alfred Angelo B
    I knew going in what dress I wanted, I tried it on and it was perfect - so their job was pretty easy.  I ordered all of my BM's dresses through them and they shipped 2 of the 3 out of town to them.  They were very friendly.  I did have a problem with how the BM's dresses were originally ordered - the catalog showed that I could have pool dress and underlay and a chocolate sash - I finally got a call about a month later telling me the sash and underlay had to match.  that was frustrating because I brought it to their attention when 1 of my BM's had problems ordering her dress in another state. 

    Alterations:  Rose Anderson A+
    I love Rose.  I explained to her what my dress looked like and she knew immediately which dress it was and sent me pictures of other brides in the same dress that she had altered.  She is so friendly, and knowledgeable.  I never felt uncomfortable, which was a concern to me since all my BM's live out of state and could not go to my fittings with me.  Her work is amazing, when I picked up my wedding dress, she had 29 other dresses in there - my Mom was amazed.  She does beautiful work, I will definitely be returning if I need alterations in the future.  Best part - she is affordable!
  • edited December 2011
    Ooh, I plan on using Rose for alterations (fitting in August). Seems like she has nothing but great reviews, but it's always nice to hear another one. Thanks for sharing!
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
    Laura & Brian | October 23, 2010 | Planning Bio!
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