I have to say, I was blessed with an absolutely perfect day. The weather was beautiful and all of my vendors treated me like a queen. My wedding day was truly the best day of my life!
CEREMONY VENUE: Parterre Rose Garden, New Orleans City Park: A
The garden is gorgeous. The setup as perfect for what we wanted and it photographed beautifully. The only downside is that a car alarm went off during our ceremony. I didn’t even notice, but I’ve had tons of people ask me if I was upset about it. I guess I was in my own little world. That’s just the breaks of an outdoor wedding.
RECEPTION VENUE: The Pavilion of The Two Sisters, New Orleans City Park: A++
The pavilion is lovely. I’m told the food was amazing (people are still talking about it on a daily basis). Like most brides, I didn’t get a chance to eat, although they had a little platter of food setup for us in the bridal suite. City Park also sent a box of food and a basket of wine, champagne, and fruit to our hotel for us. I got a little bite of everything later that night, but the food got gobbled up by some of our guests that stopped by our suite. Oh well.
The staff at City Park is totally on top of everything. I am not easy to please and I notice every little detail that might be off (I used to work as an event coordinator). There was not one time that I thought, “I should’ve just done this myself”. That NEVER happens. They took care of every single detail, made sure I was happy, and kept a full glass of champagne in my hands at all times. It was magical! I am so, so happy with our decision to book at City Park. I worked with April and she totally put my mind at ease. Denise was my day-of attendant. She was amazing! The servers and bartenders took great care of everyone. Loved it!
PHOTOGRAPHY: Ardent Studio: A++++ X infinity
I’ll say it again: Tim Pham is amazing. I love every single thing he did. I knew that the photos would be great based on our engagement session, but the wedding photos were more than I could have ever asked for. They’re incredible. Hiring Tim was the best decision we made. He and Chris came to the hotel to photograph us getting dressed. He kept me on schedule and totally put me at ease. I can’t stop looking at our photos. He put together a slideshow that captures the day so perfectly. Tim is totally laid back and a true delight to be around. I find myself brainstorming reasons to schedule a session (surely we need to capture our one month anniversary on film, right??). I can’t recommend Ardent Studio enough!
VIDEOGRAPHY/DJ: Prodigy: A+
I haven’t seen the video yet, but I’m confident it will be great. I worked with Josh and he went out of his way to accommodate everything I wanted for the wedding and reception. He even went so far as to purchase lighting after I changed my mind and decided I needed some sort of lights for the reception.
There was an issue with the microphone during the ceremony. It kept going in and out. I’m not sure what caused it, but it’s not the end of the world.
Josh played every song I requested. The only thing I wish I had put time into was a more detailed song list. Ours was a multi-cultural wedding and I know Josh was trying to play to both sides of the room. I should have made more specific lists to follow to keep everyone up and dancing.
HAIR/MAKEUP: Nicole Klein with Blush & Bashful and Lauren Payne: A++++++
Lauren and Nicole are dear friends and gifted me hair and makeup for the bridal party and myself. They are both beyond amazing. Nicole does airbrush makeup. It’s the greatest thing ever. I have never felt more fabulous. Lauren created beautiful styles for my girls, my mom, my grandmother, and me. We all looked and felt fabulously glam. And, most importantly, I got to spend the day with some of my favorite people! Lauren and Nicole are both licensed stylists and both provide hair and makeup.
FLOWERS: Erin Steen: A++
I loved Erin from the start. She was very laid back and I need that sort of balance in my life. I wanted a brooch bouquet. I didn’t have enough brooches for the entire thing, so we also mixed in fresh flowers. It turned out better than I could’ve imagined. I actually cried when I saw it. Because of our venue, I only needed bouquets and bouts. Erin did a beautiful job on everything.
CEREMONY DÉCOR: Luminous Events: A+
We didn’t book this until about two weeks before the wedding. I’m SO glad we did. Lisa did all of the candles for our ceremony space and I thought it was beautiful (and a heck of a lot cheaper than trying to track down holders and candles myself). She was easy to work with.
CAKES: Haydel’s: A+
The wedding cake was exactly what I asked for: smooth and simple. We are not fans of fondant and didn’t want to use it. I’ve never seen such smooth butter cream in my life. Both cakes tasted great. Can’t wait for our first anniversary so I can eat more!
My hubby loved his cake! We got everything we wanted.
TRANSPORTATION: Celebrity Limo: A+
Celebrity had the best prices by far. We did transfers and it was crazy affordable. We had one limo do two hotel pickups back to back (one for me and one for the groom) and then the limo came back and did one pickup from City Park and took everyone back to the hotel. The hubs and I rented a Rolls Royce through Celebrity for our exit. It was perfect and our Rolls driver was fantastic. Everyone was on time and very courteous.
PHOTOBOOTH: Big Easy: A+
The photobooth was a hit. All of my guests had a blast with it. I loved going through my photo guestbook the day after the wedding. Definitely money well spent!!
FAVORS: Hubig’s Pies: A+
Hubig’s is so easy to work with and our guests loved leaving with a fun treat. The pies were setup with our candy buffet. Needless to say, there was not one single pie or piece of candy left at the end of the night. I think the price of the pies is insanely affordable. Be aware that they only accept cash or checks. I opted to pick the pies up, so I didn’t have to pay shipping.
I know all of my vendors got As, but that's because they were all seriously fabulous. I can't say that I would change a thing.
Happy planning!!