Minde and Jon’s Wedding Vendor Reviews
Wedding: 11-12-11
Location: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas
Guests: 30
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I'll be happy to go over anything with you, including prices.
Before I start, I want to give a special thank you to Masterpiece Catering. Originally we planned a in-suite reception and had contracted Masterpiece to cater the event. Later, we decided to go another direction but had passed the date which any refund would be given. I worked directly with Scott and explained why we had missed the deadline for refund and we worked out an arrangement. We really appreciated the fact that they were so understanding and even willing to try use some of the money to possibly fund another event which was way above and beyond consdering the proximity to 11-11-11. If you are looking for the best caterer in town, look no further than Masterpiece.
Wedding Coordination Services: Scheme Events
Website: http://schemeevents.com/
Coordinator: Traci
Grade: A+++
Wow, where to start. I started planning our wedding on my own using theknot.com to plan most of it. This was around March 2011. August came quickly and I wasn’t happy with the overall plan and flow of our wedding day. I didn’t think we would have a good time and was getting overwhelmed. I found Traci and Scheme on theknot.com and I can’t say enough good things about them. They met with us online and on the phone, figured out the best coordination package for us and explained everything they would do. I knew right from the start that our day would be better because they were running the show. We needed a reception venue just 2 months before our day….we weren’t sure if it was possible. Traci did it. We flew down in September and met with her and finalized everything. What a huge load off our minds. I can’t imagine planning an event without some help and Scheme is one of the best around. I started to sleep better once I hired them and I don’t regret hiring them for a single moment. Do yourself a huge favor and hire them. They were with us from 1pm on the wedding day till the end of the reception. Every single thing was taken care of. We got to enjoy every moment of our day because Traci and her team were in the background making sure everything was perfect. I can't say enough good things about them.
Wedding Venue: Caesars Palace
Website: www.caesars.com/weddings/caesars-palace/">http://www.caesars.com/weddings/caesars-palace/
Grade: A+
From the start, Caesars has been amazing. Our coordinator was Ashley. She was there every step of the way and made sure the wedding was perfect. She took care of every little detail for us and made sure our wedding day will be fabulous. We specifically choose the Cleopatra Package and had our ceremony in the Juno Gardens at 6pm. It was a beautiful venue at night time. You get 2 nights at Caesars, photo/video, floral credit, food credit, limo….it’s a great package. Caesars even upgraded our room for free to the brand new Augustus tower. The minister, video/photo guys and our coordinator were all professional and excellent. Audio was perfect and everyone could hear us. They had beautiful live piano music playing during the wedding but it wasn’t intrusive or annoying. Our guests couldn’t stop commenting how lovely and beautiful the Juno Gardens were. Also, you get the pool area at Caesars by yourself to take photos, which was awesome.
The only downside was that Caesars no longer allows outside photographers. I wasn't happy with our photo's during the ceremony and $600 to purchase the rights is outrageous for 60 photos. Ours photographer basically jumped in as soon as the ceremony was over.
Wedding Photography: Emeric Photography
Website: http://theemerics.com/
Sneak Peek Blog Photos:
http://theemerics.com/2011/11/21/minde-jon-married-in-las-vegas/
Grade: A+++
Jessie and her husband are awesome. I can’t really say enough about the both of them. They were so sweet and made sure we got every photo we wanted. I have only seen one of the photos, so I can’t comment on the quality of their photos (the one they did post was awesome). But just looking at their website I know they will turn out amazing. Jessie was with us for almost 8 hours and never skipped a beat. She was helpful and gave us alot of great ideas. Our photos at the Bellagio are going to be gorgeous. As soon as get them we’ll update this post. They have been posting sneak peeks and will update us with a mini blog posting soon, which is really cool. Many photographers won’t give you a photo for 6+ weeks. Besides the actual photos, working with them, setting up the contract and figuring out the best package for us was super easy. They are true professionals and we were so lucky to have them be a part of our wedding.
Wedding Hair/Makeup: Your Beauty Call
Website: http://yourbeautycall.com/blog/
Grade: A+++
Originally we had contracted with 702 Glamsquad for Hair/Makeup, but after the trial in September we changed our minds (I’ll go into that later in their review). Traci our coordinator recommended YBC a few weeks before the wedding. They do makeup for celebrities and really know their stuff. The prices were very competitive and I trusted Traci’s recommendation. With Glamsquad, they wanted us to go with Airbrushing because it lasted a long time. When we spoke with YBC, they assured us they actually like doing makeup without Airbrushing and said we wouldn’t regret it. Boy were they right. My fiancé’s makeup was AMAZING. They did a gorgeous job and were ultra-professional. They arrived on time and finished quickly. We did our strip tour and over and over again we heard people whispering “Wow her makeup looks amazing”. It was perfect.
We did originally contract with Glamsquad, but after our trial we decided to part ways. They were late to our trial and after 2 hours the curls in my wife’s hair started to fall out. When I compared the makeup from our trial to what YBC did on our wedding day, I felt there was no comparison.
Picture of Minde during the makeup session: http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/815/32160610150371234278314.jpg
Wedding Reception: PJ Clarkes in the Forum Shops at Caesars
Grade: A+
Website: http://pjclarkes.com/las-vegas-location.php
Group dining coordinator: D- (I’ll elaborate more)
With less than 2 months left to go, we decided to move away from an in-suite reception and find a restaurant to host our event. Most places wanted very high minimums to reserve their private dining areas. PJ Clarkes was perfect because they have a gorgeous private dining area called “Side Car” and there are no minimums to host an event there. We initially dealt with their event coordinator “Heather” and everything started fine, but she became difficult to get in contact with and frequently our menu requests and/or emails were completely ignored or just flat out wrong. About 2 weeks before our wedding, this was corrected and I only dealt with Lisa and Jason (the General Manager) going forward. They were fabulous. Do not discount PJ Clarkes because of our experience with Heather, just request Lisa if you need to plan your event.
In their defense, PJ Clarkes really went the extra mile to make up these issues once their management was made aware. I won’t go into the details, but needless to say they took care of us and stepped up to make things right. I can’t say enough good things about the management over there, big thanks to Jason and Lisa and all the wait staff there.
Moving on…..our reception was beautiful and everyone had a great time. The room is similar in size to the large rooms you find at Maggianos, but I felt it was nicer and no minimums. Our group, around 30 was MUCH cheaper than Maggianos with their 85-90$ per person cost and $3000 minimum (plus tax and gratuity). We paid $45 per person and set a fixed cost of $400 at the bar. When $300 was reached, they let me know. I just bumped it up to $600 and around the end of the event that max was met and people just paid cash going forward. I felt it was very fair to buy everyone’s drinks for the first 3 hours and we didn’t pay for alcohol we didn’t need by purchasing a package.
For $45 per person, the food was AMAZING. We got our choice between 2 soups and 2 salads, 5 different entrees, 3 sides served family style and 3 different deserts. The best part was people got to order what salad and entrée and dessert they wanted. No buffet, no family style on the appetizer, entrée and desserts. Family style or Buffet felt cheap and we wanted it to be as classy as possible. We had an awesome range of food: Cadillac burgers, Chicken, Steak, Hand Made Ravioli, market fish and a Vegan Pasta option as well. How often do you go to a wedding reception and get anything other than Chicken or Beef? People were literally mmmmm, ooh and ahhing during dinner it was so good.
We had 30 guests and there was plenty of room for dancing and talking. We didn’t need a special dance floor brought in like Maggianos so we saved money there as well.
All in all, I would HIGHLY recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a venue in Las Vegas. It’s a completely hidden gem in the forum shops (across from Joe’s)
Wedding Transportation: Earth Limos
Website: www.earthlimos.com/">http://www.earthlimos.com/
Grade: A
I don’t have a lot to say about Earth Limos, but they were extremely accommodating and professional. We used their limos and party bus to transport our guests on the wedding day. They were on time, clean and safe.
Wedding DJ: DJ Godzilla
Grade: A+++
Contact Info: Calvin Duncan
DJ Godzilla is great. He’s very affordable, professional and will customize your wedding to meet your needs. Most wedding DJ’s want $500+ to host your event….. Calvin was nowhere near that price. In our case, we wanted something fun and relaxing while our families were there, and then we bumped up the party after some of them left. We didn’t want to worry about music all night with an IPOD or Jukebox. He was more than accommodating. He’s gear setup is perfect, fitting easily into the space in our reception and had great custom lighting. He made sure we had Mic’s for our speeches and the music never skipped a beat. I might just hire him to DJ our Hotel Room next time we hit up Vegas because he’s just that much fun. I wouldn’t hesitate to use him again for any event.
Wedding Cake: Gimme Some Sugar Las Vegas
Grade: A+++
Website: http://gimmesomesugarlv.com/
If you want the most amazing cake you’ll ever see in your life, call Gimme Some Sugar. They are the best cake company in Las Vegas, period. They do all the celebrity cakes and are just amazing. We looked at 4-6 different companies including Freeds…….and no one even comes close to their work. You will pay for it, our 4/6/8 3 tier cake was $335 but it was Gorgeous. When I get photos I’ll post them here. It was fully custom and sooooo yummy.