Rehearsal Dinner- Southern Yacht Club A+
It was actually better than I imagined. We had a 45 minute cocktail hour and then a seated dinner for about 50. The food was great (turtle soup, filet mignon and trout almondine entree and bread pudding for dinner). Everything ran smoothly. I was able to choose which wines and champagnes we wanted served rather than going with the house brand. They do not provide decorations but my mom was able to go early and set up a few things. The SYC didn't allow for choice of entree which is why we went with the filet and trout but it worked perfectly.
Bridesmaids Luncheon- Restaurant August A++
Absolute heaven! The luncheon was on the second floor and since there were 20 of us, they set up one large square table so everyone could sit together. My mother and I had a tasting earlier in the month and rather than one small bite of everything to share, they served us large portions of each of the four things I was debating between. The tasting was free of charge as well; I don't think either of us could eat for days afterwards it was so much food. We had one appetizer (truffle crabmeat gnocchi) choice of two entrees (i had trout and shrimp and grits) and then everyone had creme brulee for dessert. August too gave us the choice of alcohol. The space was beautiful and Christy Bradley was very fast to respond to all emails and make accommodations for those that had food preferences or allergies.
Church-St. Rita on Lowerline B
As someone mentioned perviously, they do not have a wedding coordinator. We had some mess ups during the rehearsal and it was hard to get someone to help us out. There was also no one to fix my dress or train before I walked down the aisle. I'm sure that was my fault and should've asked a friend not standing in the wedding to help but I didn't think about it. Our family priest, who is retired, conducted the ceremony but anything I had a question Father Hayes called me back immediately and was very helpful.
Harpist Judy Seghers A+
I didn't get to hear too much of the harp but what I did hear was absolutely beatiful. She emailed me promptly and was great at giving suggestions. She even learned a David Gray, Dave Matthews and Damien Rice songs for me to be played during the seating. I made the HUGE mistake of not getting a videographer so I won't ever be able to hear or see that part of the wedding. She offered to play songs of the phone for me too. Highly recommend.
Cantor Michele Spector through St. Rita A
Also super nice and responded to emails quickly. She sounded beautiful and I couldn't have asked for more.
Trumpet Ronald Benko A
Sounded good from the little I heard. To be honest I thought it was expensive for the little amount played but it sounded great.
Reception-Metairie Country Club A++
One of the best decisions. The coordinator, Michelle Gilchrist, was awesome and took care of everything. Anything I asked for or if something could be done, she found out about right away and made sure there was a way for it to happen. They had everything set up exactly how I envisioned. My husband and I had an attendant who was there every time we turned around with food or a drink. I asked her as soon as we got there to give us a glass of water for every alcoholic drink we had and see did exactly that; think at one point she would've give my husband his drink until he had some water. they sent us home with a huge basket of goodies and a bottle of Vueve and several boxes of food. They also had multiple boxes of food for our parents. The food was great, especially the ahi tuna on wonton and mashed potato and mashed sweet potato bar. Everyone keeps tellling us how good the crawfish Monica and crawfish beignets were too.
Photographer A+++ Julia Bailey for engagement pictures Studio Tran for wedding
Julia Bailey is beyond amazing and I am in love with our engagement pictures. Slightly obsessed with her work in general. She edits every pictures so it took a few months to get them back, but worth it. She doesn't give you a disc of all the pictures only the ones edited. Our session consists of the 3 of us walking around the Quarter and river front for 4 hours, little drinking beer and eating pizza in between but she was with us for a long time.
Corine Tran was so awesome to work with. We pushed back our wedding a few months in order to book them; they were booked 18 months in advance. Corine was super friendly and I felt really comfortable with her. During the ceremony she'd just "pop up" all over so I knew she was getting shots of everything. I've seen a few teasers so far and I love them.
I HIGHLY recommend both of these photographers.
Flowers Meade Wenzel B
i really liked working with her but on the day of the wedding the flowers were not exactly what we discussed. I told her during our first meeting that there were two flowers that I really don't like and didn't want them used at all. When I got my bouquet one of the flowers were used and I had to removed them (I know it sounds crazy but I HATE this poor flower for some reason) and then my reception buffet centerpiece was supposed to be all tulips but there weren't any tulips but instead filled with the other flower I had asked no be used. I liked that she asked what budget I wanted to say around but when it came down to it I didn't get what we discussed for my bouquet or the centerpiece. She's very nice though. A- maybe
Transportation Big Easy Limos C/D
Very nice throughout the whole process. We had a Rolls Royce, Limo for parents and limo bus for bridal party and out f town guest. I confirmed all the details with them four times including my husband called 2 days before and made sure they knew it pick everyone up at the Sheraton. Limo bus picked up the guys and brought them to the church but for some reason, despite the driver being told to go back to the Sheraton for the bridesmaids, the driver went to the Omni. We waited for the limo bus but were late so 7 bridesmaids and crammed into the limo with 5 people already in there. The out of town guest had to get cabs. The Rolls broke down on my dad and I on Carrollton and I had to ride in the back of the police car the rest of the way. It was actually really funny but i don't have any pictures of my dad and I in the back seat or him getting me out the Rolls. My dress also got dirty in the police car. When my mother called to complain after the wedding they told her they'd lend us the Rolls for the day and my dad could rent a tux and I could get all dressed up again and we could retake the pictures. Yeah not so much! My husband called this week and we are getting a partial refund. I feel bad giving them a D but.......
Invitations Gem Printing A+
I loved my invitations. I probably spent more than I should but invitations were important to me and anywhere other than Gem they would've been alot more. They were really nice, printed all the envelopes for me at a great price and the turnaround time was really fast. They were even able to print addresses that I forgot two at a time while I waited.
Weddingpaperdivas.com A+
I got my Rehearsal dinner, Save the Dates and Bridemaids Luncheon invitations from this website site and I loved all of them. I thought the quality of paper was great and was really happy with how they turned out.
Band Bag of Donuts A++++++
Easily the best decision of the whole process. We had the best time dancing all night and the band members were great. They played Proud Mary for me even though they don't normally play it and the lead singer even got out on the dance floor and jump roped with us. Don't ask about the jump roping my husband is still embarrassed. They had everyone on the dance floor all night and were just so much fun.
Dress, Veil, Hair Piece Wedding Belles A++
I can't say enough good things about Wedding Belles. My dress was the first one I tried on; they told me about a trunk show with my designer a few weeks later so I was able to go back and buy it with a 20% discount. They were so accommodating during the last week when I had to have the dress completely re-altered after losing weight and rescheduling up to 2 days before the wedding after a loss in the family. The dress fit perfectly but my bustle would not stay and I had to rig it after seven failed attempts during the reception to get it hooked. Just make sure the hooks are sturdy and will hold the dress and walk around in it a bunch.
Bridesmaids and Flower Girls Dresses
David's Bridal for Bridesmaids- They are scatter brained over there but the dresses were all correct in sizes and color when they came in. Only one issue with them but the dresses looked great on everyone and cheap so I can't complain.
Orient Expressed for flower girls. I love love this store and they have gorgeous children's' clothing. I had long white dresses for the three little girls and each of the mom's said they their daughters will wear them again so it worked out even better.
Mother of the Bride Pearl's Place A
I know there are alot of criticism about this place but they were great with my mother, who can be a handful when it comes to trying on clothes and people touching her. She found a beautiful suit and looked really really pretty.
Tuxes Men's Wearhouse A
Nice and fixed the one shirt issue that we had. They told us normally they don't have rooms for the to-be-grooms to try on different style of jackets but they allowed us to do it since it was a slow day. Really accommodating and helpful.
Cakes Flour Power A++
The best cake I've ever tasted. I don't like wedding cake at all and hers was so good I actually wanted a slice. I also had strawberry shortcake with white chocolate filling with chunks of strawberries. My wedding cake looked exactly like the picture I showed her. The grooms cake was a duck in a duck blind and it looked better than the picture I gave her. His was chocolate with german chocolate filling. So so good I can't even tell you. Ronda, the owner, was so nice and easy to work with. Some people have said they are pricey but it was well worth it to me. I had their lemon cake at a shower recently and it was amazing as well.
HOTEL Sheraton on Canal A+
I had no idea they have the river views that they do. I had the 49th floor Governor's Suite and it was big enough for 12 of us to have hair and makeup done. They were competitive with pricing and contacted me in thedays leading up to the wedding to see what they could do to make the stay flawless. They brought us extra floor length mirrors and box fans in case the room got hot with so many people and hairdryers, which it did not. The room was beautiful and close to the Quarter for out of town guests.
Misc
Bridemaid's gifts- I met an artist, Regis Scott, in Jackson Square who paints Patron Saints on pieces of wood. She has them in stores all over NOLA. She cut me a great deal since I bought 9 (had to get one for myself and bought one looong time ago for my husband). She helped me pick out the perfect saint for each person and tailored the colors of each painting if there was a preference. She added buttons to each saint that she was given after working on the Benjamin Button set.
Second Line Umbrellas- My husband's was a Saints themed umbrella from Gordon's of Metairie and I had a rice paper parasols with a big script "K" made from a vendor on Etsy. They didn't match but I didn't really care.
Cootie Catchers/Fortune Teller
Found these on Etsy too. I had them in bowls near the guest book (I think) for people to take. They had questions about the two of us.
Guest Book
I made a hardback book of our engagement pictures on Shutterfly, everyone signed the pictures or around them.
Cake Pulls I bought NOLA theme charms (St. Louis Cathedral, street car, crab, etc) at a local bead shop and used those instead of traditional charms.
Parents Gift-
We gave our dads and brothers monogrammed cuff links. Well, I wrapped an empty box for my dad and have still not found his cuff links. Mom's got jewelry. I also gave my dad a bottle of wine from the year I was born.
Rehearsal Dinner Dress and Bridal Shoes J. Crew
Honeymoon Baros Resort in the Maldives.
Heaven oh my gosh heaven. If I didn't miss my dog so much I doubt we'd come home.
Emirates Airline -made almost 30 hours of flying bearable if not easy. Great great airline.
Sorry that was so long but I really appreciated all the reviews that I read while planning my wedding, so I wanted to be as helpful as possible. I do regret not getting a videographer but otherwise am so happy how it all came together and turned out.
Happy Planning!