Louisiana-New Orleans

My vendor reviews :)

I finally have the chance to sit down and write these! I'm sure I am forgetting someone, but I'll just add on if that's the case!

Ceremony/Reception: St. Louis Hotel (B+):
I wanted to have a courtyard wedding with a big pretty fountain, and the St. Louis definitely delivered on that. For the most part, I was very happy with everything. The wedding coordinator, Rachel, was great, and took care of every detail. The food was great, and many people complimented us on it, saying it was some of the best wedding food they'd ever had. It didn't rain on my wedding day, but if it had, the courtyard is covered, which really helped ease any weather-related stress I might have had. We had our ceremony right by the fountain, and it was really nice...We had the martini bar with the fleur de lis ice luge, that I absolutely loved. All of the waitstaff were fun and did a great job- overall, no real complaints. I only had issues with a couple small things: the first has to do with the bar...we had the "super premium bar", with the highest shelf liquor, etc. But so many of our guests requested drinks like Long Islands, Manhattans, Old Fashioneds, etc, and they couldn't make ANY of them! Basically, all they could do was rum/whiskey and cokes, or vodka tonics. If I could do it over, I would have stipulated in our contract to have the appropriate mixers also available, because what's the point of a super premium bar if they can't make anything other than the most simple of cocktails? The second issue was that we had a grooms cake, and my husband wasn't ever able to have any of it- he didn't eat any at the reception, and we were told they would box it all up for us and put it in our suite. They boxed up other food, but none of the grooms cake. He was really disappointed not to be able to try any of it, and I have no idea what ever happened with it. Our guests definitely did not eat the entire thing. But other than that, no major issues.

Officiant: Rev. John Zimmer (A!): We really liked him! He did a great job, and made the ceremony personal to us, despite only meeting in person for the first time 20 minutes earlier. He was very easy-going, and very "New Orleans", and exactly what I was hoping for.

Florist: Fat Cat Flowers (B): I wanted everything very, very simple. My bouquet was all red roses, and all we had on the tables were rose petals and candles. Our wedding cake also had roses in-between each layer, and we had candles placed all over the courtyard at the tree bases. It made for a lovely effect, and she did great with all of that. I was only a little disappointed because I thought I had told her I wanted candles placed all over the fountain ledge, and she didn't put any. This wouldn't have been such a big deal, but my whole vision was a candle-lit ceremony, and there wasn't anything on the fountain, which was the main focal point. Also, I had asked to her to encircle our cake completely with votive candles, and she didn't put any there, either. It wasn't enough to ruin anything though, just sort of disappointing. They always say some sort of detail will be overlooked on your wedding day, and all the forgotten candles was definitely mine. Oh well! I would still recommend her though, because the stuff she did do was great.

Cakes: Haydels (A!): We got both the wedding cake and the groom's cake from Haydels, and they were both fantastic! I will admit I wasn't expecting much, based on other reviews I had read, but I was pleasantly surprised! The cake turned out beautifully (seriously, that thing was photographed probably more than me, haha), and my husband loved his Notre Dame-themed grooms cake (although he didn't get to eat any of it- see above). My cousin, who makes wedding cakes as a side business, told me it was the best wedding cake she had ever eaten. I didn't have a single problem with Haydels, and would highly recommend them.

Hair/Makeup: Gwen Asaro (S.W.A.K.) (A!): I used Gwen for my hair and makeup for both my engagement pictures and the wedding. I was really happy with both. Love the airbrush makeup. She even brought an assistant with her to work on my sister's hair, since she wanted something a little more complicated. Everything turned out really nicely, and she was very patient with me when I started getting picky about my hairstyle. I definitely recommend her, she does very nice work!

Photographer: Sandra O'Claire (A+!!!): I really love Sandra's work, it's so beautiful. She did our engagement pictures as well, which I'm very glad we did, since we were comfortable with her and ready to go on the day of the wedding. Sandra was absolutely awesome, and she even brought her assistant Sam with her, so I'm sure they got tons of great shots. We took a ton of pictures before the wedding in Exchange Alley, and Jackson Square, and I think they're going to be really pretty. Can't wait to see them. She stayed with us the entire night (even when the band led us into Pat O'Briens!). We hardly even noticed she was there at the reception, she really just does her thing without seeming intrusive. She was extremely helpful with basically everything, and I am so happy with my choice of photographers. Definitely recommend!

Invitations (C-): Paper and Ink Studio: Email me if you would like more information. The end product was absolutely beautiful, but getting there was a frustrating process with so many hold-ups that I was not able to have a calligrapher address my envelopes like I had originally wanted.

Band: Coolbone Brass Band (A+)
: They were awesome! They did such a great job! I had minor anxiety during the planning process because sometimes Steven was hard to get ahold of, but it all worked out perfectly in the end. They arrived early, sounded great, and were just fantastic! Highly recommend. They played our ceremony, reception, and secondline- we went down Bourbon Street with them on a Friday night and had a blast- they even led the secondline into Pat O'Briens courtyard, and continued playing there- it was awesome, and everyone seemed to love them. No complaints!

Secondline Umbrellas: Jessica Fanguy (A+!)
: She did such a fantastic, fantastic job on our umbrellas- exactly what I was hoping for. Loved them! They were a huge hit- we had several people approach us (during the secondline!!!) asking if they could buy them off of us (some guy was going to give me $150 for mine, haha!)....even one of the guys from the band wanted to know where we got them, so he could get one for his niece who is getting married. I definitely recommend- contact me if you'd like her contact info!

Hankies, go-cups, cocktail napkins: Gem Printing (A): We got our secondline hankies, go-cups, and cocktail napkins from Gem, and had absolutely no issues with them. They were even able to use our custom design on everything. Definitely recommend.

Welcome Bags: We did custom designed cloth bags for everyone, and included beads, Zapps Chips (the people from Zapps were great, and delivered chips directly to our hotel), pralines (from Aunt Sally's Praline Shop- A+), voodoo doll magnets (from Mardi Gras Imports), water bottles with custom designed labels (bottleyourbrand.com), a welcome letter (DIY), and information from the Visitor's Bureau. They were a big hit, and totally worth the effort.

DIY Fleur de Lis chocolate lollipops: Another project that was definitely worth the effort. I bought the molds and the ribbons used to tie them closed from Ebay. They were apparently a big pain to make, but my mom was the one who did them :) We included these in our welcome bags as well.

Dress: John's Bridal (Tampa, FL): Absolutely no issues. Loved the dress, and the alterations were quick and painless. Finding and buying the dress was one of the easiest parts of this whole thing!

Tuxes: Men's Wearhouse (B+): Everyone got their tuxes from the Men's Wearhouse in New Orleans. There were a few minor issues (wrong sized shoes, different colored shirts, etc), but they were easily and quickly corrected, so no real complaints. I did notice after the fact (the next day, actually), that they gave them the wrong ties (I'd ordered something with faint stripes on it, and these were just solid). The mixup obviously did not make a big difference, since I didn't even notice it until much later. Everyone looked good, regardless :)

Rehearsal cocktail reception: Muriels (A!): We had a cocktail party the night before the wedding in the Seance Lounge at Muriels. It was absolutely lovely! The food and drinks were wonderful (everyone was able to get their fancy cocktails here, ha), and the Lounge is so pretty and unique. So glad we were able to do this. They were even kind enough to not kick everyone out when we'd stayed almost an hour past when we were originally supposed to leave. Sorry, Muriels! :-/

Hotel blocks: The St. Louis Hotel (B) and the Place d'Armes (A): I am partial to the Place d'Armes, and no one who stayed here had any problems at all (we actually stayed there for a week prior in an awesome room with a huge balcony overlooking the street). The rooms at The St. Louis turned out to be much better than anticipated, and none of our guests had any real complaints (that I heard about). I had read so many bad reviews on their rooms, but they honestly were not that bad. I did give Rachel a list of names, and made sure they were all placed in the "renovated section" of the hotel, as I believe half the hotel is still not renovated. It worked out fine. The front desk did forget to give out some of our welcome bags, but it wasn't a huge deal.

Bridal Suite: Fleur de Lis Suite, St. Louis Hotel (A): We stayed here for 3 nights, and wow, what an amazing room! Bigger than our apartment, haha, with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a sitting area, and a kitchen. It is isolated, in the back of the hotel, so there was no noise from other guests- definitely very private. There is a huge balcony overlooking Iberville (right across from Acme Oyster House), so it was a little noisy at times, but still fun. Overall, I was very sorry to have to leave. My mom had them bring up tons of champagne and food on the day of the wedding while we were getting ready, and the staff could not have been nicer. It was a really good experience. There was a bit of a price mix-up when we checked out, but it wasn't enough to ruin the overall great time we had there.
 
Anyways, that's probably about it. I am a fairly laid-back person, so any of the little hiccups or disappointments I experienced were hardly disasters. It all went by so quickly that not having the candles I wanted, or whatever the issue was, hardly mattered in the long-run. Enjoy it, ladies!

~Sarah

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Re: My vendor reviews :)

  • marleemillermarleemiller member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Sarah - I'm glad that the Coolbone Brass Band worked out so well. We are looking forward to them playing at our wedding in May.  Sounds like everything went perfect.  Congrats.  - Marlee
  • edited December 2011

    Congrats! Do you live in Tampa?? I live in St. Pete and my friend was just telling me about John's Bridal! I'll definitely have to check it out..thanks for the rec!

    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • edited December 2011
    Yep, I live in Tampa! Definitely check out John's (or maybe it's Jon's, I can't remember!)...they have a pretty large selection, and the whole process was pretty painless :)
    ~Sarah

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  • edited December 2011
    Awesome! Thanks again!
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  • edited December 2011
    Sarah -
    Do you mind sharing Jessica's info for the 2nd line umbrellas? I'm trying to find some for my New Orleans themed wedding in NY. We are using Sandra as well for our wedding because we were so pleased with our epics.  I can't wait to see how your pictures turned out.
    Thanks, Elisha
  • edited December 2011
    That was really helpful, and I LOVE the idea of DIY fleur de lis chocolate lollipops!
  • edited December 2011
    Thanks for your reviews-they are so helpful!

    Just a few questions:

    Can you email me Jessica's info for your umbrellas? My email is [email protected]

    Also, where did you order your custom welcome bags from? I'm looking for something of quality yet inexpensive.

    Thanks for your help,
    Amy
  • edited December 2011
    Hey everyone!
    The email address for Jessica and her second line umbrellas is jlbergeron at yahoo dot com. She is really great, and has pictures she can send you of her umbrellas :) She is a good friend of mine, and trust me, she does fantastic work!

    I will have to ask my mom where she ordered our cloth bags from- I will let you know! They turned out really cute, and people really seemed to like them- a lot of people said they would use them as a grocery bag! There's actually a picture somewhere in my bio...I will get back to you about where they came from. :)
    ~Sarah

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  • edited December 2011
    I am relieved to see that review of Coolbone.  I have them booked for my May 7th wedding, but CANNOT get anyone to call me back or e-mail.  I am getting extremely nervous
  • becker.amandabecker.amanda member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hey Sarah! Glad everything worked out with Coolbone - they were fantastic at our wedding too! Congrats again on what sounds like a wonderful wedding weekend!
  • edited December 2011
    Does Coolbone play any modern music? DO they throw in any pop songs?
  • edited December 2011
    Sarah-
    Your wedding sounds fantastic!  We're also using Sandra- so excited that you were happy with her work!  Let me know if you share your pics- I would love to see them!  Everything sounds like it was awesome! 

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