Nevada-Las Vegas

My reviews & Pix

First, the porn for those that need some:  clicky   If you have FB, you can see them  here and here (FB has about double the amount in the first clicky). 

I've been back a couple days, but I wanted to put some thought into the reviews before I posted them.  You won't see any reviews for floral (I DIY'd silks) or separate cake (caterer included the cake). 


Venue: VRBO "French Villa" operated by Charlie and Gena: A
http://www.vrbo.com/311979
Charlie and Gena are laid back.  You can do whatever you want at the venue, as long as you put it back how you found it.  Gena is helpful with rentals and such.  She can get you a discount through RSVP too.  I have heard that she does lots of work for out of town brides.  I'm a local, so I didn't need as much from her, but she was still great.  She'd meet us at the venue any time we wanted to stop by with a vendor or take measurements.  Overall, I do recommend using vacation homes as venues if you are prepared with a good team of friends and family to set everything up.  Just keep it reasonable, keep guest count in the range the venue allows, and choose venues that allow weddings/events. 

Catering: Two Chefs to Go: A+
http://twochefstogo.com/
The food was TO DIE FOR.  Seriously.  There's a couple pix of it, but it doesn't do it justice.  Two Chefs cooks on site, which means you have to have a venue with a kitchen available for them to use and not everyone will be able to use them.  It was the freshest banquet food you could ever imagine.  We had: ginger apricot chicken skewers, potato leek soup, tostones with shrimp ceviche, baby spinach salad, grilled vegetables, wild rice pilaf, mashed sweet potatoes, flank steak with chimichurri sauce, and pork with cherry port sauce.  They also included our wedding cake, which was carrot and red velvet with cream cheese filling and basic frosting.  We got so many compliments on the food from our guests!  There were leftovers, which fed about 10 people the next night after we took down the wedding decor.  And there were still some leftovers after that!  I wish I could have taken the leftovers on the HM!  The cost was more than Masterpiece, but less than a meal at a golf course or hotel venue.  The quality was far above and beyond anything we could have gotten for that price. 

Photog: Fogartyfoto: Another A+
http://weddings.fogartyfoto.com/
The pics probably speak for themselves!  Those are only a sample though.  We get the full set of digital negatives in a few weeks.  Steve uses portable professional lighting differently than other pros I've seen.  He KNOWS lighting.  It's amazing what he does.  Things look better in his pics than I remember, and in my head everything was gosh darn perfect.  He's also quirky, and we're weird, so it was a good mix.  He said we were willing to do things (dance on tables!) that other couples say no to.  We had a lot of fun with him.  We did e-pix with him earlier this year (our chosen site required an hour drive and an hour hike) so we knew the effort he puts into his work.  We also had "crazy corner" at the wedding.  It's his version of a photo booth, but there are no walls.  He provided props, and we added some sticky mustaches from Oriental Trading.  I have only seen 4 crazy corner pix, and cannot wait to see the rest. 

Officiant: Pete Starzyk: A
http://elegantvegasweddings.com/
Pastor Pete did a great job taking our guests on a journey.  He likes incorporating them in the ceremony, which is also what we wanted.  We knew he was right when we met him for a consultation.  He injected the right amount of humor and helped calm nerves and such at the right times.  Like another TK bride said awhile back: at the end, he will say "you may now kiss your groom".  Seems like this is just his thing.  If you don't want that, ask him not to.  Wish I would have, but that's on me.  The audience seemed to like it though.

DJ: Calvin aka Godzilla: B
godzillasounds@hotmail.com
OK, funny story.  All my pre-wedding nightmares were about him not showing up.  There was no reason for it.  I never told him about them.  Exactly an hour before ceremony, the Best Man came to the bridal suite to say the DJ wasn't there yet.  I called him, left a VM, and spent a few minutes thinking my nightmares were coming true.  He showed up about 2 minutes after I called.  We were told he took about 2 hours to set up, but ended up only doing 1.  It was plenty of time though.  DJ hiccup #2: he didn't have the correct song for the bridal party to walk down to.  We asked for a VSQ cover but he downloaded the original instead.  Luckily I brought my ipod to the venue, so Best Man and I ran upstairs to grab it and get the right song to him.  DJ hiccup #3: I had no idea there were multiple versions of our first dance song until it started playing.  The one he played was a way faster version than the one we practiced to.  We could have done the ipod thing again, but we decided to just go with it.  It was fun and crazy, just like us. Overall our guests enjoyed his music, and he incorporated the songs we asked for.  I do get the impression he doesn't spend a lot of time prepping for each event, so I suggest that brides send him mp3s or youtube links for important songs they need exact versions of.  The good news is, he will work with you to make things right.  That means more to me than the fact that mistakes were made cuz stuff happens

RSVP Rentals: B
http://rsvpparty.com/HOME.html
They have many options in multiple price ranges for linens and chairs.  Variety was far above the other rental company.  Nothing good or bad to report when it comes to customer service. 

CPR Rentals (formerly APR): D-
We used them solely for a fridge that our caterer needed.  RSVP's fridge didn't have the right setup for the caterer.  Unfortunately they are under new ownership than from when the caterer used them last.  They wasted 90 minutes of my time the day before the wedding, and they lied to me.  I was waiting to meet them at 8 am.  I called when they were 30 minutes late, and they said they had a problem with the truck but were only a few minutes away.  I called them 20 minutes later, and they again said it was just a few minutes.  I left a voicemail that they never returned.  Then the caterer called them at 10 am, and they told the caterer a completely different story: that the fridge was not working, so they were getting another one in its place.  Now I know I said under the DJ review that I appreciate it when vendors make things right, but this company went about it all wrong.  They should have been honest with me.  They shouldn't have kept me there waiting.  And they should have made things right a lot sooner than they did - it took them SIX HOURS!  In that time, we could have called and gotten a fridge delivered from someone else.  Plus the one they got had no shelves in it, so the caterer sent them back to get shelving.  Took them a few trips to get the right size shelves from what I was told. 

If anyone wants to read about the more offbeat portions of the wedding, I wrote about them here: http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_offbeat-weddings_im-back-links-pro-pics-offbeat-reviewrecap

<3, Meat


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Re: My reviews &amp;amp; Pix

  • direy25direy25 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Congrats, awesome pics!  Just curious, did you ever end up finding a boudoir photog/doing a shoot?

    ETA - I forgot to mention that I absolutely LOVE your dress.
    Married 5.6.11

    Lilypie Premature Baby tickers

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  • hstaples4hstaples4 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Congratulations!!
     Everything about your wedding looked gorgeous, especially you!
    Image and video hosting by TinyPicImage and video hosting by TinyPicImage and video hosting by TinyPic PersonalMilestone BabyFruit Ticker
  • germesehgermeseh member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Congrats on the wedding! Where do I find the wedding porn?  Also what is your facebook name, so that I can view your wedding pics.
  • kateynjoekateynjoe member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Congratulations Mrs!
    "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all!" ~Anonymous~ "It is far better to be small and *Shine* than to be big and cast a Shadow!" ~Anonymous~
  • direy25direy25 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_reviews-pix?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:91Discussion:c543af6e-b5ed-42e9-b9c8-4eeaad3d69dbPost:a48e7cc8-7d3e-439e-80fa-0a14f947b4da">Re: My reviews & Pix</a>:
    [QUOTE]Congrats on the wedding! Where do I find the wedding porn?  Also what is your facebook name, so that I can view your wedding pics.
    Posted by germeseh[/QUOTE]
    Where she says "here and here" - click on the here, those are links to the FB pages & such.
    Married 5.6.11

    Lilypie Premature Baby tickers

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  • ellebaileyellebailey member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Congrats and i love love love the pics of you guys dancing on the tables. The red dress just says it all. Awesome. Oh and thanks for the reviews :)
  • germesehgermeseh member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Never mind, I clicked it, lol
  • edited December 2011
    Congratulations!! Your pictures came out fabulous and I love you dress!
  • edited December 2011
    Congrats!!! Looks like you had an amazing time!
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • anniejekovaanniejekova member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I LOVEEEEE your photos and you look gorgeous!!! Your wedding colors are amazing and the dress -omg!!!

    Thank you for your reviews! :) Your photographer rocks!
  • MeatAuditorMeatAuditor member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thanks everyone!  Yes, photographer is amazing!  I can't wait for the rest!  Good thing Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming.  That'll help distract me. 

    @burntofferings, the cufflinks are on etsy.  I love that pic of him.  I love that his tats are showing too.

    Once again, TK is making it hard for me to be humble.  Overall stuff was so PERFECT.  People say I was glowing.  How could I not glow?  Look at it all!
    imageimageimage
  • jessjj55jessjj55 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    Congrats!!! Thank you for the reviews. You and your wedding looked amazing. Actually you made me reconsider my venue (in suite@ MB) to the house you rented. I would love to get more info from you since im a destination bride. your  pictures are amazing!!

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