Hi!!! Below are vendor reviews from my June 12, 2010 wedding. Everything went exactly as planned, and it was sincerely the best day of my life. My husband and I live in Birmingham, AL. We originally had a huge wedding planned in our hometown of Virginia, but quickly scraped that idea once things started getting stressful. We decided to have a small wedding (20 guests) in New Orleans with just our immediate families and close friends. It was the next best thing to eloping:) People kept asking me how I was able to plan a wedding long distance, and I have to give all the credit to the brides on this board. Your reviews and comments have saved me a lot of time and headaches! So thank you to everyone, and good luck to all the future brides. You will automatically have an wonderful wedding since it'll take place in New Orleans!
Dress-- David's BridalWhen I began my search for a wedding dress, I didn't even want to look at David's Bridal because I had the unfair stereotype that their dresses were generic looking. I searched all over town, and finally went to David's. I was so surprised with how great their selection was. They have really good options for any kind of dress-- modern, vintage, simple, detailed... and the prices are unbeatable. Even after I bought the dress, I received several coupons for accessories, shoes, bridal party dresses, mother of the bride dresses, etc. I even thought that their alterations department had very reasonable prices. I definitely recommend David's to any bride!
Dress Cost: $700
Shoes: $55
Alterations: $30 for bustle, $20 for cups
Dress Preservation Kit: $100 (it says $189 online, but do a coupon code search and you'll find a code for $90 off!)Veil-- don't laugh.. ebay I knew that I wanted a veil with lace-trim to match my vintage wedding dress, but I couldn't justify spending the average $100+ for a piece of tulle. I knew I was only going to wear the veil for the ceremony and then take it off for the reception. I bought the veil from this ebay seller for $20! It is really beautiful and exactly what I wanted. I packed the veil carefully in my suitcase before the wedding weekend, and when I took it out, it didn't need to be ironed or anything. I loved it!
Veil cost: $20http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236094http://cgi.ebay.com/1T-DIAMOND-WHITE-FINGERTIP-MANTILLA-LACE-BRIDAL-VEIL-41-/350228937479?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_Veils&hash=item518b457b07Hair Piece for reception-- Micheal's Craft Store I looked all over for a vintage hair comb to wear at my reception. I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, so I decided to make one myself. I bought a fabric rose, an ostrich feather, and a small brooch and figured out how to make the clip myself. I think it turned out really nice, and considering that the combs I saw in stores started at $40, I saved a lot of money! Let me know if you want directions on how to make the clip. It did take a few tries, and I thought my husband was going to take the hot glue gun away from me at one point! (Ladies, sometimes you just need to walk away from the wedding crafts...)
Hair Piece cost: $15Tux's-- Men's WarehouseEverything turned out perfectly, and the store is only about a 15 minute drive from the French Quarter. i do recommend calling a few times before the wedding to confirm that everything is good to go. They did a great job, but there were a few times that I called and it seemed like no one knew what was going on.
Tuxes: $170 each
Bridesmaid Dress-- Target!I knew exactly what I wanted my maid of honor to wear... I wanted her dress to mimick the 'v' from the back of my dress. We looked at all the expensive bridal boutiques, and I never found anything close to what I was looking for. I found this dress when i was browsing the Target website one day, and I asked my sister if we could just order it to see if it was an option, and if it was completely ridiculous, we could keep looking. The dress arrived at it was exactly what I wanted! The quality of the dress is just as good as any 'real' bridesmaid dress, if not better. The outer layer was constructed well, and there was even a satin lining under the dress. The best part was the cost!
Bridesmaid Dress cost: $40http://www.target.com/Merona-Collection-Party-Dress-Sash/dp/B001LXTWS6/ref=sc_qi_detaillink#communityReviewshttp://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236113 Hotel-- Omni RoyalAll of our guests stayed at the Omni Royal on St. Louis Street. It was a great location for a French Quarter wedding... close enough to Bourbon Street to have a good time, but far enough away that we could get some sleep at night. Every wedding-related location that we needed to be at was in walking distance from the hotel. They have a really neat rooftop pool/bar that we hung out at for most of our stay. The staff at the Omni is top notch-- they will go out of their way to make their guests happy! Because our wedding party was so small and we weren't reserving that many rooms, I thought that they were going to overlook us and take care of the bigger wedding party that was staying at the hotel the same weekend. This is was not the case at all. The hospitality at this hotel is unbeatable!
Weekly discounted rate: avg. $99
Weekend discounted rate: avg. $129
Fee for handing out welcome bags: $3 per baghttp://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/neworleansroyalorleans.aspxWelcome Bags--I included: Welcome Letter
(Things to do, New Orleans Lingo, Dining, itinerary), plastic drink cups, mini bourbon bottle, bottled water, m&ms, ritz crackers with peanut butter packs, Tylenol, beads, French Quarter walking map (contact the visitor's bureau for free maps:
lstraughan@neworleanscvb.com) and a feather mask for decoration. The masks were a hit because they made the bags look so cute, and they kept reappearing all weekend. I ordered 14 at $1.92 a piece.
http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236062http://www.mardigrasoutlet.com/catalog/3594.htmlSteamboat Natchez--We took our guests on a riverboat tour the day before the wedding. It was a great way to all get together once everyone arrived. The tour is narrated and also includes live jazz music. There is a bar on the boat with really good drinks. Everyone agreed that this was a fun activity! Disclaimer: not a good idea post-hangover. My brother and his wife were looking a little rough after a night on Bourbon Street, and I was sure that every time the Natchez horn blew, their heads were going to explode! It's very loud.
Groups over 10 discounted rate: $22 per personRehearsal Dinner-- Crescent City BrewhouseCrescent City Brewhouse was the first restaurant that my husband and I ate at after we got engaged in New Orleans. We picked it for our rehearsal dinner because it's a little more casual than most restaurants, they have live jazz every night, there was no minimum or room rental fee, and they have a variety of food, not just cajun and seafood. I think there are private rooms available, but we just reserved 2 big tables in the back of the restaurant and kind of took over the space. The service and food were both wonderful!! Be sure to try out the Seafood Cheesecake appetizer.
Average entree cost: about $16http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236065http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236066http://www.crescentcitybrewhouse.com/menus.htmlGifts for Parents-- Wine Picnic Cooler, Picnic Blanket, Bottle of Wine I really wanted to get our parents a nice gift for all of their support. I wanted the gift to be practical, and I thought some sort of picnic idea would be neat since our parents are always going to music/wine festivals in the summer. We also included a bottle of their favorite wine inside of the cooler. They loved these gifts and have already used them once or twice this summer. You can find these same products on
amazon.com. If you have a kohl's card, you can save a lot of money by using coupon codes. I think i bought 2 coolers and 2 blankets for $100 total after the coupon codes that i found.
Wine Picnic Cooler:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/kitchendining/winecheeseaccessories/winecasescoolers/PRD~478897/Picnic+Time+Meritage+Deluxe+Insulated+Wine+Cooler.jsp Picnic Blanket:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/furnitureandhomedecor/summerliving/decorativepillowsblankets/PRD~478921/Picnic+Time+Plaid+Blanket+Tote.jspWIne Cooler, Blanket, and Wine Cost: $90 Bridal Breakfast-- Omni Royal, The Wine CellarMy mom hosted a bridal breakfast for me at the Omni. They set us up in one of the Wine Cellars, and it was wonderful! When we first viewed the room, we both thought it seemed a little dark (duh, it is a wine cellar!) and not so feminine, but I thought it was unique so we went with it. It actually felt really good to be in the cellar, because it was so hot and sunny all week. The Omni didn't charge us a fee to use to the room, or a fee for extra servers. They also collected 2 nice floral arrangements for the room free of charge (I thought these flowers were nicer than the ones we bought for the wedding!). They provided 2 servers, and then had a male 'host' that supervised the room and took care of any request that we had. I couldn't believe how wonderful the service was for just a simple breakfast. We were able to order off the breakfast menu, and i think with drinks and food for 12 guests the bill was no more than $350 (including tip!). I definitely recommend having your brunch at the Omni, even if you aren't staying there.
http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/245439http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236073http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236074#navhttp://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236072#navBridal Brunch Gift Bags-- Vera Bradley Make-up Bags, Etsy seller: homemade soapI found lots of cute items on the Vera Bradley website that were majorly marked down in price. I got every one a medium-sized make-up bag and put a bar of homemade fleur de lis stamped soap in each bag.
Vera Bradley:http://www.verabradley.com/category/Sale/All-Sale/729/pc/785.utsEtsy Homemade Soap Seller: Oh no! The store is taking a break for the summer...check back to see when she starts selling again:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetolivesoapworks?ref=seller_info But here is another example:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/48173177/lime-shea-butter-soap?ref=sr_gallery_37&ga_search_query=fleur+de+lis+soap&ga_search_type=all&ga_page=2&order=&includes[]=tags&includes[]=titleAnd here is a picture of the Bridal Bags:
http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236071http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236070#navI used this website to make the tissue paper flowers. This is a really fun (and super cheap!) way to give the bags some personality. I think my girls liked the gift bags better than the gifts!
http://www.ehow.com/how_4490230_tissue-paper-flowers-party-decorations.htmlManicure-- Spa Arie, The Monteleone Hotel They did an awesome job! I got a French Manicure on my wedding day with my mom and sister. The spa is on the small side, so I wouldn't recommend going with your whole bridal party. Plus, it was nice to have a quiet moment with my mom and sister. The manicure lasted well into my honeymoon, and I really didn't start to see it chip until about 5 days after I got it done.
My French Manicure: $30
My Sister's Pedicure & Manicure touch-up: $50http://spaaria.com/hands.htmlHair & Make-up-- Kiss & Make-Up Kiss & Make-Up were wonderful!! It was one of the few times in my life that I've gotten my hair done and been happy with it. When I've gotten my hair done for friends' weddings, I always wanted to take it out right away! But Kiss & Make-Up knew exactly how to style everyone's hair and make-up. I had a few girls say that they liked their hair that day better than their own wedding day!
Trial (hair & airbrush make-up): $90
Hair: $50
Make-up: Traditional $40, Airbrush $60
Travel fee: $40(they do have a 'studio' in their Metairie home. I went there for my trial to avoid the travel fee)Transportation-- KLM TransportationNo complaints... we rented a 28-passenger minibus to bring guests from the Omni to the church, and then from the church to the reception. Even though everything was within a 5-10 minute walk, I didn't want guests to be uncomfortable walking in their nice clothes/shoes. There is a minimum of 3 hours to rent the bus (like most transportation companies) so we had the bus driver drive around the Quarter and he also drove to City Park for pictures.
3 hours for the minibus: $350http://www.klmtransportation.com/index.htmlPhotographer-- Rush JagoeI can't comment on my photographer yet because I am still waiting for our pictures...
http://bluebirdceremonies.com/Flowers-- Nola FloraI did a lot of research on flower shops/individual florists, and I decided to go with one of the original places that I found just because the owner was really great about responding to my emails and working with my budget. Like I mentioned above, we only had 20 guests at our wedding, so i really didn't feel the need to go crazy on flowers. All I wanted was my bouquet, my maid of honor's bouquet, 4 boutonnieres, some sort of centerpiece for dinner, and some aisle markers for the church. We didn't have altar decorations or anything extravagant, so i really wanted to keep our budget under $1,000. I ordered all the things mentioned above for $700. I have to say, the flowers were the only thing about my wedding that I was slightly disappointed with. Everything turned out beautifully, but I wasn't really 'wowed' by much. I thought for $150+ my bouquet would have been a little bit bigger, but I only counted 10 roses all together. That seems small for a bridal bouquet. Also, the centerpieces were nice and i wasn't super disappointed by them, but I was expecting them to be a little bit bigger. If I could do it all over again, I would have researched more independent florists or considered arranging the flowers myself (though I really don't think i would have had the time to do this..) I felt like I looked up enough florists, but I just got so sick of emailing back and forth so I just settled. I've posted a few pictures so you can see what I'm referring to, and maybe I was just being overly picky. Of course, it was the best day of my life so I don't even think I cared at the time!
Floral cost: 1 Bridal Bouquet, 1 Bridesmaid Bouquet, 4 Boutineirres, 2 Corsages, 4 Tulle Aisle Markers, 4 Small Dinner Centerpieces $700http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236095http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/details/236122http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236123http://www.nolaflorashop.com/index.htmlChurch-- Our Lady of Guadalupe, Father Tony RigoliIf you're looking for a small but nice Catholic church in the French Quarter, this is the one! Because our wedding was so small, we didn't want to pay the standard $1,000 for one of the more prestigious Quarter churches. This church is located on N. Rampart, right outside of the Quarter. I remember reading some where that it's one of the oldest churches in the city...it's really got a lot of charm. We met Father Rigoli a few months before the wedding, and just loved him! He made our wedding really special, like we had known him for years. The church doesn't have a set cost, but they do ask for a donation. I think we gave the church $200 and Father Rigoli $200.
http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236056http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/236057#navCeremony Musician-- Roberto MatthewsRoberto did an amazing job! I had never met him before the wedding day, so i was a little uneasy. He is very professional and has a lot of experience performing at weddings. For me, a lot of the ceremony was a blur, but there would be moments where I'd stop and just listen to his music and it really put me in the moment. I highly recommend him!
Vocals/piano: $200 totalhttp://www.robertomusic.org/CompactDiscs.htmReception-- Arnaud'sSince our wedding was so small, we didn't need a big venue. We wanted to pick a famous, fancy New Orleans restaurant to host a dinner, but still have room for all the traditional wedding moments: cocktail hour, first dances/dancing, a small band, cake table, etc. We reserved 2 of the private rooms upstairs, and also had access to the attached balcony. There is no fee for booking the rooms. I was surprised by this... I thought surely they would charge at least $1,000 just for renting the room. The sales manager was really great about communicating with me throughout the year. Her and her assistant were at the event, and supervised everything. They did a great job, and assisted us with any requests that we had. Another nice touch is that Arnuad's has a Mardi Gras museum within the restaurant. Our guests really enjoyed browsing through the gallery during the cocktail hour.
Cost per person: I would guess a little over $130 (obviously, this wouldn't be an affordable venue for any party over 25 people, but it worked out great for our small party)http://www.arnauds.com/private_dining.htmlReception Band-- Gumbo TrioI really liked the Gumbo Trio. If you are looking for something for a bigger crowd to dance to, I wouldn't book them. But if you just need a small trio to play cocktail music and background music while dining, the Gumbo Trio is great! They have a very New Orleans sound, and fit perfectly into our reception. If you are interested in booking them, you can hear them play nightly at Arnaud's in the main dining room. I think they play every Sunday brunch, as well.
Cost: $600 for 3 hourshttp://www.jazzman.net/gumbo-trio.htmCake-- Haydel's BakeryThe cake was the easiest part to plan! The staff at Haydel's is very on the ball. They were one of the few vendors that actually called me with updates/confirmation, instead of me having to call them. I think we paid about $140 for cake/delivery/set-up. We ordered traditional wedding cake with praline filling... I am not a huge cake fan, but the cake tasted so good that I made my husband give me two or three bites when we served it to each other:)
http://www.haydelbakery.com/wedding/wedding_main.asphttp://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/245435Guest Book--In lieu of a traditional formal guestbook, I ordered this New Orleans in Photographs book and had my guests sign a page in the book. It turned out really nice, and it's something that I can leave on my coffee table and actually look through again.
http://www.amazon.com/New-Orleans-Photographs-Value-Publishing/dp/051722660X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278013313&sr=8-1Second Line Band-- Smitty Dee's Brass BandLove the band!!! They were amazing! We paid $750 for a 4-piece brass band and a Grand Marshall. They were very fun and arrived 15 minutes early, which was nice. Highly reccomend them!
http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/241302http://www.smittydeesproduction.com/SlideShow.htmlSecond Line Umbrellas-- Etsy SellerFast shipping, very affordable, lovely umbrellas! I think we paid $22 for the white umbrella and $24 for the black umbrella. If you are having your second line at night, I would recommend getting a lighter color for the groom (maybe gold?) because the black umbrella blends in and you can't see it in the pictures very well. Still very nice though!
http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/245433(side note about this photo: if you are super picky about keeping your dress clean, I would avoid putting on colored beads. I expected the bottom of my dress to be destroyed after walking on bourbon street, but when i looked at my dress the next day, there were green stains all over the upper half. This picture is evidence of where the stains came from:) But hey, if people throw you the beads from the balconies, don't be rude... take the beads and have a great time!)http://www.etsy.com/shop/lizmpetro?page=1Second Line Hankies-- Kohl'sI bought a few packs of plain hankies from Kohls. I think I bought these when they were buy one, get one 50% off.
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/mens/brandsformen/dockers/accessories/PRD~214826/Dockers+9pk+Handkerchief+Set.jsp Cost of hankies: $18 for 18 hankies
Sunday Breakfast-- Omni Royal, The Rib RoomOur Sunday Brunch was very similar to the quality and hospitality as the Bridal Brunch. The Omni let us use a separate room off of the main dining area, they gave us a personal server, we had the same 'host' overlooking the room, they provided floral arrangements, and we weren't charged for anything but the meal. They have an amazing buffet, but not the kind of Golden Coral buffet, more like a fancy European buffet. The waffles have real malt in the batter, there is a made-to-order omelet station, trays of fine cheese and deli meats... and I think it cost $17 per person. My mom and I kept saying over and over how wonderful the staff treated us! I felt like we could have asked them to serve us toast on a golden platter and they would have found a way to do it!
Sunday Brunch: $17 per personMISCELLANEOUS:
"See you soon!" PostcardsI wanted to send out postcards to my guests a few weeks before the wedding to get everyone pumped about visiting New Orleans. I couldn't find any New Orleans postcards online, and I didn't get a chance to buy any when I was in New Orleans. I'm a graphic designer, so i found the time to just make the cards myself. I was so happy with the way that they turned out! I received more comments on these cards than on my invitations. When I look at the cards now, the image looks exactly like a scene from our wedding. I know knot posters aren't allowed to solicit on the message boards, but I was so happy with these for my own wedding, that I am thinking about selling these in the future. i can customize hair color, the street sign, the bouquet color, etc.
http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/241309New Orleans Stamps-- Zazzle.comSince we only had to send out 15 invitations, I was able to spend a little more money on stamps. I found these on
zazzle.com. I think it added an extra special detail to my invitations, but no one commented on them like i was hoping:) I had to ask people, '
but did you notice the stamp??!' I definitely recommend using them if you can spend the extra money, but I do think they went a little unnoticed. Ha!
(In case you decide to use these, I ordered the medium size. I wouldn't go any bigger)http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/241311http://www.zazzle.com/french_quarter_balcony_postage-172752107128977252Book-- Alligator WeddingOne of my favorite keepsakes from the wedding was a book that my sister found in a toy store the day after our wedding. When I flipped through the book, it was one of the only times that I got teary-eyed! She gave it to me as a gift from her 1-year-old son, and signed the sweetest inscription on the inside flap:
"I hope that this book reminds you of the warm summer night that you got married and danced down Bourbon Street." It really did remind me of our wedding. The illustrations are so cute and the story is adorable. I think this would be a great little gift for your future-husband or your parents (get it for yourself if you have to, it's so cute!)
http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/241317http://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/241316#navhttp://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/241321#navhttp://www.theknot.com/profiles/HeyGualdoni/media/photo/edit/241324#navhttp://www.amazon.com/Alligator-Wedding-Nancy-Jewell/dp/0805068198/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278013357&sr=1-1Hope these reviews help. Let me know if you have any questions! Happy planning:)
Lauren