All right ladies, here is my initial review of the vendors from Houston J
DJ Rocky: Loved him, loved his ideas, and told us of trends he has been seeing and new creative ideas for receptions. He also told us about other vendors. So look forward to working with him at the wedding for mobile barat and reception.
Mandap creations: Working with Sobi there. She was very accommodating and gave us great ideas in terms of decorating and we are also thinking of hiring her as the day of coordinator for wedding and reception.
Make up:
RJ’s salon (rachana i think): I looked at her portfolio and I couldn’t get myself to do a consultation with her, the make up from the pictures was too much for me. On the plus side I hired her for mendhi, because I didn’t have to put any lemon or sugar on hands after it dried and it turned out super dark after a few hours.
Priya’s Salon (priya): Had a trial with her, didn’t like the work it one bit but she was nice. She did not want to listen to what I wanted and told me this is what all brides look like with caked on makeup.
Beauty by April (April): I used her for my e-shoot and I loved her work. She listened to what I wanted; price was very reasonable, only catch is she has a small fee to travel from Austin.
Lauren Noblin Artistry: I also loved her work. Mom was a little skeptical as she was not Indian and may not be able to pin my bridal chunni, but she did a great job in the trial. Her prices were also reasonable and cheaper than the Indian salons in Houston.
One other Indian make up artist can’t remember her name right now, didn’t like her work as it was a caked on look. One thing I do have to say from the Indian make up artist I met, they all wanted to do the same make up style and they couldn’t understand what I didn’t like about it. Also I made it clear I do not like eyeliner in my water line and most of them insisted I put it on.
Caterer:
Was between India’s and Bombay Brassier and we went with Bombay’s as the manager was most accommodating and we liked their food better (food at India’s was good too). The manager from India’s did not seem very confident and nor do they do onsite cooking. One thing I noticed for both caterers were that they were keen on us buying our own drinks and plates for wedding (not sure if it’s an American thing). We explained that flying in from Canada, we do not want to worry about purchasing anything and we want full service. Bombay’s also said they will cook fresh food onsite for barat at breakfast and make fresh naan and roti onsite for wedding which was important to my parents. Bombay’s also walked thru the venue with us to show us the layout for food.
Still searching for someone to tie my sari at the reception!
That’s all I can think of right now; too much stuff packed into 10 days!!!!