Hi ladies! I haven't been on this board in ages, but I still recognize several faces like Ellentravis and teachermegs, from the end of my planning days. I spent most of my time on the DW board but I owe a lot to this board for some fabulous vendor recommendations, so I've been meaning to come back for so long to do my own from my Marco Island wedding on 5/13/11. 6+ months later, here I am. I hope these are helpful, feel free to PM me for further info
Ceremony Venue/Accomodations - Hilton, A+: We couldn't have been happier with this place. We were hesitant to choose the Hilton over the Marriot, because the Marriot is the hotel on the island that everyone talks about. It was out of our budget. The Hilton was the perfect place for us in the end. The beach ceremony package was one of our wedding "splurges", but combined with the great group rate that we got on a room block and the ease and convenience of having the Hilton do the ceremony, it was way worth it. Our ceremony was perfectly done and people still talk about it. The Hilton coordinator Mary-Beth was awesome from the moment we met up with her a couple days before the wedding. We were treated like royalty during the whole stay, and our guests loved the small, intimate feel of the Hilton.
Reception Venue - CJ's on the Bay, A+: CJ's did an amazing job and our guests loved the food. For being just a restaurant that held our reception as a special, semi-private event, it was stellar. While planning, some of our guests wondered about us having our reception at a place that wasn't totally private and geared more toward weddings, but for a small (40 people), casually elegant event, it was IDEAL! Chef Laura worked so hard for us, and the food she prepared blew everyone away! It was obvious that the staff put a lot of effort and thought into our event, and they worked seamlessly with our other vendors. Being a restaurant and not a traditional wedding venue, some of the details weren't finalized until sort of the last minute, like the week prior and when we actually arrived to Marco a few days before the wedding, and that made me nervous at the time, but it was all for nothing as everything came together perfectly!
DOC - Carrie Darling Events (formerly Carried Away Events), A+: I found Carrie on Weddingwire and she only had 4 reviews at that time, but each one was a raving review about how great she was, so I contacted her. From the very first email, I could sense her enthusiasm, eagerness to go above and beyond, and meticulous attention to detail. Combined with a great rate for our smaller-sized wedding, I knew she was our girl.
She was only really paid for the Day Of, but from our first email about a year before the wedding, she was extremely helpful, generous with her time and input, and was basically my "wedding planning cheerleader" who checked in with me periodically to get updates, see where I was in the planning, encourage me when I was stressed, etc. When we met her 2 hours after landing in Florida, 3 days before the wedding, my mind went completely at ease. Every little detail we had discussed over a year, she had in front of her and ready to execute. At that point, she took control of every detail I had planned, and it was all taken off my shoulders and I was able to relax and enjoy the trip and experience. That was priceless and she was one of my top vendors!
Photographer - Stephanie Smith, A+: Stephanie was recommended to me on this board, and from the first time I contacter her, she was awesome and seemed fun to work with. We were lucky enough to meet her in advance, about 8 months before the wedding while she was visiting and doing shoots Philadelphia. We met her right at our local Starbucks, and we immediately knew we wanted to work with her. DH and I felt really comfortable with her because she's so laid back and friendly. She was a huge help in my bridal suite while I was getting ready, and I felt as relaxed and happy as if she were one of my bridesmaids. Our wedding photos are gorgeous, and we have gotten so many compliments on them! (I am actually shown in her website gallery in the Getting Ready section...I am the one in the trio of portraits)
DJ - James King from Grant Hemond, A: He was great to work with and did a really good job! We had a complicated set up because of the different ceremony and reception locations, and also because he was not allowed to play outside at CJ's past 10 pm due to a noise ordinance, so he had to break down his setup and move to the inside bar (we knew this in advance and planned for it). He was really quick and was back ready to go in no time. I didn't give a + only because there could have been a little more variation in the music genres, because I felt like our suggested song list was pretty varied, but then again he had my husband in his ear making all sorts of requests all night lol. He still gets an A because my husband requested music from his favorite artist who isn't mainstream, and he was able to get his stuff. All in all we had a really fun party!
Hair and makeup - Salon and Spa Botanica, A+: My hair and makeup turned out to be amazing! Linda did my hair and she definitely nailed the style I showed her in my inspiration pic, x10! Everyone thought it looked wonderful, and I couldn't have been happier. I am sooo picky with my hair and even had a trial at home to see if I liked the style, the results of which I wasn't wild about, and I was just blown away at how perfect of a job she did. She was calm and diligent, and did a great job. I can't believe I forgot the makeup artist's name, but I don't think she's there anymore as she's not on the website. But she did a really great job too!!!
Nails - Salon and Spa Botanica, F-: I don't think this person is there any more either. Matter of fact, she was probably close to fired on the day that I was there. She even told me herself after she had a complete melt-down while she was working on me. It was very ugly, and in a nutshell, this was the lowest point of my wedding trip experience, as she completely messed up my nails and had to redo, tried to blame me for it, insisted I had a grown in toenail and proceeded to hack my toe and tell me it was going to infected and bloody (none of which happened), made me late for our rehearsal and all upset and flustered, all of this during what was supposed to be a relaxing, pre-wedding pampering session. Ugh, it left a bad taste in my mouth for the entire day before the wedding, even laying in bed that night, but DH calmed and comforted me and I was able to let it go.
Shuttle - Naples Trolley and Transportation, A: They were nice to work with and did a good job. I don't recall anything sticking out as going above and beyond, but everything went as planned and we were pleased. The driver was nice and polite.
Cake - Publix, A-: Overall the cake was very good for being a supermarket bakery cake, and to be quite honest, I don't remember too well how it tasted. It wasn't anything extraordinary but it was definitely very good based on guests comments. I give it a - because our cake design was a simple design of turquoise "waves", and it looked almost amateur, like very very freehand and not precise. It actually fit fine with the whimsical feel of the wedding decor, but just compared to what I pictured from other cake designs, it wasn't as polished.
Flowers - Marco Island Florist, B-: The Hilton wedding package included a bouquet and bout from this florist, and I added on the bridesmaids bouquets and groomsmen bouts at an additional cost. I was happy with my bouquet, although he really tried to upsell me a larger bouquet than what the Hilton covered and told me that the brides always upgrade. Why isn't the bride's bouquet included in the package big and grand enough to be considered a bride's bouquet? While my bouquet was lovely, it was on the small side for $150 worth of flowers. I was not pleased with my bridesmaids' bouquets. Both of our bouquets were supposed to include fuschia and bright yellow, and the bouquets clashed. My bouquet was the right shades according to the examples I'd given him, while the others were a few shades off. I wasn't happy with the way they photographed and such. They didn't match. I should have just gotten the two bouquets that were included and had my other ones done by my DOC. I thought that getting them all done by the same florist would ensure that everything matched, but it didn't work out that way.
Our wedding experience was spectacular, and Marco was a great location. All our guests really enjoyed the island and we all hope to return for a reunion soon! I'm grateful for the help I got from this board, and I hope you all have fun planning your weddings!