I just want to start out by saying THANK YOU to all who have posted on here, you made wedding planning so much easier!
I’m also posting prices we paid for things on here cause I know I was always curious what people paid for things to see how I could also fit it in to my budget.
We got married on Thursday January 19 at Mandalay Bay’s Valley of the Falls and then reception in their Vista Suite. It was an amazing night. Still can’t believe how smooth everything went. We were worried about having it in January and getting married outside but the weather was perfect! No wind. Like 60ish degrees. Which for us Alakans was great!
Mandalay Bay – Valley of the Falls - A+
Price: $2100
The location was gorgeous!! Yeah the ceremony only lasted 15 minutes but it made for gorgeous pictures. To me it was well worth the money. Our wedding coordinator started out as Mischelle then changed to Kaylan which both were fine but then again we had no special requests or additions so there job was pretty straight forward. The only bad thing was the speakers for the sound system were pretty close to us so we couldn’t hear or understand much of anything. All our guests said it sounded great so it was just muffled for us I guess.
Cashman Photogrpahy – A
The photographer only shot the ceremony. Our package came with an additional hour of photography after the ceremony but he knew we had Todd so before the ceremony he even asked me if I just wanted him to take off in which I said yes. He wasn’t a jerk about us having a different photographer at all a matter of fact he even went and found Todd for us after the ceremony to tell him he could go out there and start shooting. The pictures the Cashman Photographer shot were very nice pictures but I just couldn’t afford the $3000 they wanted for the 100 pictures he shot in the 20 minutes. But overall the pictures were very nice.
Cashman Videography – D
Price $225
I kinda wish we hadn’t spent the extra money for the DVD. The videographer stood directly next to the reverend which also meant the entire video was pretty much taken about 4 inches from mine and husbands heads. Not a great look. It was just set up on a tripod with a guy behind it and because he was so close to us he ended up in just about every single picture. The DVD itself too seems so lame and the beginning is like just one long Mandalay Bay commercial. If I had to do over again I would probably skip the DVD.
Bentley & Wilson Photography - A+
$898 for 8 hours
Of Course Todd was amazing! We haven’t gotten our pictures back yet but I’m sure they will turn our great. He was promptly on time and started shooting right away. We went on a photo strip tour before the wedding. We went to the Las Vegas sign, Fremont St., Venetian, Bellagio, Paris, & Planet Hollywood. We started at 11:15ish and finished at 2:00ish. Todd was amazing he communicated with the limo drive for us so he knew exactly where to drop us off and where he’d be to pick us up. We didn’t have to worry about a thing. He came out after the ceremony and took some family pictures then it was up to the suite for the reception. I barely remember he was there then I’d look over and he was shooting away. Again he was amazing!!! Loved him.
Mandalay Bay – Vista Suite – A+
Price $800 roughly for night before and of the wedding
The suite worked out perfectly! It was just the right size for our 35 guests and even had a little room for some dancing too. We moved the furniture around a little bit but overall I thought the room was great. We were so happy we decide to have an in-suite reception. We all had such a great time in there! We had no problems at all checking in or with security and bellhops there were SO helpful! They helped bring up all the alcohol, my brother-in-law gave them trash bags to get ice and they brought back from the ice machine two huge bags of ice to put in the bathtub. It was such a great atmosphere in there; I loved how it all worked out. I would strongly recommend getting the suite the night before as well. It was great having the extra time to get everything set up.
DJ Godzilla – A+
Price $250 for 4 hours
I was apprehensive of hiring a DJ, just wasn’t sure if we really needed one. I was lazy and didn’t want to make a playlist for an ipod so I hired him. I am so glad I did!!! He was great! Communication was great with him. I only gave him a few suggestions for genres and he did great with what very little I gave him. I’m sure we could have had a good time too with the ipod dock but he really just stepped things up and gave people more of a feeling we were there to have a good time! The music was a bit loud and we never had an issue with security being called. I was so glad I hired him and he was so nice. Another one I absolutely loved.
Masterpiece Cuisine – A+
Price $959
The food was delicious. We had the pulled pork sliders, gourmet beef sliders, quesadilla trumpets, crab cakes, blue cheese tarts, bruschetta, and the spinach and artichoke dip. It all was amazing. They came and set it up no problem then we threw it all away at the end of the night. We did have a bit of left overs but not a ton. We told them for 35 and that’s what we had so I probably would have given them the same head count to be on the safe side.
Woolward Productions – A+
Price $300
Thank you Sara for this suggestion!
We loved having the up lighting around the suite. Husband fought me on this from the time I suggested it to the day of. Even he said though it turned out to be great idea cause it really did give a great ambiance. Again I think it was well worth the money. It really stepped the room up from a hotel suite to a reception. I don’t know he even questions me.
Travis Allen – Elvis – A+
Price $225
Loved him!!! He made such a great entrance and all the guests loved him too. Husband said he was his favorite thing about the reception even though Elvis was another thing husband butted heads with me about. But he was so glad I talked him in to it.
The Palette – Pam – A+
Price $330
The flowers were gorgeous. We did break the rules on the flowers at Mandalay Bay. You’re not supposed to use outside flowers but we just showed up to the ceremony with them and no one had any idea. I really didn’t want to use Mandalay Bays flowers cause they would be so much more so to me it worth the sneaking them in. Especially the next morning when I was throwing all the bouquets away I was really glad I didn’t pay a fortune for them.
Fit for a bride – A+
Price $140
I got my dress, veil, slip, and two suits steamed. We dropped the stuff of Tuesday mid dayish and she had everything perfect the next day by the time we picked up at 3. She was great to work with and so nice.
RSVP Party Rentals – A+
Price $86
We rented 4 high top tables and table cloths. Another choice I’m glad husband didn’t talk me out of because we really needed them and they were great to have for people to just have conversations around. We did go pick them up and drop them off ourselves because the price for delivery to Mandalay Bay was like $140 and it was really easy to do it ourselves so that worked out well. And again the bellhops were awesome at helping us with them. They even let us pick up on Wednesday and drop off Friday at no additional charge.
BellsTrans – A+
Price $375 for 3.5 hours
Our driver was great!!! I think his name was Bob. He communicated with Todd great so both knew where to meet to get picked up. He would direct us to where bathrooms were in case we needed it. Just a very nice pleasant man.
Lee’s Discount Liqueur –Alcohol – A+
Price $300
We only spent $300 on alcohol and had SO much left over. I hope the cleaning and bellhops had a party afterwards cause we just left it all there.
I still can’t believe how much we got for $300 we probably could have only spent $150 and had plenty for people. We had like 5 bottle of hard alcohol, mixers, a ton of beer, a ton of pop, and water. Maybe we were just used to Alaska prices cause $300 would not have gotten you that far up here.
If you have any questions please let me know! I'm sure I forgot some good information to give you.
Now pictures! The ones from the reception are just from freinds cameras as Todd's wont be here for another couple of weeks.
