Nevada-Las Vegas

My Wedding Weekend Reviews Part 2: The Ceremony and Reception

Viva Las Cake Pops and Retro Bakery: A+

VLCP was so great to work with. It was a very last minute order (like 3 days prior) and Jackie and Ashley were very accommodating. They were willing to pick up an a 6 inch round cake top at Retro and put it all together with 70 cake pops into a cake pop tower and deliver it to the HOB for less than $250.  The cake pops were delicious, too! We got red velvet cake w cream cheese frosting.  SO GOOD!


Angie Kelly of Peachy Keen Unions: A+
She was a dream to work with. We skyped with her a couple times before the wedding, and I filled out a worksheet to help her make our ceremony unique and "ours". She also suggested a "ring warming" ceremony that I loved! My guests are still talking about what a cool idea that was.  It was a very hectic day and she was a breath of fresh air!  She took care of everything with the marriage license after the ceremony, too. I would recommend her to anyone who wants something out of the ordinary for their non-stuffy ceremony WinkShe also does same-sex ceremonies which I think is VERY COOL!



House of Blues, Crossroads Room for ceremony, and reception part 1:

Jon and I had our hearts set on this place for our reception from day 1. We ended up having our ceremony here as well when I found out that we could. They set up the Crossroads room for us and the atmoshpere was PERFECT. It was everything I wanted for the "look" of our wedding. I dealt with Amber Zeller through the majority of the planning process, and she was great about responding to emails and getting my questions answered. They were some things I wish had been handled better, but I won't mention them bc 1) they have to with money and 2) probably partly my fault as well.

Our guests were given the option of NY strip, rosemary chicken, or pesto penne pasta. I have heard everything was really good. I got the steak, but I wasn’t really able to eat any of it bc of nerves, but the few bites I did have weren’t very good.  Everyone else I spoke that had it said it was very good, so idk if it was me, or if people were just being polite when they said it was good. I tasted the pasta and it was really good.

It was an open bar and the drinks were still strong! I was drinking “Tequila Neat” all night and the bartender made no issue of it (eventhough shots were not included in the bar package). I was actually sipping it, though, not shooting it.

*A little FYI: The House of Blues has a big venue for live music and also a bunch of other little rooms w/ stages for smaller acts. Kid Rock was playing a show the night before, and the night of my wedding in the big auditorium. *

 


DJ Godzilla: BIG EFFING F!!!

I don’t know wtf is wrong with this dude, but he had the audacity to come into the “holding room” where I was waiting with my bridesmaids, just moments away from walking down the aisle, and say “Sorry I was late, I had a really rough day. My equipment got mixed up with Kid Rock’s, so I don’t have all the music you wanted for your ceremony. I hope what I do have will be okay.”

First of all, YOU’RE having a rough day? I am getting f**king married in 2 minutes and it is taking everything in me not puke on my dress right now.  2) Your <$1k worth of equipment got mixed up with Kid Rock’s ? Do you seriously think I am a f**king moron?  3) Get your dumbass out of my dressing room and play some f**king music for my guests ASSSHOLE!!!!

 I still don’t even know what songs my bridal party entered to, but it wasn’t anything that was listed on the program.  Then he played some GAWD-awful version of ‘Here comes the bride’ for me to walk the aisle to, which is the last thing I wanted, but I got over it quickly as I saw Jon at the other end of the aisle.

Fast forward through the ceremony, and on to the cocktail hour… he did alright with this music. Nothing too fast, but nothing too slow.

Next up dinner music: He played “I’m sexy and I know it” during dinner. That’s when I had my MOH go tell him to slow it down a bit for the duration of dinner. He did… he played some stupid, sappy-ass country love song. I was VERY clear in the very beginning that I didn’t want ANY COUNTRY AT ALL!!!! Jon hates it, and I think it all sounds the same. We didn’t want it! So my MOH goes back up there to tell him no country… and what does he do? He stops the song abruptly in the middle and cuts to another sappy-ass country song. WTF, dude? Eventually he got it through his airhead that slow, dinner music does not mean country love songs.

Next up, first dance! Our song is Harvest Moon by Neil Young, Guess what! DJ F**ktart doesn’t have it. Thankfully one of my guests (MC) is a computer whiz and was able to play it on his phone and hook it up to DJ’s equipment for our dance. Well I guess there was some technical difficulties bc the song stopped and started over 3 different times. Eventually Jon and I just quit dancing.  He also didn’t have the Mother/Son song, Father/Daughter, bouquet toss, or cake cutting song. He did have the garter removal song.  He offered to give us half our money back since we had paid in full upon booking him. We took it, but it really doesn’t help the situation at all.

DON’T BOOK THIS DOUCHBAG!!!

 


House of Blues, Courtyard Room, for reception part 2:

The reason Jon and I wanted our reception at HOB so badly is bc we love live blues music. I had been told that we could have the reception in the courtyard room and that there would be some kind of blues BAND playing in there the night of our wedding from 9-12. SO WE PLANNED OUR ENTIRE WEDDING AROUND THIS FACT!!! Our ceremony was to start at 5:30, cocktail hour 6-7, dinner 7-8, 8-9 cake cutting, bouquet, garter, first dances and then at 9pm everyone would move into the Courtyard room for the BAND.
Well at 9pm we were all ushered in the courtyard and instead of a BLUES BAND, there was a single dude on stage with an acoustic guitar, I was so PISSED! At this point there was too much that had gone wrong with the music at my wedding, so I started drinking a lot of tequila.

Re: My Wedding Weekend Reviews Part 2: The Ceremony and Reception

  • Sorry to hear the BS you dealt with. Its not funny but your wording was so colorful I was busting up laughing. Congratulations! I am sure you looked beautiful!
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • Sorry you had a bad experience with DJ Godzilla, everyone loved him at our wedding. If I hadn't just gotten married I would've married him.

    Hope you still had a kick as$ day!
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  • I'm so sorry about Godzilla.  We booked him, too, and that's quite vomit-inducing!!!

    I am really glad to hear about the cake pops though!  Nom nom!!

    At least you are focusing on the important part - you guys are married :)  Congrats again!
  • oh wow!  That's a sh!t storm!  Sorry you had some unlucky experiences.  The important thing is you're married now and it's going to make for some crazy stories.

    Glad we opted to not book DJ Godzilla now!
  • Congrats on being a Mrs!!!

    I'm so sorry to hear about your music problems!! :(  I will lose my mind if "I'm sexy and I know it" comes on during dinner - not cool.

    I've booked DJ Godzilla too so your review makes me super nervous!! I will be sure to have all my important songs on my phone - just in case.  Thank you for the heads up!  I'm sure all the other brides who booked him feel the same.

    Just like nycheryl saiid - I'm glad to hear about the cake pops - b/c we're using Viva too :)

     
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  • Yikes ...what a FAIL. I'm using godzilla but just for dance music. I'm sorry you had so many hickups! I bet you looked beautiful and thank god for tequila!
  • Pun intended with the hick up misspeling. :)
  • Oh Christ, so sorry to hear about all the nonsense.  On the bright side...you are married, and I'm sure you guys will look back on the DJ mishaps a year from now and have a good laugh about it.

    Out of curiosity-- we're doing a ring warming ceremony too and I'm debating between having the rings passed during the ceremony or having someone stand with them at the entrance to the ceremony and have guests touch them on the way in.  I'd prefer the first way (thought it would be more meaningful), but with our 100+ guests I'm afraid it'll either take too long or the rings will get lost at the back of the house somewhere and no one will bring them back to us in the front.  How did you guys do this?
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_my-wedding-weekend-reviews-part-2-the-ceremony-and-reception?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:91Discussion:3c50d2df-2e61-43d9-b450-719c68da37adPost:4a8fcc92-e8cd-4223-93fd-37beb58ad8a0">Re: My Wedding Weekend Reviews Part 2: The Ceremony and Reception</a>:
    [QUOTE]Pun intended with the hick up misspeling. :)
    Posted by starryeyed77[/QUOTE]

    TK needs a 'like' button!
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_my-wedding-weekend-reviews-part-2-the-ceremony-and-reception?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:91Discussion:3c50d2df-2e61-43d9-b450-719c68da37adPost:0c511831-acb4-4ebf-b489-87db7475653b">Re: My Wedding Weekend Reviews Part 2: The Ceremony and Reception</a>:
    [QUOTE]Oh Christ, so sorry to hear about all the nonsense.  On the bright side...you are married, and I'm sure you guys will look back on the DJ mishaps a year from now and have a good laugh about it. Out of curiosity-- we're doing a ring warming ceremony too and I'm debating between having the rings passed during the ceremony or having someone stand with them at the entrance to the ceremony and have guests touch them on the way in.  I'd prefer the first way (thought it would be more meaningful), but with our 100+ guests I'm afraid it'll either take too long or the rings will get lost at the back of the house somewhere and no one will bring them back to us in the front.  How did you guys do this?
    Posted by lsvensson[/QUOTE]

    We had 86 guests. The ring warming took a long time. Our officiant said that, ideally, 50 guests is the max for a ring warming, but I loved the idea so much that I insisted. I had people do 2 longer readings and it still wasn't enough time to get the rings passed around. I had my two junior bridesmaids stand on either side of the aisle to keep an eye on the rings and help to pass them around. If you have ushers or junior BMs or some high school age cousins or something, they could help.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_my-wedding-weekend-reviews-part-2-the-ceremony-and-reception?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:91Discussion:3c50d2df-2e61-43d9-b450-719c68da37adPost:1fc8a5c7-8789-4eeb-8cb0-db7f55b56350">Re: My Wedding Weekend Reviews Part 2: The Ceremony and Reception</a>:
    [QUOTE]Sorry to hear the BS you dealt with. Its not funny but <strong>your wording was so colorful</strong> I was busting up laughing. Congratulations! I am sure you looked beautiful!
    Posted by csarah718[/QUOTE]

    Yeah, I get pretty fired up when I think about.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_my-wedding-weekend-reviews-part-2-the-ceremony-and-reception?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:91Discussion:3c50d2df-2e61-43d9-b450-719c68da37adPost:8ed29edf-3e8b-4210-92af-3866d59bfc45">Re: My Wedding Weekend Reviews Part 2: The Ceremony and Reception</a>:
    [QUOTE]Sorry you had a bad experience with DJ Godzilla, e<strong>veryone loved him at our wedding. </strong>If I hadn't just gotten married I would've married him. Hope you still had a kick as$ day!
    Posted by hstaples4[/QUOTE]

    Right... I booked him based on all the great reviews on here. That is why I am so pissed! I know he is capable of doing a good job, he just chose not to for my wedding.
  • Thanks for the reviews! I am sorry to hear about the negative aspects. I am looking forward to pics!! Congrats!
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_my-wedding-weekend-reviews-part-2-the-ceremony-and-reception?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:91Discussion:3c50d2df-2e61-43d9-b450-719c68da37adPost:a8c5e844-f34f-475a-8740-8f4a2896bb0a">My Wedding Weekend Reviews Part 2: The Ceremony and Reception</a>:
    [QUOTE] That’s when I had my MOH go tell him to slow it down a bit for the duration of dinner. He did… <strong>he played some stupid, sappy-ass country love song</strong>. I was VERY clear in the very beginning that I didn’t want ANY COUNTRY AT ALL!!!! Jon hates it, and I think it all sounds the same. We didn’t want it! So my MOH goes back up there to tell him no country… and what does he do? <strong>He stops the song abruptly in the middle and cuts to another sappy-ass country song</strong>. WTF, dude?
    Posted by CamilleJon[/QUOTE]

    AW HELL NAH - WTF? 

    Sorry you had this experience!  Congrats, Mrs.!
    "You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap." - Dolly Parton Daisypath Anniversary tickers Follow Me on Pinterest
  • OMG - WTF! I read the first reviews in part one and thought everything went pretty well for you. Oh boo burns, DJ Godzilla. We almost all book based on the reviews on this site so you take a leap of faith that the vender will perform as well for you as he/she did for everyone else. It just sucks, but at the end of the day your married :) and that's all that really matters.
  • edited March 2012
    I don't come on the boards any more because I don't have the time (have a 4 month old son & a hubby that works out of town), but had to come on to respond to this.

    After our wedding last year, in June, I became good friends with Calvin (DJ Godzilla). We had a terrible Mandalay Bay experience, with several security guards lining the hallways waiting for our guests to leave, at 9pm - not sure if any of you remember, but anyways. Calvin was right there with us, trying to stand up for us to security, saying it was his fault the music was so loud and he took all the blame and tried to help it so our guests didn't get kicked out, but to no avail. To be honest, our music wasn't even that loud - no more than any other wedding he's done there - but he was doing what he could to help the situation.

    Calvin called me a couple weeks after your wedding & told me about it. He felt terrible, and it was genuine. He understood that you were upset and he didn't fault you for it, and he wanted to know what I suggested he do. I told him I'd think about it - and then I forgot to get back to him because the next 2 weeks were rough because my husband came for a visit and left again.

    I totally understand that you're upset - we dream about everything going smoothly on our wedding day, we don't expect things like this to happen, but in the grand scheme of things, it could have been worse, and I think it wouldn't kill you to be a little bit classier about him....name calling? Really? You'd think that he let rodents loose during your ceremony!

    At the end of the day I really hope people read this review and take it with a grain of salt and compare this ONE review to all the other great reviews DJ Godzilla has.  There will always be someone that has a bad experience with something.

    (And no, Calvin did not ask me to respond to this - in fact he told me not to worry about it, but I don't listen very well!)
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