Venue: Westin Colonnade Rotunda: A: They are pros at weddings/events. You can't go wrong holding an event here. The Rotunda is a very stunning place, and there is no other place in SoFla that is similar. They offered me a great package price, the food is fantastic, overall I'm very pleased. I signed my package with an amazing coordinator. She was very flexible and taylored my wants into the package. But, she left and I got a new coordinator. No one ever informed me that she left or anything. This is the reason they will not be getting an "A+" from me. However, the new coordinator was great. Very happy I chose this place for my venue. Warning: the accoustics are awful. I had three people make a toast, and no one could hear them. If you have your wedding hear, limit the toast to one person, and make it quick. Recommend: Yes
Photographer: David Acuna: A (Photos pending): What an amazing photographer. Just take a look at his blog and that should be enough explanation. We had a great time with him and he even hepled style me anytime my hair/accessories got out of place. The only reason he will not be getting an "A+" from me is he wasn't very flexible after we asked him about pricing for staying an extra hour. We told him we would pay in cash in advanced, but still no pricing flexibilty. I understand though. Recommend: Yes
Videography: Cabana Pictures: A (Video pending): They are a young husband and wife team and were great to work with. Since I was doing everything from out of town, we had a Skype meeting a few weeks before the wedding. On the day of they were very calming. The only reason they are not getting an "A+" from me is when I signed with them, they pressured me to sign the contract and send the check that night, because they said they another couple was interested in using them on my date. They were supposedly meeting the other couple the following day and made me feel bad that they had to cancel with the other couple last minute. Akward situation, but happy I ended up using them. Recommend: Yes
Belly Dancer: April Pylartz: A+: I never saw her dance, and only chose her because she was the only dancer I found that was willing to drop the normal rate to work with my budget. She was responsive, very flexible, and a fabulous dancer! If you want to get a dancer, but don't want to go over your budget, she's the dancer you want to go with. Contact me for details. Recommend: Hell Yes
Florist: Blooming Touch: A+: I didn't know much about them, and got tired of researching vendors. They only had one wedding wire review, and no one on the Knot had heard of them. I still went with them on a whim and am so happy I did. I kept seeing reviews where people were unhappy with their florist, and considering I was planning from away, it was hard to explain what i wanted without actually seeing flowers. But they were extremely acommodating and flexible with me. They did a sample for me on the spot - without me having signed any contract yet. They even met with me when I came down to Miami, despite them being in the process of moving into another warehouse. They were very sweet, and changed the contract around for me so many times to add wording to it exactly how I wanted. Everything was absolutely beautiful on the day of. Very happy I went with them. Best part, they will work with your budget. They are a mother-daughter team and the mother only speaks Spanish and I don't. This never seemed to be an issue, however. Recommend: Hell Yes
DJ: Steve of Vision DJs: C: Vision has a good reputation on the Knot. I don't doubt it, but they did not do an exceptional job. They offer good prices, but I didn't feel their DJing went with the flow of my party. They weren't knowledgable with Indian music, and when I signed with them, they said that wouldn't be an issue. They didn't really help get the party started. I was actually dancing on the dance floor by myself at one point trying to get other people would join in. I was expecting the DJ to say somehting like "I wanna see everybody on the dance floor" no such thing was said. A lot of the music on my "must play list" was not played until the very last hour, and most people had left by then. Recommend: Not for Indian Weddings
MUA: AC Beauty: A: So happy I chose Alicia for my hair and makeup. When I met with her from my trial, she spent 4.5 hours with me getting everything exatctly how I wanted it. She is very timely, and gets there right on the dot, not even one minute late. She very calming when getting ready and is a true artist. She did both of the moms too and I was very pleased with everything. I used her for two looks and made me look like two completely different people like I wanted. The only reason she doesn't get an "A+" from me is because she left in a hurry before the ceremony and was a few minutes late for my second look. I wanted to put my dress on first and then the veil, but she had to leave, so i had to do the veil first and putting on my dress was very hard with the veil already on. Recommend: Yes
Linens/Draping: Leyani: F: She was included in my package. She is not responsive at all. I met with her in July, and was supposed to receive quotes from her. I called every week for over a month and never heard back. I heard back from her the day before my wedding. Avod. Recommend: Hell No
Draping: Hilda Claro/Bash Decor: A+: She was amazing to work with and got my vision right away, even over the phone. She is the cutest lady and was very flexible with everything and very responsive. Since Leyani was useless, I spoke to her literally one month before the wedding and she even sent me fabric samples through the mail immediately. Very very very pleased working with her. Recommend: Hell Yes
Ana Paz: Wedding Cake: A+: Ana is a pro in the wedding cake industry. The cake tasted great and looked even better. I had two different tastings with her and the first time the cake was dry and stale. Second time it was great. The cake was exactly how I wanted it to be. Can't wait to get pictures of this. Recommend: Yes
DOC; Jennifer J: B+: Jennifer and I have the same personailty. If you text us, we will get back to you within the minute. This was very rare to find in the wedding world. I loved that she got back to me with everything right away. She was very helpful throughout the process. She sent out timelines to vendors a week before the wedding, but didn't confirm anything with the vendors until the day before. So the entire week, vendors were calling me asking questions. I chose to get a DOC to avoid this. On the day of, there were little things we wanted that were left out. She apparently had a team of 5 people there, but I only met one prior to the ceremony, and the assistant that I met was gone for most of the time, when I really needed her. I met another assistant right before the ceremony, but never saw the other two. With 5 people there, I don't know where they all went/what they were doing. At one point I had my parents, the mua, photographer, videographers all in my room and it would've been really helpful to have a planner/assistant there to guide us all. I was still very happy with the way everything turned out and would still use her again. She gets a B+ from me because she is very expensive (about double the amount of other planners). So when I am paying that much, I was expecting everything to be completely flawless for the things that are within her control. I see other posts on this board for planners that do amazing work at more reasonable prices. So the cost of value is why she gets a lower rating. Recommend: Yes
Few other things I would recommend:
eyebrow threading - shapes your eyebrows perfectly!
shellac nails - I will never go back to regular polish
Weebly - wedding website. So easy to use!
Overall, I was fortunate I had such great vendors. Please let me know if you have any questions. Now that the planning is over, I have so much time, lol. Hope this helps!