It took me a while to get this second part done. Since we got back from our honeymoon it has been absolutely bonkers for us........
Here we go....
Keith Kaplan Photography - A+> We booked Keith for the 3 hour
internet special ($395). Because COF doesn't allow outside photographers
we booked him to meet us at the double decker bus after the ceremony
(4:00) so we could get some good pictures of everyone at our stops. The
day of I got a call from David who said Keith had a scheduling conflict
and he would be doing out photos. I never met Keith so I can't comment
on him, but David was absolutely fantastic. Everyone was impressed by
how easy going he was and how well he meshed with everyone. He met us on
the bus and took all kinds of candid pictures, and then got some
pictures of us all at the Las Vegas sign, and then took me and hubs to
get some pics around the Bellagio. The fountains were not going off but it
was still great. When we got off the bus at the Venetian (around 6:20)
for our supper we told our guests to go on and have a look around on
their own while until supper at 7:00 and hubs and I went with David for
some pictures. We both really dislike getting pictures taken of us but
David made it quite tolerable! He also hooked us up with some comp
tickets to Love at the Mirage! On Sunday when we got up he texted me and
said we could meet up anytime to get the pictures. We met in the
afternoon and he showed us the pics on Shutterfly because we didn't have
a laptop with us. He also gave us a disc with all the high res pics on
it. When we tried the disc on my dad's laptop later in the day we
couldn't access all the pictures. I texted David late Sunday night and
he had a new disc to us Monday lunchtime. (In all fairness to the first
disc, there is a high likelihood that we couldn't access the pics
because of the settings on my dad's laptop.....but we figured better
safe than sorry). The pictures came out fabulous and we're both really
happy with them. He even did something really cool on one of the pics of
our group by the Vegas Sign....he photoshopped it so it said "Welcome
to fabulous Newfoundland Canada", our home province. It was a cute
touch. Overall everything was outstanding...we got our money's worth and
so much more!
Double Decker Bus Company of Las Vegas - B-> We hired the bus
for a two hour tour between the ceremony and supper. It picked us and
all our guests up at 4:00 next to COF and the plan was to stop at the
Vegas sign and the Bellagio for pictures before it dropped us off at the
Venetian. First of all, the only reason I am giving the company a B- is
because a lot of our guests really liked it. If it was up to me based
on my experience with it I'd probably give it a D. To make it easier
I'll split this up into pros/cons.
>
>>>>> Pros:
Like I
said our guests really liked it. The bus was on time to pick us up. It
was cool getting a different view of the strip and everyone below was
waving at us. That's about it for the pros.
>>>>> Cons:
I don't know if they have multiple buses, but the one we were on was
about to fall apart. No joke. The transmission was in bad shape and the
side doors on the lower level had to be left open the entire time to
keep the exhaust fumes from choking everyone. The ceiling of the bus
looked like it was about to crack......or that it already had and was
patched up very poorly. Me and hubs sat up top right away. When we got
out at our first stop (the Vegas sign) I noticed that the bottom of my
dress was covered in black dust and grease from climbing the stairs to
the top of the bus. We stayed on the lower level after that, and I used a
bunch of baby wipes that my B and SIL had for their sons to try and
get some of the black out. Joe, the owner, was the driver, and while I
don't know the name of the guy who was up top he is the one who plays
Elvis. He wasn't dressed up as Elvis and was actually wearing a dirty
white tshirt with a skull on it and dirty black pants. I wasn't expecting anything special,
but come on, at least wear something clean, am I right? I was hoping
during the drive he would point out some landmarks or tell us about some
of the sights but he did not. He just sat up front on the top of the
bus and handed people their drinks when they wanted.
Being
Saturday late afternoon/ early evening the traffic was really bad on the
strip. At about 5:20 Joe came to me and hubs and said if he left right
then he wouldn't make it to the Venetian for 6:00. He asked us what we
wanted to do, and we suggested he head to the Venetian anyways. We were
pretty much right by the Bellagio, which was supposed to be our second
stop so Joe suggested that we go there as we planned since we were right
there. We stopped at the Bellagio and all of our guests waited by the
bus in the parking garage while me, hubs and David went and got a few
quick pictures. Traffic was nuts and by the time we got to the Venetian
it was about 6:20. We were stopped at the security gate for a while
because the attendant was deciding if he would let the bus in to drop us
off. Joe said this was the first time he has ever and such a problem at
the Venetian. Anyways, we got in after a few minutes and when we got
out of the bus Joe told us that because we were late (the tour was
supposed to be over at 6:00) there would be an extra $80 charge. Hubs
tried to haggle a bit with him, because of the traffic which was out of
everyone's control, but Joe wouldn't budge, only to say that he usually
charges by the hour so he should be charging us $160 anyways. We really
didn't want a scene so we agreed to the $80. I thought it was a bit
nit-picky for him to do that, but whatever, he has to make a living.
The last thing I'll say about the bus is that about an hour after we
got off the bus, when we were in the restaurant eating I had a sudden
wave of panic when I realized I left the bag from COF on the bus! In the
bag was the copy of our marriage certificate, a few other things and my
brother's girlfriends iPod. The marriage certificate was only our
temporary one, but still very important, and is signed by the MOH and
best man. As soon as I realized we didn't have the bag I called the
company and left a msg. I emailed them on Sunday morning and heard back
from them later that day. Judy ( Joe's wife) said she had the bag and
could mail the things to us and charge the cost to our credit card. We
were emailing back and forth a number of times and I explained to her I
would like to get the bag before we left on Tuesday. We wanted the
marriage certificate but also the iPod, especially because my brothers
girlfriend lives in another province and after we left Vegas we didn't
know when we'd see her again and she obviously wanted her iPod for the
plane. Judy said they couldn't drop it at the Mirage because they
weren't back on the strip until after we left. We asked her to courier
the bag to us at the Mirage and we would pay the cost, seeing as how we
are the ones that forgot the bag. I had no problem paying for that
because it is totally an oversight on our part that it was left on the
bus. Judy responded to the suggestion so a courier by saying "I have no
idea how to do that". I then asked if there was any way we could pick it
up from them. She replied and said it would be on the bus at the bus
yard by 3:00p Monday and that the bus yard closed by 5:00pm. Luckily my
dad had a car rented on Monday to go to Hoover Dam, so I got him to pick
it up on Monday. Like I said earlier, leaving the bag on the bus was
totally our fault and I should have put someone in charge of it, but I
am a little confused as to why they couldn't courier it to us. Whatever,
I guess the main thing is that we got our stuff and all is well.
If I had my time back I would have tried to find another tour company,
and paid the extra for a bus that was cleaner and not as "shady".
Chapel of the Flowers - A- I have so many good things to say about COF. There was one big hiccup that I will talk about more below.
We opted for the marriage license service, and first look service. On
Wednesday morning our limo picked us up at our hotel and took us to get
our marriage license. Since we completed the pre-application online it
took about 5 minutes to get our licence. Very efficient. After that we
went to the Chapel to meet with our wedding planner, Brittany, who was
fantastic. Throughout the planning process she was always quick to
respond and so helpful and patient.
On our wedding day hubs and
his family were picked up first and then me and my family were picked
up about 15 minutes later. As arranged, we did not see each other until I
walked down the aisle. When I got out of the limo the wedding
coordinator, Marci, met me and took me in to fill out the paper work
with my MOH. After that I was put in a side room where I met our
photographers, Joe and Andreo, and then met with Pastor Tim.
We
got married in the Glass Gardens, and it it was perfect. Pastor Tim was
so warm and genuine. I really liked his style and all of our guests
commented on how lovely the ceremony was. It was short, but it wasn't
"wham bam thank you ma'am"; it was heartfelt and thoughtful. I didn't
think I would be nervous but I was. There was no reason to be as it was
perfect. Our flowers were roses; my bouquet and the boutinerres were
dyed dark purple and my MOH had white roses, as she was wearing a dark
purple dress. The flowers were perfect. I was disappointed I couldn't
bring them home, but I got a lot of pictures
After the
ceremony we went inside briefly where ewe met again with Pastor Tim to
go over the ways to get our certified marriage certificate. Right before
we met with Pastor Tim a young girl, the videographer, came in to speak
with me and the hubs. This is where the hiccup starts. She told us that
right around the time we exchanged rings the computer that was
recording the ceremony stopped working. She said that they were having
problems with it but thought it was fixed. She also said that there may
be some stuff on the back up, but she wasn't sure. She said if we wanted
we could walk through the ceremony again for recording purposes. Hubs
and I both agreed that we didn't really want to do that; it wouldn't be
the same and we would always know that it wasn't the real deal. I wanted
to cry but I didn't. The biggest thing on our minds were all of our
family and friends back home who we're wanting to see our ceremony. My
87 year old grandmother was home in Newfoundland waiting to see the
ceremony; we have a very small family and the only grandchildren she has
is my brother and I, and I am the first to get married. I only have 2
aunts and they could not make the trip either; again, I am their only
niece and the first wedding in the family. The fact that they couldn't
see the ceremony tears me apart; that was the biggest struggle we had
when choosing to get married away and one of the main reasons we picked
COF was because our family and friends at home could watch the ceremony.
I didn't freak out, I was more disappointed than anything. They told us
they would work on everything and see what footage they had and we
would talk about it more on Monday at our photo appointment.
After that we went out and did some pictures. Joe and Andreo were great.
Joe was climbing over things to get the right angle and running out in
traffic to get certain shots. God love him! After that we all got on the
double decker bus.
On Monday we went back for our photo
appointment. Our package included 59 4x6, 2 8x10, and 1 11x14. When we
saw the pictures we were both stunned. They came out beautifully. The
angles and the lighting were truly amazing. While we were going through
the pictures Tyler, the manager, came to speak with us about the video.
He was very apologetic about the whole thing. He explained they were
having problems that they thought were the result of the poor source so
they replaced it, but it still gave out. Tyler told us it has only ever
stopped working during 2 ceremonies, ours being one of them. He said
there was a security camera that had poor quality video, but did record
sound. He suggested that they could use the footage they had and then
supplement what they missed with the audio from the security footage and
pictures from the ceremony - sort of a montage. He said they would work
on that and let us know as soon sat was done. Tyler acknowledged that
offering that to us still isn't enough, and asked if we would be
interested in any additional photo compensation. We said we would; we
both agreed that the video was a way to capture the memories of the day,
and the only other way those memories were captured were in the
pictures. Tyler compensated us by giving us the copyrights of 24 of our
images, with the option to put the value of that to any other photo
package we wanted. The value of it was $450, so we were very happy with
that. We chose to put that towards purchasing the rights to all of our
photos. I think even of we didn't have that credit we would have sprung
for the rights; we were really impressed.
About a week after
the wedding I emailed Tyler to inquire about the status of our wedding
video/montage. He replied and said that the audio from the security
camera had a loud buzz in the background so he sent it to an audio
specialist to see if they could make the sound better. He told me he
would keep me posted. As of Tuesday it's been a month since our wedding,
and right before that I emailed Tyler to check in. I haven't heard back
from him so I sent the email again today. I'm hoping he gets back to me
soon with some good news. If we end up with no footage from our day I
will be so devastated.
Besides the whole video fiasco COF was
fantastic. They were quite professional. Pastor Tim was so heartwarming,
and since we've gotten home so, SO many people have commented on how
great the photos are. Our photos from the COF and from David came out
much better than some people we know who got married locally and paid
way, WAY more for their photos.
General Stuff:
Vegas was amazing. I want to go back and do all of the things we wanted
to but didn't have time. We stayed at the Mirage (as did all but 4 of
our guests) and I was really impressed. The rooms were nice, as was the
staff. Our first morning there my BIL and His wife and kids went to the
Cravings Buffet for breakfast and the hostess gave them a bunch of BOGO
coupons for breakfast/brunch. That was THE place for our breakfasts, and
even the supper buffet, though a little more expensive, was really good. I
have never seen such a variety of food - and not only variety, but also
quality food.
Following Vegas we went to Couples
Negril in Jamaica for our honeymoon. That was so romantic and absolutely
relaxing. Highly recommend. I can't believe it's all over.....but I
have such amazing memories and I am so lucky to be married to my best
friend and love of my life.