Aria Hotel - A+ (separate review of Chapel in Part 2)I can't sing the praises of the Aria Hotel enough! Everything was impeccable from check in to check out. Check in was an absolute breeze, even though the line was long. We had booked the Executive Hospitality Suite for our 4 night stay and we were able to get in around 2 PM. This room is gorgeous with phenomenal views and is absolutely huge!! It has a separate boardroom, living room, powder room, bedroom and a HUGE bathroom. The shower also can be used just as a steam room which was a huge hit. My now husband woke up each morning and "took a steam". There was also a huge bath tub I was able to take some cool bridal pics in. It gave us plenty of room to host our meet and greet on Friday, entertain people the whole weekend (especially after they checked out of their rooms) and the girls got ready there on the wedding day. The housekeepers were so friendly, the In Room Dining staff is exceptional. We ordered twice from there. The only bad thing about the placement of the room is it is the absolute FARTHEST from the elevator you can be. At the time it was annoying but my ass thanks me now, for keeping some pounds off for the upcoming honeymoon. One thing I will warn though, the elevator security at the Aria is hardcore and only once were we able to get a vendor past without going down to get them. Given how long of a walk it was down....that became a little bit of a drag. Most important though....the majority of our guests loved the hotel and were impressed. We were also able to get very favorable block rates at the hotel. We worked primarily with Vera and Devin for this and they are great!
Aria Sportsbook - A
My fiancé planned on hanging out in the sports book all day Sunday (morning after the wedding) to watch the games with friends. Somehow we got lucky and the whole group got to spread out in the VIP area ALL DAY! There are plenty of couches, chairs and loungey areas to hang out. No one bothered us or asked us why were in the VIP area. I am sure the other people who were there hated us.....this would probably not be possible on a busy day, but we got lucky. Five 50 pizza is right outside and people were able to bring food in from wherever, chill and basically come and go as they pleased. It was like having our own living room that seats 40 people all afternoon. If football Sunday is a thing for your group.....I'd try to inquire about booking this area for your group, which I am not even sure if its possible.
Classic Tans - Mobile Airbrush Tanning - A++
Last minute, I decided I wanted to get a spray tan, mainly because I never had time to tan leading up to the event. I hired Angie with Classic Tans who has fabulous yelp reviews. She offered to come on Thanksgiving evening which I really wanted, but didn't want to be that person asking for. Of course, that did cost a little more but was worth it. She was amazing to chat with, did a phenomenal job and I still have a tan now 5 days later. The color was perfect, not too light, not too dark as was my fear. She came right in, got to work and offered me all the advice I needed to maintain it. I highly recommend adding her if you are in need of a tan. I have never seen her reviewed on here, so I hope I am helping someone out who is looking.
Fit for a Bride - Debi - A++
I had seen a bad review on this service recently but she was nothing but FABULOUS for me. I shipped my dress to her about two weeks prior to arrival. She brought it by and left it at the bell desk around noon on Friday. No muss no fuss, just sent me a text when she dropped it and then the bell desk called and brought it right up. There was no complication at all. The dress was steamed beautifully and stuffed nicely with tissue paper.
Your Beauty Call - A-
The only reason they get in A- and not an A++++ is because the makeup artist who owns Your Beauty Call didn't come ( I think there was an emergency of some kind), she subbed out another makeup artist without even telling me. Luckily for me....she subbed out Francesca of Bobbie Pin Beauty who was my first choice previously anyway. Realistically, this could have easily gone really bad though, which is the reason for the minus. If she had just given me the heads up she wouldn't be coming, that would've been great. I will review Francesca below separately. Janine with Your Beauty Call who does hair is AMAZING!!! Easily one of my new favorite people. So cool, easy to talk to, FUN and she does bad ass amazing hair. I just took my updo out last night (Tuesday) from Saturday and I could have easily continued to pile on dry shampoo and wear it still. My hair wasn't going ANYWHERE! I HIGHLY recommend you hire her!!! Janine was great! I have a girl crush!
Bobbie Pin Beauty - Francesca Lombardo - A+
I had originally wanted to hire Francesca but she took some time off. I loved her style but had had to move on and hire Your Beauty Call. Anyway, when Francesca walked into the room, even though it wasn't who was supposed to be there, I took it in stride 100% because I knew what I was getting. She did beautiful work and I looked gorgeous! I sat with her as we were getting closer to walking down to the chapel and by then I was starting to get a little nervous. She was the most calming, soothing presence in the room and I appreciated her spirit so much! Hire her!!!
Faithfully Yours - Faith Chapin and Melonee Lamb - A
I hired Faith to be my day of coordinator, not knowing if I really needed it, but everyone said it was worth it. Faith and I communicated extensively leading up to the day. Faith went and got all of our DDB drinks days prior to our arrival and took it to Mike without even charging us. We just paid for what she purchased. I kept asking her if that was alright and she was fine, she offered. In addition, she also went and scoped out the Stardust Suite for me another time, completely free of charge! That is really a big deal in my opinion. Yes, as others have said.....you have to really give Faith a cohesive list of exactly what you want done as she may not be the strongest at anticipating the need. For some reason, Faith had to leave prior to our reception so she had brought an assistant, Melonee to work our reception for her. Melonee is AMAZING!!!!!! Everyone loved her, chatted with her throughout the whole night. She was fabulous about running the show at the Stardust Suite (since our wedding coordinator there was off that day). I couldn't have done it without Melonee. I know Melonee works at another place for her day job, but I don't know if she does her own DOC business, but I will find out and let you all know because she was an unexpected treat to work with.
Part 2 to Follow.....