Thanks girls!! Everything was just beautiful and I couldn't have been happier!!
Vendor reviews: Vendor reviews REALLY helped me a lot during my planning. I relied on them so I am going to be as detailed as possible and as honest as possible. Also, I won't be giving grades... they never helped me... (what's the difference between A+ and A+++???)
Joe- Sales Consultant:
Joe was great. Super friendly and understanding. Joe was great at helping us pick locations and times. When I flipped out over a rain location Joe was able to send us several different alternatives to our original choices. He always answered his emails in a timely manner. Yay Joe!
Diane-Wedding Planner:
I cannot say enough good things about Diane. She was incredibly helpful throughout our entire planning process. She was super easy to get in touch with and offered several different ideas to keep our costs down. (Such as having waiters pass beer and wine during cocktail hour so that we wouldn't have to pay for an extra bar hour) She helped stress the importance of sticking to the schedule on wedding day. When we had a mix up with the flowers, she was right there to fix it. I will say this: I loved Diane because she was 100% business. She wasn't there to be a cheerleader for my wedding, she was there to run the show and make sure it ran smoothly. She did just that. If you are expecting someone to gush over you, or your flowers, or whatever else, she won't do that. Diane was perfect and we have absolutely no complaints at all.
Laura Kidd-Disney Floral:
Laura was great! My bouquet was AMAZING. It was EXACTLY how I pictured it. Once I get my pictures back, I'll post my inspiration pic and then the actual bouquet. The girls flowers were amazing. She originally had flower balls with spray roses, hydrangeas and something else and they came out to like $150 each. I asked her what we could do to lower the price and she suggested carnations. I flipped out. (If you watch Sex and the City, you will know that they are filler flowers). She sent me pictures of carnations that were beautiful and you could not tell that they were carnations. She also added some pink gerbera daisies. The handles were these super fun black crystals. There were apparently some problems with the flower balls and they had to be fixed before the ceremony which caused us to start a little bit late. (I'm not really sure but I think the crystals fell out from some and some of the flowers popped out... but I wasn't actually told what the problem was, so I'm not 100% sure) Laura was not always super easy to get in touch with. I almost always had to follow up on my emails several times before I got a response. Also, changes to my BEO took a long time and I had to make sure to read them carefully because I did find a few mistakes. (Satin napkins instead of regular ones) This was frustrating, but her final product was simply amazing so I can't complain.
Randy Chapman- Photog:
We all know how great Randy's work is. He was excellent at making everyone feel at ease and he took TONS of pictures. He also worked with Diane to make sure that we could sneak out of our reception to take pictures in France (where we got engaged). The only negative thing I can say about Randy is that it's hard to get in touch with him. He and Linda really need a secretary. I'll be able to give further review once my pics are in.
Beaute Speciale- Hair and Makeup:
I have to say that I wasn't overjoyed by them. First, I wasn't told that Anna wouldn't be coming. It was fine that she sent someone else, but I would have liked if they said when we called to confirm "Lily and the other girl will be there at x time". There was one girl who didn't introduce herself. I don't know what her name was. She did a lovely job on everyone's hair. All of the girls looked great. Lily did my hair and makeup. My makeup was beautiful. I told her I wanted to look natural and I did. My hair however, was another story... I showed her a picture and then she did my hair and I had her make a few changes. My tiara was too far back on my head, the poof wasn't high enough and the front pieces were very flat. It looked like she put it up in a bun and then plopped my tiara on top, which was NOT the look I was going for. Caryn and Mary had to step in and help out with my hair because I was getting very upset and not expressing what I wanted. In the end, my hair was exactly what I wanted, I just wish I didn't have the stress of having to do it over twice.
Grand Floridian Cafe- Lunch for 15 and Breakfast for 30
My parents hosted the breakfast and we only popped in for a minute, so I can't really comment on that. We made lunch reservations for Sat afternoon. Everything was lovely. I was REALLY stressed out on Sat and I asked the waiter if someone could make me a grilled cheese and he very kindly let me have the kids grilled cheese. It was close to all of the wedding stuff which is why we chose it.
Grand Floridian Spa-
Chris and I both got mani/pedis there immediately following the rehearsal. They were lovely. 4 days later my manicure is still intact and my pedi looks great. We're both really pleased that we did this. We were really stressed out after the rehearsal and it was nice to be able to stop and take a few hourse for ourselves.
Tokyo Dining- Japan Rehearsal Dinner
This was another place that really went above and beyond. When we decided to book Japan for the rehearsal we went in and talked to the manager. This was during the time when no one was sure if ressies could be made 6 months out. She called us periodically to tell us that she still hadn't been able to make our ressie, but she'd let us know. When our three month mark hit, we made ressie's but accidentally did them for Teppan Edo. She called us up to let us know that she fixed them. The day of the rehersal dinner, she called us up to confirm how many people and just make sure we were all set to go. Everyone really enjoyed dinner there (I think, if they didn't no one told me) and it seemed very special.
Ohana Breakfast-
We had 20 people for breakfast. I love Ohana. I love their breakfast. There were a few things I didn't love. The waiter ignored me. He didn't ignore our table, but he ignored me. The picture that was taken of our group went to the opposite end of the table, I had to walk over there and get it. Now, we did have a family with two young kids sitting down there (they were part of our party) but we booked it as the Craig/Hrabar rehearsal and I was wearing my ears and a bride shirt. I had to call him over several times and I wasn't overjoyed by that.