Wedding Reviews: The Wedding Shoppe, A

I loved my bridesmaid dresses. I wish I had bought one for myself. I had 3 requirements:
1. a chiffon flowy style to make my 3 preggo bridesmaids feel comfortable
2. a variety of styles in the same fabric so that my MOH can have a different look
3. HAD to be plum/eggplant

I finally fell in love with Bari Jay's 641 for the bridesmaids and 649 for my MOH. I made one of my BMs try it on at a local bridal shop and got a quote that was pretty average in bridesmaid dress prices. But thankfully my cousin brought it to my attn that it's also available on tons of websites for about $40 cheaper! Wedding Shoppe, Inc. had the best price. A flat rate, no shipping costs, no tax! However, I was EXTREMELY hesitant to purchase such an important thing online. I was risking that the dresses get lost, arrive late, arrive in the wrong sizes or styles. I harassed the poor customer service rep, Angi, but she was so sweet and assured me that it would be fine. And it was! The dresses arrived safe and sound and they were packaged perfectly! Now the alterations were a different story (she gets a D-!) but that's neither here nor there.


If you're hesitant to buy your bridesmaid dresses online rather than at your local bridal shop like I was, give it a shot. My bridesmaids saved a nice chunk of money and we were happy. Here are some pointers to keep in mind:

• Read the online shop's reviews
• Ask a ton of questions. Don't feel bad, that's what they're there for
• Make sure you order all your dresses together in 1 complete order so that they are cut from one fabric. Otherwise, you'll risk the color being a little different.
• Save $ on shipping to one address (yours!)
• Make sure you fully inspect the dresses upon arrival. Sometimes, any issues will need to be addressed within just a few days
• Read and re-read your contract and make sure you agree to all terms and conditions
  

Wedding Reviews: Elegance in Ice, A

I wanted a "wow factor", but couldn't justify the expense. I researched my buns off on photo booths, donut stations, ice cream stands, exploding firework centerpieces, you name it. I just couldn't bring myself to spend so much on that little extra touch for just 4 hours. I always liked the idea of a vodka ice luge (first time I saw it was on a cruise), and I thought people would get great use out of it...SUCCESS! I found Elegance in Ice online. Don't be fooled by its barely developed website with outdated pictures. The owner, Ed Tillotson, offered the best price and was extremely flexible about my design. Yup, I designed it! The luge brings colored lights, a drip tray, and bottle holders (but I used them to hold my pretty flowers instead!), and also included delivery.

I think my guests had a lot of fun with it. Those shots did not stop! And it wasn't hard on the eyes either!

Wedding Reviews: Lila Francis, C

I love, love, love anything handmade, hence my Etsy addiction. But, anything handmade + wedding-related? = gimmie!

I found Lila Francis' handmade hangers on one of the blogs I stalk and I had to have it. I could just see my beautiful dress hanging ever-so-fabulously on a pretty hanger displaying my new last name. Well, my new last name barely made the character limit so I went with our initials and a heart instead. I placed the order and saw that it would then take 8 to 10 weeks to be shipped! (and it really did take that long!) But it was finally sent with a cute little thank you note and I was happy with it...Until I hung my dress from it! This hanger is definitely not made for dresses made of lace or with lots of detail. It was really flimsy and bent all the way down once I hung my dress from it. Needless to say, I couldn't use it for my wedding photos and it's still all bent out of shape because there was no way to get it back to its original state. I recommend this product only for hanging lingerie (but who does that!?), a silk robe, or anything reeeally light. Boo.

This is how it's supposed to look:

This is how mine looks after trying my best to put it back into shape:

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Sending you my warmest wishes this season!

This is my favorite Christmas present this year, my adorable nephew Ryan!

Holiday photography by Anais Ganouna Photography

Wedding Reviews: MakeUp Artistry by Jessie, A+

I had a pretty tough time finding a makeup artist who was both talented and affordable for myself and the bridesmaids. I found that most MUA who are referred by Knotties charge an arm, a leg, and both kidneys. I understand that makeup is very important because any crappy job can make you look like a hooker for your wedding pictures. But $500 for the bride!?!? Seriously!? I won’t name any names but I was just floored when I saw that contract come in. And the other MUAs I found were already booked. Thankfully, my florist/coordinator referred me to Jessie Sierra from MakeUp Artistry by Jessie. I swear, I felt like I’ve known her all my life! She came over to my house for a trial and we hit it off. I’m not a big fan of lots of makeup, so I made some little changes and she pulled it off perfectly! I didn’t even doubt for one second about booking her for my wedding and the bridesmaids. Her prices are affordable and she was extremely accommodating! Throughout the months before the big day, Jessie and I kept in touch and I would even share non-makeup-related wedding updates with her—she has great ideas! The day of the wedding, she was on time (and of course I wasn’t—sorry Jessie!) and she made my day so fun! She calmed me down when my butterflies started up, and she even took pictures for me when we all did a pre-wedding champagne toast! She brought an assistant, Osi, who was also really sweet and did an amazing job. Everyone’s makeup came out FAB and I felt like a princess :) I know I will be booking Jessie for future makeup jobs…you should too!

Wedding Reviews: By Invitation Only, A

Wedding invitations weren't something I really cared too much about. I knew that I didn't want to spend a honk of change on them because let's face it...who really keeps those things after the wedding besides the grandmas?! I actually considered DIY, but after witnessing a friend's meltdown when she made her invitations, I realized I didn't need the unwelcome stress-induced hives. I went to a few places (including Card Cottage and Miami Merchandise Mart) but I didn't see anything that really matched my theme at an affordable price. I knew I wanted something modern, but still with a classic look...enter By Invitation Only. She's got a little Etsy shop with the most adorable invitations I've ever seen. Choose from the large variety of suites and she can customize it with your wedding colors, fonts, shapes, paper, etc. At about $3 per suite, it was a steal! I loved that I was able to make it my own, and she made the whole process really easy. Laura was really quick to respond to e-mails and she sent PDF proofs to make sure you're in love with them before going to print. Again, my favorite part...the invitations came beautifully packaged in pretty wrapping! Those extra touches get me every time! I believe she told me that it would take about 4-6 weeks, but the invitations were in my possession within 2 weeks!

I chose the Portofino suite in Eggplant and Charcoal. Modern yet classic, don't you think?

Wedding Reviews: Hotels

The Mutiny Hotel Coconut Grove: C

I had originally booked The Mutiny Hotel in Coconut Grove for all of the girls to get ready and also for our honeymoon night. It was the best price I found but I was never really happy about it. We were 17 in total = 8 bridesmaids, my mother, mother-in-law, hair stylist, 2 make-up artists, 2 photographers, a videographer…and a partridge in a pear tree (oops, sorry my Christmas spirit came out). When I started to really think about it, there was NO POSSIBLE WAY that everyone would fit in that suite. We went back to look at the larger suite, but it really wasn’t much bigger and the price was now double! I didn’t think the hotel overall was really worth it. I admit I’m a hotel snob but seriously, it needs some updating.

The Ritz Carlton Coconut Grove: A+

So, my MOH/sister recommended we just check out the Ritz Carlton’s suite. All I could think is how much more that would cost, but to our surprise it was the best bang for the buck! The suite was GINORMOUS! All of us fit comfortably to get ready that day. We dealt with a really nice front desk employee named Marcelo, who showed us all around the hotel and gave us access to see the suite. He then referred us to a really-really nice woman named Dana who booked our reservations. She was flexible and gave us options for saving money on extra nights which was unheard of from The Mutiny. They seemed so excited for us that we chose them for our honeymoon night, which made me feel special. When we got back that night, we found chocolate covered strawberries and our bed covered in rose petals in a heart shape! So cute and unexpected! We called the Mutiny back to cancel our previous reservations and they gave us such a hard time. Let’s just say I had to get a doctor’s note in order to cancel. In the end, I did get my money back but it was a hassle that I didn’t need to deal with right before the wedding.

The Hyatt Regency Miami: B

The guys wanted a room to get ready and do whatever they do to prep for a wedding. (Which obviously involves beer!) The wedding coordinator at the Miami Tower recommended this hotel and when we called, they gave us a great price. We reserved the Miami Suite for the guys, but since I didn’t get a chance to stay here, read a review from one of the groomsmen below:

“The Hyatt Regency Miami was an ideal hotel for the groom to gather with his groomsmen. The suite provided more than ample room for nine guys to prepare for the big event, with a lovely sitting area, large closet to store the tuxedos, and an iPod dock for our enjoyment. The scenic backdrop of the gorgeous downtown Miami skyline and the Miami River made our time there special. Hyatt is renowned for their exceptional service, and they certainly didn't fall short this time. When I needed to print a very important document, I called the front desk and the agent immediately provided her email address so I could email it to her for printing. She had it ready for me in a few minutes, and didn't charge for the service. At the end of the night, it was very quick and easy to get to the hotel directly from the Miami Tower. The Hyatt Regency was a magnificent place to end a very memorable day.”

Wedding Reviews: Daisy Tarsi, A

Disclaimer: In no way are my reviews in order of importance or rating. I'm just selecting vendors to review at random. :)

I know it sounds like I've mentioned this for each review so far but THIS is one of my very favorite things about the whole wedding, I swear! I. LOVED. MY. DRESS. But I was definitely not one of those lucky brides who just walks into a bridal shop, finds the first dress to try on, and instantly falls in love. It worked a little backwards for me. About 6 months before the question was popped, I was strolling on Miracle Mile with my sis and I saw "the one" in the window. It was perfect, but of course I had no need for it at the time. Fast-forward 6 months later and it was now time to find "the one". It was no easy feat. I went to a gazillion bridal shops, tried on all sorts of styles, and nothing gave me "that feeling" everyone always talks about. So I went back to that shop where I first saw "the one" and it was there! Only Daisy Tarsi sold this Enzoani gown in Miami. MaryEllen helped me try this puppy on and that's when I heard the angels sing! I had a few issues with the fit, but MaryEllen had the best solution. We had it made to look just like it, but with all of the specs that would fit my body best. We chose the perfect lace, cut, scalloped detail, and the best part of all...I was able to keep the original Enzoani flower sash! I swear I've been holding myself back from wearing that sash to sleep!

Every fitting after that went really well. Monica, the seamstress, is a wedding-gown-genius! She listened to all my requests, took notes, and with each fitting it kept getting better and better! The staff is helpful and gave great advice. I just wish that they had more appointment options at the end of the day (fittings always needed to be booked in the mornings during the week). All in all, I'm just grateful that I was able to get the dress of my dreams made-to-order!

Wedding Reviews: Ubi's Music and Bode Music Services, A+

Our wedding was a non-stop party thanks to our DJ! We booked our DJ services with Ubi's Music. After meeting with a couple of other DJ's, we realized that Ubi and his team are truly unique these days. It seems that DJ's nowadays prefer you to give them a complete playlist of all the songs you want played for the 4 whole hours, and someone just sets up the equipment and presses PLAY. With Ubi, you can send him a short list of about 20 songs and they just run with it. Now THAT'S what we were looking for in a DJ! Ubi was very accommodating and responded to our e-mails and questions right away, but he did let us know that he would most probably not be our DJ and he would match us with one of his contracted DJs that he thought would fit our party style and venue best. This made me a little nervous because we never got to meet the DJ until the night of the wedding...


...which leads me to review DJ Luis Bode from Bode Music Services. What a relief! Luis was extremely professional and so much fun! I felt like we've known him forever. Ubi was right--he was the perfect fit! He got that party started and kept it going all night! He made us feel at ease (with his awesome voice LOL!) and it was just fun to party with him. People are still talking about how great he was! Can't wait to run into him at another function!

Wedding Reviews: 13:13 Photography A+

Photography was my high-priority/#1 focus/super-important check on my to-do list. I must have done a month’s worth of research on photographers in Miami, and there were some that I absolutely loved (aka this one, this one, and this one!). The quality of photographers out there is amazing. But I was really looking for something different, yet I didn’t really know what exactly I was looking for… (I’m complicated, I know) …until a Knottie posted about a new-to-Miami photography team called 13:13 Photography. I clicked on their blog, and I was smitten! This is the first wedding that I saw on their blog and it was love at first sight—I want 13:13! I was able to get Ashley (half of the hubby & wifey team) to meet me at the venue so that she can see what the place looked like and get inspired, which I totally think she did. After chatting with her for a while (and playing with her adorable baby daughter) I was ready to book!

We had a fun engagement shoot and the pictures came out better than I would ever expect—she’s so good! So there was no doubt in our minds that the wedding photos would be just as amazing.

The day of the wedding, both Ashley & Phillip arrived at our hotel on time and started snapping pics right away. Somehow they were able to get all my personal things together to photograph while I was getting my hair and makeup done. Phillip headed out a little earlier to shoot the guys at the church while Ashley stayed behind and finished shooting me with my bridesmaids. The rest of the day was smooth sailing! We had fun with them; they were never in the way, yet they were all over the place the whole night! How that’s possible, I have no idea! Here are the pictures posted on the blog.

I recommend 13:13 Photography to everyone! Their prices are extremely reasonable, their customer service is impeccable, and their quality of work is out of this world! They got back to my zillions of e-mails immediately and answered all of my ridiculous questions with no problem. They gave me ideas and helped me plan out a shoot schedule. They have a special artistic talent that is very unique, and if these are the things that you’re looking for, book them ASAP! I’m sure their available weekends for 2011 and beyond will be filling up pretty quickly!

P.S. They sent us the cutest Christmas card in the mail yesterday. There they are with their daughter and 5 puppies! How cute are they?!

Double P.S. They are so creative with their marketing and packaging--and that's soooo my style. Check out how beautifully the CD of photos arrived at my house today. Makes me feel so special that they gave us a hand-written note and put so much extra time into my little gift!

Wedding Reviews: The Knot

To all you brides-to-be out there who are dying for some personal reviews of Miami wedding vendors like I was last year, Christmas has come early! I’m now ready to share all my feedback and hopefully it will help you for your future wedding!

I’ll start with The Knot

I confess—I had become a member of The Knot before I became engaged. (You have to sign up just to look at the pretty pictures, I swear!) But once I became engaged, a bride-to-be friend of mine told me about the South Florida Message Boards. It was then when I officially became a “Knottie”. You create a profile where you can be as detailed or as vague as you want about your relationship and your wedding, and you go through posts and posts of other Knotties asking for advice, giving advice, sharing vendor information, and sometimes just ranting or raving about NWR (non-wedding-related) topics. At first, I could barely understand these posts. It was as if they were written in some kind of weird secret language with tons of abbreviations. But after reading the vocab list (yes, they have one!) I got familiarized pretty quickly. It was all downhill from there—you become OBSESSED with reading Knottie posts. I warn you, it’s very addicting. I was mostly a “lurker” (someone who habitually just reads the posts but doesn’t post too often themselves). I did give my input as much as I could, but they just seemed to know so much more than me. Thanks to the Knotties, I was able to book most of my wedding vendors based on their referrals and I owe them so much!

I also sorta met my wedding partner-in-crime on The Knot. Someone posted asking if anyone has the BOA Tower as their venue, and we both answered. We got so excited because it’s a little rare for people to get married at the BOA, so we starting sharing all of our details with each other and we became Wedding Besties! We updated each other on “checks” (items on the things-to-do checklist) every day, and ended up finding out we have a ton of things in common besides being just “venue twins”: we have the same name, we live really close by, our weddings were only 6 days apart, and so much more. It’s funny I know, but I’m grateful for her!

Go ahead, try it. Become a Knottie. Don’t be shy. Ask questions, they answer you really quickly. Read their opinions and you'll love them. What better way to get honest opinions, than from those just like you scouring the wedding market!

Window-Shopper, Show-Stopper

One of my favorite things about NYC (and sometimes other awesome cities) is strolling by all the store windows during the holidays. Bloomies, Macy's, and many other big stores have the craziest window displays that make you wonder "how the eff did they get that in there?!" But I think none compare to the Bergdorf Goodman window displays, they're *magical*...

Check out this pretty cool video and watch how the 2010 Bergdorf Goodman window display was made! (P.S. Found this video thru Lonny Mag, the best online magazine everrr!)

And the winner is...HONEYSUCKLE!

Pantone has named the 2011 color of the year: Honeysuckle! Part pink, part red, part pinky-red. It's PERFECT! They're calling it a brave color that will hopefully lift spirits and bring positivity to the economy. Turquoise was Pantone's pick last year to bring calm and serenity to our troubled world. This year, Honeysuckle will ward off the blues!

OMG, but imagine Honeysuckle and Turquoise together! Perfect match i.m.h.o.

I will keep Honeysuckle in mind next year and add it as a brave pop to my wardrobe and designs!

Wrapper's Delight

I’m one of those weirdos who love gift wrap, almost more than actual gifts. I love to gift wrap and I love receiving gifts wrapped. C’mon, don’t you agree? Pretty packages always make a birthday or Christmas gift feel that much more special!

This year my sister was asked to do some volunteer work for her job to wrap 500 to 1,000 gifts for seniors and when I heard about it, I immediately decided to join her. Last Friday we met at Coral Gables High School and between the two of us we wrapped about 25-30 gifts within an hour! (She’s a closet gift-wrapper too!) As much as I want to say we did it 100% for the sake of helping others, I admit we sorta also did it for our own pleasure—don’t judge!

So I’m confessing to you about one of my favorite purchases from a couple of weeks ago: This super-cool gift wrap organizer where I can store all my goodies! I sound like a dorkus but I don’t care. I went straight home and started organizing my organizer!



If you’re just as weird as I am and this gift wrap organizer interests you, check out the DIY project that one of my favorite bloggers made last year here. This is so smart.



And in case you haven’t heard, Anthropologie is kicking gift wrap butt this year again and providing the cutest gift wrap for all purchases (except the South Beach location for some reason…) I’d buy something just to get it gift-wrapped like this!


Next year, I’d like to mix in some eco-friendly gift wrapping for Christmas gifts. Enjoy these gorgeous works of art below.

Super Awesome Special Announcement

We've been blogged!!! Our fantabulous photographers, Ashley and Phillip Colhouer from 1313 Photography, wrote up a cute little blog post for our wedding photos! Check it out here and leave a comment please! For all comments left, they will give us credit towards their products.

Again, I will be giving full reviews of all of our wedding vendors soon. This is just a little fun sneak peak!

Final Stop: Madrid

This was the first time we cruise without getting the blues on the last day. We had one extra little stop for 2 nights before heading back to reality...Madrid! We disembarked the ship in Barcelona and hopped on a flight to Madrid. I had been there as a little girl but didn't really know what to expect now. I've got to say, we liked Madrid so much, maybe even more than Barcelona! The people are nicer, the streets are cleaner, the food, the beer, the ambiance, etc. We stayed at the Vincci Soho Hotel right between the Plaza del Sol and the Paseo del Prado (two of Madrid's most busiest attractions). I love how everything was within walking distance so we were able to see so much in the 2 short days we were there. We also took the hop-on/hop-off bus for about 17 euros per person and toured the whole city in a day.

One of my favorite places in Madrid was the Parque de Retiro. There are art sculptures all over the park, street musicians, national monuments, and the prettiest red flowers I've ever seen.

It was hard to get back to the airport for our 10-hour flight to Miami on the last day. That's when the blues started kicking in! But we flew Iberia and we actually really liked it. They served us plenty of food (which wasn't so disgustingly dreadful) and the staff was actually really entertaining in ways they weren't even aware of.

Our honeymoon was everything we hoped for. I recommend going as far away as possible for your honeymoon to really escape reality and relieve yourself of all the wedding planning anxiety. It was a much-deserved, much-needed vacation and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat--in fact, I think I'll start planning our 1-year anniversary trip TODAY! :)