Barbara of Veil Artistry hand-crafted my beautiful, one-of-a-kind veil. It was chapel length, 90 inches at the top, and rounded out to 108'' at the bottom. It was a variation of the Teardrop Classic Veil. She sent me tulle and ribbon samples so I could chose the best colors to match my dress. She was very prompt with the mail and returning phone calls. I had many compliments on my veil and I loved it!

She is based in Ohio, but serves the entire country. I was nervous purchasing it without having seen her work in person, but she was very knowledgeable and has many reviews and pictures on her web site. Her prices were very reasonable. After having tried a separate designer, whose prices were outrageous - and being very disappointed by the selection at David's Bridal - I went with Barbara and was very happy with the result! I highly recommend her!

Since we're not from the area, we went and checked out a bunch of hotels in Laguna Beach and this was by far one of the nicest. We were offered a great group rate for a three-day weekend (basically half-off what the rooms normally cost.) The bridal party loved it - as did my husband and I. We were given a suite on the highest floor, with beautiful views. Our wedding photographer, Steve Hoffmann, also recommended this hotel for its modern decor and great natural light. It made for a beautiful backdrop, inside and out.

Upon arrival, we were greated with champagne, strawberries, and chocolate. They also brought a steamer to the room (which saved us a bunch of time and hassel.) We did have to request it in advance, so keep that it mind. The staff was very friendly and accomodating.

I had my nails done in the sweet little salon they had and the nail technician was extremely friendly.

The property is beachfront, so not only did we have beautiful views - but the beach was mere steps away. It was just beautiful and well-worth the price! We're hoping to go back for our one-year anniversary! :)

From the moment we met with Rev. Hufft and his wife, Debra, we knew that they were the right people to marry us!! Rev. Hufft was not available to perform our wedding ceremony, so Debra was our day-of officiant. She was calm, professional, and personable. I just loved her! :)

Rev. Hufft helped us along the way in crafting the, and I mean THE perfect wedding ceremony. They had the most beautiful samples to choose from, and we were able to make our wedding ceremony personal and heart-felt. Andrew and I have opposite schedules, so we were nervous that we were a little behind schedule with the crafting of the ceremony, but Rev. Hufft was so professional and responded promptly to our emails. He was great!

In the end, it was a gorgeous ceremony and many of our guests said it was one of the most emotional and beautiful ceremonies that they had ever witnessed. Thank you Rev. Clint and Rev. Debra for helping us put our love into the most perfect of words! :) We highly recommend Rev. Clint and Rev. Debra!!! :)

Steve Hoffmann is an amazing photographer! He's professional, yet laid-back at the same time. He always returned our phone calls and emails promptly and had a great attitude! All of our friends and family raved about our engagement and wedding photos and of course, we will treasure them forever! We highly recommend him!!!

Tiffany is a VERY talented stylist! I tried two different styles with her before the wedding, but ended up going with a completely different look the day of! She did a beautiful job and it ended up looking better than I had imagined! I wanted the look to be classic and timeless and that's exactly what she did! :) I know I will look back at my pictures 50 years from now and feel the same way. Tiffany's prices were also very reasonable! One stylist I met with in OC wanted to charge a $200 travel fee, but Tiffany came to Laguna at no additional charge. Having her at the hotel was a great way to minimize stress on the wedding day! Thank you Tiffany for making me look my very best on the very best day of my life! :)

We were married at Occasions at Laguna Village. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it online - and in person. The site is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and we couldn't have asked for a more AMAZING place to get married. We could have, however, had better service. When I look back on the day, the only thing that I think negatively about was how we were treated by our horrendous "wedding coordinator."

She NEVER returned phone calls within 24 hours - in fact, we were lucky if she returned them at all. When I did speak with her, she was pushy, and acted like I was inconveniencing her. While she wasn't outright nasty, I would definitely say that she had an attitude and was VERY into herself.

She was over 45 minutes late to our rehearsal because she was "assisting" another bride who had yet to book with the location. When I knocked on the door to the office (which has windows) she just kept talking to her prospective clients. Then, when I went back a second time about 20 minutes later, she said that she would be a few more minutes. Not the case. Then she had the nerve to tell me, "You wouldn't want me to leave the other bride now, would you?" Meanwhile, our bridal party and close family members were waiting around for HER. She didn't even apologize.

Also, the wedding started 20 minutes late. All of the bridal party and things on our end were perfect (we were all actually early) but for whatever reason, she didn't have her you-know-what together. She then told my husband that she would let the wedding go 30 minutes longer due to the delay. Not the case. The last song played at 8:55 and we all felt like we were pushed out of there. When we booked with the location, we were told by Stacey (who was very nice) to book 5-9 and that they usually let the weddings go longer - if we booked from 6-10, there was nothing they could do because the music has to go off at 10 due to the noise ordinance. Well, that didn't happen. 8:55 we were out of there.

On top of that, our wedding coordinator shoved all of our items that belonged to us at my husband's aunt.... like all of our candles, etc. She was reportedly very rude (not surprised).... and instead of informing Andrew's aunt that OUR CENTERPIECES & VASES belonged to us as well... she didn't. In fact, she was actually seen leaving the site with one of our centerpieces herself and had given the rest away to staff onsite. It was in our contract that things left onsite could be given away, but the fact that she didn't inform Andrew's aunt that they belonged to us (How would she have known???) she decided to leave that out, and then left with one. When we phoned her after the wedding to discuss this, she told us that it wasn't her responsibility. Literally, she has no sense of customer service whatsoever.

To make matters worse, we paid to have a shuttle pick up guests at a nearby parking lot and drop them off to the location... but when guests asked to be directed to that parking lot, the attendents told them "Oh, no... you park here... " thereby charging them for valet parking. We were also supposed to get two free spots on site for Andrew's parents (who were taking all the gifts home) and his grandparents. Well, guess what? They were charged $50 for parking, anyway. It was very upsetting to learn that our guests had been ripped off like this, and that we too, had paid for a service that was not even utilized due to the greedy parking attendants. (The parking lot is apparantly owned by a separate company, but they maintain the same SEEDY business practices.)

In addtion, our wedding coordinator did not direct our greeter to stand at the top of the stairs where the sign-in book and placecard table was located. She actually told him to stay at the bottom of the stairs. Half of our guests didn't even seen the placecard table (which by the way, were arranged incorrectly.) My husband was actually passing them out as the wedding coordinator was doing whatever it was that made our wedding start late.

Because we had such a BEAUTIFUL wedding minus our HORRIBLE wedding coordinator, it is hard for me to say, do not get married here... but if you're looking for impecable service, this is NOT the place to receive it....nor is our wedding coordinator the person you want to work with.

I would like to say that when we initially booked the location - the service was wonderful - Michael, who was the catering manager at the time, was AWESOME...and Stacey was patient and friendly. Michael I believe still works there, but under his own catering company - I'd look into that if you're considering Occassions.)

My advice would be to hire your own outside wedding coordinator - someone who you trust and who comes highly recommended. You'd think that because our coordinator was on-site, she'd totally rock - but she was disinterested and rude.

Also, somehow my salad order got screwed up and when I informed the wedding coordinator, she of course, acted bothered. I remember her taking away my plate, at the same time spilling my champagne. Then she said, "I'm not a server." SERIOUSLY... I COULD HAVE DONE A BETTER JOB. This woman also runs her own outside "coordinating" business. Do your research and stay away from her. Please.

Also, because my review is SO NOT what I would have loved to have given it, I'd just like to say that I wasn't one of these crazy brides running around yelling at people, demanding things. All I wanted was to be treated well and with respect. I'm really sorry that that didn't happen.

Berit did my makeup for both our engagement photo session and the wedding. She's VERY talented at what she does! I received sooo many compliments. In the words of my "no bs" father-in-law, "You're a pretty girl, but wow, that makeup really enhanced it." I swear, he's told me that like 5 times. haha. :)

For brides who are on a tight budget (or out-of-town brides not accustomed to Southern California prices) the fees may seem a little expensive (especially if you have someone trying to convince you to just go to mall) but she's TOTALLY WORTH IT. She uses great products, my makeup lasted all night and I only had to reapply my lipstick and gloss once. I couldn't afford to pay for my bridesmaids, but she does offer a quick-over service, where the she does lips, eyes, and cheek color I believe. They just have to come with their foundation done. It's a great option if your bridesmaids are on a tight budget.

I highly recommend Berit! :)

JCrew is AWESOME. The dresses were priced reasonably (my girls paid about $130 each) and they were super cute. I'm still not sure if they are dresses the girls will wear again, but I think that's because I'm a HUGE pink fan. Everyone was in different cities, so ordering the dresses offline made it very easy. It was a little nerve wracking in a way because they couldn't try them on, but all of the girls ordered big and then had them altered.

We also used JCrew for the groomsmen's khaki pants. If you're still a student, they offer a 15% discount (just provide them with your college email account - my husband is an employee at the U of A, so we used that.) Surprisingly, JCrew was the only company that carried the wide range of men's pants sizes that we needed. Their wedding line is not available in stores, so we ordered all the pants at once, sent them to the groomsmen, and had the pants not fit - they could have sent them back and ordered a different size. All of the pants were perfect, though.

The color of the dress I chose also came in three different styles, so it gave the girls an option for their body types. When I was making my decision, I had JCrew send me color and fabric samples which was a HUGE help, because online photos can be very deceiving. Order the swatches as soon as you can, as they can take up to 10 days to arrive. We didn't find the dresses until about mid-January, but that's what was great about using JCrew - it didn't take 4 -6 months for the dresses to be made. Just 7 - 10 business days for the dresses to be mailed. Plus, JCrew is such a classic store that no matter what style you chose, it will be a better choice than something that is more "in style."

A bride who is considering booking with Lyn wrote me recently... I thought some of her questions might help you if you're considering My Fair Lady Flowers as well.

Why I booked with My Fair Lady Flowers:

Lyn was one of four preferred vendors for our wedding venue, Occasions at Laguna Village. She is on-site, so that was a big plus! Of all of the florists I met with, she was the most attentive and sincere - it really seemed like she actually CARED about making my vision for the wedding come alive. Her prices were also the most reasonable....one vendor wanted to charge me FIVE TIMES more for carnation balls than what Lyn charged.

One of the florists I met with refused to give me a price estimate until I booked with her. I told her my budget, and she said something along the lines of 'Oh, yeah I think I can make that work... but you have to book with me first.' She sat me in the front of her shop to flip through some books while she was in the back.

When I met with Lyn, she immediately whipped out her pad of paper, took time to look at arrangements I wanted AND she suggested less expensive flowers (that I actually ended up liking more!) to stay within our budget. She's also just a very nice, comfortable person to work with. At no point did I feel like I was inconveniencing her, bothering her, or not spending enough money... which is how I felt with quite a few of the vendors I worked with in Laguna.

Did the arrangements meet my expectations?

They went beyond my expectations. I don't have our professional pictures yet, so I will attach a few of my favorite photos. I had Lyn do a mock-up of my centerpiece a few months before the wedding, which was the best thing I could have done. It eased any worry that I had about the flowers being exactly what I wanted them to be. It also gave me the opportunity to ask for a less brighter pink in the roses and request that all of the roses be fully open.

Was she there for my wedding?

Lyn was on site setting up the arrangements and the chuppah...which was so beautiful I wanted to take it home with me. (The columns that Occasions provided were just not at all what I was looking for.) Her husband delivered the flowers to our hotel beforehand, so I didn't see Lyn, but since she's on site, there's really no reason why she wouldn't be there setting up the flowers. I remember asking her if she would be the florist arranging the flowers and she told me that she had an assistant (Amanda is awesome too!) but that she liked to be in charge to make sure everything is perfect. :)

Oh, and I just remembered...one of my bridesmaids had an incident with her bouquet, and because Lyn was on-site, she was able to walk over and have it repaired. Also, when the flowers were delivered to the hotel, we were missing a butonniere (due to miscommunication) so I called Lyn, she whipped up one more and had it to the Best Man in no time. AND my husband went to buy a card for me before the wedding, and she changed the inside lining of the card to match our wedding colors! People that caring don't come around often. Especially in the wedding business, where many, many vendors are just in it for the money.

Were there any surprises?

No surprises. It was about $100 more in the end, but that's because I had to add corsages and I changed my bouquet. I would say the one disappointment I did have was that I wanted my peonies to be open more but by the early evening, they were in full bloom and just beautiful. It was still very pretty and sweet smaller, though. Lyn even put little white pins in it that I wanted. :)

Advice

If you book with Lyn, be sure to show her photographs of what you want. By showing her photos of what I liked, she reproduced exactly what I wanted (ONLY BETTER) while making suggestions to stay within my budget. The chuppah was AMAZING!
Also, if you're also getting married at Occasions, don't listen to whoever you're working with when they make floral suggestions...they really downplayed Lyn's talent. In the end, book with who you like, who is willing do to what you want within your budget, and you can walk away from feeling comfortable and like you can trust them.

Last, but not least - Lyn of My Fair Lady Flowers is amazingly talented, personable, and caring. I highly recommend you consider her services. :)

Before the wedding:

I am wearing a Nicole Miller gown for my wedding in April. I bought my dress in July from the Nicole Miller on Sunset. I loved the vibe of the store - it was very laidback and casual and the sales girl, who helped me, Elaine was very friendly. I had tried on a size 10, but Elaine suggested I order a size 8. Looking back, I wish I would have gone with the 10 because even though I've had to had the taken in on the top and bottom, the hip area has some slight bunching.

The alterier they sent me to said I could have gone with a 10, but she sees this problem with the dress all the time. She said it is very common for brides to bring this particular dress to her and be in love with it at the beginning, but then once alterations begin, they start to see the faults in the dress.

In short, I left Nicole Miller feeling like I had gotten a great deal, but now am wishing I maybe would have spent a little more money to get a more well-made dress.

Also, when I picked up my dress, it seemed as though the fabric was a lot lighter than the sample they showed me. Elaine no longer worked there, but Shannon told me it was because the sample was "dirty" and had been in the salon for a while. She was very obnoxious and kept saying that she could order me another dress but that it was going to be "exactly the same, exactly the same." I swear she repeated it about 50 times. They make you sign off on the dress when you pick it up, so that you can not return it after you leave the store. The alterier told me that she's asked the store about this policy and they told her they can't do anything about "buyer's remorse."

While the prices at Nicole Miller are attractive, I suggest taking a closer look at the seams and details of how the dress is made before you buy it.

After the wedding:

After all of the "stuff" I went through with my dress, in the end - it was beautiful. I think a lot of the problems with my dress were in the fact that the lady who altered it was probably not the best person for me to go to. She came recommended by Nicole Miller, and I went to her because she has worked with my dress for a long time.

Yes, I could have spent thousands to perhaps have a more well-made dress, but for the price, it was perfect. I couldn't wear any undergarments however because of the shape of the dress, so I worked really hard to get my curvy figure the best I could get it looking...still wish I could have lost five more from my stomach...but my husband loved it and I felt great, so that's all that matters. :)