MrsGG's reviews

Myra Callan's Etsy shop called "Twigs & Honey" is amazing! She custom makes every single order as they come in just for the bride and the wedding party.

Myra made my floral hair piece and also my niece's headband (she was the flower girl). We both loved it and it added that classy touch to the wedding. She uses the finest quality materials. Myra has very thorough communication even though she's overwhelmed with orders!

Right now there's a wait and she's already taking orders for 2009-2010! If you're lucky you'll get in her queue!

I've been putting off my review because I simply can't find the words to describe how much I LOVED having Jason capture our wedding images. Jason was a last minute, down to the wire addition to my dream team of wedding vendors. But he stepped up to the plate, arrived early and was ready to get down to business. On the wedding day, he kept checking my DOC's time line and moved us along so we'd stay on schedule as much as we could. Jason has the keenest most artistic eye, it's amazing. He'd take shots and I'd wonder how it would look but when I saw the final photos, my jaw dropped. Seriously. I felt like I was looking in a magazine! My thoughts were "That's not us!" I was so overjoyed! He'd also pop up out of no where, snap the shot and be gone. I never noticed him around! My family and friends nicknamed him "The Ninja Photographer!"

Many of my vendors immediately wanted to use his pictures for their own portfolios as well.

If you are looking for "The sure thing" than Jason is your man. You don't need to look anywhere else. His communication is excellent and prompt. I just can't express how much I loved his work. You will definitely see his work published in many magazines in the coming years.

I worked with Holly of Twisted Sisters when I ordered my custom embroidered hanger cover for my wedding gown. I was so extremely happy with the final product because it added some flare to my dress shots.

Holly was an absolute doll to work with. Her communication was very thorough and the turn around quick. The materials she uses are top notch.

I highly recommend them if you want an added personal touch to your wedding!

We had the pleasure of having Natalie Williams on our wedding dream team of vendors. Natalie was a last minute addition and was hired to assist Jonilyn Brown with the photo booth. But Natalie went above and beyond her call of duty. She captured so many great candids, portraits and details. I never noticed her around! I'm so very happy with Natalie's work and it's such a joy especially when I was only expecting photo booth images from her! She was very calm and helpful while I was getting dressed in the morning.

Natalie is extremely professional and has excellent communication which is very important to a bride during wedding planning. I heard back from her in less than a few hours.

Natalie is fairly new to the wedding photography business but I've been following her work from the day she started her blog. I know she will succeed in this wedding business. I'd check Natalie out before she books up! :)

The Ayres Hotel Manhattan Beach is a first class venue without the the pretentious attitude. I booked them site unseen based on photos. When I went to visit the site two months later I was not disappointed. The location is right off the 405 Fwy across the street from a Costco shopping center. Sounds odd but when you step foot on site, you feel like you're at the Biltmore or Ritz Carlton!

The catering and events are booked through Matisse, the on-site restaurant. The catering contact, Deanna, is very gracious, professional, thorough, and very prompt with communication. I never had to wait longer than 24 hours for a reply if I left a voice mail and she worked well with my DOC. Deanna graciously let me store all my wedding items a week before. I filled up her office!

The packages they provide are such a great value! We went with the highest package which included much more than other hotel venues were offering. The food was delicious and the chefs have been featured in Gourmet Magazine. All my guests raved about the food from the appetizers all the way to the white chocolate ice cream dessert with fresh berries served in a chilled martini glass. The banquet service was amazing and on time and kept checking in with us to see if we needed anything all day (water, appetizers, cocktails, etc). Everything seemed to flow without any hitches.

The venue itself is gorgeous. Our ceremony was in the beautiful courtyard. There are many original furniture pieces on display. You can tell each piece was hand selected. I met the owner's son who was visiting that day and he personally asked how my stay was.

The sales manager who blocks the room, Bray, was another amazing contact to work with. She was so patient while I figured out the room block and kept in contact with me to update the latest room counts. I knew which suite I wanted to stay in and she reserved it. I'll never forget I was in her office talking about the rooms when the 5.4 earthquake hit. We didn't realize it until it was halfway over!

And on our last day my husband and I were stuffing our trunk with all our items when the front desk attendant happened to walk out. He stopped what he was doing and helped us remove everything from the trunk to repack it in efficiently.

All in all I would highly recommend this hotel for the ceremony & reception. The service from the catering, sales department and front desk just can't be beat!!

8/21/08 Edit: I just wanted to upgrade my review for Candi's work. I originally had four stars because I was worried that the lace separating would show up in photos. Now that I've seen the photos, you can't even tell! The veil was beautiful.
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Candi Merle created a hybrid veil that I thought up. I wanted a Mantilla but I also wanted a blusher. Her final custom product was gorgeous. She shipped it to me because I lived out of state and she packed it up so that when I opened it, the wrinkles would fall out perfectly!

I loved the veil so much on my wedding day. The only thing that I didn't notice but my sister MOH did was that the lace was separating during photos before the reception. I didn't notice it and hope that it didn't show in pictures.

Other than that, it was a great product for the price, turn around and service!

Olivia of "A Stitch In Time" saved my wedding gown!

BACKGROUND: I was planning my Los Angeles wedding from out of state. In an effort to save time, I decided to go to an unknown so-called "seamstress" in a small town I live in. She butchered the hem to where it became FLOODS! You could see my ankles! It was 1.5" short on the left and 1" short on the right. Because my gown had pick ups, she had to let out some of them so she'd have more material to fix the hem. Horrible!

My wonderful coordinator sang the praises of Oliva of "A Stitch In Time." I took my gown in to Olivia a week before the wedding. After two seconds of looking at it she knew exactly how to fix it! Genius! It was like the clouds parted and the sun came through! She made a few clips here and there and knew exactly what to do because she works with high end gowns. Olivia put in brand new 8-10 point French bustle! She steamed it, stuffed it, and had it ready for me to pick up after THREE DAYS. She really saved me! I'll never forget her!!

Part of the services she offers is coming on the day of the wedding and helping the bride and bridal party get dressed on the day of. If I had more money, I would've totally hired her for it.

If you want peace of mind...go see Olivia. You will not be disappointed! She was worth every pretty penny!

I loved my custom bridal broach and pearl bracelet! Dana had excellent communication throughout the transaction process. Her work is so popular she sold out very quickly of the broach that I ordered.

Dana was very quick with making and shipping the final product. The picture of the pearl bracelet is in my bio. Dana's product looks like the famous Haute Bride rhinestone bracelet but at a fraction of the cost! I rec'd so many compliments!

I'm trying to think of how to write all the reasons why I loved Huyen. I found her online and when we spoke over the phone, I felt like I was talking to an old friend. She's super sweet, calm and very professional. She takes her business, work, and reputation very seriously and rightfully so! Her work is UH-MAY-ZING.

I loved everything about my trial. I had a ton of gray hair and it was painfully evident in my trial pics. A week before my wedding, dear hubby (who also had tons of grays) and I went to get our hair colored. She came in on a Monday (her usual day off) just to accommodate our schedule because she knew we were driving in from out of state. She colored my hair and the clip-in hair extensions at the same time so they matched perfectly! And my hubby's hair color looked so natural like he turned back the clock 10 years!

On the morning of the wedding Huyen showed up early before 6am to set up. She did my hair first and it was 1000% better than the trial and the trial hair was fabulous! I wanted to cry! I felt so beautiful because of her. Huyen also did my sister's short bob hair at the last minute. My sister wasn't planning to do anything because of the length but Huyen was able to play with it and make her super cute and sexy. Everyone loved what she did. I got so many compliments on my wedding day on how good my hair looked!

Huyen helped all the girls in my bridal party with little things around the room and stayed beyond her contracted time just to put my veil on. She even curled my niece/flower girl's hair and my niece LOVED that she was a part of all the beauty as well! Huyen's just an all around special vendor that I would love to continue to see long after our wedding!

Antonia of AC Chair Covers was really sweet and helpful during my linen/overlay process. She has a great selection of colors and products. My venue included chair covers in their cost.

I only rented champagne organza overlays for the guest tables, champagne crushed satin underlays for my sweetheart and cake tables, and chair sashes to tie the linens for the tall cocktail tables. Antonia was always prompt with her communication and she even let me pick up the linens four-five days early without any charge.

If you're looking for excellent service and a good selection of chair covers and table linens, try them! I know they rent to hotels as well.