OctJK07's reviews

We were not informed, when we booked Melissa as our wedding planner, that she had very little experience in the field. I would have been nice to know because this came to light very quickly after signing contracts. She did not listen when we explained our vision for our wedding day, and seemed to have her own ideas instead that were often the opposite of what we wanted. Her communication with us was truly awful. We would call and email with questions and sometimes we wouldn’t receive a response for up to three weeks. We let her superiors at Nook and Cranny know we were not pleased with this lack of service, and they did nothing to correct it. Not the way to deal with a stressed out bride! Rather than make planning part of the wedding easier, we felt that having to work so hard to communicate with our wedding planner added to our stress. When all was said and done, there was no follow up by Melissa or Nook and Cranny to see if we were satisfied with the service. In the end, we paid a lot of money for something we could have much more easily done ourselves. Or better yet, spent on a wedding planner that was qualified to do the job.

Lann Briel of Cinema de la Vie was truly a joy to work with. She created a wonderful wedding video that we will enjoy for many, many years. She was extremely professional, friendly and efficient. She was able to document the whole day without feeling intrusive or “in the way”. She worked closely with our photographer to make sure our day was documented seamlessly and artistically. She went a step beyond simply recording key moments, and used her talents as an editor and artist to create something really special. Lann is a fantastic videographer and I would recommend cinema de la vie to anyone.

Duplex was wonderful to work with in creating our rehearsal dinner. We let them know our budget and they created a special menu based on that. Our guests were given their choice of three entrees, in addition to salad, desert, beer and wine. The food was wonderful and they printed adorable menus for us! The staff was absolutely fantastic, some of the best I’ve encountered at any restaurant. The only reason I have to give them a rating of four, instead of five, is for the temperature in the restaurant. It was an especially hot weekend in October, and it was terribly hot upstairs where our dinner was held. Our guests had to continually step outside to cool off. I hope they’ve found a way to resolve this, because in every other way it was fantastic! I would recommend Duplex, but make sure to ask if they have AC!

Matt was really a joy to work with throughout the entire process. We had seen his work on his website and immediately knew he was our guy! His prices were fair and he was very helpful and extremely professional. He had some very creative ideas to make our wedding photos really unique – you can tell that Matt is a true artist, not your run-of-the-mill wedding photographer. When we received our proofs after the wedding, we were thrilled. Matt did a fantastic job and we will treasure these beautiful photos for the rest of our lives.

We were very pleased with our experience creating our wedding ceremony with Judge Armstrong. He is the very definition of flexible. When you work with Judge Armstrong, you have the opportunity to create something completely unique for your wedding ceremony. His website contains many sample ceremonies, and portions of ceremonies. This gives you a template so that you can pick and chose what you’d like. You can chose anything from the website or create something yourself. He is readily available for questions throughout the process via phone or email. He isn’t, however, typically available for in-person meetings prior to booking or the wedding day. I would have like to meet him before we decided to book him, but it wasn’t totally necessary. He is a very confident and eloquent speaker – his delivery of the ceremony was great! We were very happy with our experience and the highly individualized wedding ceremony was really special.

We had originally intended to create our own wedding invites as a way to save some money, but once we visited Letterbox (in Uptown Mpls) it was clear they were the way to go! The shop is adorable. In addition to custom wedding invitations, they have a great selection of stationary and gifts – it was fun to browse whenever we came in! Owners Zack and Kim were so helpful and creative. I had a vision of what I wanted our invitations to look like and they really helped me bring that vision to fruition. The service was stellar throughout the entire process. Our invites turned out beautifully. Although we spent more than we had originally intended, we came away with invitations that were truly unique and special.

Nicollet Island Inn was a wonderful place for not only our guests to stay, but for our wedding night stay as well. The inn is absolutely beautiful and very romantic. The staff was very pleasant and helpful, and setting up our guest block prior to the wedding was hassle-free. The accommodations were very comfortable – tempur-pedic beds in every room! We ordered room service in the morning, as did many of our guests, and the food was delicious. I think it was a truly wonderful hotel experience, and I would most definitely stay there again!

Flora is fantastic! Owners, Mindy and Deb, were an absolute blast to work with. They made the experience of selecting wedding flowers so much fun. They seemed genuinely enthusiastic about my ideas of what I wanted. You can really tell that these ladies have a passion for what they do! They were able to take my initial ideas and my very limited budget and turn it into something truly spectacular. The final product really reflected me and my personal style. On the day of the wedding, Mindy and Deb were at the site on time and didn’t leave until everything was perfect. Since my wedding, I have recommended Flora to many people, and I’ll continue to do so as long as they are around!

I couldn’t have dreamed of a more spectacular ceremony site than Nicollet Island Pavilion! I wanted to be married outdoors, and it was truly a perfect setting. The backdrop of fall foliage and the Mississippi River were stunningly beautiful. Nicollet Island Pavilion has a permanent tent constructed over their outdoor ceremony area, so it was wonderful piece of mind not having to worry about inclement weather ruining our day. My only complaint is that it is VERY expensive to add any embellishments (draping, lights, hanging lanterns, etc.) to the tent. They work exclusively with one vendor for these decorative elements, so pricing is not competitive. Our budget dictated that we couldn’t add any of these things to the space, but it was beautiful even without the extra décor. The event coordinator was very pleasant and highly professional. Nicollet Island Pavilion was easy to work with to help enhance our special day!

My wedding day was over a year ago, and my guests still talk about the food! I have been told several times that it was “the best wedding food I’ve ever had!”. I would have to wholeheartedly agree! We chose a small plate, buffet style package for our wedding and it was fantastic. People are still talking about the mashed potato martini bar! The different food stations were so much fun, and really encouraged guests to mingle and have fun while enjoying the wonderful food. We had many guests that were vegetarian/vegan and there were truly options for everyone. I couldn’t have been more pleased with our wedding dinner. My only regret was that I didn’t get to eat more!