Phifrog's reviews

This was certainly a “fun” experience. My husband and I went to the Mens Wearhouse on Madison Avenue and selected our tuxedo. The samples they had were terribly worn and the colors so dirty the ivory and white looked gray. Also, he couldn’t try on the tux before we chose it. We never saw the whole look until we went to pick his up – in Florida! I guess this might just be the way it is done, so I wasn’t too bothered by this. He got measured and that was that. He’s a tall guy with a lean athletic build, so he was very careful about how they measured him and made sure they did it several times to get it right. Well, when we arrived in Florida 3 days before the wedding and went to pick up his tux at the store in Tampa, they had ordered him the wrong size in EVERYTHING. The only thing that fit were his pants – I was royally pissed! The only saving grace was that the gentlemen at the Mens Wearhouse in Tampa re-measured him and had a new tux, which fit him perfectly, ready the night before the wedding. Not exactly the experience we were hoping for, but at least the Florida store saved the day. To this day, I don’t know how the girl who measured him in NY screwed up so badly but lucky for her the guys in Tampa came through in a pinch.

RK is very bare bones, no frills and makes me realize why brides pay double the money to go to boutique stores or Kleinfelds. I found a gorgeous dress and certainly paid a fraction of what I would have at any of the major bridal shops. The service was merely so-so, which isn’t really what you’re looking for when you are making what is one of the most important purchases a woman can make in her lifetime. I went on a Saturday morning with my mother, who flew up for Florida for this one purpose, and my mother-in-law who lived locally. We were there when the store opened and were assigned to a lovely woman. They pulled a bunch of dresses for me, none of which were ones I had on my list, as they didn’t have those. Don’t get me wrong, they have a pretty large selection and it worked out for the best that they didn’t have exactly what I wanted because I ended up with the perfect dress for me anyway. My mother happened to be the one to find the dress & bring it to me to try on. When I put it on, the woman told me she thought it was the dress & I cried when I looked in the mirror and when I stepped out of the room, bother mothers began to cry. It’s a good thing that I found the dress & it was the last one I tried on – they were very clear that I was limited to the number of dresses I could try on because if they were busy they needed to get to other brides & if I didn’t find the dress before I tried on 7 or 8 dresses, I would need to go back another time. I found this a little offensive, but it all worked out. Once I ordered my dress & it arrived exactly when they said it would, I went for my try on and then my fittings. The seamstress was absolutely horrible and I was in tears after every fitting. The dress was ordered way too big which really ticked me off because that tells me they were doing it to maximize alteration fees. The girl that helped me into my dress & the seamstress actually got into an argument over how my dress should be altered. The girl that helped dress me thought the dress was way too big and needed to be taken in at the waist and chest. The seamstress said since it was corseted it didn’t need to be taken in too much & that I would be able to just pull the corset tighter. This is what ended up happening as the seamstress barely spoke to me in English and kept insisting it be altered her way. Not knowing any better, since I’m not a seamstress or someone who works with wedding gowns regularly, I thought she knew what she was doing. Unfortunately, when I arrived in Florida and put on my dress, we kept having to tighten the corset on it & it kept falling down on me at my reception. The dress looked beautiful and I was thrilled with the end result but the frustration of dealing with the people at RK bridal and wearing a dress that was too big on me, makes me tell any other soon to be bride to go elsewhere.

It was really hard to get a feel for Sophia since I couldn’t do a trial run for makeup. I really put my trust in her and honestly, I would not recommend doing this but it was hard since I had a destination wedding and I felt as though I didn’t have a choice. I went on her website and thought she did a good job and she was recommended to me. She offered a trial as part of the package, but you had to go to her, and for me it was hard since she was over an hour from my parent’s house & whenever I was down there it was to run around doing other things. She wouldn’t come to me to do a trial, which put a damper on my ability to test her out first. This should have been my first sign. I emailed her several ideas of what I wanted & expressed that I wanted to look very natural with dramatic eyes and natural but colored lips. She did a great job and my makeup did look very nice, but there were a few things I didn’t like. She offered a lipstick as part of her package and said that she would just pick something since she didn’t have a chance to do a trial on me & see what would work best for my lips. Needless to say, the color she “picked” was such a pale pink that once my lipstick wore off, it was gone for the day and I didn’t have another color to darken it with, plus I didn’t feel like driving myself crazy over it. Also, I asked her to touch up any tan lines that were on my chest & shoulders – I hadn’t been in the sun for months, but I have some permanent tan lines. She said she covered them, but even at the church, you can still see the lines in my pictures and it’s a little upsetting. I realize this isn’t her “fault” but I did feel she could have done a little better. I specifically talked to her about what kind of foundation she would use and asked if she used spray on foundation, which I’ve been told is truly sweat proof and water proof. She told me she didn’t use that yet, but what she would use would work just as well. I know I was on the dance floor more than most brides, but I still don’t think that’s any reason for my makeup to be gone as quickly as it was, it was a little disappointing. The kicker was really the beginning of it all. Sophia and her assistant were supposed to arrive by 9 a.m. to do my makeup and the make up for 8 other people (my mother, aunt, grandmother & 5 bridesmaids). Unfortunately, they called my cell phone at 9:45 a.m. and left a message to say they were lost and obviously late and should be to me within a half hour (I didn’t get the call because I didn’t have my cell phone on me at all times). The worst part about this was my coordinator told me I wouldn’t have to worry about anything like this day of as all the vendors were instructed to contact her with any hiccups. Even more so, my coordinator told me she spoke with Sophia and stressed to her the day before, how important it was for her to start on time. Our coordinator even gave her specific directions to my house and told her to contact her if she got lost or needed anything. She told her no problem, and understood. They got to me shortly before 10:30 a.m., which didn’t give them much time to get everyone ready and by the time they were finished with all my girls, they had just enough time to throw on their dresses and start to help me get into mine before they had to rush out the front door to get to the church. I should also mention that I had to ask her how much it was for everyone and then figure out and tell everyone how much they each owed. It was a little frustrating and she should have told the girls as their makeup was done what their cost would be. I ended up getting a phone call that she had been underpaid and that she was owed money right before I left for my honeymoon. I wasn’t happy. I felt bad but then when I thought about it all, it was her fault for being so late & unprepared to work on so many people. She got the rest of her money, but that was it and I certainly wouldn’t recommend her to anyone having a large bridal party get their makeup done. She was a very nice person and I’m sure that for small bridal parties with local brides who can have a trial run done, she’d be great, but for someone like me, she just wasn’t the best. At the end of the day, I still give her a B/B- because everyone’s makeup came out nice & looked great in the pictures she just wasn't the most professional. It should also be mentioned that I paid $100 deposit plus another $100 the day of to help reduce people's costs and the girls still ended up paying about $50 - $60 per person where I believe it was originally supposed to be $45 per person. I know that doesn't sound like much, but considering I paid $200 of the package cost, it should have cost them that much each. I definitely I overpaid for a product that was under-delivered.

We don’t have our video yet, but without even seeing the finished product, I know we can give Tim an “A”. I will repost my review for him after we receive the video, just to be fair though. Tim was wonderful! We were hesitant to hire a videographer because we thought it would be a great place to save some money. I wanted it a little more than my husband, but he was willing to talk it over with a videographer and consider it for the right price. That’s where Tim Taylor came into the picture. We were in New Orleans on vacation and I was shopping when my husband received a phone call. Needless to say, close to an hour later he was finishing up the call and announced that he had just hired our videographer. I was amazed that he had been “won over” so quickly. He informed me he had the best conversation with an amazing guy and just knew that he would give us everything we wanted in our video and would be worth the cost. The cost was reasonable and although we don’t yet have the finished product, he was everywhere during the reception and even gave the camera to the best man for a bit to let him film some of what was happening (we really liked this idea). He wasn’t intrusive and you hardly noticed him but you still knew he was there getting all the best moments captured in action. We are really looking forward to seeing the finished product, as are friends and family and will add to the review once we see it. He was great to work with and even though there were some things we wanted that he didn’t “normally” do, he was happy to include them for us. He was really there to capture our wedding for us!

The limos were a bit pricey and we thought we were “nickel & dimed” a bit. We had a destination wedding & provided transportation to and from the hotel/reception site and church (about 30 minute drive) for our out of town guests. Somehow when the owner originally provided the price quote, he failed to account for the drive back to the hotel from the church and the day before the wedding contacted our planner to add on to our fee. At that point, we were stuck and had no choice but to say okay. What made it most annoying was we also had a rental bus the night before to take 20 people to the rehearsal dinner and back. We went over time a little bit and had to pay extra there as well. In addition, we had a limo bus take the guys from the hotel to the Church and then the entire bridal party back (with bride and groom) back to the reception. We made a pit stop for beer and were charged extra time for that stop. Considering the amount of money spent for 3 large buses, you would think they would have thrown in an extra half hour here or there instead of nickel and diming us every chance they got, especially when it was the owner driving the limo bus. I would NEVER use this company again, now would I recommend them to someone else. We did not use the same company for the limo for the bridal party and parents. That limo service was amazing & the limo driver was with us all day, extremely pleasant and helpful and I would recommend them to anyone.

Linens are a lot more important than one might realize, especially when you want something other than plain old white or ivory. In our case, red wasn’t just red and “aqua” wasn’t just any shade of light blue. It was difficult to nail down the perfect shades, but with the selection of linens we were offered, we put in the time and found exactly what we were looking for. There were different textures and an amazing array of linens to choose from - who would have thought?! Overall, we were very satisfied with the linen service and thrilled with the final look. It would have been much more plain and lost any “wow” factor without the beautiful linens provided.

We wanted a different look for our room and decided to go with something other than the usual banquet room chairs. Black Tie Entertainment had a selection of chair colors as well as cushion colors. We chose the mahogany-colored chiavari chairs, along with ivory cushions. Black Tie was very easy to deal with and their chairs and cushions completed our look perfectly. We had no complaints and thought the price was reasonable.

We had a large rehearsal dinner – 30+ people. Salt Rock has a banquet room, complete with a bar, 2 tvs and a private deck off the side. The atmosphere was so great I don’t think anyone noticed the tvs, but I figure they are worth mentioning. The food and service were excellent and the price was great too! They are known for their seafood and our group was certainly pleased – I don’t think anyone had anything but rave reviews. The entrees offered were certainly impressive and made it difficult to choose. I’d like to go back next time we are in the area for dinner so I can try some other items on the menu. The portions were beyond generous and the plating was “pretty”. On our flight back from Hawaii, I was looking through a magazine that listed the top seafood restaurants in the country; the only one named from Florida was Salt Rock Grill. I think that says it all.

Victor is AMAZING. People are still talking (one month after) about how awesome our photographer was. People who are married wish they would have had someone like him, unmarried people want his number for when they need a photographer and everyone else just couldn’t say enough about him. He got some amazing photographs and we never felt like we were taking so many pictures we weren’t enjoying ourselves. His assistant Scott was wonderful too! They were both like part of the party, one of our friends. Victor is very creative and wanted to try some shots spur of the moment – needless to say, they are some of the best pictures I have ever seen. I was told by recent brides and grooms that you spend so much on a photographer & then don’t want half of your pictures…well, we want all of ours and then some! Victor took over 4,000 pictures! In the end he narrowed them down to the best (650+) but do you need more than that?! He’s professional, personable, artistic and just the best all around photographer we could have asked for. There are several shots that people remark could be postcards. He really captured the essence of everything and the sunset photos were phenomenal! I’m sure there are a few good photographers in the Tampa Bay area, but why settle for good when you can have the best – Victor.

Kathy at Northside is not to be topped. She is very professional, personable and a delight to work with. I was very nervous about flowers and had a vision of what I wanted and wanted to do the most I could but not spend too much. Kathy made that happen. We went with carnations and a lot of people thought I was crazy. Kathy really pulled it off though! The centerpieces were half a ball of red carnations tightly placed and set on a tall clear vase. At the base were a circle of aqua blue hydrangeas and there were aqua led lights inside each vase shooting some color up through the middle. The overall look of these on the tables was really breathtaking. The bouquets were also beautiful. The bridesmaids carried ivory bouquets of hydrangeas, surrounded by carnations, with eucalyptus edging. They were perfect! My bouquet was lovely as well. I wanted all red flowers and that’s what I got. Very perfect. The boutonnieres were very simple – red calla lilies for the guys and they completed the look. Kathy really went above and beyond to make sure we were happy and that everything was how we wanted. Her work is simply top notch!