A++ WHOLEHEARTEDLY RECOMMEND.

One of my favorite vendors from the wedding. Karen was on-time, attentive, and even had to calm me down a little bit right before the wedding started (she could feel like lips trembling!) Her Makeup skills are great and I looked and felt like a million bucks. I had a trial with her over Thanksgiving weekend and booked the same day. I even made some changes from the original trial for the big day and she went with them - no questions asked (but dont abuse the poor girl if you are going to ask for drastic changes).

I gave Karen the heads up about my requested changes and some pictures. I think that made the transition smoother. She did both my hair and makeup and everyone loved it, even my mom who does not understand why people have to "pay for makeup application" but after seeing me, she thought it was totally worth it.

BOOK HER NOW. you wont regret it!!

A++

I used Karen, Kelly's lead make up artist. Upon hearing that Kelly was booked the day of my wedding, she told me what that her asst. was available. I was a little hesitant but after the trial and after my wedding day, i am over the moon with her services.

I have no regrets about anything that had to do with how i looked the wedding day. when you feel stunning, it shows. And i received soo many compliment about my hair and makeup!!

i even asked her to change my hair and makeup a little bit after the trial and she happily obliged. It was great! i just wished she stayed with me all day but she does give a touch kit to take away with me for the entire day. you wont regret booking this vendor. the before and after shots on the website are pretty accurate of what the girls are capable of.

Thuy and her group of ladies did a magnificent job on my alterations. I actually found Thuy using yelp reviews and was not disappointed in the least. I came to Thuy's in Milpitas where she works out of her home.

There were a good 20 dresses hanging all over the house in garment bags from bridal shops Trudy's, Elegant Lace Bridal etc. I didn't even need to tell her what i needed and she started pinning and tucking away.

I wanted a double french bustle but she explained how that wouldnt work with my dress and though disappointed was glad that i went with her suggestions. She was very knowledgeable about how and where to nip and tuck the dress so that you look your best. My dress is made a silk satin and I was afraid of puckering because of the material but the dress and I looked wonderful on the wedding day.

In the end I had
1) the hem taken up
2) the sides taken in (a lot since I had lost some weight),
3) Cups sewn in
4) 13 point bustle (that looked darling!)


I would recommend going to her at least 2 months before the wedding to give yourself time and to give her time to adequately alter the dress. You wont stress and neither will she. I had a total of three fittings with the final fitting about 10 days before the wedding.

As i was picking up my dress at the final fitting, a wedding party with 5 BMs and bride came in for alterations 10 days before the wedding! YIKES! DON'T DO THAT!

She and her team truly are wonderful and the dress fit perfectly!

AWESOME!!I LOVE THESE GUYS.

Music was such an important element for me and the hubby. We could have done an ipod wedding like some that we had attended but it was so important for us to have everyone have a great time and sometimes that just isnt the case with "ipod weddings." We both love music so much and bit the bullet in search of a great DJ. We wanted someone that feel the vibe of the crowd and adjust as needed. Again, cant do that with the ipod wedding.

Mixterious Force is actually a two man team. Joey (whom i had most communication with) does the MCing and Randy is the music man. I cannot thank them both enough for giving us the greatest gift of all, which was fantastic music for our friends and family to enjoy. SO many of our friends and family raved about Joey and Randy! They were fantastic in every way.

They played all of the music we requested and then some - unlike some DJs who forget that its about the bride and the groom. My hubby is super picky with music and always has something to say about something but even he couldnt with this DJ. They were that good. My DOC was so sub-par and honestly without them, our reception would have been a disaster!

I cant thank them enough and would recommend them to anyone in a heartbeat. We communicated mostly via email and phone since I was planning the wedding from the bay area. We actually didnt meet until 2-3 days before the actual wedding. Despite this however, they were prompt with responses and worked with us to figure out a reception schedule. Flexible and knowledgeable! We fell behind schedule but they were able to get us back on track without skipping a beat.

They were affordable too and should be charging way more than they are. I have friends and family requesting the play list from the wedding! LOL.

If music is as important to you as it was for us, hire them! You won't be disappointed!!

Alex is a in a word - AWESOME! we worked together to create my invitations which I love as well as my menus and some other signage for the wedding. Thanks to her, I was able to get the classy elegant look for my invitations without having to pay an arm and a leg.

The invites I wanted to get were $12/invite but thanks to DIY and Alex i was able to do the invites for about $3.50/invite (patterned pocketfold, paper and cardstock). I have gotten nothing but rave reviews on the invites.

I was one of those girls that were always like, why waste your money on something people are going to throw away anyway but I soooo changed my mind when i saw what could be created thanks to Alex for such a reasonable price. She saved me the time and energy of creating my own invites (I just did not have the patience!) It really does set the tone for the wedding... my only fear now is that I might have made the invites too nice!

Hire Alex, you wont regret it!! And she's super patient and nice with all teh changes I kept asking for :)

Paperandmore.com was Fantastic. By far the cheapest place online to find paper with the best variety. Shipping is super fast, which for us stressed out and time strapped brides, is a blessing. I was thoroughly happy with the paper and cardstock I received.

Dont worry if you are ordering from them. Their customer service is fantastic.. you won't regret it.

I love my Veil!!!! It is beyond exquisite. I always put it on when my the FI is not home ( i was actually wearing it last night, lol). I wanted a two tier fingertip length lace edge veil. It looks like a drop veil when you put it on and it was perfect in every way. I am in Northern California and communicated with Candi strictly through email. She was very prompt with responses and requests for additional information.

After i told her what I wanted, she sent veil illusions so that i can match the tulle color with my dress color perfectly (since my dress is this weird off-white/light ivory color). Then she sent pictures of the types of lace available, I picked on and in about 10 days I have my new veil. It is my favorite detail about the wedding to date (aside from my gorgeous FI and dress of course)

Do not hesitate. I've done searches for veils of this style and lace quality and the veils I found were easily 3-4 times what Candi charged. If i didnt find her, I don't think i could have afforded my dream veil. Happy planning!

Can't wait to wear it on my wedding day.

WEDDING DAY EDIT: I loveD my veil so much I wore it ALL NIGHT. it was that great and I got a boat load of compliments on it. it looks 4x expensive what I actually paid for it. This was one of my favorite parts of my wedding look. With Candi you get the best of both worlds, the veil you want at the price you can afford!

I had a great experience at Trudys. I worked with Diane and she listened to what I wanted, was sweet and patient and never pressured me.

I was apprehensive about my appt. because I had heard from others that Trudys likes to through a little "attitude" but that was not the case at all during my appt. I would suggest going on a weekday if you can. The weekends are a bit of a madhouse. Try not to bring too large of a party with you as well. I think most areas can accomdate 3-4 friends at the most, comfortably.

They have a great selection at every price point and have the most designers than any bridal salon in the south bay and I'm pretty sure I've been to them all.

Good luck!

I called Rin's to see if they had a particular dress in stock. It is one of the few places in the bay area that carried both JIm Hjelm and Marisa Dresses, both designers I adore.

I spoke to the owner and she said that she did not have the particular dress I was asking about in stock but would call if it came in. In about a month, get a call from the owner, dress is in! Score!

She makes an appointment for me and I tell her that I have to try on the dress and she assures me it will be there. I get to my appt and discover that the dress I had driven up from San Jose to try on was shipped out two days prior. NO PHONECALL TO INFORM ME OF THIS! So UNPROFESSIONAL.

I was LIVID! The only reason I came to the store was to try on that dress. I spoke to the girls at the store, who were all very sweet and nice.It was the owner of the store who made the appt and assured me the dress would be waiting there when I arrived. The owner was conveniently in Spain enjoying her vacation. how lovely and lucky she wasn't there to give her a piece of my mind.

I was already there and decided to try on dresses anyway. I found a dress that I wanted to buy but there was no chance in H*** I was giving this store my business.

BUYER BEWARE!I think as long as you DONT deal with the owner of the store, you should be fine. PS - store is a little dingy for the labels it carries FYI.

Tauran's talent is undeniable. My Fiance and I are SOO excited to have booked him for our wedding. He is worth WAY MORE than what he is charging so hire him ladies before his fees go through the roof. Professional and friendly, his passion for his work is obvious when you meet him and so humble too.

I spent OODLES and OODLES of time scoping out photog blogs. I went on every wedding website you can think of trying to find a great photographer for a great price. After nearly six months of searching, we found him. Check out his work on his blog/website and it speaks for itself!!

I'll save the final review for when after he shoots our wedding and we get our photos back and we have no regrets so far and neither will you.