Tassem's reviews

The hotel itself was lovely, but on the wedding night, some teenagers were having a party in the room next door. It was insanely loud, and we could not sleep, and we filed many, many complaints with the front desk. The inefficient Security man could not make the party stop, which ridiculous, as it was extremely late at night (2 am) and they were fully guilty of a noise violation. They were definitely underage, and drinking and drug use was going on. We still don’t know why the hotel did not simply contact their parents, who were sleeping down the hall. More steps should have been taken to stop the party.

We wanted to do favors that “gave back” to the community. We ordered delicious organic chocolate favors from Endangered Species Chocolate, which gives part of its proceeds to help “endangered species, habitat and humanity.” We ordered online, and the chocolates arrived shortly after, packaged in boxes with cooling packs to ensure that they did not melt. They came individually wrapped, which made distribution easy, and they tasted delicious! We ordered dark- and milk-chocolate, although they have a large variety of more interesting flavors with dried berries and nuts. I would recommend that anyone consider using this chocolate brand as their favors.

DJ D-Mac, aka Daryle Maciocha, was a terrific DJ. He has spun in DC venues such as Bourbon, Marvin and 18th Street Lounge. He made himself very available in the months leading up to our wedding – we met with him twice. He then played a fantastic lineup of songs! We also had Daryle handle all the sound for the ceremony. He showed up early and set up the speakers and mics, all of which worked perfectly. The nice thing is that he charged a flat rate for the entire day, which included all set-up and take-down. We did have to pay a little extra for the lapel mic for the officiant – still worth it!

We ordered 8 dozen cupcakes in lieu of the traditional wedding cake, and our guests absolutely loved them. Every cupcake was eaten, down to the last crumb. They were adorable and presented very well. The only problem that arose was that the driver was an hour late delivering the cupcakes to my future mother-in-law, which caused some stress and tension. To make up for the delay, they scrapped the $10 delivery fee, which was very considerate of them. But they were packaged well, and in such a way that they never touched each other. Thus the frosting remained perfectly in place!

We worked with Leslie and Jennifer of LME and they were absolutely wonderful. Leslie made herself very available leading up to the wedding – we met twice to go over things and to chat. She worked her butt off at the rehearsal, organizing people and telling them where to go. She brought in her associate Jennifer and one other man for the day-of, and they were tireless! They were armed with headsets and they knew exactly what was going on, at all times. I was nervous about hiring a wedding planner, but Leslie made it well worth the money. Honestly, I don’t know what we would have done without them!

Cherie is the official photographer of SecDef, and she has shot war photos for the Air Force. We found her through www.wpja.com – Wedding Photojournalist Association. She does amazing work, and somehow she manages to be in 30 places at once! We were thrilled with her photos and with her photojournalism skills. The colors appear to pop off the page, and we loved the black and whites as well. Unfortunately, it took 3 months to receive the photos as she was ill for quite some time after our wedding. That was the only frustrating part, but you have to take it in stride. Otherwise everything went quite well!

Barbara Von Elm runs her floral company out of her farm in Delaplane, VA. As a result, there is no overhead and so her prices are much more competitive than those of traditional florists. She works with you to choose colors and set a budget, and then she fills your order with whatever meets your color and budget needs. It is best to work with Barbara if you are more concerned with color and “feel” (i.e. modern, traditional, romantic) rather than specific flower types. Her flowers were gorgeous, and she was very flexible when we made last-minute changes to the order.

We were somewhat happy with the stylists at PR @ Partners. My stylist, Kristen, did a phenomenal job – she listened to what I wanted, and created an updo that flattered my features. It also did not shift once all night long. The bad news was that my mother’s stylist ran far over her previous appointment. As a result, she did not get to my mother until we were getting ready to leave. Because she had to stay at the salon, my mother missed my makeup application. She was really upset. They knew that we were there for a wedding, and that we were under a strict timeline, but somehow they completely disregarded that information.

We were very happy with weddingpaperdivas’ beautiful work. All their designs are very modern and chic. The only problem we had was trying to decide which one to use! The save-the-dates and the invitations were printed on very thick, quality cardstock and accompanied by thick, luscious envelopes. They were perfect for a tactile person. The designs fresh and fun, the prices are great, and the customer service is superb. I needed to purchase more envelopes and they had it all on file as to what size and type I needed. They also work quickly. We so enjoyed working with them that we ordered our holiday cards there as well!

We found the bridesmaids dresses through the Ann Taylor Celebrations line. I hate “typical” bridesmaid dress fabric – that thick polyester that is too warm to wear. And the best part was, they went on sale shortly after we found them! My bridesmaids ended up paying $60 for silk cocktail dresses that were originally $180. One size (4) was not available online, so I called the 1-800 number and their representative told me where to find the dress, which was then shipped across the country to its respective owner. The salespeople were lovely and very helpful. It’s good to keep in mind that you don’t have to go the David’s Bridal route – any chain retail brand in the U.S. will usually have all the sizes and colors you need.