UpNorth's reviews

We rented the Paine Art Center for an hour to take outside pictures after our ceremony and before the reception. The staff took us on a tour of the grounds and showed us sample pictures when we considering using their property for our pictures. They were willing to have our photographer come and do the same so she could get some ideas before our big day. We had the option to pay for inside pictures only, outside pictures only, or both inside and outside pictures. We had the option of going inside if it rained on our outside only pictures. The grounds at the Paine Art Center are beautiful and offer numerous locations and props for pictures: arches, benches, pillars, fountains, flowers, trees, fancy gates, front and back side of the mansion, and several gardens and paths. On the day of our wedding, another wedding party was going around and also taking pictures. The staff coordinated both wedding so that we never ran into each other and had to spend any down time waiting. My pictures at the Paine Art Center are among my favorite from our wedding!


 Amadeo and his staff were fantastic. They helped us plan a large rehearsal dinner (80 guests) in their event room. Amadeo personally helped us to decide how to best feed so many people (buffet, family style, off the menu) create the menu and worked with us to find a price that was within our budget. He paid attention to detail and was very professional. We had many compliments on the excellent food and friendly service. I would strongly recommend this restaurant for any special event that you may have! In fact, when we see Amadeo around town four years later or see him in the restaurant, he remembers us and says hello.

We picked Waverly Beach because it was located right on the water and the event room was very large, and there was a cute tiki-bar outside. We didn’t mind that the flooring, walls, or ceiling was not fancy (it is also used for indoor volleyball). We put our deposit down and were happy with the prices. We were very happy with the wait staff and the food, but the management and event coordinator were frustrating to work with. They went back on their word about risers for the head table and real candles all night long, gave us sketchy and unhelpful answers to our questions, and did not return phone calls in a timely manner. They refused to provide one alternative meal for one of our guests that needed a glutten free meal for medial reasons. The event coordinator did not show up on the night of the wedding. The manager on duty did not know how to work the projector for our video (one of my bridesmaids had to figure it out-delaying things 30 + minutes). The manager also messed up our final bill and put me over the limit on one of my credit cards because he did not split the bill between two credit cards. (I spent the day after the wedding and after we got back from our honeymoon trying to straighten it out.) We still enjoyed our reception but credit is due to outside vendors, NOT the management and event coordinator at Waverly Beach.

We decided on Ashcroft and Oak because they had a big sale going on and the prices were reasonable. Associates were helpful. Any work that needed to be done on our rings (soddering, size adjustments, tighten the diamond) had to be sent out which took between one and two weeks. The only thing that I really didn’t like about Ashcroft and Oak was that when I went to get my ring soddered together and resized right before our wedding, the associates tried to pressure me to upgrade my ring. However, I am sure that they were just trying to make more money, like any commissioned sales associate might do.

We found our Precious Moments themed invitations at another wedding store. I thought that we weren’t going to be able to get them because they were too expensive. However, when we went to Wedding Perfect, they offered all of their invitations at 30% off the book price…which was the best deal that we were able to find at any other store or on the internet. We also ordered napkins through the same company. When the napkins came in my husband’s name was spelled wrong. However, the ladies were able to call the company and get the mistake fixed at no extra charge and still with plenty of time before our wedding.

I can’t speak highly enough of Lisa at Wedding Perfect. She had so many ideas for us to think about for our wedding. In the back of their store are all sorts of table centerpieces to mix-and-match until you find something that you like. Lisa and her mom also helped us with decorating our reception hall—everything was gorgeous and just the way that we had talked about and planned. Both of the ladies are friendly, professional, and down-to-earth. I highly recommend Wedding Perfect, even if you are just starting out planning your wedding and looking for some ideas.

This resort was simply amazing. The grounds were gorgeous. When we checked in we had a glass of champagne in our hands within minutes. All inclusive, adults only, is definitely the way to go! We were allowed to change rooms because we wanted a room with ocean view. The attention to detail was outrageous—they had flower petals spelling “bienvenidos” in the bathrooms and their logo stamped in the ashtrays. Even the lettuce on the buffet was arranged fancy. My husband and I could not think of a time (and we still can’t!) where we had ever had better service. In fact we still refer to it as “well, this isn’t Mexico.” The resort had many activities that were already included in the all inclusive fee, had ways of setting up and paying for other tours right in the lobby, and many activities going on so you didn’t even need to leave the resort if you didn’t want to. The resort had many different restaurants with different styles of food and dining atmospheres. The Palace resorts are a big chain in this area of Mexico, so we could go to the other resorts and still use have it be all inclusive. The only thing that I could think of that others may not like is that there is no direct access to the beach. It is in a rocky and rough area, so there is no swimming directly in the ocean. However, they have made a man-made lagoon for people to snorkel and kayak in. Ocean water comes in through an opening in the back so water is circulated through the lagoon. I can’t speak highly enough of this resort-we can’t wait to go back!

The staff at LaQuinta were very helpful and accommodating for our guests. We were able to set up our block of rooms well in advance. Rooms needed be reserved at least a month before the wedding, but some of our guests who tried to make last minute reservations were still able to get the discounted rate. We called many different hotels in the area, and we found the staff at LaQuinta to be the most helpful and they had the best prices. It was nice because LaQuinta Inn and LaQuinta Suites are actually two separate buildings but right next to each other. Guests who wanted a cheaper hotel and guests who wanted to pay for a little nicer hotel were still very close to each other in proximity. We had a bus shuttle go between the two hotels and our reception site. Hotel staff assisted in helping our guests with the shuttle information.

The florists were willing to meet with us several times. They had many samples and ideas to look from. They were willing to work with us and our budget, even when we needed to revise things a few times. They also made our flower arrangements for the ceremony so the flowers were similar in style and the colors matched. We had a really hot day (over 90 degrees) so the flowers were a little wilty and droopy after our outside pictures, but I think that flowers from anywhere would have been! 
 
 


Our DJ had a great variety of music, and had made special arrangements to get the songs that we requested. He was courteous of songs that we did not want to have played. DJ Chern played music through dinner and the entire reception. He had a balance with the amount of talking that he did—not too much like some DJ’s. He was willing to work with us for the special dances (we had pretty many). Great personality and easy to work with.

Everyone at the church was very helpful. The secretary kept us on track and responded quickly to our questions. The pastor met with us several times as we were in our planning process and also to talk about us as a couple. We were able to start bringing in our decorations and supplies Friday morning before the wedding. We also used the fellowship hall for some light refreshments after the ceremony for our guests. Everything went great!