Where do I start? I think I should start off by simply saying that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Marlin and Marlene Munoz. Not only are they great photographers, but they are probably some of the coolest cats I know. :)

Our wedding planner, gave us a list of photographers to choose from. I went through the websites and checked them out. But I have to say, Marlin had the best work by far. My husband loved his work so much, that he didn't want to meet up with any other photographer. He KNEW he wanted Marlin to shoot our wedding. So, I stalked Marlin for several weeks (checking out his website, keeping up-to-date with his blog) before we actually sat down and met up with him. The first time we met Marlin, we knew we had our photographer. Marlin is professional, yet easy going, down to earth and FUN!!!!! We felt at ease with him, almost like we were sitting and chatting with an old friend of ours. :) He takes amazing photos that anyone would be proud to show off to friends and family. He has an excellent eye for seeing what would make a great shot.

Marlin and his wife, Marlene met up with us in Santa Barbara to do our engagement photos. They were on time, patient and a heck of a lot of fun to work with. :) Marlin has a great sense of humor, which kept us smiling and laughing throughout our session. Our photos turned out wonderful and we had an awesome time!

Marlin and Marlene took wonderful pics at our wedding as well. They did a great job of keeping our crazy groomsmen in line for photos. They also took a great deal of candid shots that really captured the emotions of all those in attendance. My husband and I love all of our photos are so very pleased with choosing Marlin and Marlene to capture such a special time in our lives. If you are looking for talented photographers with great personalities and who are just plain fun, I would HIGHLY recommend Marlin & Marlene Munoz. :) You will not regret it. They are worth every penny. :)

TIP OF THE DAY: Couples, if you are going to hire a photographer, remember to not only look at their work, but make sure you feel completely at ease with them. This is VERY important!!!!!! Why is this important? Because A.) You will be stuck with them the entire day of your wedding. B.) You will feel more at ease and the real you will be reflected in the final product. :)

All I have to say is....THANK GOD FOR ALAYNE of Jay's Catering! She is their saving grace for sure. My husband and I booked Jay's Catering to cater our wedding reception, as they were one of the preferred vendors of Casa Romantica (our reception site) and their prices were very decent and affordable. We were assigned Nicolle as our event coordinator. BOY WAS SHE A NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you decide to have Jay's Catering cater your event, I highly recommend you avoid this woman at all costs as your event coordinator.

When we first met Nicolle, during a tasting at Jay's back in September, she came off as friendly and easy to work with. However, that all seemed to change after we booked with Jay's. Thank God, my husband and I had hired our own wedding planner as she mainly dealt with Nicolle.

We wanted to have a martini bar at our reception and our total guest count was at 126 adults and 10 children, a total of 136 people. On our contract, Nicolle kept trying to charge us for 136 people. Hello! Children aren't allowed to drink! Our wedding planner had to tell her numerous times that we were paying only for 126 adults and to stop including the children into the head count for alcohol.

For our menu, we were going with a polynesian theme. Nicolle got us a separate tasting, which was nice. But when it came to communicating to her about what exactly it was that we wanted she again, just didn't seem to understand. When we went for our tasting, we were offered two different chicken dishes, the polynesian chicken, which was basically teriyaki chicken with a fancy name to it. The other was chicken with mango papaya salsa. We told Nicolle numerous times that we specifically wanted the Polynesian chicken and wanted to add the mango/papaya salsa on the side. But I don't know what part of this she did not understand so she kept going back and forth with our planner and telling her that the Polynesian chicken did not come with Mango salsa. Or she thought we wanted the Chicken with the mango/papaya salsa instead. ARGGHH!!! It's not rocket science! How difficult was it to understand that we wanted the POLYNESIAN CHICKEN AND WANTED TO HAVE MANGO/PAPAYA SALSA SERVED ON THE SIDE?!?!?!?!?!

When we were finalizing everything during the last few days before the wedding, I noticed we had a bunch of little charges here and there on our contract that were not there before. For example, we had extra glassware we never agreed to have in the first place, we were being charged 5 cents per plastic spoon for our dessert shots, and more chairs were being ordered than what was actually needed. I found this very frustrating as I felt Nicolle was trying to nickel and dime us for everything and add stuff that we really didn't need. This just added MORE STRESS to what I was already feeling. Thank the almighty Lord above that Nicolle went on vacation before our event and that Alayne took over. My planner and I found Alayne much easier to deal with. She understood our wishes on the FIRST try and basically cleaned up the mess that Nicolle left. She was our saving grace. Unlike Nicolle, she was readily available to help as she could be contacted on the phone from opening til 5pm. Nicolle on the other hand, had the oddest work hours as she seemed to only be available from 11am-2pm. After that she would out of the office.

Despite everything, I must say Jays did come through in the end. The food was delicious and we received many compliments. For appetizers we had: mini beef wellington (super yummy!) and the chicken spring rolls with EXTRA peanut sauce. For dinner we had the POLYNESIAN CHICKEN WITH MANGO/PAPAYA SALSA ON THE SIDE, macadamia crusted mahi mahi, wasabi mashed potatoes, wild cherry salad, vegetable medley, fresh fruit and Hawaiian Sweet Rolls. Our martini bar was a hit as was our dessert and coffee station. Servers were courteous, polite and professional.

I still would recommend Jays to others who are looking for affordable catering. Jays overall score: 3 stars, as I took two stars away from the fact that dealing with Nicolle was stressful. Food was excellent, day -of service was excellent. Would have given them 5 stars though, if we had dealt with Alayne from the get-go.

My husband and I originally wanted to get married in Hawaii, but eventually decided to get married in California. We searched everywhere from as far as Malibu down to San Clemente. We eventually hired a wedding planner and she took us to Casa Romantica. When I first stepped foot into the house and looked up a the beautiful chandelier, I knew this was THE place!!!!! The grounds upon with Casa Romantica sits upon is absolutely beautiful. The view of the Pacific Ocean is unmatched and is breathtaking! I love how unlike many reception sites, this place is private. No other events will be going on during your special day and you have the entire place all to yourself! I love how there is an out door amphitheater, a butterfly garden, exhibit rooms, a bluff that overlooks the San Clemente pier, a variety of plants and flowers growing on the property. We loved how our guests would be able to explore the house and its grounds and not feel confined to being in one room as they would be if we had our reception in a hotel ballroom.

We celebrated our wedding reception here on Friday, September 3, 2010. Our guests had never even heard of Casa Romatica before and were amazed by the spectacular ocean views and the beauty of the house and grounds itself. We had a Hawaiian/Polynesian themed wedding, and made good use of the outdoor amphitheater as we hired polynesian dancers to entertain our guests during cocktail hour as we took pictures with our photographer. Everyone had a great time and

The downside to Casa Romantica is that you have to hire your own caterer, valet, rent all your tables and chairs etc, which can get pricey in the end. Also, because of the Orange County noise ordinance, all music must be turned off by 10:00 PM. So thus, your party must end at that time too. Also, they now require that you have a wedding planner in order to have your event there.

My friends and I visited Bellasposa on Sunday 1/24/10 and were greeted by a sales person named Heidy. We found her to be rude and pushy. First, she was late for our appointment time so we had to be helped by someone else. When Heidy finally finished with her clients, she came back to us and tried to brush off the other salesperson who agreed to help us. Heidy had the nerve to say to me that I had "very expensive taste," which I don't. She even asked me if I have visited other locations and tried on dresses. I replied, "yes." Then she asked me, "So do you like our dresses better???!" What kind of question is that??? I found that question to be inappropriate. I told her I felt a bit overwhelmed with finding a dress and that there are so many dresses to choose from. Heidy gave me this look like I was stupid and in a condescending manner said, "That is why we only let you try on 6 dresses at a time!" When I was trying on dresses, I felt she was trying to hurry me so she can help the next customers. I just felt really rushed by her and I felt she was pushy in trying to make a sale. My bridesmaids really like this particular dress from the designer, Enzoani. Heidy said that they need to purchase their dresses very soon as this dress takes 16-20 weeks to order. My wedding is in September, and all the other stores that carried this same dress said we could order it in March or so and still be okay. Liar!

Bellasposa does have a very large location, however, i have found a better selection of dresses at Mariposa Boutique in Anaheim and Marry Me Bridal in Orange and Deborah's Bridal in Upland. Also, many of the dresses at Bellasposa run small (i.e. size 6 and 8 and 10. Which in reality, translate to sizes 4, 6 and 8.) So if you don't wear any of those sizes, you will not be able to try them on, and have to settle for holding the dress in front of you and "imagining " what the dress would look like if you actually tried it on! LOL! Really pathetic! Many other bridal stores carry larger sizes, so everyone can try the dress on, and if the dress is too big, they use large clips to make it fit.

If you still decide to make a trip to this store, take this advice. Ask for any other sales girls other than Heidy to help you. This way, maybe your experience here, will be better than the one I had.

My friends and I visited Deborahs's Bridal yesterday (Sunday 1/24/10). We were helped by a salesperson named Peggy. She was really kind, courteous and helpful and patient. She was not pushy at all! She helped me pick out several dresses and put them on. I think I have found "the" dress I am going to wear for my wedding here! I would definitely recommend other brides to be, to check out this boutique as they have many dresses to choose from (over a thousand). The downside to this store is that they purposely remove the designers label from the dress so you don't know who are are trying on, which is a bummer. The only way you will find out if who the designer is, is when you finally purchase the dress. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/textile/bus39.shtm

Another downside, is that you are NOT allowed to take photos of any of the dresses you've tried on. But if you can overlook these things, then I would definitely check this place out as they have an awesome selection and excellent customer service!

My five bridesmaids and I visited Mariposa Boutique on Friday, January 15, 2010. We were greeted by friendly staff and was paired with Beth to be our Bridal Consultant during our visit. First and foremost, this place is really cute! The selection of wedding dresses is phenomenal! They have a pretty good selection of bridesmaids dresses too! Beth was very upbeat, helpful and patient in helping me find gowns that were flattering on me. She took the time research dress styles and colors for my bridesmaids. She was very accommodating too. In order to keep helping us and not have us be helped by another associate in the middle of our visit, she changed her lunch schedule, so she would be available to give us her undivided attention. I was pleased that my girls were able to find a dress they all agreed on and that came in the right shade of purple! Overall, I was very happy with our visit to Mariposa and would highly recommend that brides and their bridesmaids check this place out! Don't forget to ask for Beth! :)

This review is for the Bridesmaid part of the Store: My five bridesmaids and I stopped by Marry Me Bridal on 1/15/10 to check out their bridesmaids dress collection. We were greeted my Maria, who was very helpful, courteous and friendly. The dress selection they had for their bridesmaids was unbelievable! I couldn't believe their selection!! I was floored by the fact that they had a separate store for only bridesmaid dresses and a separate store right across for wedding dresses! They carried a variety of designers like Jim Hjelm, Bari Jay, Dessy and so many, many more! The selections they had was quite overwhelming and intimidating. My bridesmaids were able to try on so many different dresses and narrow it down between a few selections. Maria, was so kind and helped us research whether or not certain dresses came in the right shade of purple for us. She took out stacks and stacks of designers books with color swatches to help us answer our questions. She even let us take photos of the dresses they tried on! Overall a wonderful experience and I would definitely recommend that brides take their bridesmaids here to shop!

My five bridesmaids and I went to Ferndales on Friday 1/15/2010. We had an appointment at 10:00 AM. We arrived about 15 minutes late, and was greeted (if you call it that) by a rude older lady who said we would be helped in a few minutes. We walked around the store for a few minutes and it was unkept and the selection of dresses they had for the bridesmaids was very poor! The dresses were hideous, and resembled something out of a 1980's teen movie, (i.e. Sixteen Candles or Pretty in Pink.) The sales associate finally came by and was very unfriendly and didn't even once smile or seem like she was interested in helping us! Many of the racks for the bridesmaids dresses were empty. She stated that they got rid of many older dresses and were waiting for the 2010 dresses to arrive. Well, if it were up to me, I would have gotten rid of the rest of the dresses they had on the rack because they were not appealing at all. It was clear we from the get go, they were not going to earn our business! If you are looking for a place to find either a wedding gown or bridesmaid dresses, check out Marry Me Bridal in Orange or Mariposa Boutique in Anaheim. The selection and salespeople are far more friendly, courteous and helpful! Plus, their dress selections for the bride and bridesmaids are a W H O L E L O T B E T T E R ! ! ! ! ! !

My bridesmaids and I attended the Grand Opening of La Soie Bridal in Pasadena on 1/16/2010 (They have another location in Torrance). We were literally their first customers!!! :) First off the shop is totally cute, bright, open and airy. My bridesmaids and I were greeted immediately by several wedding consultants and they were all very warm, friendly and genuine. I was helped by Veronica and she was amazing! She showed me many different dresses that I got to try on and show off to my bridesmaids so I can get their opinion. She helped me find an amazing dress by the designer, Pronovias, which totally complemented me. Unlike many bridal boutiques, we were allowed to take photos of dresses we tried on. Though, they didn't have a dress that my bridesmaids had picked to wear for my wedding (An Enzoani dress from 2010 Love Collection), Veronica assured us they would be able to order it for us and give the girls a 10% discount if I bought my dress from them. Overall, I was very impressed by their professionalism and the overwhelming desire to help! Now, if only other bridal boutiques carried the same attitude, the world would be a nicer place for brides! :)

Went to Pebbles with my bridesmaids yesterday (1/16/2010). Let me tell you, it was a mess! We were greeted by some unfriendly man behind the counter who was reading the newspaper and told us to "sign in." We were not once asked by any sales associate if we needed help. The place is completely unorganized, the dresses were all in either a size 8 or 10. The place was a dump. Items looked used or dirty, heck the whole place looked dirty! Worse than any outlet I have been. Can't believe this place got so many great ratings!!! I went there because of the excellent ratings this place got, wow was I mislead!!! What a let down! What a waste of gas! What a waste of time! What a pebble in my shoe! :( :( :(