Invitations were my favorite part of the wedding planning process, and a large part of that was due to my working with Stephanie Chen from Mimio. Having skimmed through so many catalogs, visited too many stationery stores, and browsed online for various options, I finally found Mimio in Old Town Pasadena.

I narrowed in on a design I liked, but was heartily disappointed to hear their prices (their average invitation package starts at about $6 per person). I told Stephanie I really wanted the design, but can't afford the price. She then told me of cost-saving ways (e.g., round the corners, do the wrapping, ribbon, and embossing myself). We managed to somehow bring down the cost from what would've been a $12/person to $4/person (this includes invitation, rsvp card, outer envelope). Granted, I had to a lot of extra tasks myself, but it was so worth it.

The invitations have since then become my inspiration for the overall theme of the wedding. The invitations arrived 3 weeks earlier than promised, and I could get to work on them and send them off right away. I highly recommend!

I DO NOT recommend this place. Even though it offers a wide selection and is generally more affordable than other places, it gave me so much headache. I ordered my ring and they told me the ring would be ready in 5 weeks. I called 5 weeks later and discovered that my order HAS NOT BEEN PLACED!

They apologized and said the ring will be available promptly (in 5 more weeks). Another month passed by, the ring arrived, and I went to pick it up.

I found it was too large. I purchased the ring with a warranty which will allow free resizing. I asked for the ring to be resized. The salesperson said, "I'm sorry, we cannot resize this ring."

Too tired to deal with this person, I went home. My FI got mad and went back the next day with the ring, and asked (probably another) salesperson to resize it. This time, they agreed. The ring arrived in three more weeks, at exactly 3 months and 1 week after we first placed our order.

We worked with Mark Ley from Epic DJs. At first we were nervous about Mark because he took a while to respond to our calls and emails. But on the D-day, Mark proved to be incredibly successful. He arrived on time, set his equipments very quickly, assured and informed the bridal party of the plan for the evening, practiced pronouncing the last names of the people involved in the wedding, and best of all, he created a fun evening for us all.

Initially, I was worried that people would not dance at our wedding since my guests tend to be relatively reserved. But Mark not only got everyone on the dance floor till the end of the evening, he was also capable of reading the mood of the party and played the appropriate songs that would enhance the night's fun. Even my shyest guests were dancing up a storm. I was so pleased.

reliable and responsive staff. We worked with Rebecca Young, who was so easy and pleasant to work with. She always responds to our calls and questions promptly, understands our concerns, and was with us on the D-day to ensure everything goes smoothly. She even wrote us a wedding card congratulating us for our wedding! :)

We got a decent room discount for our guests at the Hilton, which was really nice because most of our guests were out-of-towners.

Upon our first meeting, Craig came across as very cordial, polite, and professional. His portfolio generally captures the joy and excitement in a wedding, without being cheesy and cliche. His prices are slightly above average, and are worth it for the quality of work he promised.

On the wedding day, he showed up on time and dilligently videographed every little piece of the day. He was unobtrusive, which was very very important to us. We did not want him blinding our guests with camera lights and disrupting the momentum of the party by being in the way. He was very far from being a disruption. People hardly noticed he was there.

I will write more once we've received our video.

absolutely love elaine. Had my hair & make up trial, which was great fun. She listened to my preferences, and was able to make me look beautiful. She pointed out trips that I could do for my day-to-day make-up. She was very professional, and her prices are so reasonable.

I ended up using her for hairstyling only, but it was mostly out of sentimental reasons instead of lack of trust of Elaine's make-up abilities. I wanted my sister to do my make-up. Elaine understood my reasons and was not pushy at all. She still showed up on time with her assistant, did my and my girls' hair very quickly and well, and was so pleased to see our delight in her work.

THey were really nice and attentive to me before I bought my dress, but now that I've purchased a gown (which I love) they seem to make less effort.

I like the seamstress there (can't remember her name), who seems more genuine and was able to tell me which dress looks better on me. She honestly points out the flaws of one dress I was trying, and suggests another one (which I eventually bought) even though the latter was actually a lot cheaper than the one I was trying.

Overall, good dress collection, cheaper than the big bridal salons like mon amie, good customer service in the beginning.

Michael is my utmost favorite vendor. He is talented, passionate about his work, a very pleasant and comfortable person to work with, and extremely professional.

At our engagement photo session, he arrived half an hour early. He was so warm and personable that even my camera shy husband was able to pose for the camera and have good pictures taken. We were thrilled by the engagement pictures and couldn't wait for the wedding itself :).

At the wedding, he took pictures of all the important things without my having to ask for them -- the details, my mom tearing up at the bouquet giving in the ceremony, the 2 best men's joint toast, the dance-off between two guests at the reception, my little niece dancing with her dad, my husband's squeezing my hand at the altar as we listened to my college pastor's sermon, my maid-of-honor smiling as she watched me exchange vows, etc. There were so many good moments at the wedding that I wholeheartedly wished I could remember forever, and Michael's pictures made this possible.

We loved that his photographs exploit the contrast of colors and textures in a refreshing way. A lot of wedding pictures end up looking the same, but Michael's creativity and talent made ours so artistic, captivating, and gently beautiful. I love Michael and his works, and I really wish everyone could have him as a their photographer.

Please tell him that Risa sends you.