hjsruiz's reviews

I still cannot believe how lucky I was to find Adrienne. She was everything I could have wanted in a wedding photographer and more! First of all, as soon as I met her, I wanted her to be my best friend for life! She is incredibly sweet, friendly, and bubbly... she asked tons of questions about me and Joe, and listened carefully when I told her exactly which pictures would be most important to us.

For our engagement session, she suggested Laguna Beach, which was perfect. She brought along her boyfriend Scott to introduce us to him, since he would be in charge of the boys' pictures during the wedding. Joe was a little camera shy at first, but she and Scott put him at ease immediately. When I saw the engagement photos posted on her blog, I was stunned by how gorgeous they were. I showed them to all my friends and family, and they were just as impressed! Her pictures bring out the very best in her subjects... they don't just capture a moment, but the true FEELING of the moment.

When Adrienne showed up to shoot our Valentine's Day wedding, I was again reminded why I hired her - she was incredibly professional and had great ideas for photos and backdrops. The best thing? At the end of the night, she provided a little stack of Poloroids that she had been secretly shooting all day! What a fabulous surprise, considering the whole wedding was a blur and I couldn't wait to see pictures of it! Thank you, Adrienne (and Scott) for everything!

Taking the advice of my wedding coordinator, I hired Brady to be the DJ for our wedding. I made a great choice! Brady agreed to meet me for our consulation right next to my house, and I could tell right away that he'd be great to work with. He was knowledgable and friendly and seemed genuinely interested in exactly what "vibe" I wanted at my wedding.

I had made a slideshow for my wedding and I was worried that we wouldn't be able to find a cord long enough to hook up the projector to the speakers, which were on the other side of the room. Not to worry! I told Brady my concerns; he told me he'd find a cord for me and he did just that!

The Music Request option on Propsfx's website is incredibly easy to use, and lots of fun to play with! I let my family members go onto the site and choose songs that meant a lot to them, and Brady played every one! He called me a few nights before the wedding to confirm our timeline, and went over my important song choices (first dance, cake cutting, etc.) to ask for any special instructions. It was important to me to see my grandparents dance at the wedding, so I requested that he play a certain song for them early in the evening. Brady played it right away, and it was such a joy to see my grandparents get out there and dance up a storm!

Towards the end of the evening, Brady began playing songs that got everyone out on the floor dancing... and they didn't stop until the night was over! He seemed to know exactly what would get people on the dance floor and keep them there... everyone had a great time and I will never, ever forget that night. Thank you, Brady!!

Katie was AMAZING!!! I found out about her from my wedding coordinator, and set up a trial with her on the day of my engagement photos. When she showed up at my house, she was friendly and sweet and incredibly easy to talk to.

I showed her a picture of exactly how I wanted my hair, and after she was done, if you'd looked at a picture of me next to that picture I'd shown her, you wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. It was absolutely PERFECT! The makeup she did was stunning as well. I immediately hired her for my Valentine's Day wedding.

If you can believe it, even though I'd figured out every single wedding detail down to the font on the invitations, I somehow managed to forget to decide on a hair style for my bridesmaids. When Katie and her assistant Heather showed up to do our hair and makeup on the Big Day, she asked how I wanted the bridesmaids hair to look - I went totally blank. I couldn't decide if I wanted it up or down, straight or curly, fancy or casual. Katie could see I was starting to panic, and she immediately suggested a hair style based on how she knew I wanted my hair. It was the perfect suggestion - all of my bridesmaids looked gorgeous!!

Katie was professional, showed up right on time for both the preview AND the Big Day, and her work was flawless. I've never felt so beautiful in my entire life. Thank you, Katie... thank you thank you thank you!

I have always dreamed of a fairy tale wedding, and Alicia from In the Now Weddings turned out to be my fairy godmother! When I hired her, I had somewhat of a vision of how I wanted my wedding to be, but I was completely clueless about how to bring it all together. Alicia was able to help me find the best vendors at the best price, made suggestions on how to save money but was never pushy, and came up with ideas that made it obvious she understoood what I wanted and was as passionate about making this day perfect as I was.

Alicia was unfailingly patient with me, especially when I began contacting her every day panicking about rain on my outdoor wedding. She showed me the back-up plan in case it did rain, which calmed me down immensely. No matter how anxious I became about random wedding details, Alicia was able to convince me not to worry, that everything would be perfect. And it was! The day of the wedding, we had a bit of a crisis with the furniture rental company; I had no idea until after I'd returned from my honeymoon and Alicia told me that she'd managed to get them to credit me for their error. Alicia had handled the entire crisis without breaking a sweat, and nobody was even aware anything had gone wrong!

After the reception was over, I was overjoyed to find that Alicia had personally gone to both changing rooms (the bridal changing suite and the groom's changing room), gathered and organized all my belongings, and had already placed them in the honeymoon suite for us. We didn't have to worry about a thing. The candles and rose petals waiting for us in the suite were the absolute perfect end to a perfect evening!

I always knew that I would go a little crazy in the weeks leading up to my wedding... after all, I've been looking forward to it my entire life! But having Alicia there changed all that. She was so much more than just a "coordinator"; she was a friend, a therapist, an expert... she turned my wedding from a fantasy to a reality, and I will never, ever forget that day! THANK YOU, ALICIA!!!

Eddie at Commerce Flowers provided the flowers for my Valentine's Day wedding. From our consulation with him nearly 8 months ago all the way up until the Big Day, Eddie was a joy to work with. When he made me a mock-up of the centerpieces, I asked if there was any way I could pay him to take the mock-up home, since it was my mother's birthday and I was going to get her flowers anyway. He let me take it free of charge!

There were little vases that I had purchased that I wanted to be hung on the shepard hooks as I walked down the aisle, but I live about an hour away from Commerce so I was trying to figure out a way to get there before the wedding. Eddie told me that he would just have one of his drivers call me the next time they were in the area, and he would pick them up for me! It was a HUGE help!

Finally, the flowers themselves... they were picture perfect and gorgeous! Eddie listened to every single request I had made, and crafted the perfect arrangements for our wedding. All of our guests were talking about how beautiful and elegant they were. Thank you for EVERYTHING, Eddie and Commerce Flowers!!

I cannot say enough positive things about our experience with Jeremy, our videographer. I honestly could have hired him on personality alone - he is incredibly friendly and funny, and was genuinely interested in Joe and I as a couple and exactly what we would/wouldn't want in our wedding video. However, what really sealed the deal was seeing his previous wedding videos... they were so professional and beautiful!

I was a bit of an anxious bride in the weeks leading up to the wedding, and was constantly asking Jeremy questions and advice. He was 100% patient with me, put my mind at ease completely, and erased my pre-wedding jitters! He did the same thing on my wedding day - I was very nervous, and as soon as he showed up and joked around with me a little bit, it made all the difference in the world; I calmed down immediately.

I would recommend Jeremy, without hesitation, to anybody who seeks a professional, friendly wedding vendor at a great value who will never stress you out! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Jeremy!!!