jbincali's reviews

In the interest of full disclosure, I should state that Dawn is an acquaintance of mine. However, I think I can say without bias that Dawn was absolutely fabulous on my wedding day and during my two hair trials. I was actually a Tess bride, and when that whole thing went downhill, I decided to ask Dawn if she could take me on as a client. She really ended up going above and beyond for me. Dawn is a licensed cosmetologist who I knew had experience with weddings, but she was even better than I expected. As I mentioned, I had two hair trials at my house because I kept changing my mind on what style I wanted, and both trials went more smoothly than I could have hoped. The day of, Dawn drove to the Westlake Village Inn and did my hair along with all my bridesmaids for an extremely reasonable price--a fraction of what I would have paid anyone else. She even went to the boys' room to do Brian's hair to set my mind at ease (Brian isn't really known for his sense of style). Dawn was extremely accommodating, and her calming presence was a total asset on a day fraught with nervous anticipation. I wholeheartedly recommend her.

E.Marie was tremendous on my wedding day. I usually get a little nervous about other people doing my makeup (too many hellish experiences at the MAC counter) but I thought she did an awesome job. My makeup was exactly what I hoped for. I looked like me but way, way better. E.Marie also did the makeup for my best friend and my mother, who never wears makeup, and I thought they looked really great. E.Marie is super talented and has a firm, no nonsense attitude which I appreciated because it helped reign me in. Case in point: on the day of the wedding, I showed her a picture of a look I wanted to emulate, and she quickly pointed out that a thick line of eyeliner would not be super attractive on my wedding day. I was skeptical that she could give me the big eyes I wanted without it (my eyes get wanky and small in photographs when I smile. I know it's weird) but she managed to do exactly that. She knows her stuff, and I guess I learned to leave some things to the experts.

The Inn was absolutely gorgeous on our wedding day. It has an old world European type feel with some ridiculously lovely grounds. At the beginning of my wedding planning I really wanted to get married in a church, but since nice looking, relaxed churches in the area are hard to come by, I decided to make my life easier and have the ceremony and reception in the same place. I am so glad I did. The Inn has multiple locations for ceremonies, but I was drawn to the lushness of the gazebo, though I'm not a huge gazebo fan. We held the reception in the Provence room, which was what sold me on the place. I loved that it isn't a typical ballroom. It has two levels, hardwood floors instead of floral carpeting, and a wall of huge windows which look out on the lake and the golf course beyond. With the Provence room, we also got the use of the lobby, which is gorgeous and a great little retreat for people who wanted to lounge and talk. So many of the guests were gushing about the Inn and how great the location was. It really felt like we were in a different world, and that made the loooong drive to get there totally worthwhile.

As the day drew near, I got a little nervous because the hotel was undergoing some major renovations, and one of those renovations included the Provence room. I felt a bit edgy because I hadn't really been warned ahead of time, but the changes were all for the better. The ballroom was transformed from a rustic bistro with wooden beams and huge campy French posters to an elegant dining room with crystal chandeliers, new lighting and a softer paint job. The hotel had also taken on a new head chef in charge of catering, and we got raves about the food.

The site coordinator, Colleen was so incredibly sweet and pretty accommodating, for the most part. Because I hired my own coordinator (you have to bring on your own or pay extra to use theirs) I didn't have to rely on her too much the day of the wedding. The reason the Inn doesn't rate an unqualified "A" is because on our final visit, we realized that the gazebo we were getting married in front of had been damaged. Some of the shingles had fallen off, and in place of them there was what looked like plywood for a repair. It really looked awful. We emailed Colleen to see if anything could be done, but had some trouble getting in touch with her. When we finally did get the chance to ask her about it, she claimed no one had complained about the gazebo (really?!) and that she would see what could be done. We never heard from her. It wasn't a horrible situation, of course, but it did require some last minute scrambling and more cash than I had anticipated spending. Nevertheless, the good far outweighed the bad, and I count the venue decision as one of the best wedding ones I made.