When planning our wedding these are the things that we considered a priority:
1.Finding the perfect venue
2.Finding an excellent photographer who was available on our wedding date.
3.Finding the perfect dress.
After picking our venue, we focused on #2. We wanted a photographer who would capture all the special moments during our big day. I spent countless hours researching multiple wedding websites, attending bridal shows, meeting with photographers and asking friends and acquaintances for references. Finally we narrowed down our list to three photographers. We met up with two, and ultimately chose Herman Au because we were extremely impressed by his work. We liked that his style did not make couples look artificial. The poses look natural and not corny. When we met him at his office, he showed us multiple finished wedding albums, a sample slide show and beautiful canvases. He is capable of producing vivid colorful photos as well as more subdued romantic antique black and white or sepia photos. Not only does he produce excellent results, he is a very friendly and accommodating person. Since we were going to spend a whole day with him, it was important that we would be able to get along with him. I definitely recommend spending $$$ to get the results you want.
Our engagement session gave us a taste of what it would be like to work with Herman during our big day. Herman took his time to get the shots he needed. It went well and our guestbook/engagement book came out nicely.
On our wedding day, Herman arrived on time with his 2nd shooter. They were unobtrusive and did great work on the sidelines. Herman and his team delivered our beautiful wedding albums in a timely manner. We are extremely happy with the finished product. We will cherish these magnificent photos for the rest of our lives.

After interviewing multiple videographers to shoot my wedding we chose VKI. They have a great website which showcases tons and tons of their prior videos. My husband and I met with Gary and his wife at their home to discuss which package we wanted. He has a lot of experience filming all day weddings ie. Chinese/Vietnamese weddings. He created a customized package for us and showed up on time to the tea ceremony and stayed through the open dance portion of the night. Gary was good at directing my bridal party on how to pose. We received our videos about 3 months after the wedding. We were extremely happy with the recap/highlight video. Unfortunately I made the mistake of only asking for one person to shoot my wedding, so we missed out a lot because there is only so much that one videographer can capture. I highly suggest that you pay more for 2-3 videographers to capture all the special moments of your wedding.

My husband and I visited over 30 different venues and then I remembered that my friend had gotten married at a WGC. My parents and I went to visit WGC and we put a deposit down right then and there. Robert even offered us to stay and enjoy the Sunday brunch. WGC had everything we were looking for: one event per day(we had the whole venue to ourselves…well the golfers were around for part of the day but they didn’t bother us), outdoor ceremony site (they have a beautiful gazebo and semi-shady area for guests to sit), water element (they have a pond right behind the gazebo, nice backdrop), catering (prime rib, chicken Florentine and garlic mashed potatoes were so yummy! Guests also raved about the appetizers), big windows in the main hall, good selection of alcohol, free parking (big lot in the back ), bridal changing room, easily fits 150-200 guests (their banquet hall is huge and even opens up into another room if necessary), great package deals (we went with the platinum pck and added chivari chairs and satin napkins). Robert (catering director) is very direct. He will answer all your questions but as briefly and succinctly as possible. His wife Kimberly is friendly and was very helpful in directing our bridal party during the ceremony. It has many beautiful spots to take your wedding photos onsite. I recommend for all newly engaged couples to visit WGC and consider it for their wedding venue.

I have been ordering birthday cakes from Phoenix for over 10 years now. I absolutely love how their cakes are not super sweet and how the almonds are toasty and crispy. The frosting is the perfect amount of sweetness and fluffiness. Oh and of course you have to get the fresh strawberries. Oh man I got carried off. This review is actually about my wedding cake. I always knew that I would order my wedding cake from phoenix but I still wanted to the cake tasting. Free cake! Yay. They actually bake a mini cake of whatever 3 flavors you want. We picked the strawberry, the custard and the marble. We met the head baker who is this cool surfer type guy. He let us try everything. I personally didn’t like the custard because it was too sweet and tasted like carmel. The marble was ok. We chose the traditional strawberry with spongy cake. The head baker was very frank with us and told us not to order too much cake because most guests wouldn’t eat it anyways. We had approx 170 guests so we ordered a cake that would feed 150. Unfortunately the servers at my venue were lazy and only served like 30% of the cake so we had tons left over. Our penthouse fridge couldn’t fit the leftovers so it basically went to waste. That totally pissed me off. Tip: remember to preserve the top layer and bring it back to PB because they will recreate it for you on your anniversary.

We strolled in and out through various jewelry stores in the jewelry district before we were directed to go up to Bridal rings. My husband was torn between two rings and finally settled on one. The lady working there was very patient with us. We paid a deposit and left. Couple days later I looked them up on yelp and saw a deal on yelp for 10% off. I called the BR and asked if they could apply that deal to my purchase. At first the manager refused. He then called me back 5 minutes later and told me that actually yes he would apply the discount. Cool beans. I went back and picked up the ring a few days later and they threw in some ring cleaning solution in my bag. They have a pretty good selection of rings and bands.

I visited a few other stores before I found a nice red and gold ao dai for my wedding at Hollywood. It came with a white semi see through outer layer. They altered the pants to fit me. My husband also rented his ao dai here. I believe it was 50 for mine and about 35 for my husband’s. I also got my wedding dress cleaned here. My mom picked up and she noticed that there were spots on it. When she brought it up to their attention they sort of just brushed her off. So I called them and they immediately told me to bring it in and they will clean it again. The second time around they got everything out. FYI they don’t vacuum seal the dress in a box.

After visiting various (15+) stores, we settled on Thai for our bridesmaids dresses and groomsmen tuxes. I flipped through a few sample magazines and found a dress that would be flattering on all of my bridesmaids. I gave them all the necessary measurement and everything was ordered. I was impressed with the quality of the dresses. They even altered the dresses for free. The tux rental came with shoes too. I think it’s the same quality as mens warehouse and the other tux places. My bridal party looked amazing! Great rental prices. The lady who owns is it super nice. She also does flowers. Just remember to drop off the rentals the day after your wedding.

My friend recommended Thuy as a wedding florist. On our first visit she actually had bouquets and centerpieces in the back fridge that were being use for a wedding the next day. We liked what we saw so we sat down and thumbed through her binders of sample photos. I wanted something nice but simple. Her prices are very reasonable and she is will to work with you. She has a habit of rushing things so just be sure to tell her exactly what you want. If you have photos of what you like you can bring those to her as well. Our wedding flowers were amazing: bouquets, cake flowers, boutonnieres and the centerpieces. The only complaint I had was that the alter arrangement was set too low. So low that it covered my husband’s head in most of the photos. :( Otherwise they were prompt, did a great job setting up and the arrangements were extremely beautiful.

My friend used JL for her wedding and she looked beautiful so I decided to get a trial run. I went over to her place and she spent a good 3 hours on my hair and makeup. I was not super happy with the results because I felt like it was way too natural looking. Also my hair looked a bit lopsided. I wanted a more dramatic look, however it was my fault since I didn’t specify what I wanted. I just went in saying just do whatever you think is best. Lesson learned. I debated whether I should use JL for my wedding day. After talking to my friend again she convinced me that as long as I tell her exactly what I want then JL will work her magic. Of course this was my big day so I had to consider my options carefully. Since I already reserved (paid a deposit) for my wedding day, I decided go book her as my stylist and I also booked her team to work on my 5 bridesmaids. JL and her team came on time on the morning of my wedding. They spent a few hours working their magic and making us look absolutely beautiful. I was extremely happy with my results. Tip: be sure to bring in pictures of what you want your makeup and hair to look like. She can recreate anything! She is $$$ but it was worth it for my big day. My hair and makeup stayed in place all day and night long.

I ordered several manicure sets and pens for my bridal party. They arrived earlier than expected. All the girls loved them! They are super cute and they were reasonably priced. You maybe able to fine online discount codes if you search for it.