Cari took our trash the dress/newlywed session photos a couple of months after our wedding and we couldn't have been more pleased with how our photos turned out. It was so much fun to get back into my wedding dress and take photos again, and Cari is so friendly and nice that it made easy to pose and get comfortable. I was very impressed with our photos when we got them - Cari did an excellent job editing all of them - not just the top 10 or so like many photographers do.

Here is a link to some of the photos Cari took for us: http://www.projectwedding.com/biography/list/kristinkay/trash-the-dress-photos

I would definitely recommend her for anyone wanting to take trash the dress photos!

After meeting with Marlin I knew he would be a fantastic person have photograph our wedding. We were so impressed with his portfolio and he is just one of the nicest, most down to earth people you will ever meet. He is so friendly that he totally put us at ease and we instantly felt comfortable around him.

Marlin took our engagement photos at Disneyland - and we loved the photos we got back. I don't think I am a super photogenic person so I am pleased that he was able to capture some photos where I actually thought were good of me :) He had great ideas for the shoot and he didn't make us do anything that wasn't us. Our epics are super relaxed and fun and just perfectly us.

On our wedding day both Marlin and his wife Marlene (who also is one of the nicest people in the world) went above and beyond. I stressed to them that I was much more interested in getting candid shots that showed the emotion of the day than posed shots and that is exactly what he got. I didn't give him a huge photo list to take either - but he got every single must have shot that I would have put on the list. A couple of times throughout the evening I asked him to make sure he got a photo of a specific detail and his response was always "we already got that!" He and Marlene were such a pleasure to have around on that day and both of them seemed like great friends before the day was over!

When we got our photos back I was really impressed that he was able to get so many fantastic shots. Every detail was there and there really isn't anything that I would have them go back and photograph if I could. There are photos that show the raw emotion of the day that made me tear up when looking at them for the first time and other photos that are just gorgeous. I found some of my favorites were the ones that I don't even remember him taking so I am sure he was just clicking away while I wasn't even paying attention.

I highly recommend Marlin and would not hesitant to hire them again to photograph other special events and moments in our life.

(I have many of my photos from Marlin in my bio so please look there for more examples of his fantastic work!)

Alex is absolutely amazing to work with. She created the labels for my Simpsons-themed donut favors and was able to take pictures of my husband and I and turn us into Simpsons characters! She replied to all emails super quick and make all of the changes that I asked promptly - she was so easy to work with and we ended up with something better than I would have ever imagined!! I would definitely recommend Alex for all of your design needs :)

Jason was one of the easiest vendors we worked with! I gave him a quick outline of what we wanted for our ceremony and cocktail hour music and he was able to put everything together perfectly. He played current pop music during our cocktail reception and our guests had nothing but wonderful things to say about his performance. He was as professional and nice in person as he was on the phone!

He music is amazing and he set the perfect relaxed tone for our wedding. I walked down the aisle to his version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" which was perfect.

I would definitely recommend him to any brides out there looking for an acoustic guitar performer for their wedding. A++

I waited for a little while after my wedding to write this review because honestly I don't know how I can put into words how happy we were that we chose to have our wedding at Il Cielo - it was absolutely the best decision we could have ever made. Here are some of the amazing things about this venue:

The Food:
Il Cielo serves outstanding Italian food. They start off each wedding with a pre-ceremony champagne reception in which they serve fruit and puff pastries which are amazing! Its the perfect way to start the evening. The hor d'oeuvres that they serve during the cocktail hour are fantastic. Our guests were eating the entire hour and the food never ran out. Our actual dinner food was incredible - many of our guests commented that it was delicious. Its not typical wedding food and its served in the same way that it would be if you went to eat dinner in the restaurant.

The Service:
All of the staff members at Il Cielo are so friendly and helpful that it created such a warm and comfortable atmosphere at our wedding. Waiters filled half full wine glasses and gave our guests anything and everything they needed. They were funny and welcoming and charming - all with Italian accents!! Our wedding only had 90 guests and I am sure there were at least 6 or more waiters, not including barstaff. I felt like I was being waited on hand and foot and anything I needed was given to me within moments. They made me feel like a queen and made sure all my guests had an amazing time.

The Coordinator:
Fabio Price is the coordinator at Il Cielo and I am not sure how to actually describe how good he is at his job. From the moment we booked Il Cielo I felt so comfortable knowing that he was in charge - he responded to emails quickly with his honest opinions on ideas I had. He was very organized and thoughtful and made sure we had all of the information we needed. During our tasting he treated us like royalty, opening bottles of champagne and wine for us to taste and taking hours to answer all of the questions we had. He seriously has weddings down to a science, but at no time did it feel like a wedding factory or like he wasn't open to what I wanted. He listened to what I wanted and then made it work for the venue. On the actual day he set up all of my details in the most beautiful way possible and took care of all of the little things for me. I felt totally stress-free knowing he was in charge and he made the evening totally seamless.

The Little Details:
Il Cielo has some many little details that are unique to the venue that make weddings there super special and memorable. The first is the pre-ceremony champagne reception. I have never been to a wedding that had anything like that and I loved the idea of my guest eating, drinking and mingling while waiting for the ceremony instead of sitting in chairs waiting for me to walk down the aisle. It just seemed like such a special way to start the wedding evening. They present the cake on the front patio and literally assemble it before your very eyes - its a gorgeous way to do it and its so cool to see it just happen like that! To end of the evening they walk you back to the Four Seasons across the street (where most of the brides and grooms stay) singing with an accordion player and having your guests follow you. It was totally a surreal experience and again something that people don't see everyday and something that made my wedding special.

The Venue Decor:
Il Cielo is a beautiful restaurant. They have a back patio that has a retractable glass ceiling, which is where the ceremony and reception is. Its a gorgeous room that just feels very classic, and is such a great compromise between having it outside and having it inside. The front patio is brick and is surrounded by greenery. In each room they have gorgeous chandeliers and have decorated with little white lights - its just beautiful.

Overall: Il Cielo is outstanding! I cannot say enough great things about this place. A+++++ !!!

Mahtab was so great to work with - she is so nice and helpful!! My dress required a very difficult bustle and she did a fantastic job that end up through lots of dancing :) After I forgot my monogram during the first fitting she put it on while I waited during the second fitting so I wouldn't have to drive down again!! She made the experience fun and special and I am so happy I had her do my alterations!

And on top of that her prices are unbelievably reasonable!!

We bought my husband's and his best man's tux here. They were having a sale, which we compared to other stores and found to be a great deal. He was measured by the sales person, which told him his size should be one up from what he usually wears in suits because of the fit of the tux. We were very upset when he took it to the tailor and the tailor informed him that it was way to big and he needed to return it and get the smaller size or it would cost a load to fix it.

We were happy with the customer service we received when trying to return the tux, the owner informed us that the person that helped us had been fired because of bad service, but then had us pay extra for shipping from the manufacturer because they didn't have the correct size in stock anymore - which was a little irritating.

Overall the service and the price on the sale items were good - most of the other stuff is overpriced and I would look elsewhere before buying it there.

Cloth Connection was super easy to work with. I went to their showroom in Pasadena and checked out their large linen collection and decided on chocolate brown pintuck linens with matching napkins for our wedding. I filled out a quick order form, and they were on our doorstep the week before the wedding. The linens were super high quality and they all looked great. The best part was that they included the big bags that you can just fedex back to them - without even paying shipping.

Their prices were the best in town and you don't have to pay shipping or delivery fees!! We definitely recommend them.

Dirk was Studio West Video was fantastic. He was professional, unobtrusive on the day and fun to be around. I barely noticed that he was there, but I am so glad he was because he captured some amazing moments. A couple of days into our honeymoon Dirk posted our teaser video: (http://studiowestvideo.typepad.com/studio_west_video_blog/2009/04/kristin-micah-april-5th-2009-il-cielo-beverly-hills.html#comments) and I was so so so happy with it. He was able to capture the emotion of the day and did it in such an elegant manner. I was super impressed with how it put it together and everyone that I have shown it to has loved it. I cannot wait to see the full video of our wedding - I am sure Dirk will make it fantastic!

We had our rehearsal/welcome dinner at El Cholo and we were very pleased. The food there is sooo good and the service at our party was really good. We had it upstairs with our guests seated at round tables in groups of about 5-6, but if you have a smaller party you can have it in a special room that has one long table.

They let you choose three entrees for your guests to choose from at the event, and the pricing was really low for what we got. They also allowed us to bring in our own centerpieces, wine (for a small uncorking fee) and our own groom's cake for dessert.

We would definitely recommend El Cholo for any sort of special event!