mipplet's reviews

This wonderful little bridal store has been located in Elmhurst for many years. It was the first and only place we went looking for the bridesmaids' dresses, and we ended up buying them there. VIP Occasions has a very impressive selection of gowns. The people who work at the store were very friendly and helpful, and the bridesmaids had no problems ordering their dresses. The dresses ended up coming in way ahead of schedule, and VIP contacted me and the bridesmaids to let us know that they had arrived. The alteration prices at the store were also very reasonable. Overall, my experience with VIP Occasions was very positive. I give the store two thumbs up!

We were married at the Treasure Island Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. I cannot say enough nice things about the people at TI. Our wedding coordinator, Maria, was incredibly helpful in the months leading up to the wedding. She helped me plan the details of the ceremony, ordered the wedding flowers, and was very patient answering the dozens of questions I threw at her all the time. Everything ran smoothly at the wedding, and the TI staff were courteous, helpful, and friendly. The ceremony was Webcast (free of charge) so that friends and family who couldn't make it all the way to Vegas were still able to watch the wedding from home. The hotel even sent my wedding gown out to be pressed and had it back to me in mint condition the very next day...amazing! My only complaint is that Treasure Island has an exclusive agreement with Cashman Professional, which is a very crappy photography company. All the photos during our ceremony had to be taken by Cashman...we didn't have the option of using our own photographer. When it was time to take photos in the chapel during the ceremony, the Cashman photographer wouldn't let anyone else take pictures using a flash, which really sucked. I think all of the major casinos have arrangements like that with different photography studios, though, so it's not just a Treasure Island thing. In spite of the photography issue, I'm still so glad we got married at TI. Our wedding was very beautiful and the friendly staff at the casino helped make it possible.

Dean and Suzanne Thorsen took our engagement photos. I cannot say enough nice things about them! They are a husband and wife team and are very friendly and professional. Every time I contacted them with a question prior to our photo session, Dean got back to me back right away (usually within an hour or two). Due to inclement weather on the day of our portrait session, John and I decided that we wanted to change locations at the last minute, and the Thorsens were incredibly cooperative. They did a great job of making us feel relaxed and comfortable right away (even poor john, who really didn't want to have the photos taken at all: he agreed to it just to appease me!). Dean and Suzanne had a lot of great ideas for different poses, but they were also very open to any suggestions that John and I had. Our photos were posted on the Thorsen's Web site just a few days after our session, and our proofs and photo order were also delivered very quickly. I have already recommended Thorsen Photography to several of my friends...Dean and Suzanne are very nice people and incredible photographers! You're lucky if you get a chance to work with them.

One of my friends ordered her wedding invitations through this company and she recommended them to me. Overall, my experience was pretty positive. They offered the designer invitations I wanted for a fraction of the price other companies were charging. I was able to place my order on the Web site with relative ease (although I wish the site had a preview function that allowed you to preview the text in an invitation format instead of just the little fields that you type in). I received an e-mail confirmation instantly and the PDF proofs I ordered arrived two days later. (I think it's kind of ridiculous that the company charges so much for PDF proofs, but what can you do?) When my order was shipped, I received an e-mail confirmation with the UPS tracking number. Unfortunately, there was a misprint on the outer invitation envelopes. I sent an e-mail to the company right away alerting them to the error and sent them a copy of the confirmation they had sent me after I placed my order, which proved that the typo was not my fault. Replacement envelopes arrived a few days later at no additional cost to me. I recommend Princess Wedding Invitations because of the quality of the invites, the low price, and the friendly customer service. However, make sure you pay the extra few bucks for the PDF proofs and be sure to check your order carefully when it arrives in case there's an error!

We had our wedding reception in a private room at the Mon Ami Gabi located at the Paris casino in Las Vegas. Overall, it went really well. The service was excellent, the food was great, and the prices were very reasonable. The biggest problem I had with this place is that the catering manager NEVER returned my phone calls...I'd usually have to leave him two or three messages before I'd receive a response. I was so worried that he would screw up my reception, but the only thing that he got wrong was the wedding cake: it was supposed to be pink and black, but they goofed and made it white, pink, and black. It still looked and tasted great, though, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Everyone had a great time at my reception and I definitely recommend Mon Ami Gabi to other brides.

Because our wedding was being held out of town, we needed to find a place where my husband and the groomsmen could get measured for their tuxes in Chicago and then pick them up in Las Vegas. I decided on Men's Wearhouse because I read great reviews about them on The Knot and because they offered a good selection at reasonable prices. We went to the Schaumburg location to pick out the tuxes and have the first round of fittings. The staff members were very friendly and helpful, and things went incredibly smoothly when it was time to pick up the tuxes at the Vegas store (which was located a mere 10 minutes from our hotel). The tuxes looked great and we had absolutely no hassles. Men's Wearhouse rocks!

When it was time for me to shop for a wedding dress, I decided that I would be a responsible bride and check out the discount bridal shops in addition to the more upscale Chicago boutiques. BIG MISTAKE! Discount bridal shops are scary places, my friends, and House of Brides was by far the worst (it was even worse than David's Bridal, which was shocking to me). This place is the equivalent of Walmart for brides. It is dirty and smelly, and all the dresses are ugly and look like they've been handled by about 30,000 people. The salespeople were rude and extremely unhelpful...my sister and I could only spend a few minutes in this place before we turned around and ran for out lives. (FYI, we were at the Schaumburg location. A few days later I made the mistake of walking into another House of Brides in Glen Ellyn, and it was just as bad...I should have learned my lesson.) The only good thing I can say about House of Brides is that my sister gave me a good laugh when we were there: in the midst of all the ugly white gowns, there was a wedding dress that was SCARLET RED. My sister turned to me, pointed at the dress, and said "That's for girls who are such big whores that they can't even wear ivory." Ha ha ha! Bottom line: STAY AWAY from House of Brides! Pay the extra money and go to a nice bridal salon...you'll be very glad you did.

I ordered a pair of Grace shoes (the Stella style) for my wedding. They were a bit pricey, but they matched the color of my dress perfectly and they were very pretty. I was very comfortable in them all evening. I also had a Grace handbag (the Katia style) which was very beautiful, but unfortunately the handle broke at the end of the evening. That ticked me off. I know I crammed a lot of stuff into the purse, but when I spend $110 on something, I expect it to last longer than a few hours. Oh well...at least it held up for most of the night.

I hired James from Glamsquad to do my hair and makeup for the wedding. He came to our hotel and did an AMAZING job. James is incredibly professional and listened to me tell him exactly what I wanted. My hair looked great and my makeup was natural yet sophisticated: I wanted to look like myself for my wedding, and I did...but I looked a tad more glamourous than usual! James told very entertaining stories while he worked and he made me feel very comfortable. He also did my bridesmaids' hair and we were all very pleased with the end result. Our hairstyles held up throughout the day, as did my makeup: I just had to retouch my lipstick a couple of times, and that was it. The prices were very reasonable and I definitely got my money's worth. If you decide to hire Glamsquad for your Vegas wedding, I suggest that you specifically request James...he was fantastic.

Words cannot express how much Cashman sucks. I've read a ton of negative reviews about them, so I booked another photographer for my wedding in addition to Cashman. Unfortunately, Cashman has a deal with Treasure Island that allows them to take all the photos during the wedding ceremony, so we were stuck with them for a little while. The woman who took our photos was nice enough, but the poses were all so unnatural. We ended up getting a few decent shots, but most of them looked like really bad prom pictures. We ordered less than 20 pictures from Cashman...thank god I had another photographer (a GOOD photographer) in reserve, or else I would hardly have any pictures from my wedding. Also, Cashman's prices are ridiculously expensive, and the two saleswomen we dealt with at the TI office were EXTREMELY unprofessional. They were running very behind schedule and kept us waiting for a very long time, never offering any apology. They were also very pushy and got all bitchy with me when I refused to shell out hundreds of dollars for their crappy photos. Brides beware...if you're having a Vegas wedding and your wedding chapel sticks you with Cashman, get another photographer so you'll actually end up with decent pictures! Cashman blows chunks.