mpadua's reviews

Denise is amazing and amazingly talented! Her work and level of professionalism is outstanding. I booked her immediately for my photo shoot as she was highly recommended by my photographer. I am so glad that I did! I let her know what my "vision" was and sent her some photos of possible looks for her to create on me. Upon meeting her, I found that she was so sweet and easy to talk to. She immediately made me feel comfortable. She got started on my hair right away, meanwhile, I thumbed through some of her portfolio to find a makeup look that I liked. I explained to her what I wanted and she knew exactly what to do. She worked so quickly and with such skill. She truly blew me away with her artistry. I am so glad that I completely trusted her and allowed her to just "work her magic". I LOVED my makeup and hair in the end result. It wasn't overdone, but just enough to show up in the photos. I loved the way she made me up, but not look unnatural. Being worked on my Denise was truly a great experience!!! I looked and felt gorgeous! You too, will love the end result.

My (now) husband and I were very fortunate to have Erwin of Apertura photograph our engagement pictures and both our private church ceremony as well as our outdoor ceremony. I was referred to Apertura through friends who were recent brides. After stalking the Apertura website for some time, we were drawn to Erwin's artistic and photojournalistic eye. We greatly admired his ability to capture the many emotion-filled, precious moments through his unique juxtaposition of what is beautiful and what is sometimes regarded as "unattractive". We found his work to be captivating, edgy, emotional, unexpected and simply awe-inspiring. His work stood out with a definite "WoW" factor. Since wedding photography was the most important thing to me for our recent wedding, I knew that Erwin had to shoot our wedding!!!

Working with Erwin was truly a pleasure. He has a very fun and joking personality, and was really easy to get along with. It was almost like hanging out with a long-time friend! He made sure to make us feel at ease during our Engagement Shoot and gave us good direction, which was really key in making us feel more relaxed when he was shooting our wedding.

On the business side of things, Erwin is extremely professional about his work and was very patient in helping us put together wedding packages that worked within a budget. He responds thoroughly and promptly to all inquiries, always making sure to answer all questions and ease our concerns. I really appreciated him following up with us from time to time just to ask if we had any additional questions he could answer for us.

Erwin is a hard worker with great timing. He was able to send us our images so quickly. We were extremely pleased with the final Engagement Shoot, Church Wedding, and Outdoor Ceremony photos. He captured so many great moments and raw emotions. Looking at the photos and the awesome wedding slideshow he created for us felt like we were reliving our wedding. It truly brought a smile to my face.

Hands down, Erwin's work is truly amazing, of great quality, and worth the price. If wedding pictures are the most important thing to you, then you have already found your photographer.

Paper and More is THE BEST website to find all of your paper for invitations, programs, etc. I purchased their metallic cardstock, text weight paper, and pocketfolds for my bridal shower and wedding invitations. My order always came quickly and so neatly packed with an item list/invoice that tells you what you purchased. Their paper is the best quality I've seen and worked with. I LOVE their metallic pearlescent cardstock and pocketfolds! The colors are sooooo pretty and quality of the paper is excellent. My guests were quite impressed when they received our wedding/bridal shower invitations. I still order paper from Paper and More to make handmade card designs. Thanks Paper and More!!!

Rev Ralph Barlow from SoCal Officiants provided a beautiful, "short and sweet", ceremony that was tailored to our traditions and time frame. We were lucky to have found him at the last minute and he was very accomodating and professional. Rev. Ralph was EXTREMELY organized!!! He already had a template of his ceremony format(s) which he emailed to us and allowed us to make the changes that we wanted. He was very accomodating and even allowed us to incorporate our own wording and Filipino traditions of the veil, cord and coins. His organization and promptness was so helpful since it made everything so much easier. We trusted him 100% to be there on time and provide a beautiful ceremony for us. Rev Ralph did an amazing job for us on our wedding day and made everything so meaningful and memorable for us. I couldn't be happier with his services!

Marylinn's is a beautiful bridal salon with beautiful gowns!!! I had the pleasure of having Nora assist me in finding the PERFECT gown!! She was very friendly and knowledgeable. Right away, she sized me up and recommended flattering styles to my figure, all while staying within my price range. She was not pushy at all! If there was a dress I did not like, she put it away. I ended up buying an Ian Stuart "showstopper" dress I saw in the window. I did not second guess my dress decision at all and I have Nora to thank for that. Her encouragement, sense of style and bubbly/funny personality gave me confidence and made finding a gown a very fun and happy experience for me. My dress was AMAZING and looked beautiful in pictures. I got so many compliments. I have Nora and Marylinn's Bridal to thank for that!

Chiali is an amazingly skilled, professional, and talented hair/makeup artist. She is very experienced in the industry and is knowledgeable about wedding trends/styles. She is very honest with her clients about what will look best on them and she is usually right! I was extremely pleased with her work on myself (bride) and my bridesmaids. She is very sweet and a pleasure to work with. She is also very attuned to her clients needs and makes sure that they are satisfied and happy with her work. I loved working with Chiali and I was extremely happy with her work!

Entertainment Express was the preferred DJ for my venue and I'm so glad that we chose them for our wedding. We got a REALLY great deal booking them as our DJ since we were having our wedding at Padua Hills Theatre. The owner, Scott Yoffe, was really friendly, personable, flexible, and easy to work with. He has a great team of MC's and DJ's, each of which cater to each couple's music taste. We also chose Entertainment Express because they have all of their new high-tech equipment set up at Padua Hills Theatre, including lighting, lazers, sound system/speaker, DJ booth...its simply amazing to see his demos at the venue. You cannot use the DJ equipment at Padua Hills unless you book Entertainment Express, but its worth it! They were able to turn our reception into a "club" at the end of the night.

Scott and his team are EXTREMELY organized. They've got wedding programs and timelines down to a science! You don't have to worry about anything going wrong because they take care of everything! Scott's wedding timeline was so detailed and organized...down to the minute! It was at times, difficult to fill out, simply because he included so many things that I didn't even think about that were actually very important!

We had Anthony as our DJ and Shawn as our MC. They both did an amazing job with sticking to the timelines and song selections. It was really great to have an efficient DJ and MC to help direct the wedding ceremony and reception in a timely manner. My only critique is that a some parts were maybe a little "cheesy". Despite that, Shawn was exceptional in his MC skills and really helped everyone feel welcome and informed as to what was taking place. He also did a great job assisting the bridal party with their reception grand entrances. Anthony did a great job with cueing music as I had specified as well as getting the crowd pumped on the dance floor with the music!

Entertainment Express is a great choice for your wedding! They helped custom-tailor a perfectly scheduled event that reflected our personal style and music taste. It was a great event/production that will definitely be memorable not only to my husband and I, but to our guests as well. You are in good hands with Scott and his team.

I just had my wedding at Padua Hills Theatre and I was so amazed at how everything turned out. The property is gorgeous, especially the ballroom. We were lucky to even book this place (as it also bears my last name) since they had undergone a 5 million dollar renovation a year and a half ago. Since then, it seems as if they're business has been booming.

The staff: Sheryl, Richard, Jennifer and Tammy were instrumental in helping us plan and coordinate our wedding. Though at times, it was a little difficult during the planning process to get some answers or be in contact with them, I tried to understand that they were also extremely busy in building their business and managing their recent high volume and demand. It would have been helpful as a bride to perhaps have some more personal attention.

However, I honestly didn't have to worry too much on my wedding day or the day before even though I didn't not hire a wedding planner. I really didn't need one working with Padua Hills. Richard was great with sales and showing off their beautiful, private property that would be exclusive for our use only during the wedding. He is also the owner and chef and the food was amazing! Sheryl, the ownder, was very organized and flexible when it came to the rehearsal, menu, cake (she is an amazing pastry chef who created my 3-tiered "to-die-for" chocolate raspberry and carrot cake w/o nuts from a picture I gave her!!!), linens, chairs, table set-up, etc. Jennifer was extremely helpful in a lot of planning logistics and payments. Tammy was an amazing "day-of" coordinator as she helped fix so many unexpected problems, bustle my dress (with Sheryl's help), tend to me and my husband during the wedding, guide us during the ceremony/reception, and just overall made us feel comfortable and at ease. Overall, the staff took care of mostly everything for us and I didn't have to worry about going to many outside vendors for the little details because Padua Hills was so organized and remembered all the details.

I was very pleased with the service of the staff and wait staff/bartenders throughout the evening. Everyone was most helpful and really helped us achieve our "platinum wedding" without the platinum price. Stepping into the fully decorated and lit ballroom took my breath away. It was realy beautiful.

I would definitely recommend booking Padua Hills asap as they are a "hidden jewel" in Claremont, CA. This place is up and coming and they are already booking up into 2012 by now! I really felt at ease on teh day of my wedding and didn't really have to worry about anything. If you want a beautiful, intimate, private, well-organized, "platinum style" wedding without the platinum price, this is the place for you!

I had the honor of having Katie B do my hair and makeup for both my engagement session and my wedding! After endless searches for a hair/makeup artist, I managed to stumble across Katie B's profile here on Project Wedding. Her profile completely stood out because her transformation photos literally took my breath away. I knew right then that I was going to hire her! I became anxious and contacted her right away and found out that she was available to do my wedding!

Working with Katie B for my engagement session and wedding confirmed her true talent right before my eyes. My "before" and "after" photos were a true testament of her ability to transform a bride into looking AND feeling so glamorous...like "a million bucks" as she says! She made me look and feel amazing on my wedding day...as a bride should feel. She is not only an amazingly talented, passionate, professional AND punctual hair and makeup artist, but she is also a very sweet and down-to-earth person who is a good listener and is very attuned to her clients wants and needs.

Katie has the great ability to visualize an end result and sometimes you just have to completely trust her in creating her vision on you. Trust me, you won't be sorry, only happy. I love that Katie is also very honest about what will and won't look good on a client. She always suggests something that will flatter a person's features the most. She is also very experienced in this industry and does work on many celebrities. She is very up to date on the current trends and styles especially for weddings.

I was also worried about my mom being happy with her hair/makeup on my wedding as she is hard to please. After Katie B worked on her, my mom was not only amazed and happy with the result, but she was speechless! She raves about how Katie B not only made her look younger and glamorous, but like a model too! She got so many compliments at the wedding and from pictures.

Katie also has her own mineral makeup line, that of which she completely uses on her clients. Let me tell you, this makeup is probably the best that I have ever worn! I've told Katie countless times how oily my skin is, that makeup usually slides off of my face, and how worried I was that I'd be "shiny" in my wedding photos. On my wedding day, I honestly didn't have to blot my face that much because her makeup not only stayed on, but it still looked fresh! It has great coverage! Even my eye makeup was intact 12 hours later (since she did my makeup in the morning)!

Katie is seriously worth every penny. Her and Shaun make a great team in transforming brides! With the help of Shaun, my hair was so full and voluminous AND it didn't fall flat at all throughout the evening. I also rented Katie B's 100% human hair and handmade (by her) extensions on my wedding day for added fullness and volume. I love her work and cannot rave about her enough. Even my bridesmaids loved her work and they were amazed just watching her transform me. I looked great in the photos that I've seen from friends and family. I can't wait to see my professional photos, as I'm sure that my hair/makeup will look even more amazing!

Book Katie B for your engagement session and wedding. You will be so glad you did the right thing!!!