Angel is a pro...in the best sense of the word. First off, I believe that the expense of hiring a wedding coordinator is well worth the cost, provided you hire the right one. For me, the stylish Angel fit the bill. She is extremely professional, prompt and tasteful. It wasn't so much that everything was out of control; more that I needed follow-through on things that were already set and help finding a few key vendors that had yet to be chosen...this four weeks before the wedding. Ever resourceful, she came through with nary a hair out of place - everything remained calm - and most importantly my fiance (now husband) and I were able to appreciate our special day. She was not the cheapest coordinator I interviewed, but she was the one that I felt most in sync with. I had no qualms over her representing me. Basically I was able to trust her enough to let her do her job, which was to help make my life a lot easier as the clocked ticked down to the big day. I'd work with her again, but hopefully not on another wedding for myself.

Nate + Jaclyn Kaiser are the amazing team that so captured our very special wedding day. They have an amazing "eye," are incredibly professional and were very unobtrusive thoughout the day (with the exception of our pre-ceremony, more posed shots). I was turned onto them after viewing some proofs of their work on a colleague's destination wedding. Upon perusing more of their work, we fell in love with how they caught the spirit, the absolute essence of their clients. My then fiance and I met with the two photographers whose work we most admired and then went with the one we felt most comfortable with...because that's what also matters -- how well you click with your photographer(s). You've got to be able to trust them to document one of the most important days of your life. We made the right choice. It helped us to have an engagement session before the actual wedding, so we were that much more comfortable with the whole process.

I've been to two wedding receptions there in the last six months. Please know that if you are interested in this venue, it's available for private parties until around 3pm, which means you're going to have a luncheon. The first event I attended was my cousin's reception for about 120 people. The second occurred this past weekend, for a friend's wedding and reception at Lawry's -- I helped out as the day of coordinator for this event, and hence the main source of my opinions.

The setting is classy (doesn't need much embellishment; they have their own fresh floral arrangements in the waiting areas & bathrooms) and of course the food is excellent. At my cousin's reception there was another concurrent smaller event in a side room, which didn't effect her party in the main dining room at all. For the wedding/reception, they had the whole restaurant. They were married in a the room off the bar -- which boasts a fireplace. This room comfortably accomodates about 100-110 people, the overflow sat in the adjacent larger side room, which made for a slightly awkward seating arrangement. The bride for last weekend's wedding and reception worked with both Ellen and Melissa. Melissa was there for the actual day of the event. They were both wonderful to deal with. The entire staff is very accommodating and attentive. You have to bring in your own speakers if you want to have a slide show with music or play music of your choice during dinner. Because the tables are on the smallish side, centerpieces should also be kept small/compact. There was plenty of underground parking.

This is a good place to have a reception should you be Chinese and you want to please your Chinese guests, but you don't want to serve Chinese Banquet food. The Chinese love good prime rib!

Sherry did makeup/hair for my recent wedding and I have had so many compliments about how great I looked that I'm starting to feel like I must have been such a dog before (and probably after)...naw, just kidding about that. But I don't joke about her skill at both makeup and hair. She was worth every penny. As an Asian, I did briefly wonder if only another Asian would "get" how to do me, but that is very small minded thinking and of course completely wrong. The makeup stayed on all night. I was "made-up" but still looked like me, only better. The hair held up (it wasn't entirely up, though, just half up). And best of all, it looked good in photos, even the non-pro ones. I am seriously considering going back to her for a lesson, only I don't want to spend 2 hours each day to look so good -- maybe for a quick, more realistic version. Me, but only better. It's a shame I probably won't ever do something like this again.