**FoxyBride's Extremely Detailed Las Vegas Wedding Review**

[FoxyBride]

Because some of the reviews are less that stellar I want to point out that my grades are based off my personal experience with each vendor and is only my opinion. Overall I had a really good time. The only thing was that I was totally not able to relax. People had us pulled in all directions and my DH is the type that can’t say no. Plus we had a scare when his dad ended up in the hospital so we had to take care of that as well. I need a vacation to recover from this trip for sure!

 

Flights – Southwest – A

 

I love Southwest. I call them the “bus of the skies” for their lack of a seat assignment, but they really are great. We were able to check 2 bags each for free and we both had laptop bags that we carried on and I had a purse and my dress and DH had a garment bag with his suits and no one gave us a problem. They lack a closet to hang the dress in but because I got my dress at the Running of the Brides, it came wrinkled so I never had my alterations lady steam it so I wasn’t worried about new wrinkles. We put it in an overhead with the suits and it didn’t really get any new wrinkles. They also gave us snacks and came around with free beverages 3 times. The big thing that helped was that we had to change our flights 3 TIMES. However, because Southwest doesn’t charge a change fee, and the price of flights actually went DOWN, it saved us money which we put toward getting my mom a ticket.

 

Rental Car – Alamo – B

 

I highly recommend renting a car while in Vegas. Our course, I know my way around since I live here but it’s not hard to figure out at all, especially with a GPS. I was able to find a coupon that gave us 9 days in a mid-size SUV for only $241. They were also running a special for only $10/day if you were renting any time Thursday – Monday. When you factor in $15 each way from the airport and other trips around the strip, at that rate, it comes out much cheaper. I like Alamo because they allow you to use a debit card if you need to and they only hold the amount of the rental, not some arbitrary higher number. Our first hiccup happened upon arrival. There were no cars anywhere! We asked what was going on and a manager said that they didn’t have enough man power to bring them from the return area to the rental area so it would be a wait. We stood in a line of people waiting for their cars for about 15 minutes. When it was our turn they upgraded us to a full-size SUV because of the wait. This turned out to be great since we ended up carting around people who didn’t have rentals and were tired up paying for taxis. Our problem came in when I got pulled over for not having a plate! In Nevada they just give you this little 4x4 square paper for your temporary plate that goes in your window when you are waiting for a plate so it’s common for police to pull you over to check it out. However, I found out after I had been pulled over that the paper was EXPIRED! The police let me go but I called Alamo and COMPLAINED! We had already been upgraded to the largest size vehicle they have and they were all out of luxury SUVs so they gave us a new Tahoe and a $50 rental credit, which was about 2 free days. I’d use Alamo again, but next time I’ll be sure to check the tags.

 

Dress Alterations – Julliane’s Bridal – Olmstead Falls, OH - A

 

DH lives in Cleveland so I’m back and forth between there. Since I purchased the dress out there, I decided to get the work done there as well. It turned out great since she was able to take the dress from a 12 to a street size 2, hem it, and add a custom bustle for only $150.

 

Dress Steaming – Jennaleigh’s Bridal (J. Bridal) – F

 

I had initially planned to have Debi from Fit for a Bride steam my dress but I ran out of time to get it to her so I found J. Bridal last minute. On their site they advertise dress steaming starting at $35 for non-silk dress and $60 and up for silk. I called and she said to bring my dress in for a quote. Naturally when I got there she looked at the label on my dress and said that it stated my dress was not silk but a “silk like fiber” that should be handled like silk and quoted me a price of $85. That was just too much for me so I decided to pass. However, while putting the dress back in the bag she said to “make sure that it wasn’t steamed because it will cause spots all over the dress.” She said that it needed to be dry ironed only. I thought that was strange since my dress is satin, not silk satin, regular satin. To be sure, when I got back to the hotel and I checked the tag that she supposedly go this info about it being a “silk-like fiber” from and that it needed to be dry ironed and it said NOTHING about any of that! If fact, the tag said that the dress should be professionally WET CLEANED only and made no mention of what material it is made out of. This leads me to believe that she completely made up the “silk-like” fiber business and added in the extra about making sure not to get it steamed to scare me into using her service! I know we are in a recession and all but this is just beyond poor business ethics. Never would I have expected this from anyone who calls themselves a professional. I wanted to share this story with other brides so that they aren’t taken by the same scheme.

 

Because of my time crunch, I ended up ironing and STEAMING my dress myself and it came out perfect. No wrinkles and not a spot on it.

 

Stay & Ceremony – The Flamingo Hotel – A-

 

We were married on the West Lawn at the Flamingo Hotel so we decided to stay here was well. DH is a member’s of their player’s club so we were able to get our stay comped. We arrived on 15th and left on the 20th so 5 days comped was more than we expected. However, they only do comps for the regular, unrenovated deluxe room but we were able to upgrade to a GO room for $25/day more prior to arriving. However, I think if we would have waited until we got there, we may have been upgraded for free but since the Floyd Mayweather fight was that weekend some of our guests that did not initially book a GO room were unable to upgrade because they were all sold out and I didn’t want to take that chance.

 

I was able to meet with Kris, our coordinator, to go over things that Wednesday. She said that they do a scheduled rehearsal for $450 which is almost half what the actual ceremony cost so I didn’t think it was worth it. However, she said I could just call and Friday and see when she was available and do it impromptu for free so that’s what I chose and it turned out fine. The ceremony was a 4pm on Saturday. They had a ceremony right before ours and one right after so we had to be on time. They also charge you $200 if you run over your slot so we were sure not to! We started at about 4:15 since a bridesmaid left her bouquet in the room and a groomsman left his tie & hanky as well. The ceremony went smoothly except for when my dad stepped on my dress! He also stepped on my sister’s dress at her wedding so that made it even funnier. The minus is for the ceremony music. They have a keyboardist playing, but honestly, he really could’ve been playing anything, you really couldn’t make it out. Even when I watched the DVD afterward you could barely tell he was playing the songs we selected. I took a lot of time to select the songs so I wish people would have been able to tell what they were. I think they just think it was random piano music. It was also about 90 degrees when we started the ceremony but because of where the sun was when we started, the hotel cast a nice shadow over our spot so it wasn’t too hot.

 

 

Officiant – Donald Clay - A

 

We paid an extra $75 to be sure we had Reverend Clay. Kris had a watch ceremonies performed by the ministers they normally have available on Saturdays and Rev. Clay seemed to be the best fit. The Flamingo normally just sends whoever is there to do your ceremony and that didn’t make any sense at all to me. I was also able to email him a script of what I wanted to for the ceremony and he did a great job sticking to it and adding his own flair as well.

 

Photographer – Cashman - A

 

The package at the Flamingo includes a photographer from Cashman. We had Mark H. Since we were a little late starting, we only had about 5 minutes after the ceremony to take extra photos. We had an appointment on Sunday to review the photos and he was able to get some nice shots. We only took the 12 photos that came with the package but in the future we will probably purchase more.

 

Photographer – 40ThreeStudios – Ransom Rockwood – A

 

Ransom is a friend of mine so we flew him out to do some “getting ready” pics, shoot the wedding party at the LV sign and shoot the reception. He was able to get some nice angles and perspectives on his shots but since we’ve shot a ton before, I was expecting that. I’ll be posting some of the things he was able to capture.

 

Hair/Make-Up – GlamSquad – Hair – Ester, Make-Up – James – A-

 

I requested James since he has the most experience working with African-American brides. I actually didn’t know that Ester was doing my hair until she called and said that she was on her way to my room. I had clip-in hair pieces and I had them curled all over. Ester worked really fast and was able to pull off the look I wanted without much direction.

 

Ester working & Me being… me

 

James was a little late arriving but once he came he got to work right away. I only told him that I wanted “a little drama” and that my colors were blue & orange and he created the look from there. I had him put falsh lashes because I wear them all the time and I love the look.

 

James at work

 

Nails – Royal Nails - 1155 E Twain Ave, Las Vegas, NV – A+

 

This is local spot I always go to. They have reasonable prices ($25 for an acrylic full set, $30 for pedicure) and they do good work. When I told them I was getting married, she upgraded me to gel nails for free. They also put a coat of polish on my niece’s nails and toes for only $13. If you are able to get away from the strip (and strip prices) I’d recommend going here. It’s about a 5-10 minute drive from the strip.

 

Reception – Planet Hollywood Panorama Suite – A

 

We were planning to have a separate reception at rumjungle at Mandalay Bay and then just do an after party at the Panorama Suite but decided to scale it back to just the in-suite reception at Panorama Suite. The room was excellent and the view was awesome. We used an iPod for the music with our own speaker system and that was fine except it would randomly skip to songs that I knew weren’t next in the playlist but I’m sure no one noticed. We had about 50 people so it was tight but no one really complained about it. We filled the bathtub with ice and put the drinks in it since it opens up to the main living room. We served the food from the wet bar and placed a cake on the table where the phone usually is.

 

Catering – Big Mama’s Soul Food – B

 

I hate to give Big Mama’s a B since they really worked with us on the price and making sure the food tasted how we wanted but the were almost an hour late to the reception. The food managed to still be hot but how can you not find Planet Hollywood? It’s a giant hotel in the middle of the strip. I was really confused as to how they managed to get “lost.” It lead to a few grumpy guests which I definitely didn’t want. I know how it feels to be a starving guest so I absolutely did not want that but somehow it happened anyway and that was really my only big request. The food did taste great and people actually took plates with them so we had plenty.

 

Cake – Creations Bakery – B

 

I had to book Creations last minute (ie. the Wednesday before the wedding!) since we changed plans for the reception. I gave the B since Susie was really hard to contact. I let her know that I wanted to book her to make the cake on Friday and she said she would contact me Saturday to confirm and she did not. She is closed on Sunday & Monday so I was then expecting to hear from her Tuesday. When I didn’t I emailed and called several times with no response. At this point I was going to book with someone else but she called me Wednesday and she had the best price and said she could make the cake I wanted so we went with her. We requested a Cleveland style cassata cake which is like the regular Italian style but it has a little variation. What she delivered did taste good but it wasn’t exactly what we were looking for. She also was able recreate the design we wanted from a photo using buttercream instead of fondant. I don’t have a good photo of the cake but this will have to do.

 

 

Mini-Moon – M Resort – A+

 

I wish I had more to say about the M but we really didn’t get to do anything! On our first night’s stay we were woken up at 6am by DH’s daughter saying that her grandfather passed out in the airport! Needless to say, we rushed there and he was in an ambulance. His heart rate was really low so they wanted to take him to a hospital before the airline would let him fly. They kept him overnight for observation and ran a serious of tests but couldn’t find anything seriously wrong. His blood pressure was a bit high so they gave him a prescription for that and let him go. Because of that, we just slept at the M and spent most of our time at the hospital. The room was lovely though and we had a $25/day resort credit from the special rate I found so we had room service and that was good. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. They have really nice chairs for the slot machines too. I didn’t actually get to use any, but they looked nice! I really want to stay at the M again and get the full experience.

 

I’ll have more pics later but for now… Viva Las Vegas!

[Butterflyf369]

Thanks for the honest review. I hope your DH's dad is doing ok.

[Ms325i]

Congrats! Thanks for posting such a well written and detailed review. I have been researching the Flamingo and have read conflicting reviews on the rooms there. How did you find the rooms at the Flamingo? What feedback if any did you get from your guests on the hotel?

[islandbride317]

Wow! What a fantastic, totally complete review, new Mrs.!!

 

Any other bride getting married in Las Vegas will appreciate how thorough you were in detailing every aspect of your DW. Congratulations on your wedding in Fabulous Las Vegas, and it sound like overall, it was a beautiful experience. Can't wait to see some of your gorgeous pics!

[FoxyBride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ms325i Congrats! Thanks for posting such a well written and detailed review. I have been researching the Flamingo and have read conflicting reviews on the rooms there. How did you find the rooms at the Flamingo? What feedback if any did you get from your guests on the hotel?

The GO rooms are awesome! Completely new. Automatic drapes, TV in the mirror in the bathroom, awesome sound system with iPod jack, extra water jets in the shower, spacious, I loved it. Everyone who stayed at the Flamingo got a GO room. The people who weren't able to upgrade ended up staying at the Westin since they didn't like the Deluxe (ie. unrenovated) rooms at all.

[Scott-Pierre]

Congratulations! You were a beautiful bride! I know what you mean about needing a vacation to recover from the whole wedding process. It was exhausting!

[shortnsweet7675]

Thanks for the complete review. My FI and I spent a week in Vegas earlier this year. I always wondered how weddings were in Vegas. Can't wait to see your pics.

[Ms325i]

Thanks for the info! I think the so-so reviews I read were from people who had the un-renovated rooms. From your brief stay at M did you manage to see if they have an outside area that is suitable for weddings?

[FoxyBride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ms325i Thanks for the info! I think the so-so reviews I read were from people who had the un-renovated rooms. From your brief stay at M did you manage to see if they have an outside area that is suitable for weddings?

The M so far just does weddings in one of it's ballrooms. They don't have a garden or lawn area that would be suitable.

[autjo]

Wow you looked so amazing! And I love the picture in front of the Las Vegas sign. Thanks for such a detailed review. These mean so much to the girls getting married in Vegas. We are getting legally married there next Saturday and I was just thinking I needed a place for a pedi... and now I have a recommendation! Stunning bride, great review, we need more pics! Thanks )