Nikki's Puerto Vallarta Wedding Review

[nikkigard]

I am FINALLY getting to my wedding review. Here it is!

 

Mishka Designs – Coordination and Design - A++++++++++++

As many of you already know, Mishka is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! I loved working with her as my coordinator. By the end of the process, I felt like I had a new friend as we spoke all the time! The first thing that really impressed me was how she responded to my initial email. I sent emails to a ton of coordinators to get an idea of what each offered, how they responded, etc. I think that first response can be very telling as to how it will be working with that business. A few of the pricier coordination businesses sent me their standard form letter which I am sure is because of the budget I specified is nowhere near what they will work for. Mishka was willing from the very start to work within my budget the best she could. She was honest about what we could and couldn’t do with my budget. And let me tell you, the budget I initially submitted was WAY low! I got caught up in all the stuff I could do with a wedding as the months went on and did increase my budget for other things I wanted (firedancers, mariachi’s, etc) but it was all at my initiation – not Mishkas. She was super creative in finding neat ideas that would work for what I wanted but weren’t too high priced. She always responded to emails right away and answered all of my questions – no waiting a week to get a response back. I couldn’t have handled that – too impatient!! I LOVED LOVED LOVED the huppah – when I first saw it, I couldn’t believe how cool it looked! All of the roses on it looked awesome. Actually, all of the flowers were awesome – I love my bouquet and the roses on the tables too. All the neat special touches and details are what I loved – my own flavor of cake, playing Yeah by Usher at the cake cutting (our song, believe it or not!) , etc. Mishka really listened to what we said and we saw it in the details. Mishka was also our minister – she doesn’t normally do coordination/design and a ceremony as well but thought it would be doable given the wedding was originally supposed to be simple! Her ceremony was just perfect – couldn’t have been any better. I loved it. It was original and touching without being sappy. She made me cry!! In a good way! Seriously, I could go on and on and on about her but I think her work speaks for itself. If you have seen the review of our wedding on her blog, you will know that she did a fantastic job! Everyone that attended our wedding said it was the best wedding they have ever been to (and I know some have been to $60K+ weddings). I couldn’t be more please with Mishka Designs and am trying to think of another event I can have in PV so I can work with her again! A Thanksgiving celebration? A birthday party for my daughter?!!!!

 

Paulina Ulloa – Photography – A+

I haven’t seen any pics yet but Paulina was great. Her assistant was Marcie and she translated for us. Both were super sweet and easy to work with. When we did the day after shoot, Paulina took us to a lot of really neat places downtown - cant wait to see how they turned out. She has a ton of energy and is very dependable. She arrived right on time both at the wedding and the day after shoot. I really liked working with her.

 

Charme – Cake – A++++++++

I loved the cake!!!!!!!!!!!! I know its my wedding but it’s the best cake I have ever seen - hee! hee! I may be a little biased though… ha! It was so creative and was just perfect!! Mishka and Memo at Charme did an amazing job at creating it. Oh and it tasted great too!

 

Mariachis – A+++++++

My husbands family are Mexican and LOVE Mariachis so I am sooo glad we splurged for them. The ones we got were just great too. Cool outfits and did a super job – the guests loved them and were surprised when they all came out of nowhere to play the recessional after the wedding ceremony. It was a very cool touch – highly recommend them!

 

Firedancers – A+++++++

I had never seen firedancers before and our original plan was some fireworks but when we moved off the beach to the villa, it didn’t make the statement it once would have so we decided on firedancers. They are sooo cool!!! It was the perfect end to our evening and something unique for the guests to see. The kids loved it too! Roland and I spoke with them after the performance and they were great guys – was fun to hear more about them, where they live, how they got into this, etc.

 

Villa – A++++++++

Los Suenos del Mar in Conchas Chinas was beautiful. I loved it and was sooo happy to have found it. The houseman Pablo was the nicest guy and great to work with. The owner was super nice and laid back and I was so surprised that he was willing to rent the house to use for one night (for a non exorbitant fee too!). We had a lot of fun after the wedding hanging out with a bunch of the guests in the huge hot tub/pool.

 

El Dorado – Welcome Dinner - A+++++

Victor at El Dorado was soooooooo awesome to work with, I cant even tell you. After the Spiaggia/Cherry 7 debacle, it made me appreciate him even more. Always organized and quick to respond via email, he did everything I asked and everything they committed to. The table was prepared beautifully and the service was great. The food was good, not as good as the wedding dinner, but good. The margaritas were great. Victor suggested a bonfire after dinner so we paid about $60 extra for the wood, etc. for that and they set up chairs on the beach and made a huge bonfire and server a kahlua after dinner drink there. It was so fun. El Dorado is so professional and on the ball – I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend doing an event with them. They are pros and a pleasure to work with. The location on the beach was beautiful as well under a huge palapa.

 

Andres – Catering – A+++++++

The food for the wedding dinner was top notch – just amazing!! The presentation, service, and taste was more than I could have asked for. I was so impressed (as were all the guests who were still talking about it at Christmas!). They really did a fantastic job. The only recommendation I would have is to ask them to bring extra meals or over estimate your final number by a few as a couple guests wanted another plate and they don’t come prepared with extras (don’t even get me started on why someone would possibly ask for another plate – seriously, who does that?!!!) I definitely would love to have Andres food again sometime – it was the best chicken I have ever had!

 

I think I covered everything – as you can tell, I loved pretty much everything about the wedding and highly recommend a destination wedding. Everyone in PV was amazing (minus Spiaggia/Cherry 7) and I cant wait to go back in April for a vacation! I LOVE Puerto Vallarta! See some pics in the next post.

[nikkigard]

 

 

 

 

[baj]

great review & pics thanks for sharing

[~Melissa~]

Oh i can't wait to see your pics from downtown. I love all the charm PV has and think wedding pics there are beautiful!

 

Everything looks amazing. The orange and the pinks really pop and looks fabulous together. Glad everything got an A+, thanks for posting and congratulations!

[kate.com]

Ok, I am stalking for more pictures! Glad everything was so amazing for you:)

Don't you wish you could just be a fly on the wall and relive the whole experience?!.

[KarenM]

Oh, wow, Nikki! Congratulations!!Everything sounds wonderful and I'm so glad it was all you anticipated & more!! The locations is gorgeous & your chuppah is really beautiful!

[autjo]

Great review! I can't wait to Paulina's pics!!

[jplovesme]

Thank you for your review! Saw the other pics that Mishka posted. GORGEOUS! Congratulations!

[KimmyD]

What a great review. Sounds like you had a Blast! Congratulations!

[Cindy*]

Sounds like you had a fantastic wedding, congratulations!