Key West Wedding Review

[hzak1203]

 

Well just got back from my wedding cruise and had a wonderful wedding and spectacular cruise.  I will just put the ceremony review here in the Florida section, but the entire wedding cruise review will be under the Cruise section as we booked the wedding at the Pier House separately from the cruise and the reception and dinner were back on the boat. Please bear with me as I am not sure about posting the pictures.

 

Wedding Day 3/29-Key West

CEREMONY-

Pulled into port around 7am and the forecast was for a 30% chance of rain.  I was very worried and went up to the Lido deck to get a look and it was beautiful and then it hit me-I WAS GETTING MARRIED!  I took a few minutes to catch my breath while watching the sunrise and some of my friends joined me on deck for some pictures.  The weather was beautiful and I was ready to get off the boat and head to the Pier House for hair and makeup.  The Imagination docked at the Navy Mole pier south of town, you cannot get directly off of the boat and walk because it is an active Navy base, but trolleys and trains were provided to take you to town.  The Pier House is located at 1 Duval Street and it was very convenient as the trains and vans dropped you off right in front of the Pier House.  The green and orange trolleys dropped guests off by the Sponge Market further away, so you may want to ask which one will drop you closer to your destination.  Got to the Pier House at 8am and the room that I rented for 4 hours was not ready, had to wait and was finally able to get into the room at 8:30.  We had a room in the Caribbean Spa building and it was very roomy for me and the bridesmaids to get ready in. 

Elena Southcott came to my room to do airbrush makeup and my hair.  I cannot say enough great things about airbrush makeup as I did not have to touch up my makeup all day and my hair was absolutely gorgeous.  I did not do a trial run, but brought a few pictures of ideas that I wanted and Elena knew exactly what would work for me.  My makeup was natural looking and my hair was breathtaking. Thank you Elena and Olga! 

 

Next, Peter and Sharon Estenoz of EZWeddingsinparadise.com came to my room.  I cannot say enough great things about this couple.  They were very prompt in responding to emails, stayed in touch with me throughout the planning stages and were the sweetest couple.  Sharon does the officiating for the ceremony and worked with me in developing my own ceremony which she loved! Peter is the photographer and knows exactly what makes you look and feel beautiful.  He was joking with me and having a fun time, like I have known them for years!  Peter took a lot of getting ready shots before it was time to go, we even hopped on some guys motorcycle on the way for a few shots! 

 

I had 4 bridesmaids and 2 maids of honor and the girls had everything under control.  There is a new wedding coordinator at the Pier House and I was very nervous.  The ceremony was scheduled to start at 10:30am with prelude music(steel drums) starting at 10:15am and my bridesmaids were not allowed at the ceremony site because there was a yoga class going on.  I also had emailed Karen at the Pier House with a diagram of the seating arrangement-I noticed in a lot of pictures the groomsmen were standing right in front of guests as the chairs were not arranged properly(brides side was facing the ceremony, the grooms side was facing the bride’s guests).  I even emailed here with the design layout and the chairs were still placed wrong, we also did not get the white chair covers that I had paid for in the chair set up fee, but the chairs were nice and white so I didn’t complain.  The ceremony was beautiful and intimate and exactly what I had dreamed about.  We went to the back and had a mini receiving line to thank all of the guests for coming and took more pictures.  It was absolutely fantastic as I did not feel rushed and was able to truly take it all in and feel all the love around us!  The package at the Pier House included the photos and was a great deal. 

 

We scheduled the reception back on the boat at 2pm to give the guests time to walk around Key West while we were taking couple pictures and it was perfect.  No one felt rushed to get back on the ship or that they missed out on a port and we had enough time to take some great pictures with Peter and Sharon.

OVERALL RATING:

Elena Southcott-A+-I cried when I saw what I looked like-natural and beautiful

Peter and Sharon Estenoz-ezweddingsinparadise.com-A+++++-loved them!

Pier House Resort-B+-could have been a little more organized and scheduled enough time to set my chairs up properly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[baileybutton]

I'm excited to see you had an excellent expierence with ezweddingsinparadise.com I came across their website and they seem promising! Thanks for your review.

[melbivona]

sounds great, congrats

[melbivona]

sounds great, congrats

[FutureMrsF]

Congratulations! I'm glad you didn't sweat the small stuff and enjoyed the day. I was just in Key West on a cruise and loved it. Great choice!

[NikkiK1]

I just put a deposit down for Sharon and Peter.  I love them and they are super sweet and very accommodating with your wishes!  My wedding is on Smathers Beach August 12, 2012.  Just me and my husband-to-be! 

[KeyWest2012]

sounds wonderful! Thank you for sharing!

[Southern Photos]

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Daniel and Southermost Photography!! My venue referred me to them when I was looking for a photographer and from our first email exchange, I knew this was the guy for me! Leading up to the wedding Daniel and Julie were a breeze to get in touch with, they answered all of my questions with ease. The day of the wedding, Daniel had everyone comfortable in front of the camera. 

One of the great things about working with Southernmost Photography is that the package included photos and video! So hard to find that at a reasonable price!

Less than a month after we came home from our wedding, we recieved our wedding photos. They were stunning! So often you hear of brides that are waiting months and months for photos, I was thrilled with the turn around time!! They also put together an absolutely fabulous wedding album for us. I get so many compliments on the album when people see it. It is so different than what most people get!

Without hesitation I would recommend Daniel and the team!! They are fabulous! The photos we have are true artwork! Such a talented photographer and a great company. I tell everyone my most favorite Key West find was Southernmost Photography!

[casontag]

Nikki1, congrats and I bet you are super excited with you big day being only days away! I have been talking with Sharon and am really considering putting a deposit down. Can you please let me know how everything goes? I really want to see someone's photos too.

[casontag]

I just realized your date. How did it go?