I went to Jon's because they had a large selection of wedding dresses in my size (14 or 16) that I could try on and purchase. Most other bridal salons have dresses in sizes 8, 10 or 12, which definitely wouldn't work for me. I refused to buy a dress I hadn't tried on, so I hoped that Jon's would work out. I actually found two dresses that I loved and had a very difficult time choosing which dress to buy. I decided on a dress by Lili Isaacs (I have no idea what the style name or number is) and it was a phenomenal price (less than $1000). I was thrilled that I found dresses I loved that were less than 1/3 of my dress budget. Gigi was my sales consultant, and she did a great job. She was very attentive and found me the veil that i was looking for. I didn't like the fact that they charge you more if you order a dress rather than buy the one you try on, but I bought the dress I tried on and it worked out just fine.
I went to David's Bridal to try find a white dress shown on their website, only to find out that it's not a color that you can purchase through the store, only online. I got minimal attention from the sales associate who helped me, but I didn't need much help anyway. I eventually ordered the dress Sexy Cocktailjurken I wanted from the website and it fits perfectly without any alterations.
Wedding Dress Alterations - Shear Elegance, Tampa, FL
Shear Elegance is the alterations shop located inside of Jon's Bridal, and even though they were more expensive than some tailors I checked with, I went with them because I knew they specialized in wedding dresses. They did a great job with my alterations. I needed about $300 worth of alterations done, and they were done beautifully. Rebecca has been styling my hair since she first got out of school and has only gotten better over the past 6 or so years. For my reception, she pulled the front part of my hair back and curled the rest of the back, and it looked great and was just what I wanted. A few of the curls had to be touched up shortly before the party due to the humidity that day and my hair texture, but overall the hairstyle held up well and looked very nice.
Reception - Jackson's Bistro Waterfront Room, Tampa, FL
Grade - A+
Jackson's Bistro's Waterfront Room is such an amazing venue, and everything from the view to the food to the service was impeccable. There was a $2200 minimum food and beverage expenditure on the room, and we spent around $3800 after everything was included (tax, service charge and valet parking for our guests) for 55 guests. We planned the event with Rebecca, their event coordinator, who was very responsive to emails and was helpful in answering my questions. Earlier in the day before the event, the staff had set up the room early enough for us to go in and check it out in the afternoon, then we were able to begin setting up (decorating) around 5:30 pm (our party started at 8:00). At the event, Korte Trouwjurk our guests were treated very well by the service staff, particularly Paul, the banquet captain. Paul was right there for us all night, anticipating our needs and wants and delivering on them flawlessly. He is a real asset to Jackson's and they are lucky to have someone as service-minded as him executing their events. We will definitely consider hosting future events at Jackson's because fo the wonderful experience we had working with their team.
Flowers - FishHawk Florist, Riverview, FL
We worked with Collette at FH Weddings prior to the event, and she was able to give me a consultation by phone and a quote via email. We wound up spending approximately $750 on flowers. I had a pretty clear idea about what kinds of flowers and colors I was looking for, so doing everything via phone and email was fine for me. We went back and forth several times, changing the quote until it was just right. A month prior to the event, Collette called me and we did our final consultation by phone, where she confirmed all of the details on the invoice. On the day of the event, the flowers were delivered early, but still looked fresh and vibrant until the early hours of the morning. The colors were perfect and the flower arrangements were beautiful. I feel like the flowers were very expensive for the fact that we just got 7 small-ish arrangements and some fresh rose petals, but they looked great so I can't complain about the quality or service we received from FH Weddings. Overall, I was very happy with how everything turned out.
Linens - Fancy That! Specialty Linens, Tampa, FL
Grade - C
I booked Fancy That! based on a recommendation from Rebecca at Jackson's. I worked with Donna, and she was a bit slow to return emails at first, but eventually I got the quote and we worked out payment. I also reviewed some color swatches for table linens, and approved a color called Mango, which appeared to be a basic orange table cloth. On the day of the event, I went up to the room in the afternoon because my parents had visited the room earlier in the day and said that the table linens had been delivered. I was shocked to see that the orange table cloths on the cocktail tables were a deep pumpkin orange, almost a rust color! That was definitely not the color I chose. Then, the Mango organza chair ties appeared to be a much lighter color, almost a creamsicle color, though the edges of the ties appeared a little darker. I decided that I could live with the lighter orange in the organza sashes, but not the cocktail tablecloths. I called and left Donna a voicemail right away saying that I was concerned about the color of the cocktail table cloths and asked her to call me back. While I was waiting for Donna's phone call, the banquet manager came into the room and he said that we could cover the orange table cloths with a white table cloth, so only the bottom of the orange table cloth would show at the bottom. This seemed reasonable, but I wanted to see what Donna had to say. When she returned my call, I told her that I was concerned that the color was not what I'd chosen, and Donna was very rude to me and told me, "well that's what you picked when I sent you color samples". I told her that I thought I was choosing a straight, regular orange, not a dark pumpkin orange, and that the color swatch I saw did not look like this. Then she said in a very condescending tone, "So what exactly do you have a problem with?" after I'd JUST told her exactly what my concerns were with the color. I repeated myself, and she just sat there on the phone saying nothing and sighing heavily. I finally told her, "Never mind, we have a fix for this. We're just going to cover the cocktail tables with white table cloths." And she said "Fine, Bye" in an annoyed tone. Donna displayed NO customer service skills of any kind, nor did she ask what she could do to fix the problem. Her annoyance at the situation and condescending tone was really uncalled for, because I was actually being very nice about it on the phone. I was just hoping she'd help me come up with a solution to fix the problem, and she didn't. I'm just glad that the Jackson's team was able to cover the table cloths and our guests never knew the difference.
DJ - Sword Sounds, Clearwater, FL
Grade - A+
Everyone says great things split voor Prom Dresses about Rob Sword, and for good reason. He's a very nice guy and did a great job DJing our reception. The music he played was great for guests of all ages, and he stuck to our request and do-not-play lists all night. The dance floor was packed until we closed down the party, which is just what we wanted. Rob incorporated his choices into the music from time to time, and they were all big hits. We were so glad we hired Rob to DJ our party!
Cupcakes - The Cupcake Spot, Tampa, FL
The Cupcake Spot is located in South Tampa, and makes delicious cupcakes. They have a nice variety of regular flavors, as well as a seasonal flavor or two to keep things interesting. We spent around $300 for 7 dozen cupcakes and rental of the multi-tiered cupcake stand. Prior to the event, we had a small tasting where we were allowed to try 2 or 3 cupcake samples so we could make decisions about which flavors to choose, and we had a great experience working with the team. At the party, the cupcakes were a HUGE hit. Everyone wanted to know where they came from and they loved the variety of flavors we offered. The Key Lime and Buckeye flavors were the favorites of our guests. We had to return the cupcake stand to the store after the event, but the Cupcake Spot's team came in to deliver the cupcakes and set up the stand. They were friendly and made the cupcakes look amazing once everything was set up. My only complaint was that we actually ordered 6 flavors, and they forgot to bring one of the flavors. I will be letting them know about this when I return the stand to the store, though I'm sure there's nothing they can do about it at this point.
