Wedding Planner – Julie Lyford Final score: A+

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Website: www.fabulousfunctions.com  
*** Awarded The Knot Best of Wedding Planners 2010.***

Comments/Reviews: She is amazing! She has been able to pick up from one idea to the next without hesitation! (I tend to keep changing my mind) Julie also has a great sense of budget friendly ideas along with her theater background her ideas are just what we are looking for! 

AFTER Wedding: Hands down the BEST decision I made, especially with a destination wedding. Julie was and is amazing. She pulled the whole thing together for us. She put together the whole reception room, I left it a hotel room and came back to a very personalized Vegas reception! And for everyone who is worried about a budget, just talk to her!! I know she has discounts for a number of different organizations, industries and people. –She is worth it!  Her ideas she came up with that I loved: Big oversized pictures (our e-pics) on the main doors of the suite. Cute little cube/dice pictures on tables. Eatable confetti on cupcakes, she also used them for decoration on the tables. 

PRICES: She charge’s 75 an hour, she offers one free hour to any educator!  DOC includes 2 hours free consultation to prep for the wedding.  Packages are on a case by case basis. 


LAS VEGAS ladies: sorry, Julie is a MINNESOTA Coordinator, she had told me that she has been receiving a few questions from Vegas knotties :) 

Engagement photographer- Salwa Bullard Final Score: A+

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Website: http://salwabullard.smugmug.com/  
 
Salwa Bullard is an amazingly-brilliant up and coming photographer she has a very keen eye with such a creative flair. Here is a glimpse of our day and her magic, enjoy: http://salwabullard.smugmug.com/Client/JamieJJ/

Hair Stylist/ Makeup Artist - My hairdresser, Angie Cram Final Score: A+

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Website: http://www.sanctuaryspa.com/  
Sanctuary Salon and Spa
Ste B, 16506 W 78th Street
Eden Prairie, MN
(952) 253-4500‎
Tell her Jamie (Tracy's sister) referred you, she will give you a deal! 


Angie is amazing!! I had TWO hair do's during my day, down for the ceremony and up for the reception, and I loved both of the same. Angie also did my make up, it was exactly what I envisioned myself to look like. 

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a nice close up of my make up

Ceremony Location – The Terraza at MGM Grand  Final Score: A

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Website: www.mgmgrandweddings.com/#/packages/terraza_wedding
Comments/Reviews: We are working with their on-site coordinator Laura Wright, she is great! Their website has every answer a bride could look for...at least for now, and if I want a questions answered with out hesitation, send her an email and she response as soon as she gets it! update (6/15/09): everything is still going as planned. They are however very stern when it comes to bringing anything from the outside. IE I wanted to make origami flowers, and they said NO! –only in Vegas I guess. (We ended up getting roses from a local store. The boys keep theirs on during the ceremony and no one mentioned it or told them to take them off!)

DAY BEFORE wedding: I planed on meeting Laura at her office to drop off my wedding license, the sand vases and programs. When I arrived she was not there, and the office was locked. I called no one answered, finally I was able to get of her at that point I was just frustrated and all I wanted to was get to my rehearsal dinner. I never ended up meeting her that day

DAY OF/AFTER Wedding: After the “miscommunication” the day before I wasn’t counting on a lot from the wedding coordinators at MGM, however things went very smoothly and the ceremony went off without a hitch!

We were honored to have Reverend Peaks perform our ceremony. He was such a wonderful open hearted man. He truly made our ceremony memorable and unique for us.  


Reception Location – The APEX Suite in Planet Hollywood  Final Score: A+

Comments/Reviews: After talking to a few other Las Vegas brides (6 to 8 2008 is THE best, with the most helpful bio ever) we picked the APEX suite for our in-suite reception!! I have talked to a few people over at PH they have told me over and over again that outside food/liquor IS allowed!!! plus this suite is amazing! 2800 sq ft, 3 big screen TVs, gaming tables, wet bar...I can go on and on. 

About the room: there WAS an iPod docking station, but I dont know if that is in every room. We went to Best buy and bought a Bose for $300, so halfway though the night we switched to ours, it was a better quality, some people noticed, others didnt. What I loved about the "DJ" was that we told all of our guests that we will be having an iPod station, so most of them brought their iPods and we had a line of people waiting to get in the next song all night long, it was a BLAST! 

As for our first dance/dance floor: they did not have a "dance floor" but that most obvious place for a dance floor was in front of a couch, front and center in the room, it worked out great. 

Food/bev set up's: we ordered room service that morning and used that table for the cake table, found another room service table in the hallway and used it for another table. --that one was for some food. We also had the bar/liquor set up over in the bar area and used the bedroom shower for the back up "cooler" . 

As for decoration’s we really did not do a bunch of decoration, just the food and cake table, but it was wonderful.

Cooler rental -RSVP Party  Final score: A

Website: http://www.rsvpparty.com/RSVPPARTY.com/HOME.html

We rented 2 coolers (2 ICE CHEST, 48QT)and one bin like thing (for chilling wine) (1 PARTY BUCKET) from RSVP rental just off the strip, all three were just under $20 to rent, PERFECT… put the beer/pop/water in them and just put them against the floor.

Caterers and Liquior – Jason's deli and Costco

Comments/Reviews: 
We had just under 70 people at our reception here is what we got for food: 

Jason's Deli----What we ordered-how many it feeds-how many we ordered-Price
Pin Wheels/45/1/$55, Mini Foccaia/18/2/$35, Po Boy/15 to 20/1/$70, "cool" Wrap Tray/18/1/$115, Veggies(extra dip)/25 to 30/1/$45, Lg Fruit Tray(extra dip)/25 to 30/1/$70, 4 kinds Cheese tray/20/1/$45       
TOTAL $465—included delivery charge

Costco---

Cake Creator - Cake Designs Final Score: B 

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Website: http://cakedesignslv.com/  
Comments/Reviews: I worked with Dawn, via email, always getting prompt responses. We got a Red Velvet 6 inch red icing cake with the personalized topper. I was not able to taste test as I live in MN, while talking to Dawn I told her that I have tasted some red velvet cakes and some tasted like chocolate, and I am not a fan of that. I wanted to TRUE red velvet, cherry flavored cake. She assured me that her cake would not taste like chocolate. When it came time to eat our cake at the reception I found out it did, in fact have a taste of chocolate, needless to say I only have my one bite! L --However I would order from them again in a heart beat, just no the red velvet. Our total was 115.00 with delivery ($25.00 for the 6 inch round, $15.00 for red velvet, $25.00 for your personalized Vegas sign and $50.00 for delivery to Planet Hollywood.) They delivered it right on time and it looked exactly how I wanted it! 



Photographer –  Todd Wilson Final score A+!!!

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Websitewww.WilsonPhoto.20m.com
Comments/Reviews: Las Vegas Photographer: Todd is a photographer GOD down in Vegas; he’s amazingly cheap, with outstanding quality. His motto is: “Exceptional photography doesn't have to be exceptionally expensive.” I’m one lucky girl to have Todd take our wedding pictures!! I am also having a handful of family friends "in charge" of certain moments throughout the day. Sister-in-law will be in the boys room while they are getting ready. A friend of my wedding coordinator is a semi-professional who has stepped up to take my getting ready shoots, as well as reception shots.

DAY OF wedding: really I cant say anything else about Todd that every girls hasn’t already said. He is charming and fit right into every situation like he has known everyone for years.

I received my pictures!!  Todd took just under 1000, and printed off about 140 of them for us! OMG brilliant photography at its best.  


Photographer- Cashman (came with ceremony package)We had Chad take our photos, we LOVED him! 
...Final score: B+ (would have liked the prices to be a little lower.) 

Comments/Reviews: We received 25 printed pictures of the ceremony, a MGM wedding album, as well as the DVD as our ceremony photo package. In Vegas you are able to look at your pictures the day after your wedding with the Cashman office. J and I “knew” we would only walk out with the 25 prints. We viewed our digital slideshow (I was very emotional) looked at almost half of the 150+ printed pictures J and I realized we would not be able to pick just 25. We started our negations! We were able to get the package we wanted down to just under $1K: all printed photos (150+), the CD of them as well as full copy-rights and 2 8*10 pictures. We were also asked to sign a model release for our pictures!! So next time you are in the MGM’s Cashman office look for us!!! –as a thank you for signing the release they gave us a $95 “look book” –basically a soft cover shutterfly book. We were very pleased with their professionalism. 

Videographer – Dave Menier, Brother-in-law

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Comments/Reviews: I know Dave will work day and night to make our day of/ceremony/reception video everything we could have ever dreamt of! 

Transportation – Double Decker busWebsite: www.DoubleDeckerBusofLasVegas.com Final Score: A+

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Comments/Reviews: Double Decker bus all the way!!! Their buses are $135/hr with a 2 hour minimum (that is an all inclusive price including-gratuity, fuel charges, ect), we booked it for 3 hours and it was perfect. The bus seats 72 people comfortably. (warning the top can get a little windy, but it sure is FUN). They have two buses one has Sprints' logo on it and the other has the Coors light logo, my DH is a huge fan of Coors, and with out even knowing that is the bus they sent, that was the icing on his and everyone else’s cake!! The driver even had a sign for us and they showed up early, stay just a little late, with no extra charge. I interacted with Michael via email, and received answers within a day of my questions. Here is what our day of transportation schedule looked like, proof in just how flexible they are (good thing they charged by the hour and not the mile)! Wedding party and VIPS were picked up from Plant Hollywood went to the Las Vegas sign got dropped off at MGM Grand/Conference center doors. After the shuttle dropped us off they drove over to PH to pick up the rest of the guests. They stayed at MGM until the ceremony was over then dropped the guests back off at Plant Hollywood Drove back over to MGM to pick up the wedding party and VIPS being the last trip from MGM to PH….A lot of driving on their part. Thankfully they charged by the hour, not mile! J

Elvis Performer: Travis Allen  Final score: A+!!
Website:http://www.gigmasters.com/presskit.aspx?id=25795&seq=5&pb=y#av
Email contact: [email protected]

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Travis "Elvis" Allen showed up and got the party started!!! He played 4 songs (hound dog, Blue Sued shoes, Jail house rock and Love me Tender)  We paid him for 30 minutes ($250) , but I am sure he stayed for at least an hour. He was worth every single penny. Somehow J and I were able to keep Elvis a surprise, so let me tell you the temperature in the room rose about 10 degrees when he came sliding in!! Video of some of songs: http://jamieandjj2010.shutterfly.com/

Invitations/Graphic Design: Ben Mosier (Friend and GM) 

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Website: http://www.jwda.com/ ... Final score: A+. however his services were free to me, not sure how much he would normally charge.

Invitations/Paper: Ekcetera
Website: www.ekcetera.com  ...Final score: C-
Assembly: DIY

Comments/Reviews: After much research we have decide to go with Ekcetera Productions, LLC. After a small bump with them I was able to work with Kelly Garrett, who is the owner, I felt great since we paired up. I was quoted just under $300 for everything (paper, cutting, printing, and 80% assembly)

At the end of the day I wont really recommend anyone here. It could have been just me being picky, but their craftsmanship and details while cutting and folding our paper just was not there. When I voiced my concern I did not get a answer or feed back, I think at least a sorry or something would have been better then nothing.