A little bit about our amazing vendors (I relied heavily on reviews froom other NOLA brides, so just paying it forward)...
Anything that's orange is a clickable link and will open in a new page :)
Venue - The Benachi House and Gardens
We wanted a laid-back courtyard feel that was still classy, and we got just that. This was the first venue we visited and we pretty much knew that was going to be it.
The grounds are beautiful and do not even require any decoration if you don't want any, perfect for anyone on a budget. The only things we added besides the centerpieces were strings o flights and flower petals lining the aisle and in the fountains. There is a discount for booking a non-Saturday event. They have 30 tables and around 130 chairs available, so depending on the size of the wedding, you may not need to rent any. We lucked out and had just enough for ceremony and reception seating for 70 guests.
You get access the entire day of the event and use of the upstairs suite until 10am the next morning, which was awesome. You are responsible for your own set up and clean up, this includes the tables and chairs. We just asked the wedding the day before us to simply leave them out and we paid our caterer a small fee to do the cleanup, and put them away at the end of the night.
The owner is a businessman, not a wedding person. He has staff to do the tours and be there the day of, we never actually met him.
The only downfall to this venue is that it IS in a residential area and follows noise ordinance so they will monitor this. Our DJ had to keep it at a certain volume, but the music could still be heard very well on the dance-floor, so there's that.
Overall we thought it was perfect.
Photographer - Tim Pham, Ardent Studio
Um, I only needed to look at Tim's portfolio for this decision. I honestly never met with him in person prior to the wedding. We didn't have any list of pictures or must have shots really and he was still able to capture all the special moments and emotions from the day. I've put so many photos up on this site, you can see for yourself how amazing he and his brother did. They were both very sweet and made me feel completely at ease before the ceremony. Tim even helped me decide on which pair of earrings to wear.
You know how occasionally while someone is taking a picture and you know in your head it's going to be a really good one? That's how it was with these guys.
Coordinator - Carolyn Arthurs, All About Events
Carolyn was actually our tour guide at the Benachi House. We took one of her cards and when we decided we would need a Day of Coordinator, we figured why not. We actually went with Carolyn's Management package which allowed us to contact her with any questions and gave us access to all her contacts.
The number one things that she did was help us book Rebirth Brass Band for our Second Line and cocktail hour. I mean, come on.
Of course, she did way more than just that. Booking the vendors, picking colors, ordering table linens....I mean those things are pretty standard, I did it all myself. Now, the week of the wedding when I was working nonstop up until the day before our trip to NOLA, when I was still DIYing favors and hadn't even thought of details like togo drinks for the 2nd line, Carolyn was worth her weight in gold, and more. She emailed me daily checklists, provided things we forgot like a card box and toasting flutes, got together a vegan meal for one of our guests when our caterer couldn't come through (our friend loved it), made my beautiful second line umbrella the night before the wedding, got our caterer to set up a table of togo drinks for the second line and put away all our tables and chairs after the reception, controlled out DJ, set up our linens, favors and name cards on all the tables, and probably 20 other things I didn't even realize she did.
She was always a pleasure to talk to and an all around great person. She had a showing at the venue the morning after our wedding and we ran into her on our way out and still took a few minutes out of her schedule to chat with us.
She has extensive knowledge of New Orleans events and I would recommend her in a heartbeat.
Reception Decor - Luminous Events
Since our venue was outside and had plenty of foliage around, I figured candle centerpieces would be the way to go. Disclaimer** - I also thought this would save me some money. Now, I have no idea how much floral centerpieces would have cost, so I like to think that I did, but I also wasn't prepared for how much money one could actually spend on candles. We could have gone crazy in the space we had to work with, but budget did not allow. Note* - Luminous Events has a $800 minimum.
We had varying centerpieces of large hurricanes, pillars and floating ivory candles surrounded by rose petals. We used satin linens to bounce the light off the tables and it worked really well. The quote that Lisa give on the petal pricing is pretty high so I found an online company, gave her their info and she agreed to order them from there for me so that was really cool of her. The website was fiftyflowers.com
In addition to the centerpieces, we had small lanterns on the cocktail tables near the dance-floor and 20 large lanterns scattered throughout the yard. There were supposed to have been floating candles in the fountain, but the wind was not cooperating so she filled them with petals instead and they looked great.
She also had lined the aisle and filled the front yard fountain with petals for the ceremony and it was perfect touch. The little pond by the gazebo was supposed to have floaters as well but I noticed that didn't happen, not sure why.
I also asked Lisa to sneak up into the suite about 20 minutes before the close of the reception to put some candles in the room and it was beautiful when we went in for the evening, she left glass column with floating candles all over on the mantles, dressers and tables. It was relaxing and romantic.
Overall I was very pleased and loved the effect of having all the candles. Lisa and her husband were very nice and a pleasure to work with.
Rose Petals - Fiftyflowers.com
Rose petals were used to line the aisle, fill the fountains, were placed around our cake and our centerpieces. We ordered 6,000 fresh orange rose petals for $140 and was told they were more than enough for what we needed. I didn't inspect them up close or anything, but they looked great to me.
Flowers - Crystal Vase
Our floral needs were pretty minimal. I ordered my bouquet, 5 bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres for the groom and the fathers, corsages for the mothers, 2 ceremony arrangements, a cake topper and an arrangement for the guestbook table for between $600-700. When I met with Crystal I told her my colors and showed her one inspiration picture for the ceremony arrangements. Everything came out exactly as I had imagined and I couldn't have been happier.
Ceremony Band - The Courtyard Kings
Mike Harvey is actually a mutual friend of my husband and some of his buddies. After they met to talk about our ceremony music, they realized they had hung out before many years ago. Mike, one of the other band guys and a colleague of theirs were the string trio for our pre-ceremony and ceremony music. They transposed and learned a song for the the bridal march at my request and they chose the rest of the music. The song I asked them to do while I was coming down the aisle was perfect. When we made it to the front, they played the song til the end which was nice and gave me a few moments so compose myself. I've been at weddings where the music just cuts off awkwardly, so it sounds like a small thing, but it was appreciated. Mike and his wife were invited as guests and we enjoyed their company at the reception.
Second Line Band - Rebirth Brass Band
I mean, they were amazing. Obviously, we know they performed well, so there's that. But they were really nice too. We had never actually second line'd before so they helped us out, told us not to walk fast or anything hahaa. They played part of our cocktail hour also and gave us a CD. Our guestbook was a photo coffee table book of old NOLA photos and there was one of them in there from like the 80's which they graciously signed for us. They were hands down our best wedding decision.
DJ - Ron Folse, Top New Orleans DJ
We really just needed a PA System. We had our ceremony band, second line band and were just going to do an ipod playlist for the rest. I was set to rent a PA from Chaps but when I was notified of their ridiculous weekend delivery fees, said forget it. I found Ron online and his fee was only $340 (looks like he has raised it a little since then). I told him we had a playlist already and were very adamant it get played in the order we had it. And that's what he did.
Now, if you need a DJ with a personality to keep your party going, I don't think this is your guy. But if you just need someone to pres play and announce when dinner is served/first dance. cake cutting etc, he's your dude.
Caterer - Capdeboscq Catering
These people are old school. Like, when you fill out the info request on their website, you get a brochure in the mail. The actual paper mail, not email. But they are affordable as all get out and they made several customizations for us, including the bar with 2 signature drinks (Pimm's Cup and Canal Street Daisy), bottled Abita and 2 kinds of wine, plus our to go drinks for the second line, and they cleaned up for us. They also provide you with an assistant type person who our DOC was probably quite thankful for.
The food was pretty tasty and all the guests liked it.
I only have 2 complaints. First, they couldn't accommodate our vegan guest. In fact, the owner could not even pronounce the word vegan. Second, that assistant type person I mentioned? This may sound petty, but she was trying to help out with the ceremony (why? I don't know) and she stood directly behind my dad and I as we were coming down the aisle. So, all our shots of me and dad walking have this creepy lady directly behind us. It looks awkward, and I just didn't get why she was even there to begin with since she was with the caterer, having nothing to do with the ceremony.
But, at 40 bucks a head, I shouldn't complain.
Cake - Royal Cakery
Shirelle is good NOLA people. We enjoyed our tasting and the cake is freaking amazing. We had a 3 tier buttercream frosted cake, 2 layers of chocolate ganache and one layer red velvet. There was barely any cake left after the wedding. The red velvet was gone in minutes. I can't wait to eat some more for our anniversary.
Makeup - Kelly LeBlanc
I can not sing her praises enough. I'm actually amazed she even showed up because she had either wicked food poisoning or morning sickness when she arrived to get started. She was so kind and gracious and I appreciate her dedication although would not have blamed her if she had sent a replacement. You would never have known it by looking at us, she did my mom, my sister, and my makeup beautifully.
For my trial I thought I wanted heavier makeup at the time. Kelly did a beautiful job but I realized I wanted a more natural look. I found a picture from her website of what I wanted and eamiled her to let her know. Day of the wedding she got it down perfect. I felt amazing and my makeup stayed on all day, all night and the next morning. She even left me with a tube of lipstick to touch up with.
Hair - Melissa Maia (Salon Maia)
Melissa made my hair look like it was 4 times longer than it actually was. I have no idea how, but she rocks. I was hellbent on having it up, and she made it happen beautifully. I got so many compliments on my hair.
Rehearsal Brunch - Commander's Palace
Commander's is classic New Orleans. Because there was a wedding at our venue the day before ours, we had to do a morning rehearsal so doing the jazz brunch at CP was a no brainer. The food was amazing and they gladly accommodated vegan and gluten free dietary requirements.
It was parents weekend so it was insane busy. We were in need of some extra chairs which took a bit long to arrive and the drink service was slow in the beginning, but we had opted out of the in-room bar (which was good because we would have been squished in there). Once the food started coming, everything rolled right on time.
The band came in and played two times through our meal and even took a couple requests. It was a lovely brunch.
Guest Book - Spirit of New Orleans by Bruce Keyes
This book is awesome. Our guests had so much fun going through it and picking out pictures to write a message next to. It has just enough space around the photos for writing and lots of interesting and fun options to choose from. There was some confusion on the shipping since I ordered from the author's site, so my suggestion would be to order on Amazon or from a bookstore if possible.
Dress - David's Bridal
David's gets a lot of crap talked about them, but I had a really good experience. My first consultant was very nice and helpful. She made me try on every single dress I had picked off the rack because I picked it for a reason and we needed to make sure I made the right choice. A few month later and several pounds lighter, I realized I wanted something a little more formfitting. David's had no problem with me exchanging my dress for another I just had to pay the difference. I did not use their alterations because of stories I had heard so I can not comment on that.
Veil - onelittledove on Etsy.com
My veil was a last minute decision. I was planning to not wear one but when I saw the listing I couldn't get it out of my head. I had it saved as a favorite for about a week then finally realized if I didn't buy it rightthissecond, I wouldn't have one at all. Melanie was such a sweetheart and shipped it out almost immediately so it would arrive before we left for NOLA.
Invitations - Exclusively Weddings
We got the Classic Couture invitations and paid around 200 for everything. They were simple but classic and really easy to order online.
Save the Dates - DIY
I DIY'ed these by ordering a vintage New Orleans postcard image from Vintagefenderskirts.com and had postcards printed. Then I ordered a custom rubber stamp from simonstamp.com and put our names, date and details to follow on it and that was that.
Second Line Hankies - DIY
This is the one thing I regret. They turned out fine but I was making hankies til the morning of the wedding. For reals, just order them from somewhere.
If your crazy like me, you can order bulk hankies from pretty much anywhere. Purchase a fleur de lis stencil or whatever else you want and then sponge it onto the hankies with craft paint. I used a fleur de lis and our initials.
JUST ORDER YOUR DAMN HANKIES.
Favors - DIY
My husband made a cajun spice mix and we had like a million baby jars from our little one. I spray painted the tops antique gold and tied ribbon around them in our colors. Done and done.
Name cards and name card holders - DIY
I ordered wine corks from different sellers on ebay and we also collected them at home. Each card holder used three corks tied together in a triangle and then I tied a ribbon around the corks. The card goes between the corks, no cutting slits or anyting needed.
For the cards, I got two seperate color cardstocks, an alphabet stencil, a fleaur de lis rubber stamp, ink for the stamp and copper colored felt pens.
Programs - DIY
So simple. I found a template online, made the document in word. The day before the wedding we went to fedex office, bought some card stock paper and printed them out.
I included a blurb about the Second Line tradition and some New Orleans quotes from some famous authors, along with the usual order of ceremony, names of wedding party, etc
Week-of accommodations - HH Whitney House
We stayed at the Whitney four days before the wedding and my parents stayed there the rest of the week with our son while we had a little minimoon. The breakfasts were amazing. The staircase railing was very scary and falling off. They accommadted our one and a half year old pretty well. The rooms we booked were next to eachother and had a huge sliding pocket door between them so it was nice to keep open and he could run around easily.
There are 2 guys that run it, Glen and Randy. I don't recall which was which, but unfortunately the less friendly one was around while we were there. Not sure if he was just stressed out or something but he wasn't very personable.
It was a good value but I don't think I would stay there again.
"Honeymoon" Hotel - International House Hotel
We opted for one of the panoramic view rooms. I don't know if I was just exhausted or what, but that bed was unbelievably amazing. I could have lived in it. The hotel was nice and I regret that we did not get an opportunity to check out the bar there.
Hotel Blocks - Hotel St. Marie and Best Western French Quarter
Both hotels gave very competitive rates. Several guests stayed at and loved the St. Marie and a few stayed at the Best Western and liked it just fine.
Bar Crawl
We did a bar crawl with our friends on Friday night before our Sunday wedding. We had people in town from all over the country and different sets of friends who had never met before so it was a really great opportunity for everyone to meet and hang out before the wedding. It was so much fun and everyone really meshed together so well. I just wanted to include the stops we put on our agenda for the evening.
We started out at Molly's at the Market and used that as our meeting place. It was perfect for that purpose because it's large enough for everyone and had enough tables and chairs for everyone, and also had food for those who had just got in town or wanted to grab a bite before drinking a bunch. We also had a good time with their photobooth. We spent a few hours there.
About 20 minutes before we planned to leave Molly's, we had someone go down to El Gato Negro, our next stop and pre-order to-go pineapple cilantro margaritas for everyone. These margaritas are amazing and were a huge hit. We picked them up and continued on our way to the next stop, R Bar.
After about an hour, we lost some of our group and continued to our final stop, The John.
The John is the diviest of dive bars but it's awesome. Great juke box. Those of us who made it to the bitter end had so much fun there. The bartenders are reason enough to go and check it out. Not for their amazing mixology skills, just, go.
Miscellaneous
My girls got their dresses at Alfred Angelo, I just gave them a color and they picked their own. I never heard any complaints.
We had the guys get whatever style tuxes they want, black and white. Easy peasy. No headaches or micromanaging 10 dudes. I highly suggest going this route.
I bought my earrings at Dillard's and my shoes from DSW.
My wedding band was custom made at Jared's. Their salesman was super nice and I love my ring. However, I lost two stones out of it within two months. Luckily I purchased the insurance and it was fixed for free, just a bit annoying.