Riverside, CA, USA < change city >

Band:

Fly by Night DJ

"We were initially happy with the concept of this DJ company and initial meeting to select our songs and select our DJ from videos of various DJ's. Unfortunately we weren't thrilled with our DJ on the night of our wedding, he played songs we specifically asked not to be played, and when we asked him for the second time not to, he got nasty with us. We were disappointed. Our DJ was Ray."

Band:

El Real Chamber Players

"This was a quartet but they agreed to a duo for our ceremony and cocktail hour. Beautiful music; violin and viola. They provided a demo CD. I originally found them on www.gigmaster.com so did not have a referrel so the CD and online reviews in gigmaster was of great help. We were very pleased and since our ceremony was outdoors in the sun we did provide extra chairs and market umbrella for them to sit under. I highly recommend this group, they beat the lowest bid I had as well. 714.572.1755"

Cakes/Candies Vendor:

Heidelberg Pastry Shop

"With our Marriott reception package we had the choice of a couple of bakeries for the cake. We chose Heidelberg and made an appointment for the tasting. They have little round tasting portions of delicious cakes, that was alot of fun. They are very informative and nice to work with and provided a gorgeous cake, including a 1 year anniversary cake so you don't have to suffer through that 1 year old frozen cake!!!"

Cakes/Candies Vendor:

M&M's

"Gave this one a four because it is expensive for what you get, but we enjoyed giving the favors of M&M's in our wedding colors with our new Mr. and Mrs. name stamped on them. I only bought the minimum personalized bags and then additional generic bags in the colors of our wedding and mixed them together to save on the expensive personalization. We put them in in little organza baggies with a little satin ribbon and thank you tag."

Coordinator:

Suzanne Tucker-Wheeler

"My reception site came with a coordinator, however we were doing the ceremony all on our own in the park, so I hired Suzanne to help with greeting and paying vendors and organizing what was going on out there while I and the girls were getting ready. We met a few times prior and she was readily available anytime I had questions and provided me with tools and advice to prepare for the big day, she attended the rehearsal night and did a great job transitioning the ceremony into the cocktail hour and reception a well. Thank you Suzanne!!! It was extra money well spent."

Decorations Vendor:

Party Makers

"These guys do this stuff day in and day out. Kind of a dingy little shop they have but we were down to the wire and took a chance on them. We were very happy with their arriving on time with our roma collonade, chairs and market umbrellas. They even stayed and helped the florists setup the flowers for the ceremony to help speed things up!"

Florist:

M's Flowers

"My flowers were gorgeous and the prices beat every other florist by at least 30% or more. They are located in La Habra so I did pay extra for travel costs, however, even with that the cost was far below other florists for bigger arrangements too. They were there on time and everything was as I specified except a couple of minor details; one of which is if you want arrangements on pedestels in the park it won't work, you need low fat pedestels otherwise the breezes will blow them right over. M's brought the tall thin pedestels instead of my requested short fat, but the arrangements were so large that they still appeared well in pictures even though they were placed on the ground. No one really except me knew how it was 'supposed' to be. And I wanted ivory roses on my cake and they put colored flowers (that were from the arrangements). again minor detail only I knew about. Just make sure all these minor details are on the work order because when I looked later these two details weren't written on there even though we had a verbal conversation about it. 401 S. Harbor Blvd. La Habra, CA 562-694-6040"

Honeymoon Vendor:

Westin Maui

"We went here on our honeymoon as well as our 1 year anniversary. All I can say is that yes, we want to go back for year 2 as well. Gorgeous resort right on the beach in a great location, near shopping at Whaler's village (right next store) and many other resorts/restaurants to walk to."

Manicures/Pedicures:

Mingee's Nails & Spa

"This is my favorite place on popular San Clemente's downtown Del Mar street to go and get a foot treat. They treat you well and prices are reasonable."

Officiant:

Rev. Michael A. Hearn

"Outstanding! Rev. Michael had such great advice to give since he has officiated hundreds of weddings. Chances are he's officiated one at the location you choose and will have good advice for you to, like having the bride's guests sit opposite the bride so that they can see her face, not the back of her head, and same for the groom. That is one amongs many great tidbits. He helped get us started on our vows and with the tools he provided we developed a truly special and memorable ceremony. Our guests really enjoyed his opening and charisma, and grandma was grateful he mentioned to be careful with the bubbles and hold them away from your lap when opening. We highly recommend Rev. Michael. His prices were economical and he is very practical. He's a talker with you, but I would just say be patient and listen as you'll be glad you did, and the ceremony was perfectly done."

Registry Vendor:

Bed Bath and Beyond

"I highly recommend this store for your gift registry. They have all the same stuff that Macy's did and guests can use those great 20% off coupons. In addition for a bunch of duplicate items we returned, they gave us the option to get cash back, which we ended up saving and used on our 1 year anniversary trip. Their customer service has been excellent in my experience as well. I've had issues at Linens n Things but neverat BBB. They are awesome!"

Tuxedo Vendor:

Friar Tux

"This is a great option if you have out of town guys who need to rent the same tux and pick up at a local location. Men's Wherehouse also does this. One bummer was that they did not have rental pocket squares that matched the bridesmaid dresses, so we had to buy them."

Wedding Fashion Vendor:

Mon Amie Bridal

"This is a great place to try on wedding gowns as they have a very large selection. You can go to the under $1400 side or the over. They also have floor models that are discounted. Very accomodating and will allow you to try on as many gowns as you can. I brought my mom, sister, maid of honor and another bridesmaid with me and the room was large enough. Tip, wear some panty hose so you don't feel so naked when dressing in front of the people you brought with you. A very well run and professional gown salon. Bridesmaid dresses and accessories were very expensive so I bought them elsewhere. I also went to The Wedding Day in Fountain Valley and would recommend it as well."

Wedding Fashion Vendor:

Alfred Angelo

"This is a great option if you want to allow your bridesmaids to choose their own style gown and have all fo those styles available in the same color, great place for mother's gowns/dresses and flower girls too. Highly recommend, the dress prices are economical too. A great option also if you have gals in different locations as this is a national chain."

Ceremony:

Ceremony-Lantern Bay Park

"It was a beautiful setting however the side of the park we originally wanted our ceremony on was heavily shaded by 5pm (we noticed this the night before the wedding during the rehearsal!), so we chose the other side. Park can get crowded and busy in summer so need someone to stake out your area. Need to get a permit as well to reserve the park. We loved this location for our ceremony though, it turned out beautiful and clear, a bit hot but there was a nice breeze. The view overlooking the Dana Point Harbor and coastline is a gorgeous backdrop. For more info about this and other Dana Point view parks go to http://www.danapoint.org/index.aspx?page=312"

Reception:

Reception-Laguna Cliffs Marriott

"Gorgeous hotel, great food, accomodating staff. All in all a wonderful event, I would definitely recommend anyone planning a wedding to check out this location. Shanel was our event catering coordinator and was professional and responsive, we have no regrets about this venue for our reception. www.lagunacliffs.com"

Attraction:

Calafia Beach Park

Attraction:

Dana Point Harbor

Attraction:

Disneyland

Attraction:

Doheny State Beach

Attraction:

Ocean Institute

Attraction:

Salt Creek Beach Park

Attraction:

San Clemente Pier Amtrak Station

Attraction:

Sea World

Attraction:

Wild Rivers Waterpark

Restaurant:

230 Forest Avenue Restaurant

Restaurant:

Avila's El Ranchito

Restaurant:

Beach Fire Bar & Grill

Restaurant:

Beach House

Restaurant:

Cafe' Mezzaluna

Restaurant:

Cannon Restaurant

Restaurant:

Chart House Restaurant

Restaurant:

El Torito Mexican Grill

Restaurant:

Fisherman's Restaurants

"Restaurant on the Pier"

Restaurant:

Gemmell's

Restaurant:

Proud Mary's

Restaurant:

R J's Cafe

Restaurant:

Wind & Sea Restaurant

Restaurant:

Zushi Japanese Restaurant

Hotel:

Surf & Sand Resort

"My best friend had here wedding here a couple of years ago on a Friday and she had nothing but positive things to say about it, and it was a breathtaking ceremony overlooking the beach at sunset."