Vendor Reviews (Central California)
We live in NYC and had our wedding in CA, therefore we have vendors from everywhere!
Katie DiSimone Photgraphy
B+: Katie was found by my best friend who used her a year before for her own wedding, so we knew that she was a great photographer, was very sweet, an amazing eye, and very bubbly. She delivered exactly what WE wanted. I know that some of the parents would have liked more of the traditional pictures, but that was not in the interest of the 2 of us. She was a little getting ahold of. Since we live in NYC, it can be difficult. When we came back from our honeymoon, our photos were already in our mailbox. She was super quick. Her price is excellent for what she gives back!
Cassie's Custom Cakes
B+-A-: OMG the cake tasted wonderful. The bakery did exactly what we wanted. The cake was moist and delicious. We had 3 tiers and each one had a different flavor (red velvet with cream cheese filling, chocolate with chocolate mousse, and almond with raspberry whipped filling) Delivery went smoothly. Cassie was easy to get a hold of.
The only thing that made me weary of their business was that she charged for my cake tasting. $15! Who does that?! I asked her to deduct that cost from my deposit but she said no. I then got a call from her that she rethought it over and decided to deduct the cost. This made me so happy. Not worth pissing a bride off over $15, right?
San Luis Jazz Band
A+: OMG this band was amazing! And so professional! Easy to get a hold of and easy to work with. We gave them a song to play for our first dance and we needed it to be played EXACTLY how the recording was because we had a choreographed dance, and it sounded so great! They were able to learn 6 songs for us. My husband was so impressed!
The Secret Garden Salon (Hair)
1111 Riverside Ave.
Paso Robles, CA 93446
(805) 239-2292
B: The ladies were great. They did 7 hairstyles in under 3 hours. (2 ladies) The salon was very small and intimate so my bridal party pretty much took over the whole place.
Only thing that happened against me was that the quote was originally $85 for my hair and on the day of, the lady charged me $125. It is my fault for agreeing to it since she did ask me if it sounded all right. However, a bride on the morning of the wedding is apt to do anything. Below is the MOH's hair.
The Flower Lady
A+: Kim was amazing! I had absolutely NO vision when I walked into the shop. I told her white flowers and peacocks feathers. She then showed me a ton of blooms that would be in season and I picked them out. When they arrived I was so taken aback! Beautiful arrangements and so creative. It's like they knew what I wanted all along but never bothered telling me.
Ride-On Transportation (Shuttles)
C-:We hired them at least 5 months out and Bob, the man in charge of the events department could not seem to figure out my email address, how to spell my name, or understand that I wanted 3 shuttles making 3 trips in an hour. All 3 shuttles were late to our pick up spot (the middle of town) and one didn't even show up until the return trips. We were able to get a refund for that last shuttle, but our guests were a little peeved that ALL of the shuttles were late. I was not able to look to see if they were clean, but I didn't hear any complaints from guests about the appearance or the drivers, aside from being late. The price was the best, so you get what you pay for.
The Paso Robles Inn (Reception and Catering)
B: The food was amazing! We picked out a chipotle sirloin and prawns, a vegetable wellington, and a grilled lemon salmon. Everyone loved the food. Nick, the director of catering was fabulous and was so professional. The ballroom was gorgeous and was the perfect size for our big day. The only real problems we had with the Inn was communication. Our first DOC was fired and no one bothered to call us. They then replaced him with some newbie girl who had never worked in weddings before. Soon after, SHE was fired and again, we weren't notified. Thankfully, the last lady stayed through at least our wedding. However, she was bad at math and misquoted us. Day before the wedding, we received a call from her saying we still owed $5000.
