We gave him a list of everything we knew we wanted, down to the cocktail hour music when we weren't even there. He did a great job at seeing our "taste" and creating the environment we wanted. We had no technical problems whatsoever and he worked well with the reception site in coordinating everything. He was willing to be as hands on or hands off as we wanted (we preferred hands off), and mainly played the music and kept the flow of the wedding. He followed our timeline as close as he possibly good to ensure nothing took too long, nor was too rushed. We were very pleased and our guests said they enjoyed the music while dancing.I'd give it a 4.5 because a song or two was played that we said we didn't want (BUT per requests of some guests) and he wore a hat which looked out of place (but he DID have a tux on).
I cannot rave enough over my photographer! A friend used this company but had a different photographer, and I was impressed by her album and rave review, and was just impressed with my own! The photographer was easy to get along with, understood our vision, was prompt, and very efficient with our time. We had her a total of 8 hours and I got every picture I wanted and more. They have AMAZING albums choices to choose from and great options for mini-albums for parents, grandparents, or whoever. Plus, their prices were the best I found in SoCal with such great quality. We got disk with all of our pictures to keep and print off whatever we wanted and they even sent us a free calendar made up of wedding pics with our album just to thank us for the business. I would definitely recommend them if you're looking for good quality, a great album, professional work, and a relatively good price (considering how much photography goes for these days).
My finance and I are not cake people, nor did we want to spend a fortune on something we didn't care much about. We DO like cheesecake though and had a cheesecake factory down the street from our reception (also it was our first date). Though they no longer make up cheesecake tiered wedding cakes, we decided to do it ourselves. We ordered the appropriate amount in different sizes and made our own little cheesecakes (well we had a helper do so). It looked gorgeous and we still were able to have a cake topper with flowers! The red velvet was soooo yummy and the white chocolate shavings all over made for a beautiful cheesecake. We threw in a few other flavor options too since we had numerous cheesecakes. With the option to pick it up "deeply chilled" the cheesecakes were able to be put in their place before our ceremony started and remain throughout the reception and at the perfect temp. to eat at the right time! If you're not into cake and want a cheaper option, yet amazing taste, I would highly recommend this option. Just make sure you have someone you trust delegated to get the cheesecakes out and ready at the right time.