Emily "Devastator Midget" V.'s Profile

Jim and Jean are seriously the nest tour guides I have ever had. My husband and I were provided with little knapsacks and some water. Both are really knowledgeable of the area and have great tips! They even gave us a tip on where to go for lunch.

My hubby and I took the Bloedel Reserve Tour, which was simply spectacular! We were able to get so many great shots. Too bad we weren't able to see any bald eagles though there were a few nests we saw.

I'd def do any of the other tours they offer without hesitation!

Now, why can't we have places like this in Miami? Gorgeous little house-turned-restaurant. Made me feel like I wasn't in Florida anymore! Brunch is AHHHMAZING!! Everything from the coffee to the Vegetable and Cheese omelette. Oh JESUS!!! They give you the most incredibly tasting bread and the best homemade butter. I'm salivating just thinking about it. It is seriously ridiculously good! Our waiter was kick ass too! And sure made the end of my girls weekend an awesome way to remember Tampa!

In desperate need of some R&R? Head to Chi Spa and the staff will make sure you are well taken care of! From the moment you get there they are offer to make it welcome experience. The massage therapist that I had tried to do the deep tissue but I have to admit, I'm not one to welcome pain. So she just continued with the Swedish. It was so relaxing that I dozed off. Afterwards, she even showed me some stretches for my butt! I really REALLY loved it! Too bad I live in Miami!! :(

Well, I have had a TERRIBLE experience with this place. Since we were on a budget for our wedding, we decided to wait for either a Groupon or Living Social coupon to do our engagement pictures. The chance came when we saw a photo package on Living Social. So I contacted them to schedule a photo shoot. It was a sign from the start because the guy I had been talking to said that he would call me back with a time and date and he never did. I had to both call back and email them to schedule an appointment.

We went to the shoot on Saturday, December 4th. It was a brief shoot and it was ok. We were told how to check our pictures, when they should be ready and how to purchase more if we liked. Ok. When we were able to see our pictures, I decided to order some more for ourselves (for our wedding album). So about 2-3 weeks later we received what was promised from the Living Social package.

The additional engagement pictures we had purchased were supposed to have been shipped out in late December. Fast forward to March 17th, no engagement pictures yet. That's right. I had to print out the engagement pictures myself from somewhere else. Where are the pictures you might ask? I have no idea. Apparently they have been shipped out twice and I have asked for a refund multiple time to no avail. I paid an extra $50 for pictures I will never see. They have made me promises they have not kept, such as the one on March 5th telling me that they will have someone deliver it that week. It's almost two weeks later and NO ONE has personally delivered it to my office AS PROMISED. The guy told me today that they will personally deliver it TODAY or they will refund me. I believe that's what they told me nearly two weeks ago...Hey, NEWSFLASH bud, almost 4 months AFTER the event, after I've already received my WEDDING pictures, doesn't cut it!

Ah, the anger. Well, I will not EVER come back to this place again NOR will I EVER refer anyone to this place.

The reason for updating this review is because she did my hair and make up for both my engagement photo session and my wedding and she did a beautiful job. She also did my trial hair session for my wedding and we went through so many looks and she took so much time making sure that everything looked perfect. She really blocks out time so that she is able to fully dedicate herself and her creative sources to you, which is why I have kept coming back to her. I honestly wanted a very natural look so that it looked like it had not been overdone.

When I went to pick up the cupcakes, which was right after I did my hair and make up, the customers in the store even took pictures of my hair! LOL! They were really impressed.

She really did a great job!

I called around many places prior to deciding on where to go to rent my table linens. My main concern was my budget and, although we wanted something to look nice, we also had to stick to our budget. All-Dade fit the bill.

We needed 9 round table linens that covered basically all the way down to the floor (it was a few inches off the floor). They were $14.50 each, which was the cheapest we found. And they offered really great customer service: they were very helpful not only on the phone but also in person and we were given a copy of everything (seriously, every time we walked in there there was a copy of a paper for us. LOL). I did really like that though.

My only complaint was that I was told to pick up the table linens on the Thursday before the wedding (yes, two days prior to the wedding). When I went in they were not ready for me as they still needed to be pressed. They asked me if I could come in later or the following day. Now, to a bride that has planned her own wedding and is only two days away from being married, that's a bit stressful. There were SO many things to do in those last few days. I did get them the next day and they actually had them all prepared and were VERY apologetic and were willing to help me put them in the car and everything. Again, that was the only negative and I felt like they made up for it.

I discovered Floral Designs, Inc. through groupon. They had a groupon special which I took advantage of for my bouquets and boutineers. Dornett, the owner, was REALLY great and helpful in my journey to discover what flowers I wanted and what was in my price range. After countless emails and phone calls, we finally decided on white hydrangeas and she guided me through the preservation of the flowers for the day of. She even gave me some Statice so that I could put the bouquets together, free of charge. Honestly, I'd trust them to put together any event and for their great prices too. They are hard working people who are more than willing to go the extra mile to help you put together your event.

I will certainly be using them in the future!

My husband and I were looking around for places to hold our wedding. We wanted something that was in a park, we knew, because of the natural landscape aspect.

We narrowed it down to two places that were within our price range: Volunteer Park in Plantation and Tree Tops in Davie. We're SO glad we chose Volunteer Park because, not only was it cheaper, but the staff was INCREDIBLE!

From the moment we got there we were given a TON of information about the place and we were taken for tours through all of the rooms they rent out. Also, we were able to tour the park around it, which was really great because we were able to see if there were any good picture spots. This is one of the main reasons we chose this place, because they were just so great and nice every time I had a question. Tree Tops paled in comparison. Not that Tree Tops was bad, but there wasn't as much interaction as the staff provided in Volunteer Park.

I was able to come in the week before and set up with all of my decorations and centerpieces, etc. to see how everything would look, which was a GREAT help! Also, they asked us for a layout of the room and we didn't have to set up the tables, dance floor or the chairs at all. It really saved us a lot of time. Also, at the end of the night they helped pick up all the chairs and tables, which, again, was REALLY great!

The chairs have been upholstered and so have the rugs. It is a more modern looking venue than at Tree Tops as well. And it is very well kept. The tables are the only thing that are older and more worn-looking. However, those are covered by table cloths, so it doesn't really matter. Best part of the venue is the kitchen. They have a HUGE industrial-sized kitchen with heating ovens, a walk-in freezer, and refrigerators. I mean, it's just awesome. You have use of this portion of the venue as well on the day of your event.

I'd love to use this place again as a venue. It's really great and we got some AMAZING pictures from it as well!

When our cake person flaked out on us, three days before our wedding, I began to frantically call bakeries. LA Sweets was one of the ones that was open late and were willing to put together an order of 200 mini cupcakes for us by Saturday afternoon.

We drove over to sample the cupcakes and see which flavors we wanted. We made the order that day and went home feeling very relieved, after all they have great reviews on yelp, right?

That Friday we got a call confirming pickup time and the baker told us she would put some decorations on them because they were for our wedding (at no extra cost!).

After doing my makeup and hair I went to pick up the cupcakes. We ordered 5 different flavors: guava, double chocolate with purple buttercream frosting, red velvet, vanilla coconut and banana nut. DELISH!!! One of the workers and the owner put all 8 boxes in the car for me and fastened the seat belts around them. I didn't even have to help!

Flash forward to the end of the reception: EVERYONE LOVED the cupcakes!!! And to think, we were going to have some boring three-tiered cake! PSHAW!!!!

Thank you LA Sweets for making my special day a sweet one as well!!! Show owner comment »

I hired Amber after one of my co-workers had her engagement picture session with her. Her pictures were out-of-this-world INCREDIBLE so I knew I had to book her as my photographer!!!

She took my wedding pictures this past weekend and I am SO happy that I hired her! She put them up the very next day on her website and they are GORGEOUS!!! I can't even properly express how much I enjoyed her taking pictures of us and how much I love her pictures. She made easy and affordable and has given us the one of the best memories my husband and I could ever have! I definitely know who to call for maternity pics!!!