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PHOTOGRAPHER: I'm using Kristi Klemons (she's from the newport beach area)
check her work out at: www.klkphotography.com
(if youi're interested, her husband is a videographer)
BAKERY: omg - the best part is caske tasting! We decided on Rossmoor Bakery in Signal Hill!!! OMG - try the CA sunset cake - it's delish!!!
CHAIR COVERS: depending on the venue thse are normally included in their wedding package... Try Stephanie's Linen's. She shows her linens at the Marriott Long BEach on Thursdays i think - call ahead of time to make sure. i think per person they can range from $5 upward depending on fabric type and sash
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overall budget - i read that the "average" wedding in america is now between $30-$40K
Most asian florists will do chaircovers for you. It costs as low as $2 for the sash and cover.
Less than $200 for hair/make up is really good. Most places are a lot more than that.
I've gotten quotes from asian bakeries for a cake that feeds 250 ppl. They range from $250 to $500.
Hey, what was the name of the place for 180 hair and makeup? That is REALLY good. Are they familiar with asian makeup? I'm actually still in search for one and my wedding is in 5 months!!!
I chose Skye Blu Photography. You get all the negatives, printed pictures, an engagement session, no album, no travel fees for one flat rate! She offers up to about 7-8 hrs of photography time. The price includes tax too. I thought it was a deal and I've been researching TONS and TONS of photographers in LA. Plus Danielle is a sweetheart! Boutwell Studio is another good one, but they were pretty pricey for me and when I called them for information, they sounded a little snooty.
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I live in Westlake Village, a bit north of LA, things can get priceyin this area but there are a lot of at-home vendors to try...
photography : we are getting 5 hours with 2 photog's for 1500
cake : for 150 people I have seen anywhere between 200 - 600
we're doing DIY flowers but I have a number of someone who did an arch and much more for under 2k.... how they did it I have no idea... We are going to use a supermarket (shhhhh don't tell the FMIL) for boutiners and corsages but doing the center pieces and bouquets on our own... everything will be super simple. Getting the flowers most likely from costco (talk to the flower guy there, ours said he can get a deal)
no clue about altar arrangements yet....
chair covers.. between 5 and 7 a chair
my hair dresser said she will do updo's for 50-60, it depends where you get your makeup done....
My advice is to ASK AROUND... you will get overwhelmed with info... also try projectwedding.com they have several LA vendors.
When you find a vendor you like, ask the girls on theknot.com they will give you honest (sometimes brutally honest) reviews
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I'm north of LA (Ventura County)... and things I found:
Chair covers -- we rented online from Chaircover Express. We got them for around 2.50$ a piece (we picked up from their warehouse in Downtown LA to keep the price down).
Flowers -- sent 1700$ but only because we've used her repeatedly and know her well. --she was in woodland hills, ca
Hair and Makeup -- 250$ (trials were another 200$)
Cake -- spent 3$ per guest, but we did cupcakes. I've found it ranging anywhere from 500-1000$ depending what you are looking for. Also, keep in mind you can always look at supermaket bakeries for great prices. My friend got his cake at Albertson's and I kid you not, it was one of the freshest and best cakes I ever had.
DJ -- spent 750$ --but this was a family friend who owns their business. He did hosting duties as well and from I've seen, he would have been far more. For links to him, go to my website and look under music.
Photographer -- used tobytucker.com . He takes incredible photos and is very reasonable on anyone budget. He works all areas in Southern California.
Hope this helps... Goodluck!
I just booked out DJ (huey le) for $1500 for 4.5 hrs (he is on a pricey side, but there is a reason why we went with him). Other DJs I inquired quote me between 600-1000 (friend of a friend deal).
LDK flowers is by far the cheapest I've seen/heard. They also have chaircovers at $2 each (our site is close to their business). We will probably go with them since they have gold sashes. Will sit down and talk with them in a few weeks, so can report more detail later.
Makeup - I've been quote $300, $350 for me and two of my maids, $150 and $90 for both hair and makeup. It really depends on who you're talking to. This too is difficult for me. =(
Photographer/Videography - we booked both for $4,800 for all day, two photo sessions and tons of canvas, photos and albums.
We haven't looked into a bakery yet, but that is our next tasks.
It helps to shop around! Our budget went from $30K to maybe $35K to an astounding $43K. But we are having 400 guests. Our estimate accommodate all guests for a 9 courses seafood dinner and happy hour appetizers and light snacks after the ceremony and alcohol.
Do NOT pay more than $2-$3 for chair covers... like other posters have said, Vietnamese and other Asian places can get it done for around that price, including set-up and tear-down.
Photography-- we're looking at Nataly Lemus, Zenia Photography, Renee Broughton, and Sarah K Chen... all are very talented and reasonably priced.
Cake-- most venues I have gone to have had contracts with bakeries who will either do your cake (a) included in the catering price or (b) for $3-$4 a person. Or for wedding cupcakes, I would totally go with Sarah from For the Love of Sugar (http://www.fortheloveofsugar.com)
Venues-- I'm trying to keep my reception costs for no more than $50/person and a ceremony fee of no more than $600. Open bar is where it's going to hurt the most... although I did find a caterer who will do 6 hours open bar with well drinks, beer, and wine for $12/person! That's the cheapest I've seen so far!
Haven't looked at DJs or hair/make-up yet. Not sure if I'm going to even do the latter.
Hi, my friends got a wedding cake for very cheap for 250 guests at a Chinese bakery in the San Gabriel Valley. Don't remember which one but I found their list:
- Queen's Bakery (809 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012, 213.622.9749)
- Cathy's Bakery (708 E. Las Tunas, San Gabriel, CA, 626.451.0101)
- Kee Wah Bakery (729 West Garvey Avenue, Monterey Park, CA 91754, 626.281.2680)
- Phoenix Bakery (969 North Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012-1728, 213.628.4642)
My makeup artist/hair person is a good friend and stylist at Urban Renewal Salon in Claremont. Angeline is great and educated in Aveda and Bumble and Bumble Salons. Her rate is $150 for hair, makeup, and trial consultation. If you want her for a group of people, you may be able to negotiate a good package deal that ends up working out well for everyone involved. Also, I'm not sure what Asian background you are but I heard that Ktown has very good rates for hair and makeup--you just may need to speak a little Korean.
hope that helps!
DJs...about $1000+
Photographers...huge range. Some are as low as $2500...can go up to $10K.
Cakes...If you don't care so much about the cake, there are many Chinese bakeries that will do an awesome job for $300 including delivery! I hear that Porto's bakery also has some really good deals.
Flowers...$2K-$3K. We shopped around and are getting ours for right in between. I would highly recommend Shirvan Floral and Event Design...In fact, I'm going in to view my samples this weekend, which I will be posting about next week!
So I got Nataly Lemus' name off this board. I loved her photos. I contacted her a month ago, she said she had my date available, and we set up a time to meet...I threw out several dates, and she picked this Saturday, 3/22 at 11am. I get a message from her at 8:30AM telling me she booked my date last night AFTER confirming with me on THURSDAY that we were meeting.
Personally, I think that's incredibly unprofessional. There was no 'hey, someone else is interested in your date', no 'would you like to meet earlier' just a mesage that said 'sorry. I booked your date last night. I know we were meeting today, but it happened last night.'
As my fiance puts it, better to find out about her unprofessionalism NOW then our wedding day.
Really not trying to be snarky Boldkira, but unless you had a deposit with the photographer your vendor did nothing wrong or unprofessional. I'm sure that the photographer had many people interested in your date- there are only 52 weeks in a year.
If you had no contract and no deposit then all the photographer had was an idea that you MIGHT be interested. Unless she knows you pesonally very well, she has no way of knowing how serious you are about using her services. All she had was an appt. and appts do not pay the rent.
Sorry, I just don't think operating on a first come/ first served basis is unprofessional. I also don't think she was wrong to not tell you someone else was interested in your date. Nine times out of ten when a vendor tells someone that some else is interested in their date, the bride thinks she is being pressured and told falsehoods to make her commit. The vendors really can't win for losing on this.
boldkira, if you had a meeting set up already, then i agree that it seems unprofessional to give away your wedding date.
i had a similar experience with nataly lemus. i told her that i was serious about booking her and after several emails of questions, when i decided to sign a contract, she said the date had been taken.
The other bride who contracted and paid the deposit was obviously more serious than you were. If vendors did not adhere to a first come/first served basis THAT would be unfair and unprofessional.
I seriously cannot believe that you think that emails and phone calls warrants an exeuctable contract. How would you feel if the photographer took your emails and phone conversations as contractually binding, then you decided to use someone else or to move your date and the photographer sued you?
I don't know this photographer at all, but from what has been stated here, it seems as if you have an unrealistic view of contract for labor. Until the agreement is signed, in writing- there is no contract. Just likeif you go car shopping and test drive a car, that doesn;tmean you are required to buy it or that the dealer is required to hold that particular model for you,
If the photographer told you she would absolutely hold your date for you and then gave it to someone else, that would be wrong. It would also be rather ignorant of the photographer to make such an agreement without a signed contract and deposit.
Please don't think that I am giving all photographers a pass, I also have a real problem with photographers who demand payment in full before the final product is delivered. That is unfair to the consumers as well and I have heard many horror stories of brides not havng their photos for years when they have paid the total amount in advance.
Common sense people- it has to work both ways. The vendors need to be protected in order to provide professional services. Brides need to be protected so that they receive what they are paying for. Vendors need to be realistic, but brides need to be realistic as well.
Mimsy -- I think you make some good points re: contract and first come first serve....
I never made the claim that I had a contract with her, although my fiance and I were under the impression we were meeting to give her a deposit, which we had in hand. Hence our confusion and frustration.
My main complaint was the unprofessionalism -- what professional cancels a meeting two and half hours before the scheduled time??? Particularly if there was a confirmation less than 36 hours prior?? And even if she was trying "not to pressure us", it's ethical (i.e., good business practice) to let us know that there are other people vying for our date particularly AFTER confirming it was available -- why the heck else would we schedule a meeting with her anyway, particularly on a holiday weekend???
In addition, we contacted her on 3/3 - she picked 3/22 to meet. That's a healthy amount of time to give us the option to meet earlier to give her the deposit. Which again, we had in hand. Or to tell us that other people were interested in our date.
I'm not saying she's a bad person, and she's obviously a great photographer, I'm just saying that personally, I find her practices VERY unprofessional.
God, can you imagine if she decided to cancel two and a half hours before our wedding?!?!?!?!?
Vee, I'm sorry you had a similar experience. I hope you were able to find someone!
Looks to me like you are 7 months before your wedding date. I don't know how many vendors you have left to book, but I would take this as a lesson. We booked our photographer 9 months before our date - they already had three requests for our day, one of which was actually from a family friend of the photographer. They had no deposits - so I wrote a check on the spot. From the vendors' point of view, there are people out there with multiple possible dates, interviewing multiple vendors. When you are serious, you write a check.
From my point of view, with checkbook in hand, I absolutely know I want that vendor. If they kept me waiting in order to telephone three people who might want them but hadn't apparently wanted them badly enough to put down a deposit, I would be pretty unhappy. Every vendor we have spoken with has made sure to tell us, as is appropriate, "I am still available on that date at this time. I will pencil you in as wanting that date." Probably they should go ahead and state clearly that they cannot guarantee availability without a deposit/contract, but I think that is understood - and it can come across as high pressure.
It sounds like you maybe just didn't understand the demand for this particular photographer, but in the future if you really want someone, I think the lesson is to ask for an actual meeting as soon as you can reasonably schedule it, and bring your checkbook! Always assume that somebody else wants your date - because they probably do. I agree that the photographers' message could have been a little more user friendly - maybe she could have told you she was sorry to inform you she had a customer who had already put down a deposit for your requested date, and let you know she would still be happy meet with you should you want to consider another date.
Thanks Suzanno!
The worst part is I DID ask for a date to sit down immediately! Boo...
Oh well, lesson learned for the next round!!
Oh dear. Well that is frustrating and makes you wonder... I am a sort of impatient person - who thinks that my vendors can at least pretend to be as interested as I am. I have made my FI a little crazy by writing off a couple of vendors without ever seeing them in person just because they couldn't seem to schedule an appointment in a reasonable amount of time, and in one case because I thought they kept taking too long to call me back. I do hope that you find some really good people, who are fabulously fun to work with and to whom your actual wedding, and your happiness (not just your money) is important.
I'm using Duane Peck at DigitalStudios.org, he and Kristi Klemens used to be partners, but she has moved to Newport so they seperated their business.
Both are great photographers with similar styles and package offers. I went with Duane because he is based in Studio City which is closer to my Malibu wedding. Kristi had my date available as well, but she charges a travel fee beyond a certain point and I didn't find it worth it to pay a travel fee when I could have someone closer.
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I feel insanely lucky to have booked Sarah from SarahKChen.com... she's fantastic and fabulous and pretty much fully booked for 2008. You better hustle! 
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I have two terrific photographers: Alyssa Nicol Elias of Alyssa Nicol Photography (alyssanicol.com) and Craig Havens of Magnolia Weddings (magnoliaweddings.com)
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I was wondering what the average or usual cost is for certain vendors in Los Angeles so I can have a ballpark range for my budget. =) Also, I would appreciate recommendations for vendors that are affordable and decent/good/great at the same time in LA! I want to be able to stick to a budget that doesn't kill! Thanks!!!
DJs - I would need this person to be the MC for the night as well, and provide sound equipment for the ceremony. With set-up and everything, I expect to need his services for 6 hours.
Florists - I would need her to decorate an arch, and centerpieces, but I'm considering doing the bouquets/boutonnieres on our own. Would you recommend doing those two things on our own?
Officiant - We would only need him/her for the rehearsal and the ceremony.
Photographer - I am mostly interested in obtaining all the pictures of the wedding on CD, and to pay for their time. I would need the photographer for approximately 7 hours. Albums are not as important to me at the moment.
Make-up/Hair - I'm Asian, so it would be nice to have someone familiar with Asian skin. I have found places that offer both hair and makeup for $180. Is that a good rate? Or should I have these things done separately?
Chair-Covers - The place I am considering does not offer chair covers, so I'm wondering how much they would usually cost per person.
Bakery - I'm not looking for anything fancy here, just something with fruit filling preferably. Are Asian bakeries usually cheaper in price? How is their quality?
Well, that's all I can think of for now! I would appreciate any recommendations, reviews or advice! Thanks!