1 star My husband…read moreand I had a small, casual wedding back in 2022-- a handful of family, one photographer, and us, in the woods. We deliberately chose not to be bridezilla/groomzilla about any of it. That wasn't because the details don't matter -- they clearly matter enormously to a lot of couples, and for good reason -- it was just how we chose to approach our particular day. And thank goodness for that, because it turns out even a low-key wedding wasn't low-stakes enough to get through him unscathed. He arrived 40 minutes late, despite being emailed explicit directions -- location, cross streets, confirmed by him in writing hours earlier. We paid our photographer extra out of pocket to cover the lost time. Mid-conversation about how pretty the trees were, he segued into officiating without telling us he'd started -- we found out afterward that our wedding video is incomplete because he never signaled we were live. My father, my only living parent, and who would have been my only guest at our wedding, was too sick to attend and was counting on that video to see the ceremony. He didn't get to see all of it. We wrote our own vows in advance, and he showed us that he'd pasted them into his nice-looking book..... and then he read none of them, later explaining he'd left the notebook on a rock behind him -- then pronounced us married anyway. He also offers handfasting on his site, with several named knot options; we corresponded with him in detail about which one we wanted. When it came to it he seemed to not really understand what to do with our handfasting cords- and kind of laid it over our hands, and wrapped it once or twice, and declared it good. There was no knot tied in the "tying the knot" bit. For some couples, and for some belief systems, that knot is the actual marriage act, not a nice extra -- so this isn't a small thing to skip. Then there was the paperwork, which was explicitly part of his service. Our marriage certificate went to the wrong county, delaying our certified copy by two weeks and jeopardizing my window to get on my husband's health insurance -- a real cost, not a hypothetical one. When we raised it, he told us we must have submitted it ourselves, despite us handing him a pre-addressed envelope for the correct county. For his version to be true, he'd have had to actively create a different envelope himself. He never once considered the possibility that any part of this was on him. We've decided as a couple to laugh at the absurdity of the incompetence of our "official" who brags so much about himself on his website, and we celebrate having a photographer who took our handfasting cords after the ceremony, looked us in the eyes and said "We're gonna fix this", and took us to a beautiful meadow, where she stood at the edge of the meadow to give us privacy while still getting pictures of us reading our vows to each other. The knot was truly tied, physically and emotionally, and we felt respected by the person celebrating with us. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful parts of our wedding, but it wasn't part of the official recorded ceremony. We're genuinely fine, and rolling our eyes about it now... But if you're a couple who's spent months or years planning a ceremony that means everything to you, I don't think "roll with it" would be an option, and I'd hate for anyone to find that out the hard way. Proceed with real caution.

If I could do NO STARS I would…read more DO NOT HIRE. Unprofessional, unprepared, and an absolute waste of money. Mitch Darnell officiated my daughter's wedding and failed on every single level. First, he was a complete no-show at the rehearsal the day before. When the actual ceremony began, his first move was to walk away from the microphone and stand awkwardly in front of the bride and groom--something I have never seen an officiant do. Worse, he was entirely unprepared and had absolutely nothing to say. He completely ignored the written script and the specific vows the couple had provided to him well in advance. Instead of guiding them, he skipped the traditional exchanges entirely--he never even prompted them with the standard, "I, [Name], take thee, [Name], to be my wedded..." or any variation of the "I dos." Instead, he put them on the spot, forcing them to come up with impromptu vows in front of everyone. While they stumbled initially, their heartfelt, off-the-cuff words ended up being the only redeeming and wonderful part of the ceremony. To make matters worse, I paid him $400, which is an obscenely high rate for someone who didn't even attend the rehearsal and spent less than an hour total on the job. In fact, he was at the wedding for only about 30 minutes total. That brief half-hour even included the signing of the marriage license, which he absurdly incorporated as part of the ceremony itself. I have never seen that done before, and I strongly suspect that because he is a fraud who does not actually know how to officiate weddings, he wanted to use the signing as "ceremony filler." We did not let him and made the signing directly after the ceremony but he was extremely impatient and wanted to leave the venue as soon as possible. Do not hire this man. Avoid him and his company, "Forever Inspired" with web at that name dot net. at ALL costs. He is absolutely worthless as an officiant and ruined what should have been a beautiful, prepared ceremony. The rest of the wedding was great and we are glad he had no hand in any of the festivities afterward. Mitch Darnell is a con-man and a fraud! Do not give this man any of your money.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Where to even begin! John from rocking entertainment literally made my wedding…read moreamazing. First of all he not only put up lights all over our venue, did low fog for our slow dance, and mixed the most amazing music for our Arabic/mexican/American wedding but he ALSO was the best MC to make sure the transitions of every single thing was so smooth. This was a huge worry of mine. He was so professional and so kind hearted it made trusting him with our big day so easy. He chose songs for bridal entrance, cake cutting, and garter toss and they couldn't have been more perfect. He is knowledgeable in so many cultures of music and is just that damn good at his job. Thank you so so much!

DJ Warda has been rocking the house for many years! He can handle.all sorts of events from weddings…read moreto parties. The mixing is awesome, sound and lighting is spot on. This dude knows how to party!

In Previous reference to Nichella, comments against Videomax/Rudy Longarini, I am the one that…read morehired Rudy to do the video for my niece Nichella's wedding in June 2017, and he did an excellent job in a 110* weather. He went above and beyond what I had asked him to do. Unfortunately she verbally attacked Rudy. I was present the whole time and none of the accusations are true. I had my sister view the DVD and asked her opinion, her comment was I see something our niece should cherish for the rest of her life. Nichella was mad at me and showed absolutely no appreciation for a gift I thought would be special. It's sad she had to bring a family argument into this.

After waiting 4 months to receive our wedding video, it was nothing like the examples of videos i…read morehad been shown that he had done in the past, the whole video is him talking and telling me to hold this pose hold that pose, and him asking my bridal party if he can watch them get dressed, there are clips that replay back to back where he messed up the editing he had us pick music to go on it, which is not on there,again its him talking through the whole thing, and refuses to fix anything that i told him i saw wrong with the video, so now i"m stuck with a video that i"m too embarrassed to show anybody! he was very pushy and made a lot of people at my wedding uncomfortable with his comments, all of this after he was paid $1,000.00 , i would NOT recommend him to anyone, its a rip off!

My husband and I used An Impressive Event five years ago for our wedding and, to this day, we still…read moresay that investing in her assistance was the best money we ever spent on our wedding. If I recall, that's what we said as we drove away from the reception. Karen is * budget conscious - she respects your need to keep to your budget and will help you work within those parameters. * respective of different cultures and ideas - she helped us create a unique theme and made sure to respect our church's requirements for the ceremony. Our church had dealt with pushy planners and were concerned about being run over by another one. Karen turned around their impression and made everyone on staff at ease. * happy / peppy / energetic - there WILL be days when you somehow can't handle the whole planning process and she's there to remind you of the end goal. When your wedding dress shop closes after you paid full price (the ONE vendor I chose on my own!), she is there with backup plans and resources and consolation chocolate. * organized and prepared - no matter how anal the bride / groom may be about things, details get left behind and Karen's expertise will keep you on task. Her attention to detail is impressive; we thought we were her only clients while she helped us during our wedding planning. We were shocked to hear that there were other couples she was assisting because her support and availability were amazing. * connected within the industry - her contacts and reputation garner great vendors and good deals. She can help you negotiate with your vendors to get the packages that reflect your actual needs. I cannot say enough good things about her assistance. Having her along with the wedding planning kept me sane and helped me from second guessing my choices. I never felt like a stranger was involved and never felt like it was anything but my wedding. If you're unsure about taking the step to hiring a planner, use her Getting Started package to get a feel for the fit. We did that and it made the decision to move forward oodles easier. When we celebrate a milestone anniversary, she will be the first person I call.

If I could give Karen a bajillion stars, I would. She was our wedding coordinator for our event…read more12-17-10 and my wedding would have literally have been ruined if it wasnt for her. She kept my vendors in line, made sure the venue was set up right and kept me calm after my MOH walked out the morning of the wedding! I dont know what I would have done without her. She was extremely professional, timely and so on-page with what I wanted for MY day! She made sure everything was in it's proper place, and that everything made it home after the wedding safely. I cannot speak highly enough of her. She was worth every cent and then some (she was very affordable, by the way) and if I ever need to coordinate an event again, I will surely be contacting Karen. Anyone looking for a coordinator would be a fool to pass her up!

Jason agreed to be the DJ at the party we hosted to thank all our friends and family for their…read moresupport through some major life changes. He helped us make it a celebration to be remembered! We gave him a huge list of songs we hoped to hear and he came through big time! He was a wonderful MC and had our guests laughing and dancing. We would recommend hi in a heartbeat.

Jason is professional, courteous, thoughtful and friendly - everything a wedding DJ should be. What…read moreI love most about him is that not once did he pressure me to book and he took the time to listen to my wedding wish list. He also did not make any assumptions about the big day, like he NEVER said "Well you'll want to have your cake cutting music blah blah blah," We're having pies and cupcakes - not cake. I appreciate that he listened to me first and made suggestions later. He really should be called a DJ/mini-wedding music planner because Jason is SO organized. When discussing the flow of events, he pulled out this amazing fill-in the blank music time line and showed me a check-off list of songs. If you book with him, he gives a book and other goodies to help you plan out what you want for music. Although he did not have a demo or mix I could listen too, he did take the time to provide me with references that I could call and ask questions. He seems very trustworthy, not shady at all and he strikes me as being fairly laid back yet professional and able to get down to business on the dance floor.

We hired JD and Kristen for our wedding in September and were so happy with our decision! We…read morereceived a sneak peak a couple days after the wedding and couldn't believe how beautiful it was! JD and Kristen were wonderful to work with and had great communication throughout the wedding planning process. Thank you Barrel 9!

Working with Barrel9 was one of the best decisions I made during wedding planning. Kristen and JD…read moreare so easy to work with and create such an amazing quality video. They are so laid back and know what they are doing -- they made us feel so comfortable. We had talked to them about getting specific parts of our day on video and they delivered! I am so excited to have the toasts and the highlight reel. The sneak peek delivered quickly after the wedding so we got to relive the moments on our honeymoon! So special. My husband and I are soooo pleased with the quality of the video (especially in the church, which isn't easy!). Definitely worth it for the mems!

Zachariah brings a fresh take on wedding photography. His packages are completely customizable and…read morehe can go as traditional or off beat as you like. My husband and I had a great experience last year with Zachariah as our wedding photographer. He caught each moment beautifully and really captured the obscure theme of our wedding. Fair price, professional, fun to work with, and got our photographs to us very quickly. We highly recommend!

As DJ Rockalot I have mic'd up Lonnie a few times and I'm lucky enough to be able to listen to his…read moredeliveries which are never the same but always unique and on point for the individual couples. He definately does his homework!

Lonnie was amazing to work with! From the very first time we talked I could tell he was something…read morespecial. It felt like I was talking to an old friend and I could tell he was really interested in what me and my husband had to say. We had a themed wedding and Lonnie did his research to ensure that our ceremony followed the theme. He absolutely killed it! My husband and I had multiple people asking about him during the reception and saying how cool he was. Lonnie is truly amazing at what he does and I will be recommending him to everyone I know! You will have such a fun and stress free time working with him.