This review is for Mary Veal Photography from our wedding on May 2, 2015 at Hawks Caye Resort in…read moreFlorida. I will preface this review by saying that Mary herself was very nice and was as sweet as could be leading up to and during the wedding. However, we were utterly disappointed in the end result of our wedding pictures. We communicated our general disappointment to Mary who offered to retake photos of us for free. However we do not live in Florida as this was a destination wedding, we would have to pay for a flight down, and get a hotel room. We would also not be re-capturing the magic of our wedding. Upon sending another more detailed email to Mary with more specifics on our frustrations, she responded in an extremely defensive and accusatory manner, and actually blamed the quality of the pictures on many things associated with our wedding, including our guests. She took no ownership for our disappointment and instead decided to make excuses for everything that we brought to her attention concerning our disappointment. After a few emails back and forth, Mary did eventually offer us $500 back. We declined this offer, as it could not bring back the day and the moment. After careful consideration we asked for $1500 as a consolation for the poor service. Mary declined to agree to these terms and stated that she believed that no amount of money back to us could make us happy. For $5000 price tag that we paid for her service, my wife and I felt the result of the photography did not match the price. A few examples of our disappointment include: There were very few pictures of my wife and myself that we were happy with. We have some pictures together, but almost none of which we would care to post on our thank you cards, album, or mantle. Mary responded to this by asking how many photos we were planning on posting on our mantle or sending in thank you cards? Because in her experience it is one or two. Although I agree, we should have options to select that one or two, and we simply did not. Almost every picture we received that was taken during our entrance to the reception had a blast of light or halo surrounding the images in the pictures. There is a bright lamp or light in the background that dwarfs the images in the picture making it look like a total mistake. We had no usable picture of our reception entrance. In some of the pictures, there are frames where peoples heads are cut off, the centering is off, the feet are cut off, etc... She responded to this by telling us the artistic focus may not be the centerpiece of the photo. However, this is not what I was referring to at all. In one particular picture of our family, our cousin's (a Marine) arm is cut off by the frame in a family photo. There was a general lack of detail in many of the photos. Clothes on the floor, items on a table, store stickers in pictures of shoes, people not facing the same direction, ect... There were key parts to the wedding itself that were completely omitted. Our friends were able to capture some of these moments with their cell phones but not our paid photographer. Overall the photos received back were bizarre. There was little or no creativity, the photos lacked attention to detail, and there were many photos that were off center, cluttered, and messy. Of the 586 photos we received there were only about 6 that we considered usable for some type of display, however, none of those 6 we were extremely happy about. We did not have many options to select from. When we brought all these items to her attention she responded with excuses and said "I did nothing wrong". Although we were not looking to point fingers at who was wrong or right, we were looking for empathy and a solution. Unfortunately the reaction of our photographer was to take a defensive position to justify each area of disappointment by making excuses and blaming others for the result we received, rather than provide empathy and understanding for a disappointed client. This is unfortunate and this is not expected from an entrepreneur in any business. The examples I provided you were not in any way to challenge her talent as a photographer., but rather illustrate our frustration as a customer. She seemed offended about our comments, rather than making a satisfactory offer to make it better, and more concerned in absolving herself from any responsibility. Her response should never be projected as fault of the customer. Unfortunately we were not happy with our pictures and we feel like we did not get what we paid for. I realize the quality of service is different for everyone, but in our opinion, our expectations were not met and the price of the service greatly outweighed the talent. We would not recommend.

Mary was hands down fantastic. We got married last weekend and had quite a large group for a Key…read moreWest wedding. She managed to be extremely polite, while simultaneously gathering everyone when the shots were needed...even our dog! She is so dedicated that she even stayed later than scheduled for our wedding shoot and did so happily. She is very talented at what she does and produces great work. We absolutely can't wait to see our photos in a few weeks!

I cannot say enough great things about Jessica from simply you! She had this calming effect when…read moreyou talk with her. Every time I needed to figure a solution she got it done within the hour. For example the week of the wedding she helped me order a tent because it looked like it might rain. It was seamless. She made everything so easy and simple. The day of the wedding was perfect! She was literally running from place to place to make sure everything hit their marks. She helped make our wedding flawless. Her service was worth every penny! My husband agrees. You would be crazy not to go with simply you weddings.

The most amazing wedding planner you'll ever meet…read more I have been filming weddings for almost 7 years & Julie has been one of the most amazing planners I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with! She thinks of every single detail, her communication with the couples & all the vendors involved is amazing & she truly enjoys what she does. if you're looking for a planner who is going to make sure your wedding day is perfect, then look no further!

Hi Nick, Here is why…read morewe chose you, and why will hire you the next time we are in key west just for a party, You were AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! I rang one other person for a quote before I got to speak to you. As soon as I spoke to you on the phone, I just knew you would be brilliant. I stopped ringing after I spoke to you. You were fun, honest and helpful. Whenever I spoke to you, nothing was a problem. Then at the wedding......... you were brilliant. You were on the ball, liaised with EVERYONE. The music was perfect for us: - people kept coming up to us during the night, saying "the music is GREAT" I replied, I knew DJ NINJA NICK would deliver!!!" HAHA. I know you don't like that name. If any one is thinking of hiring a DJ in the Florida Keys who can read a crowd, and pump out the right music: YOU ARE THE MAN. They will not be disappointed. (If they are, get them to ring me!) Our friends expected a party, they got one. Your ability to read us, and play the right music facilitated this for the whole night. Thank you, Thank You, Thank you. Love Nat & Shane. PS: You handle can handled all crazy guests at the wedding, without an issue. I loved that too!!!

Nick was our favorite wedding vendor! We highly recommend him. I felt like was working with a…read morefriend. We are very particular with our music and also being music lovers, we were very close to ipod-ing our own music for our wedding. We did that late-night random Google search and found Kiss Me at the top. We could tell nick loves what he does he has wedding intuition, and professionalism which was hard to find in the Keys. We were able to thoroughly enjoy our own wedding party because stood guard all night. We had been to another wedding where the dj kept disappearing, But Nick held down the fort and talked to all of vendors. We had a great time getting to know him during our pre-event consultation. He has a lot of wedding DJ-ing experience and helped us envision how our night would unfold. He made planning and organizing stress-free. We knew we could trust him with our schedule. Nick also worked with our unconventional wedding day schedule. He came out for our morning ceremony after DJ-ing for another late-night wedding the night before to help us with the music for our processional and recessional and post-ceremony hour. Everything was seamless and he made sure to confirm the equipment, venue set-up, and timing details with to make sure it was all perfect. Everything turned out beautiful. Nick you were so accommodating and worked so well with all our other vendors. When people tell us that we threw a great party, we tell them it was all you! Thank you so much for being part of our special day! It will be unforgettable.

We try to visit the Alan S Maltz Gallery every time we are in Key West. Often we buy; sometimes we…read morejust visit. We always leave inspired by the natural beauty of Florida and how Mr. Maltz is able to reflect that beauty in his photography.

Allan and his team are top notch. We had a spot in our home that needed that final touch, Allan's…read morephotos are unbelievable. His team was courteous and professional, an added plus was to hear the story behind the photo! Packaging and shipping were perfect.

THIS MIGHT BE THE BEST SAMI IN KW…read more I had the Jamaican Jerk Pork Wrap and let me talk you, it was a 10 !!!! The pork was succulent, the plantain was not greasy, the wrap was gridded to perfection and the side of rice was on point. It comes with (2) sauces...., a mayo base and red semi hot/ super flavorful red. Came to like $13.00, but worth every penny !!!!

Accompanied the flotilla to Cuba and boat parade in Havana Harbor. Incredibly organized every…read moreaspect from the departure to the return. Great communications and response. Staff was committed to the comfort and pleasure of the cruisers. The Cuba experience was a once in a lifetime thrill. Thanks to all.

I was lucky enough to find Eric for our 110 person wedding in North Georgia. I am so, so happy that…read moreI did because Eric was THE most important person at the wedding (other than my groom of course!) Eric came to the wedding with his working shoes on - he was incredibly engaged and ahead of schedule the entire day. Instead of coming to me with questions as I was getting ready, he came to me with solutions and updated me on the process of his work. Not only did he act as our day-of-coordinator, he also acted as our florist last minute! I had put my mother in charge of arranging our DIY florals from Costco, and Eric immediately saw that the situation required a professional hand. He arranged everything in the most beautiful way, and we received compliments on the flowers and greenery all night. My only regret with working with Eric, as I told him, is that I didn't hire him for the entire wedding weekend! I can't recommend him enough - THANK YOU Eric!!

Working with Eric was by far the worst and most stressful part of our wedding experience. Far from…read morealleviating our troubles and making our lives easier, it became apparent the more we worked with him that he didn't have a high level of attention to detail, dropped the ball on a number of things, and simply wasn't executing at close to a high level to help us "plan" our wedding. Eric only had a few key responsibilities: (a) day of coordination and (b) sourcing a handful of vendors (hair/ makeup, videographer, DJ, and florals) -- we planned everything else ourselves.  Despite this slim list of responsibilities, Eric was unreliable, not proactive, and unapologetic: 1. After taking our full deposit for the hair and make up stylist, Eric failed to follow through on the contract and never booked the stylist. We found this out two months later, right before our supposed trial appointment (for which we had to fly in out of state) when we reached out to the stylist directly and learned that Eric had never followed through on the booking. There was no apology and we were left scrambling to book the stylist ourselves. Thankfully, she was still available on our wedding day but we couldn't believe that Eric failed to book her after taking our deposit. 2. Eric failed to properly coordinate audio during the day of our wedding. First, he failed to tell the DJ to set up a speaker outside for our ceremony and, even worse, he failed to inform our videographer that a string quartet was to perform at our ceremony. Accordingly, our videographer did not bring any mics for the quartet and we have learned after the fact that none of the audio of their beautiful performance was captured.  Eric's response to this was to have us ask the quartet to re-record their entire performance -- which we found to be unhelpful and completely unacceptable. 3. Eric's idea of preparing vendors was to circulate a "day of" itinerary -- and little else. This left our photographers and string quartet emailing us for details in the lead up to the wedding. He also failed to provide us and our hotel with the names / contacts of the shuttle bus drivers for the wedding day, leaving us and all our guests in the dark about when transportation would arrive. Hiring Eric as our wedding planner is the largest and only regret we have during our entire wedding process. We hope other couples look elsewhere for their wedding planning and coordinating needs (or just plan it on your own).

A FUN EVENT FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY -…read more 2015 was another wonderfully orchestrated and fun holiday event, This event was FREE with encouragement to bring (but not required), an unwrapped toy to be donated for Holiday Helpers. When you arrive at the park you have the opportunity to walk around and converse with other Christmas merriment makers, make new friends and take plenty of photographs. Everyone decorates their bikes to their liking with much creativity and imagination. From the simplest of lights to the more elaborate dolphins, sleds, reindeer, elves and my personal favorite, the Christmas tree angel (a woman on a bike all in white with a bright star over her head, the imagination and creativity is endless. I even saw a guy with a live Christmas tree fully decorated with lights and decorations in a tree stand with water mounted to the back of his bike rack. So incredibly innovative! The ride itself is equally as fun, commandeered by the Key West Police Dept. who blocked the roads for all the riders and kept everyone safe. Bikers road in merriment singing to Christmas carols piped in on personal music devices they brought along spreading Christmas cheer to all the spectators throughout the route. This was equally terrific for small children. I saw some young boys who appeared to have an absolute blast diligently riding their bikes with great determination looking so proud while mom watched on and guided them from behind. It was very sweet. Activities at the event start at Bayview Park: - Mr. & Mrs. Claus were available for photos - A greeting table for a quick registration to receive a wristband for all the riders - A constructed small lighted miniature town area - The main lighted Christmas tree in the park - Helmet fittings and giveaways - all kids are required to wear helmets for the ride. - Police escorted If you are in town during this event and looking for a great family activity, I highly recommend it.