Jared seems like you did all you could and that is really anyone can ask of you. Vanilla Ice messed up so much of your timetable and who could have saw that coming. Easy for anyone to criticize but in a similar situation what would they have done. Doubt they would have told Vanilla Ice to "hurry up" or "this is not acceptable" so as they say "you live and you learn". I am sure if you do this a second time (hopefully, closer to the east coast which would bring you many pinheads from NY, Jersey, PA, MD., VA and Carolinas) you will improve on what appeared to be a GREAT TIME with some "unexpected issues".
For a young man your age you should be VERY PROUD OF YOURSELF. Also, not many seem to understand that you spent everything and then some.....which I doubt many would have done which tells me a lot about your character and this had nothing to do with the money. It is understandable that people were not happy as some it appears feel they did not get their "moneys worth" but truly it seemed like you gave them A LOT for their money to begin with even at $200 for a VIP ticket......I spend at least $150 per ticket for most concerts I go to (most of the time closer to $200 or slightly more) and truly this seemed "EPIC" and even at $200 for a VIP ticket it wasn't overpriced that much even if they didn't get a couple of slices of Pizza......personally, I would raise the prices a little if you do something like this on the East Coast as $100 for a regular ticket is dirt cheap for everything you provided (probably why you lost money).
Do this on the East Coast and you can count me and my wife in !!! For all you provide it is a BARGAIN and don't let anyone tell you differently (just ask the people from NY what a night out costs them and I doubt they would have half the fun you provided !!).
Happy BELATED birthday and truly you can't put a price on the memory you created for yourself. I rarely get jealous but you "did it right" and as most of us older people will tell you the "memories are more important then the money".....most of us on pinside I am sure will be buried with a lot more then the $3K or so you lost but will NEVER HAVE THE MEMORY YOU HAVE so I would gladly trade $3K to have done what you did !!!
YOU ROCK JARED and don't let anyone ever tell you differently. You are one cool dude and if it was me I would put every newspaper article in a big frame and display them proudly for the rest of my life......how many of us can ever say we had an "EPIC BIRTHDAY PARTY" like the one you had....plus, you had your whole family support you which is really special....your wife rocks as well !!!
Also, I got to see a side of FATTRAIN and he really seems like a great guy and loves having a fun time (his picture with Ernie Reyes was too funny) !!! To fly in just to party is very cool in my book as well as Tiger Law.....hats off to both of them. To me, there reviews say it all.....they spent tons of money to come and they both seem to have NO REGRETS so it most have been AWESOME !!!