Wisconsin

Reviews for Hartford/Milwaukee Wedding on 8/18/12!

It’s a bit long, but here are my reviews from my (gay) wedding from August 18 in Hartford, WI! Our invitations were made by our sister-in-law, our officiant was my wife's uncle, and our DJ was my old boss.

 

Fig Leaves Alterations – Dover, WI - A  I loved Fig Leaves. I found them from a few recommendations on this board, and when I called them it was about five weeks from our wedding date. Both my fiancee and I needed our dresses altered, the hem taken up, bustles put in, etc. She fit us in the next Monday. When we went in, Carol and Ginger were both extremely sweet, very curious about our wedding (which I’ll get to…) and helpful. We had our first appointment on a Monday and they called us Wednesday to say our dresses were done!! We went in later that week, tried them on, and they had to tweak a few things, but they did it while we were standing there. It took two days in total to alter both of our wedding dresses, and it was EXTREMELY reasonable in price. The only downside was that we got a slightly confused vibe from them about our same-sex wedding. I mentioned to Carol three or four times that this woman with me was my fiancee, and she still seemed hesitant to understand the concept. We ended up telling them we were having a double wedding. The lie was completely our decision, and I do not hold it against them at all. I would advise a same-sex couple to go here and be open and honest. In the moment, it was the decision we made. But all in all, Fig Leaves made our alterations the least stressful possible!

 

David’s Bridal – Brookfield, WI – B It’s difficult for me to give this David’s Bridal a grade because I did find my gorgeous dress there, but as time has worn on, I’ve regretted my decision to go shopping there. When I bought my dress, my consultant went out of my price range, and I ended up buying a dress for more than I initially planned. Additionally, and this is my fault as well, I bought a slip that was very uncomfortable. Later, when my fiancee was offered a more comfortable slip at another store, was the first time I realized I didn’t need to wear a very poofy slip. So that was a waste. My consultant didn’t give me any options, and wasn’t very good at making sure I was happy. Additionally, when I went in later to buy a different slip, they said it would take eight weeks to get it in. EIGHT WEEKS?! For a slip?? I thought it was ridiculous, so I bought it online for MUCH cheaper. In sum, David’s Bridal is a good place for cheap dresses that are beautiful, but they can be a bit of a hassle.

 

JoAnn Fabrics – Brookfield, WI – A+ I don’t know what I would have done without this JoAnn’s. I bought almost all of our crafts supplies here – fabric for flowers, mounting paper for gifts, glue, candles, yarn, Styrofoam balls, etc. You name it, I got it here for our wedding. They were always extremely helpful, they took coupons in bundles when technically they aren’t supposed to, and they always had what we were looking for. The most exciting thing about them, and what I found most useful, is that you have 90 days to return items. Going through the process of a lot of DIY projects, I found that our minds changed, and we didn’t always need things we bought. We easily returned them at JoAnn’s with no hassle and saved ourselves so much stress and money. They also have great sales, and if you’re on their mailing list you get a lot of coupons.

 

Venue: The Chandelier Ballroom – Hartford, WI – A- The Chandelier Ballroom was beautiful and perfect for the size of our party. We only had 60 guests, so we used their smaller room, The Fireside Room.  Michele, the coordinator there, is like the nicest woman you will ever meet. She’s super accommodating, and her personality is just charged and happy all the time. She was extremely helpful and always available via email, even during later hours. The reason I gave this room an A- was because of two things. We were told a few weeks before the wedding that we could set up our decorations the day before our event. Since we had made all of our decorations and our favors, it was very important for us to have time. Then, the morning of our rehearsal, we were told we could no longer set up early. It was a bit of a disaster, as the wedding they booked for Friday night had decided to use our room last minute, and I was kind of irritated that they were allowed to change their minds so quickly. However, Michele was impossible to stay mad at, and we eventually roped one of our wonderful friends into setting up while we were doing pictures the day of. Additionally, we were assured SEVERAL times that no one from the wedding in the big room across the hall would disturb us during our wedding. However, several times, people were looking into our room while we danced (we are a lesbian couple, so we were rather sensitive about this) and one time, a man from the other party came into our room and began dancing. I would have liked a little more security as far as that was concerned, but it ended up not souring our night. Oh well! It was still beautiful, our ceremony was quaint and adorable at their outdoor gazebo, and everyone loved the room.

 

Catering: All Occasion’s Catering/Bubb’s BBQ – Big Bend, WI – A+ Oh my god, this food was to die for. We met Mark, the owner, for a tasting almost a year before our wedding, and all of the food was DELICIOUS. He runs out of an industrial park, and even though it may seem a little low-class, the food is wonderful, Mark is the nicest, and they have cheap and more expensive options. We went with chicken piccatta and pasta for a buffet. The day of, the food was wonderful, everyone adored it, we got so many compliments. The staff was great, asked me before they did some things like allowing second servings, and sent us home with food at the end of the night. They could not have been more perfect. I recommend them to the moon and back. No fuss whatsoever.

 

Cake: Rick’s Bakery, LLC – Milwaukee, WI – A+ Sandy, the owner, makes delicious cakes and cupcakes. We went with the cupcake option, and I was not disappointed. They were great, and everyone loved them. Sandy had a beautiful setup at our wedding with our colors and we had to do nothing to help. It was so wonderful. The only snag was that she got in a car accident the day of our wedding and couldn’t actually set up! Her friends set up for her, and luckily she came out of the accident okay. She pulled through despite a disaster, and I would also recommend her to the moon and back. So easy to work with, and her cupcakes were yummy. Also her prices are as reasonable as you can get.

 

Photography: Kat/Eye Photography – Chicago, IL – A+ Kat is lovely. I love her as a person and a photographer. She’s so laid-back, she knows what she’s doing, and she lets you have fun while she’s taking pictures. She got so many great candid photos of us. We’ve already gotten the CD of pictures – a week after the wedding! – and they look GREAT. I’m so excited to order a bunch from her. Her prices are extremely reasonable and she travels at no extra cost. She got every picture we wanted and more. Really, really lovely.

 

Chair Rental: Equipment Rentals, LLC – Hartford, WI – A We had to rent chairs for our ceremony, as the Chandelier Ballroom does not supply them for outdoors. Equipment Rentals was easy to work with, they delivered and picked up their chairs with no hassle, and everything went really smoothly. The only problem was that I thought the whole thing was a little overpriced. We needed the chairs for an hour tops and it was a little pricey. But maybe I’m just being naïve about the price of chairs! I would still recommend them.

 

Etsy – A+++  This isn’t so much a rating in particular as it is a suggestion. Etsy is a perfect website for brides. Our wedding would have been 50% of what it ended up being if not for Etsy. We got some adorable unicorn cake toppers (http://www.etsy.com/shop/bunnywithatoolbelt), our wedding rings that look like twigs and are WONDERFUL from secretclubhouse and chrisparry, and great bridesmaids gifts from MyTinyStarShining, who was extremely reasonable with prices, given our bulk order. I really love Etsy, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to give an adorable kick to their wedding.

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Re: Reviews for Hartford/Milwaukee Wedding on 8/18/12!

  • edited October 2012
    Thank you for the reviews!  I really appreciated your detailed experience of David's Bridal, it has given me something to think about!  Thank you!

    and thank you for suggesting Etsy for the wedding topper!!

    Many Happy returns on your day!
  • do you have the number for fig leaves, i need to get ahold of the lovely ladies so i can get my dress in. thanks
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