I separately posted a review of
Christina Alfonso and Me So Hungry Catering and Event Coordination. The summary: she was total disappointment. She stole our money in that we paid for many many services and food items which were never received. If there is one thing I could do over it would have been to fire her and call the lost money gone and have started over with catering and day of coordination.
On a more positive note, I did have some amazing vendors.
Ceremony: Chapel Dulcinea - what can I say that the pictures and other reviews won't tell you. It was easy to book online. On our wedding date all we did was show up, get married and then collect our deposit from the office afterwards. The chapel was clean and ready for our guests and we felt we had plenty of time on the grounds after the ceremony for pictures. I sure wish the bridal suite were larger but in the end I liked not having a lot of space for people to mill. It meant I was zen and peaceful before walking "down" the aisle.
Reception: private residence
Florals: I did the flowers myself with help from friends and my bridal party. I purchased the flowers through Houston Bridal Girls at wholesale, and had a lovely experience with them. The flowers were exactly what I wanted.
Photography: Clark Lara Photography: Out of North Houston and an absolute gem. I did not meet Clark before booking him but went with him based on his blog and other weddings photographed. He shoots beautiful photos in natural light and we couldn't be more pleased with the images he captured. Worth every penny and the most reasonable TALENTED photographer I ever looked at.
Hair: Danann Patrick: LOVED this girl. She was on-time, attentive and incredibly flexible. When someone in the bridal party made the last minute decision to have their hair done, she found a way to do it while also respecting everyone who had booked in advance and making sure they were taken care of. Her vibe was very relaxed and soothing and I felt she added a calming energy to the bridal suite while we got ready.
Make-up: Avery Allen: Incredibly talented, Avery took my desired bridal look photograph and NAILED it. I looked exactly how I wanted to in photos: like a punched up version of myself. The airbrush make-up wore like a dream and lasted all day in a warm, rainy and tear filled setting. She was also timely, responsive and flexible. I couldn't have asked for a better experience with her.
Cake: My FAVORITE vendor was by far our cake vendor. Her name is Erika Depperschmidt and she is a recent culinary school graduate who works as a private chef in ATX. She also happens to do wedding and specialty cakes on the side. From the tasting to the day of the wedding Erika was an absolute rockstar. And her prices are about 50% of what you'll pay a "main stream" cake vendor but I swear what you get is EVEN BETTER! My cake was simply breathtaking. Erika did custom rice paper flowers in our colors to adorn the cake and people are still raving about how good the cake was (sopapilla cake & strawberry/white chocolate cake).
Accidental vendor: Aurbey Salaiz: Aubrey was hired as the "assistant" day of coordinator to the before mentioned Christina Alfonso / Me So Hungry. Aubrey walked into a very bad situation with Christina lying to the both of us about what she would be handling the day of. Not ONE.SINGLE.TIME during the event did Aubrey ever come to me with a problem. Aubrey worked tirelessly to try and keep our reception going smoothly. She never sat down and never stopped running. Without Aubrey our wedding reception would have crashed and burned. Guests commented on how incredible she was...she handled problems as they arose, invented many solutions to issues presented by both catering and the weather and shielded the groom and I from so much. Aubrey, without a doubt, saved our wedding. And I am grateful in a way that a post on theknot.com could never fully capture.