Flowers
Mums Atelier (Rhode Island) – B
Overall I was happy with my flowers, Joanne (the owner) got my vision for the day. I loved my centerpieces (exactly what I wanted) and the bouquets were nice (although I wanted a bit more color in them.) The flowers were fresh and held up very well according to people who took centerpieces home. There were a few things that I wasn’t totally happy with, like my boutonnieres. I had asked for a dark purple flower and we got a light purple flower and my nephews had some petals fall off. The other thing that I wasn’t totally happy with was that I was under the impression from the contract that the flowers from the ceremony were supposed to be moved to the reception location by Joanne, who came to do set up. I don’t think this ever happened. I remember seeing Joanne before my ceremony but I don’t think she stayed to do this and I don’t know what happened to those flowers. I liked Joanne a lot – she’s great over the phone and in person – her email communication isn’t great so if you deal with her just keep that in mind. Despite these two things, I would still recommend using Joanne. I felt she really listened to what I wanted and she worked within our budget.
Cake
Vesta Bakery (Westerly, RI) – A
This is the bakery Ocean House uses for butter cream frosted cakes. We had a tasting with Allison in July and she gave us exactly what we wanted, lemon cake with raspberry mousse filling. The samples were so good we were a bit worried the actual cake would not be as tasty but it was great! Not only was the cake delicious but it looked beautiful too and it was exactly what I wanted. My sister also went through her to get the cake for our rehearsal dinner. It was red velvet, which is my favorite and it was the best red velvet I’ve ever had. My only regret is that I don’t live closer, I would have Allison do all my cakes if I did.
Hair & Make Up
Lynda Williams (Wakefield, RI)– Formal Hair Design - A
Jennifer Hodge (Wakefield, RI) – Spectrum RI Make up Artistry – A
Although you can hire these ladies separately, I was glad I used them as a team. They work together a lot and are both wonderful. They were both great to have around the morning of while my family and I got ready – both are very down to earth and fun and they fit right in with us.
Jennifer did air brush make up on me, my mom and two sisters and I was thrilled with how we all looked and how well it lasted. We had a rainy day and I was outside in the mist for a while taking pictures but the make up did not budge till late that night when I washed it off. Jennifer also did a really great job on my two young nieces, she put a little make up on them that was age appropriate and they looked really cute.
Lynda is an artist with hair. She did a pretty complex updo on me and it looked beautiful. I brought her a picture for inspiration and she really gave me exactly what I envisioned. Aside from me, she did hair for my mom, two sisters and two nieces. Everyone was happy with their hair and for the most part the styles held up great. The one exception to this was me. Toward the end of the night, a friend hugged me and a piece of my hair got stuck on her crazy bracelet. This wouldn’t have been a big deal if someone had told me how bad it was– I could have used one of the 20 bobby pins Lynda gave me to use if such a thing happened. When I asked a few of my friends, they all said it was fine and I continued dancing. Now there are all these pics of me from the last hour of the wedding with a chunk of hair hanging down in the back of my head. Not Lynda’s fault….she gets an A. Friends and family get a D though! I would highly recommend both of these ladies!
Uplighting
Rob Alberti (Mass.) – A
Rob was our most responsive vendor. Anytime we sent him an email with a question we heard back from him within a few minutes. His price was great and he did a nice job with adding some warmth to the room. I was also very happy with the gobo he designed the projected our monogram and wedding date onto the dance floor. Highly recommend.
Transportation
Blooms Bus/MDT – C
The day before the wedding I called Blooms Bus to confirm that all was set with my 55 person passenger bus to take out of town guests from the hotel to the wedding. I was told we were all set. A few hours later, I got an email saying that due to an equipment issue, they were subcontracting the job out to a different company - MDT. None of this would have been a big deal at all if there hadn’t been issues with the driver from MDT. Although he showed up on time for pick up, he got lost and as a result my ceremony started 35 minutes late. 75% of my guests were on that bus and I couldn’t start without them. The bigger problem came at the end of the night when the driver did not show up with the bus at 11PM as the contract stated. Because he was not able to stay parked at Ocean House, he went down the road about ½ mile and fell asleep. Luckily the valet parking attendant knew where he went and my dad and brother in law had to run down and bang on the bus doors to wake him up. All of this resulted in the bus departing 30 minutes late on the way home. Although at the time I was furious, I got a partial refund from Blooms for the inconvenience and the VP of the company was very reasonable and responsive when I called to complain and ask for money back. So all in all, I wish it hadn’t happened but I was satisfied with the resolution.
Hotel Block
Hilton Garden Inn (Groton, CT) – Hotel – A/Event coordination – D
This is a tough one for me. Everything ended up alright but they by far caused me the most aggravation during the wedding planning process. I chose the Hilton Garden Inn because it is a newer property with good amenities, the price was reasonable and I could hold a brunch there the following day. I have no complaints about the property, the food, the rooms, etc. I would totally stay there again if I were in the area. My issue was with the service the 10 months leading up to the wedding with the booking of the hotel block and the process for guests to book rooms. I guess I chose a popular weekend to get married in the Mystic area. It was Coast Guard Reunion Weekend and the Marriott and Hilton were booked out a year in advance. When I called the Hilton, she suggested I try the Garden Inn and after calling a few other hotels, I decided to go with them. Because of the popularity of the weekend, they told me I needed to have all my guests booked in by April (for an October wedding) otherwise they would need to give up my rooms. I started hounding my out of town guests to book rooms by the April deadline and then when they called they were told I had no more rooms in my block. It got to the point where I had to have everyone call the group sales manager to book because she was the only one who seemed to understand that we had a block with 30 rooms. It was a pain in the neck for me, and the people I had calling to book. I also heard from some of my guests that they got some attitude from the girl at the front desk at check in and not everyone got the gift boxes I put together. If you need to do a block in the area, I’d suggest using a different hotel. The same people who manage the sales here, manage the Hampton Inn down the road so I’d steer clear of that one too.
Rehersal Dinner
Abbott’s Lobsters in the Rough (Noank, CT) – A
I wanted to do something very different from my wedding for the rehearsal dinner. I liked the idea of a lobster bake and someone suggested I check out Abbott’s. If you want a laid back atmosphere and don’t mind dinner served on paper plates with plastic utensils this is your place. We had a great time that night and the food was delicious. Marty, the manager there was great to work with and went out of his way to accommodate a family member with severe shellfish and citrus allergies. Highly recommend.