I got married on October 8, 2011. Check out my planning and wedding bios (still being updated). During the process I was able to work with some wonderful vendors. Though my wedding was in the city, I've included vendors that travel as well as online vendors.
Videography: AJ Ingoglia Films
AJ was awesome! We were originally going to skip hiring a videographer but then we saw his wedding trailers. If you want to have a beautiful video that you'll actually want to see every year....he's your guy. His prices are more than reasonable and he has a great payment plan. He was always responsive and he was great on the day of.....even when parking was hard to find. One of THE BEST decisions we made was hiring AJ. Check out my wedding trailer: http://vimeo.com/30344680
Photography: Dreamlife Photography & Video
While we loved the photos on their websites and their albums we were still a bit worried since we wouldn't know who our photography was going to be until right before the wedding. Well.....we worried for nothing. Sonny was great! Even though things got a bit crazy since time became an issue he was a trooper and worked really well with our videographer. We just received our shots and they are absolutely beautiful! Their packages are reasonable and they also have a great payment plan.
Jewelry: Tejani
I went to Tejani to purchase my jewelry (you can either go to their boutique or purchase online). Lyndsay was extremely helpful and patient with me (I believe I went three times in all). Their selection of jewelry is extensive and beautiful. You will find what you need to complete your look here, however, it does come with a slight price tag. Be on the lookout for sales though....sometimes they provide up to 40% off.
Invitations/Programs/Menus: One area I wasn't willing to spend money on were the invitations, programs and menus (which also acted as place cards). I had gone to Papyrus and Kate's Paperie and the prices of the invitations I liked were crazy. They quoted me between $1100 - $1600 for the invitiation suites I liked. If this is important to you than go for it.....but for me it just wasn't. However, I couldn't find anything from Michaels or Wedding Paper Divas that I liked. Then I found Paper Presentations in the city. Wow....this place had everything you could possibly need in order to do invitations and programs. I bought pocketfold invitations similar to the ones I had seen in Papyrus and Kate's and then bought the cards. I had my FFIL do the printing for us.....which was gratuitous (though I can't see a printing place charging too much). In the end our invitations came out to approximately $450 for 100.....which isn't cheap but I wanted a certain look....which meant nicer paper and invitiations. For us, though, this was a great savings considering what we had been quoted. There are certainly less expensive options at Paper Presentations. On a side note: I actually enjoyed putting these together with my husband....then again I didn't have to force him since he offered to help. We also decided to do our programs and menus ouselves....and FFIL again offered to pay for the printing. Paper Presentations has the covers and papers of various sizes and colors so that you can choose which ones you like or those that fit within your budget. If you're not sure as to the cost of printing simply go to your local printer and ask. It'll certainly be less expensive (though more hands on) if you go this route. If you're looking for something a bit less complicated (aka you don't want to put invitations together) definitely check out weddingpaperdivas.com. My sister ordered the bridal shower invites from them and they were awesome!
Favors: We decided to give our guests a bottle of limoncello and Italian and Puertorican candy for our wedding. We bought the bags and boxes (for the candy) at nashvillewraps.com and crinkle paper at bagsandbows.com. The tags for our gift bags were ordered through zazzle.com. All of these websites processed their orders quickly and the prices were great!
Save the Dates: Magnetstreet.com
Before I ordered the STDs I knew I needed to find something that people would actually save. What better than with a magnet? We chose the image of NYC skyline since our reception was going to be held in the city and many of my guests were traveling (this was a destination wedding for them). Magnet Street was easy to order and arrived very quickly.....I ordered on Monday they were home by Saturday.
Etsy: I used Etsy for three things: custom cake topper, calligraphy and signs. For my very cute cake topper I contacted Ana from Ana Crafts. Her cake toppers are so awesome and she made the bride's dress look exactly like mine! I had to hide the topper so my fiance wouldn't see the dress! She was very responsive and the topper arrived very quickly once it was sent. For my calligraphy (address envelope, escort cards and belly bands - these were around the menus so they also acted as place cards). I contacted Renee Polcher (calligraphywithstyle). Her prices were right (about 1/3 of the price of anyone in the city) and her work was beautiful. In addition, she had an awesome turnaround time. I would definitely contact her if you need any calligraphy work done. For signs I contacted Lynsey Taulbee of Decadent Designs. She prepared a custom sign for my flip flop basket (BIG HIT with the ladies at my wedding) and signs for my bathroom emergency baskets. Again, another very reliable vendor. I also used Etsy for my latest endeavor....personal thank you cards. We wanted to give personal/handmade thank you cards to our parents, MOH and the two Best Men for being so awesome! I ordered them from MDCardsandGifts. Maggie was able to personalize the colors so they matched the ones I used for the wedding. They came out beautiful. I loved my wedding colors!
For the Modern Bride: My sister ordered our money box from this website. We were both a bit afraid that the box would look cheesy but the end product was absolutely amazing! They incorporated every single detail we requested and the box was sent securely and was received quickly.