Here it is!
Ceremony Venue:
Villa Academy -A
It definitely fit what we wanted, which was a smaller Catholic chapel that would be easy to fill. No decor was really needed for this place. The only downside, is that it is at a school. So its not nessicarily set up for weddings, (i.e. the bathroom is a school bathroom, the "bridal suite" is like a office, and the side room is like a school/conference room.) But these are all things that the bride notices and not the guests. Its very beautiful on the outside and has a cute peek--a-boo view that they dont really advertise. Monica was great at responding to emails, but didnt show to our first appointment, and I think almost forgot about our second one... but she was there!!! In the end, we wouldnt have wanted it anywhere else though
Reception Venue:
Hotel 1000 A+
Donna and Hotel 1000 was and has been extremely responsive from the start and even after the wedding answer al and any questions we had. the rooms are amazing and everything was so beautiful and clean and modern. I got a lot of positive feedback from the guests on the venue and hotel rooms. As far as the reception, everything was amazing. The getting ready room (the parlor) worked perfect and there was plenty of space for all of my bridesmaids and I to get ready. Hotel 1000 was extremely accomidating and made me feel extremely special even though I noticed they had a wedding the day before and the day after mine. I never once felt like I was taking the backburner to these other weddings. the only downside, was they were only able to give us an allotment of 10 rooms for a wedding block. This wouldnt be a bad thing for many people but 95% of our guests were from out of state.
Photography:
Azzura Photography A+
Azzura was amazing. They went above and beyond for our pictures! we were sooo thrilled to have them! They kept me on time (and snacking) they have such a wealth of knowledge with not only photography, but weddings in general and had SUCH great advice! Tanya said my BM;s had what she called "2 hour shoes" and recommended they bring flip flops to everywhere we went for photos and when they werent being photographed to jump into their flip flops so their feet would last in their heels as long as possile! People tend to say they are pricey, but you definitely get what you pay for. I can say that through our engagement photos!!
Flowers/Decor:
Aria Style A+
John and Kim at Aria style were a dream to work with! They catered to everything I wanted no matter how strange the request was! I wanted really "modern" centerpeices to go with the modern look of Hotel 1000 and orginally I wanted only eggplant colored flowers for me, but they said throwing in some of the other colors from my scheme would be a good idea because eggplant will tend to look black, and hard to see. I am SOOO happy they told me that cause the eggplant flowers were very hard to see!!! Heres my flowers..and my bridesmaids flowers, who had orange (yes, my colors were purple and orange, and I LOVED IT)
Me holding my flowers
Centerpeices on the tables (and my table numnbers... also through Azzura)
and the cocktail hour centerpeices :
Make up:
Make up by Erica A+
Erica was amazing! She was ontime (even at 630am!) and reayd to go! Her and her team managed to do my BM's, (which there were 6 of them), me, MOB, and the MOG by noon!!! We all looked amazing!!! her airbrush makeup lasted alll night!! HIGHLY recommended! See the above photo with my dad.
Cake :
New Renissance A
Bonnie was a pleasure to work with and was extremely nice. She was on time and was very understanding when we had to change appointment times. The cake was amazing! (and 2 weeks later, our cake still tastes good...) Unfortunately, we had thought we wouldnt need extra sheet cake and she had recommended other wise.... well, we ended up taking the whole sheet cake home and the little side cake. We hadnt expect that much cake to go uneaten.
But the cake was beautiful and decorated exactly how we wanted it!
oh and smashing it on my new husbands face was fun too!!! (please see the decor behind us, also from aria style)
I had people rushin me afterwards saying "I can't believe you did that!!" and a team of BM's cleaning me up!
Dj :
GoodTimes DJ Service A+
BRian was awesome! I had sooo much great feedback about him and his music choices! He was extremely professional and personable and kept us on time! being on time was very important to us! The crowd loved him the dancefloor stayed packed the whole night! and I dont mean, 5 people here and there, I mean so many people that not everyone could fit on the dance floor!!! My MOH even sang and song and he was great working with her and giving her a chance to do a soundcheck and everything. He was great! HIGHLY recommended.
Day of Coordinator:
The Invisiable Hostess: Afton - A+++++
Yes, you need one of these. NEED!
We werent orginally going to get a DOC, but decided, we want to have a good day and not stress, adn thats exactly what happened!!! Not a lot went wrong at the wedding and the things that did, I didnt know about till after! One example, apprently I had a BM get drunk before the reception, and her date had to take her back to the hotel they were staying at, which was across the street. But the BM left her luggage and purse in the bridal room!! Afton took all her stuff and checked it for her at her hotel! Another BM had her zipper break off the dress before the ceremony started!!! (bill levkoff.... thumbs down) Afton Sewed her back up! She was a lifesaver and then some. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! all I know was that we should have tipped her more after I heard everythign she did for us!
Photobooth:
Limelight Photobooth A
They were fantastic and everyone had a great time with it! So many people used it and it was great to have a little extra guest book! (yes...im missing a BM in the below picture)
Dress:
Brides by Demetrios A
Okay, they get a lot of flack and I understand everyone has a different expierance, but mine was great! They were very nice and catering and always knew my name when I came in!!! The alteration lady, Galina, was amazing and did wonders! She altered it as much as I wanted! I even added a belt and buttons to the dress and she was soo nice about everything!!! Here the back in the french bustle
Hope this helps future brides looking for vendors! I didnt have a lot of negitive to say because nothing (to my knowledge during the day of) went wrong at all! Nothing was out of place and everything went smoothly for me!