Feel free to contact me if you need more information about any of our vendors or if you’d like to see pictures of anyone’s work. Dana.m.leeson at gmail.com Ceremony Venue-Elkins Estate Recommend The Estate is absolutely gorgeous. There are so many picture perfect opportunities around every bend. We were originally going to have an outdoor ceremony in the rose garden, however, the rain the day before made the area not feasible and we chose the have the ceremony in the foyer. The staff at Elkins were very efficient. There was valet parking and there was never a time where the guests had to wait. My only concern with this place is that you need to bring in your own coordinator. Reception Venue-Whitemarsh Valley Country Club Recommend The ballroom is beautiful. There is a large chandelier right in the middle, and large windows all around the room which make for a nice view. The only thing that went wrong was they were late bringing everyone in from cocktail hour and dinner ran way later then expected. They also charge you an additional 3 dollars per person if you want more then 1 dinner option. However, the food is delicious. We had filet and crab stuffed shrimp. You could not go wrong with either choice. DJ-Best of Both Worlds: Highly Recommend This company is the in-between of a band and dj. They include a DJ and DJ assistant, and either 1 or 2 vocalists. We hired a male and female vocalist-Zoltan and Kimberly. I saw them perform at a few bridal shows and they gave me chills. They rocked the entire night. They learned an alternative version of our first dance and we got compliments all night from our guests about how amazing they were. I have a few video clips if interested. Wedding Coordinator-Jennifer Stepenosky- Highly Recommend Jennifer was a last minute hire, and she was worth every penny. She also brought her husband along as her assistant… and he as well was very professional and a huge help. I hired her for the rehearsal and ceremony only as our venue did not have a coordinator. She was extremely responsive through email and phone, and had a lot of great tips and advice. She kept me calm before the ceremony and made sure the whole day went down without and problems. Photographer-Sarah Schulte: Highly Recommend I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves. (Dana & Brian 9/12/09)
http://ssphotography.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/dana-brian-married-9-12-09/ We hired Sarah and her husband John and couldn’t be happier. I highly suggest hiring a 2nd shooter if you haven’t yet! String Quartet-Siena Strings- Highly Recommend Absolutely amazing. They sounded awesome and we got a lot of compliments on their performance. They played for a ½ both before and after the ceremony. Cake-Clays Cakes: Highly Recommend We had a choc chip cake with butter cream icing. They replicated the picture I gave them to perfection! They were great to deal with, and the cake tasted fabulous and very fresh. Florist-Carl Alan Highly Recommend The first thing Carl does when he meets you is have his staff actually make the floral arrangements with you so you can see exactly what you are getting. About a month before the wedding, I decided to change my bouquet and they actually had me come in again to re-make it for me. I was so pleased and our flowers were beautiful. His staff are very professional and friendly and will work with any change you want. If you have time the day before the wedding, you can also go in the view the flowers they put together. I also made a last minute change right then as I did not like the grooms boutonniere. Photobooth-Festive Fotobooth-Recommend Natalie and Christine were a pleasure to deal with. I am not sure of the girl’s name who ran our booth the night of the wedding, but she was also a doll. We had a few problems, as the booth was knocked over and I think the printer fell as well. So towards the end of the night no one got prints of the pictures, but they did show up online. Makeup-Kathleen from Dylan Michael Highly Recommend After my trial, I made many changes and was a bit worried about not having a 2nd trial, however, Kathleen did everything I requested and my makeup was perfect. I felt like a princess and Hair for Bridesmaids-Natalie Pagano- Highly Recommend All 5 of my bridesmaids loved their hair. The ones who brought pictures-she match the picture perfectly. I also thought she was inexpensive. Bridal Shop-Coronet Bridal in Feasterville Recommend The girls who work here are very friendly. They let you do your own thing, look through all the dresses, and help only if you need it. They have the largest selection of Maggie Sottero dresses I’ve seen ( I specifically wanted a Maggie) and I went back numerous times to try on the dress. Their prices are very inexpensive compared to other shops. Seamstress-Coronet Bridal in Feasterville-(Norma) Do NOT Recommend – Please do not get your dresses altered at Coronet. The seamstress is very inexperienced and my dress had to be re-done by someone else. Instead of pinning the bottom of the dress for the hem, she actually cuts it off while you are wearing it. I swore it was uneven after she hemmed it, and after I took it to another seamstress she agreed. Norma told me it was supposed to be uneven… and at that point I should not care what my dress looks like. She also said I should be more concerned with safety and me not tripping (which I would have anyways bc the dress was practically dragging). I asked her to add beading… the same clear beading to match my dress, and when I came back she had silver beading all over the dress that didn’t match. She took it in underneath, and didn’t take in enough. My bustle was the worst. Looking at me from the front view, the bustle made the sides stick out which was NOT normal. The back of the bustle was dragging on the floor. She did not work with any change I wanted and I ended up losing 215 to her and taking it to Nilah. Seamstress-Nilah Highly Recommend – I brought my dress to Nilah after my hell with Coronet. Nilah took my dress in more, re-did the hem, and re-worked the bustle. Her work is amazing and I wish I went to her right away. Her prices are very comparable to other shops…and she is very professional to deal with. I contacted her last minute and she had everything ready for me the week before my wedding.