My daughter just got married last weekend, so I thought I would do some vendor reviews....
Coppertree Salon- Ephrata A-
Very nice little salon with friendly staff. Travis is an outstanding stylist! 4 of the 6 girls had their hair done by him, and they looked great! 2 of the girls (including my older daughter who was the MOH) had another stylist and were
not happy with the results. When they got back to our place one of the BM's actually re-did their up-do's for them. Other than that, it was ok. They got finished in good time. The salon even offers lunch catering for bridal parties!
Landis Valley Farm Museum-Yellow Barn B+ The complaints I have are minor: seems the two women in the sales office don't communicate between them or update files after converstations/emails. I would speak to one, then a few days later the other would email asking the same questions. That kind of stuff just irritates me.
On our set-up day we must have received at least 4 different stories about wether or not we could set up the courtyard for hors d'oeuvres Saturday morning (or have to wait until 3pm...um, the ceremony is at 2:30!!) In the end, the woman who was "in charge" for our event day just let us do what we needed to do that morning - thank goodness!!
The other thing that kinda bothered us-and especially the groom's parents-were the LV staff that sat in the barn all nite during the reception. ?????? Yes, we had to have a "Candle Watcher", but the event director, a trainee, and some other guy (don't recall his title) all sat together along one wall most of the nite. Most event directors just breeze thru on occasion to make sure everything is ok. I wouldn't have minded that , or if they stayed out in the carriage shed or in the courtyard....all very nice folks, but it was almost like having chaperones at a high school dance!
They
did redeem themselves at the end of the nite, however: they assisted with clean-up and went to great lengths to find a lost personal item.
The barn is beautiful, but all of their restrictions due to it being a museum can be a bit annoying when trying to schedule everything. Our suggestions if using the courtyard for cocktail hour: keep it simple, with something that can be easily and quickly set up by a catering crew or by someone not attending the wedding ceremony.
Eagle Rental - Denver A I have worked with Eagle Rental for a long time and am always satisfied with their service, selection and prices. They too, however, have some communications issues similar to Landis Valley: changes discussed with 2-3 different people somehow never got noted on our account because next time I would call, it would still be the original order. Nevertheless, all was well!
Mack Hospitality Staff, Lancaster A
I really didn't have too much interaction with the bar staff, but all seemed ok. My only issue is that I think a bartender service should send their staff out with a "tool kit" -I didn't like having to think about gathering knives, cutting boards, etc for the bar staff in addition to everything else. Anyway- they did a great job, despite the fact that we forgot the lemons and limes, and we had to move the bar inside later in the nite because of a storm approaching.
Carmen Horst Designs, Leola A+
When we first met with Carmen my daughter's comment was that she "got" our theme ideas. The flowers were beautiful! Carmen did a wonderful job on the pew cones-better than I even imagined! Bouquets were beautiful, loved the corsages and bouts....and the reception centerpieces were exactly what my daughter had envisioned! Hubby's favorite part was that her prices were reasonable.
SEI Catering, Lititz A
SEI did our oldest daughter's wedding 2 years ago, and they didn't disappoint this time either! YUM!
Soundwaves Entertainment A+
Chris Pyle is the owner, but was unavailable for our event, so he sent Craig- who had DJ'd at the Yellow Barn on previous occasions. Well, it was a great choice! The dance floor was hopping all nite! He did a great job of keeping the crowd enthusiastic but wasn't obnoxious or overbearing like some I've seen. The karaoke was a hit as well. Everyone had a great time!