My wedding was June 2, 2012, and it was the most PERFECT day of my life. The day had a few clouds in the sky and it was 75 degrees, sunny, and 0% humidity. I had been planning this wedding since November, 2010, and could not have had a better wedding without the vendors that I had! Here is my review for each of my vendors.
Venue: Stone Manor Country Club, Middletown, Maryland
This was the most perfect venue for an outdoor wedding. The mansion is great to get ready in for the girls and guys, and has great picture options both inside and out. Brian and Loree are great to work with and are very responsive to your questions and needs. The price really wasn't that bad considering everything that was included with the packaging. You can have the wedding ceremony at a few different sites on the grounds, and the tent is so beautiful. There is a back up plan to get married in the tent if it rained, which we weren't too worried about because the tent was so big and beautiful, it didn't even feel like you were in a tent! All of the tables and chairs for the ceremony and reception were included, so that was a plus. The chairs for the ceremony are the white classic wooden chairs, and for the reception, they were the gold chiavari chairs that were gorgeous!
Photography: Misti Morningstar, Frederick, Maryland
Misti is a gem, and is one of the nicest people I have ever met. Her prices are extremely reasonable, and with our package we got a free engagement session as well. She made the engagement session fun, and exactly what we wanted. She was booked on our wedding day, but had two of her associate photographers shoot our wedding. THEY WERE PHENOMENAL. Getting ready was fun because of all of the pictures we got to take. The photographers really captured every shot/moment that we wanted, and we couldn't have asked for better pictures. Misti is also very quick to reply to text messages, emails, phone calls, anything.
Flowers: Flower Fashions, Frederick, Maryland
I loved my flowers. Very reasonable price. For around 1200, I got my bouquet, 4 bridesmaids bouquets, including MOH, boutonnieres' for the groom, 4 groomsmen, 1 ring bearer, and my grandfather, 4 corsages for mothers and grandmothers, 13 centerpieces, and flowers for the aisle. They were so very nice at the flower shop, and made the flowers exactly how I wanted them. Pictures to follow!
Dress: David's Bridal
Let's face it, David's Bridal is fantastic, that is a fact. Some brides may have better or worse experiences with them, but I loved my dress, and it was the first dress that I put on. I dreamt about my dress after I bought it and couldn't wait to wear it. I also purchased my shoes from them, I bought them white, and had them dyed to match my bridesmaids Malibu Blue. Added color, and fun. Both dress and shoes were so comfortable, and I actually kept my shoes on all night
I also picked my bridesmaids dresses there, and my girls loved them. They were fun, simple, and could be worn again!
Lighting/Ceremony Musician: Washington Celebrations, Serves MD, VA & DC
Very inexpensive. We had a string duo (violin/cellist). They were amazing. I literally had to pick the songs that I wanted for the wedding party, and she just picked crowd favorites for the seating of the guests. They played just for the ceremony, and were so nice. Both came up to us after the ceremony to congratulate us and tell us how beautiful the ceremony was.
The lighting completely made the tent. I wanted a pop of color instead of all white. We had 8 light blue uplights put in the tent. The lights did no look like it "washed" anything out either. Pictures are below, they say it all!
Cake: Sweet and Savory, Frederick, Maryland
I wanted a very simple, yet elegant cake. I was having a lot of trouble finding something at a reasonable price. I found Meghan at Sweet and Savory, and she rents out kitchen space at a local church and makes her cakes there. It was the BEST cake I have ever tasted. We got an almond cake with amaretto cream filling
She was so very responsive, and made the cake exactly how I wanted it. She delivered the cake on the day of and put the cake topper on that I had purchased on Amazon for no charge!
Caterer: Carriage House, Emmitsburg, Maryland
Fantastic, Fantastic, Fantastic!! This was a preferred caterer through Stone Manor, and I can see why. First, Jeanne is GREAT to work with. She replies within an hour of your email. She is there for anything that you need. Prices were excellent, and you really get that bang for your buck with this company. With our package we got three great choices of food, not including the vegetarian meal which did not cost extra, all of our flatware and china for the table, as well as utensils. You also get linens for all of the tables. We had to go to another company to get our alcohol but when I asked Jeanne if it was better to get the mixers from the other company, or from her company, she was completely honest, and said it would be better to get all of the alcohol mixers from the other company as it would be cheaper. The service was also great, anything we wanted, we got, we didn't have to wait for food, and I had a drink in my hand the whole night, before I even asked for a new one. Just great!!
Alcohol: Ye Old Spirits, Frederick, Maryland
Very pleasant people to work with. You first go into the shop, tell him how many guests you are having and if you want a fully stocked bar, half stocked, and he will write you a quote. You can look at the quote and take anything off or add anything you want. We had a full open bar and it was roughly 1400. That may seem like a lot, however, that included many different types of liquor, 3 types of beer, and 2 types of wine. Also, whatever is not opened, the shop will buy it back and deduct it from the total amount. Mine was a bit higher, but I also have guests that can really drink. On the day of the wedding, the shop will deliver the alcohol in coolers, and the caterer will set up the bar. You don't have to do anything!
DJ: TJ- Friend of Groom
He is a DJ part time, and is a good friend of one of the groomsmen. He did an excellent job, and gave us a really good rate. He played cocktail hour music, dinner music, and reception music. TJ really helped me in all of the planning, not just the music. He was very into what we wanted, and always gave us tips and suggestions. His music selection was great! We gave him a to play list, not to play list, and our first dance, and father/daughter-mother/son songs. For the rest, we just told him to keep it fun, and sure enough he did. He was fantastic.
I would HIGHLY recommend any and all of these vendors for your wedding. If you need any of their contact information, email me at katelynmn12@gmail.com and I will be happy to send that to you. You can tell them that I referred you!! On the day of the wedding, I did not even have to lift a finger, every vendor was there on time, doing their thing to set up. Thanks to all of them, I did not have one bad moment at my wedding
Hope this helps and happy planning. Enjoy EVERY minute of it, it will be over before you know it!!
