Officiant: I cannot say enough good things about Susie Joyce from Beyond Illusion Wedding Officiants. My husband and I wanted a non-secular wedding and we wanted it to be outdoors. Susie was amazing. She sat down with us, and really helped us work through what we wanted and didn't want. She kept in contact with me, but never harrassed me to decide if I wasn't ready to decide. She stood up for me, when some in my family fought to do things differently than I wanted. She was a calming presence and did a fabulous job officiating. She also does tarot readings, and I had her do readings for my bachelorette party. It was a blast, and brought us even closer together before the wedding. She is now a true friend. How many people can say that about their officiant??? A++++
Flowers: Fleur De Lys Concepts
Brandie Humphrey is amazing to work with. What's funny is, we never met or even spoke on the phone. Just over email. I'm pretty laid back, and was glad that everything we did was written down. I had pretty simple wishes. Gerbera daisy bouquets with nothing else added besides the stem wrapping. Single gerbera daisies for the mothers/grandmothers. and lots of petals for my adorable flowergirls. She absolutely delivered. They were all perfect. She also threw in a free tossing boquet that was just as beautiful as all the others. We had 2 ice cream buckets full of petals for my flowergirls. They were so happy! My girls all loved their bouquets, and they lasted for weeks. She also made me some wildflower centerpieces (a dozen of them) that she put in mason jars that I supplied. She even added ribbon to them since I didn't have time. They were so beautiful, I gave them away days after the wedding to coworkers and friends and they lasted another week or so. Brandie delivered the flowers, exactly as I wanted them, to my parents house, exactly when she said she would. And her prices were absolutely reasonable. WOW. A ++
Flowergirl dresses: Purchased from Etsy seller Mapletree2000
http://www.etsy.com/shop/mapletree2000She was great to work with, she totally cut me a good deal, made and shipped my dresses super quick. And my flower girls (all 3) and my (10 yr old) maid of honor loved their dresses. A+
Jewelry: Purchased from Etsy seller Lolas Jewelry
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lolasJewelryLove my jewelry. It's beautiful. It was expensive, but I'm sure not as much as some people spend. And I can wear my pieces again and again. She was easy to work with and was a speedy shipper. A+
Dress and veil: Purchased from Nebraska Bridal Outlet in Wahoo, NE.
I visited there twice before I purchased my dress. They were very helpful. Their setup and organization was way easier than the outlet shop in Lincoln. And the staff was above and beyond more friendly than most of the other shops in the Lincoln area. I didn't ask a whole lot out of them - bought my dress off the rack for $300. And I loved it. Grade: A
Alterations: Kimberly Bock in Lincoln, NE
She used to do alterations for J'Maries (now Alfred Angelo) in Lincoln.
She was great. We did all alterations out of her home. It may have been stressful for some - I got walked in on by a small boy while changing, she had dogs in the house and family was always around. But for me, it was a blast. She did great work, she was fast, and super easy to get along with. She got what I wanted, even though I had no clue how to explain it. She cut off the entire train of my dress for me, and added some flowy pieces to the back of my dress (see, still don't know how to explain it). But it fit like a glove, was the right length, and I loved it. A++
Hair: Ciara Lace at Tangerine (Lincoln, NE)
Ciara is absolutely awesome. She is my regular hair stylist, and she knew exactly what I wanted. She also did hair for my 3 flowergirls, 2 of my bridesmaids, and my maid of honor. She gave me a great price. We even got to have wine in the salon (at 9 am, classy I know). Wish my curls would have stayed a little better, but that's a person with fine, straight hair, with an afternoon wedding in July for ya. But all my pins stayed in, and I got tons of complements. A+++
Food: Parkers Smokehouse
Delivered awesome meat and sides for us at our reception. It tasted great, they delivered tons of BBQ sauce, and it was on time. They were very easy to work with A+
Drinks: Margarita Man
Yum. At first the machine wouldn't work when the wedding started. That was a big issue. We got it going though, and it worked like a champ for the whole next day too (4th of July). They dropped it off and picked it up right when they said they would. They were very easy to work with. But written instructions would have helped, since the person there for drop off, was not the one running it. B
Venue: The Columns at Pioneers Park (Lincoln, NE)
Loved my venue. Had a perfect day. The staff at the Parks dept were very easy to work with: A.
Chair/Table Rentals: Rented about 150 chairs from AAA Rentals in Lincoln. We did pick up and drop off. That's not for everyone, it was hard work and my whole family pitched in. But it saved us money. The chairs were clean, and they were packed and easy to haul. They were easy to work with, and we got the chairs all weekend with no extra charge (holiday weekend). A
Golf Cart Rentals: from Nebraska Golf & Turf
They were super easy to work with. We rented 2 and got them from Friday to Tuesday, with only a 1 day rental charge. It was awesome. They were not very expensive either. A
Music: Tijuana Gigolos
Wow. They were awesome. My hubby and I even got up and performed with them (I sang, he played drums) for a couple songs. They were a blast. A+++
Makeup: This will be my one bad review. Megan from Ageless Skin Spa was supposed to do my makeup, along with pre-wedding facials. She flaked. Stopped returning texts/calls. I gave up on her days before the wedding and found a friend who was happy to do my makeup, and another friend to do a last minute facial. F
Massage/Facial: Amanda at Atlantis Salon is amazing. she did my last minute facial, and took great care to not overdo it since it was so close to my wedding. She's amazing. She's my regular masseuse and she's great. I highly recommend her. A+++
Photography: Adrienne Baisch, owner of Black Pine Photography (Hailey, ID)
This won't help a lot of Nebraska people. But she was amazing. Got so many great shots and was super easy to work with. She even let me chase geese around in the park, slide down slides with my BM's, and got me and my new Hubby on our motorcycle. She was great. A++++
(PS, have her as your photographer here, and I'll be happy because she's my friend and I don't see her near enough).
Sorry I can't help with tux rentals. I bought my GM/and Hubby's suits from Kohl's. Got a wicked deal (on sale, plus 30% off, and kohls cash). And they got to keep their suits. Bought my BM dresses from Victoria's Secret. They loved them. I didn't have cake, I had cupcakes, made by my cousin who did an amazing job. We had tons and everyone loved them. Who can say, best cousin ever????