Regale (venue) – A++… Tony is awesome, and his wife, Linda, was great as a day-of coordinator. Regale was completely our style, and we loved it from the moment we walked in. Simple, modern, like a fresh slate. We had big issues with their preferred caterer (discussed far below), and I was really stressed out about it. About 6 months before the wedding, we met with Tony to make our next payment and explained to him our concerns and frustrations. He never once questioned us, and simply said that he would fix it (by sending us to another caterer he had worked with). It was such a relief for me, as I am typically very non-confrontational and really was not interested in dealing with that caterer anymore. Tony and Linda were so friendly and really seemed excited for our wedding every time we met with them. I couldn’t recommend them more! http://www.regaleaz.com/
Kim Cummings (caterer) – A ++++++… Kim was a godsend! He is the nicest, sweetest person that I think we’ve ever met. His food is delicious, and we were impressed from the beginning (including his picnic tasting at a local park). He knew that we had issues with the previous caterer, and he went above and beyond to make sure that every detail associated with the food/cake was taken care of. His cake was AMAZING! They ended up giving us the top tier (even though we had previously requested that they serve it), but my DH ate that cake everyday for a week (sometimes twice a day!), and still talks about it nearly a month later! 602-493-0000; kim.cummings@cox.net.
David Orr (photography) – A ++… We loved David (and his wife Amanda!) and his laid back nature. We used him for our engagement pics and were thrilled with the session and then the pics that came back. The day of the wedding, he was happy to attempt unique shots that we had requested. He and Chad (videographer) worked great together, and there never seemed to be any stepping on toes. We’ve seen the photog preview for our wedding so far and love what we’ve seen. We can’t wait to see the final product. I’ll be sure to post the link on here for anyone who’s interested when they’re ready! http://www.davidorrphotography.com/
Chad Koerber/AZ Wedding Guys (videographer) – A +++… Chad is an amazing videographer and has such a great eye for what he does. I love his style, and like I said, he got along great with our photog and our dj. He got our highlight video back to us within 2 weeks of the wedding, and we actually watched it for the first time on our honeymoon. I still cry every time I watch it… He did such an amazing job capturing the emotions that we were feeling that day, and it’s not like a “typical” wedding video (exactly what we were looking for). Here is the link to our video: http://vimeo.com/42292193. Here’s his website: http://www.azweddingguys.com/
Mark Sanchez/PME (d.j.) – A+ … Mark was great. He was super professional and friendly. He had lots of great ideas of how to spice up our reception and was very helpful with establishing the flow of the evening. He was happy and willing to share his equipment with our musician (who came into town a couple hours before the wedding from California). Mark kept the party moving and played exactly the type of music we had requested (and avoided the cheesy wedding reception music that was on our do not play list). http://www.professionalmobileent.com/
Reverend Giovanni (officiant) – A… So this was actually the only officiant we met with. At our first meeting, he laid out his fees and explained how he lets couples basically pick and choose what they want and don’t want in their ceremony. We were sold. He was pretty quick to respond to emails, and we were thrilled with being able to pick every aspect of our ceremony (down to what he wore). We had a major hiccup the day of the ceremony (our fault not his), but he helped us work through things and decreased my major anxiety. http://www.revgiovanni.com/RevGio/Welcome.html
Amanda Johnson/Butterfly Petals (florist) – A+ … Amanda was great to work with (although she lives so far! J) She understood our vision for our wedding and came back with gorgeous inspiration pictures and day-of creations. I loved my bouquet the most of all of her creations for our wedding day. The centerpieces were simple but beautiful. We were bummed that the carved, apple tea light holders ended up being a fire hazard (but obviously not her fault!). She’s great with responding to emails and my multiple requests to revise our order. http://www.facebook.com/butterflypetalsaz
Rachel Bush (make-up) – A + … Rachel did a beautiful job for my practice session (the same night as my bachelorette party) and my day-of wedding make-up. I think that wedding make-up is so darn expensive, so after I saw a couple of non-prof wedding pics, I was really regretting my decision to spend so much on make-up. Then… I saw the photog’s preview and our highlight video and am so, so glad that I had Rachel do my make-up. It looked GORGEOUS! She was so friendly and also very quick to respond to emails. Definitely worth every penny! http://rachelbush.com/
Sandra Denley (alterations) – A-… Let me say that Sandra is a super sweet woman and VERY good at her job. My dress turned out perfectly and her prices are more than reasonable for wedding alterations. My biggest issue was the fact that I think she gets very busy and cuts things a little close (as far as time). I was very stressed out about the fact that my fitting (after some major alterations) was less than a week before my wedding. Everything ended up turning out beautifully, but it was added stress I could have done without. I really just recommend fudging the date you want it done by (particularly if you’re having major alterations), if you’re the type to be anxious about something like that. That being said, I have no doubt in my mind that if I was dissatisfied that she would have worked her fingers to the bone to give me the dress I wanted in time for my wedding. http://www.alterationsetc.net/
Jalapeno Inferno (rehearsal dinner site) – A+++++… We loved this restaurant from the first time we went for dinner after a meeting at Regale. The décor is great, and the staff is awesome. They made the reservation process very easy and were very clear about their menu and plans for the evening. Jordan Craig is the party coordinator person, and she was very quick to respond to emails and phone calls. The food was amazing and the wait staff on the day of were very quick and happy to help in any way that they could. I would definitely recommend them for a rehearsal dinner or even just for a night out in North Scottsdale. Can’t wait to go back again (if only it were 20 miles closer to home!). http://jalapenoinferno.com/
And then the worst for last (I apologize that this is so long!)…
Put A Fork In It (caterer/bar service) – D-…. We were dissatisfied very early on with this company. Let me start by saying I am vegetarian, and I made that very clear in every interaction with Alison. Our first meeting with Alison wasn’t perfect, but it seemed good enough. She didn’t serve the two vegetarian appetizers we had requested, and then when she brought out the main dishes we requested, the side dishes were swimming in animal fat/juices. Once she noticed I wasn’t touching anything, she did go back to the kitchen to get new servings of the side dishes. DH thought the food was greasy and not very appealing, but we knew they were the preferred caterer and just accepted it as typical wedding food. Whatever, NBD. We talked about possible vegetarian entrée options, and the plan was for me to return a different day to try a couple of things.
The day I showed up for the “vegetarian tasting”, a very flustered Alison greeted me, and I had a sneaking suspicion that something was off. She went to the kitchen and returned a few minutes later to tell me that she had inadvertently asked the kitchen to make the items we tasted the first time we were there. Ummm, ok… As it turns out, they didn’t even have the ingredients for the vegetarian entrees I wanted to taste and had to go across the street to the grocery store! 20 minutes later, I tasted the food, and then was on my way… very unhappy.
By now, I had absolutely no faith in this woman or her company, but I was willing to give her one more try. We had previously requested to go to the showroom where they rent linens from because my DH had wanted to see how things would look together, in person. I sent a very specific list of what we wanted to see, feel, etc. We showed up, and they had virtually NOTHING I had requested to see. Alison had a week to figure this out, and at the very least could have communicated to me if the items I wanted to see were not available. I was disgusted and completely frustrated. My DH didn’t really know why we had driven all the way to South Phoenix to see two tablecloths, and why I was being “so quiet”. Alison implied a couple of times that she didn’t understand why we wanted to see the linens in person either. I was seething… The moment, we got in the car, I basically exploded and told my DH that I could not handle another meeting with her. Every single time it ended with me being more and more frustrated and stressed out. I had no trust in her or Put A Fork In It to do even a mediocre job at our wedding.
We discussed our issues with Tony who sent us Kim’s way. Tony did encourage us to stay with Put A Fork In It for bartending services, so we did (how can you possibly screw that up, right?). The one bartender we had (according to guests) did well enough to keep the lines to a minimum (she was only serving beer, wine, and soda, so I would hope so), but towards the end of the night I went to the bar for a drink for the first time and noticed an freaking tip jar! SERIOUSLY?! We had to pay gratuity of 18% up front, and you have the gall to put out a tip jar to imply that my guests should tip you for pouring a glass of wine? It was really just one more thing from this company that further showed me that I could not possibly recommend them to anyone for anything. Stay far, far away.
If you have any questions about any of the vendors we used, just let me know! Other vendors we used that I didn't include here but am happy to answer questions about include: Paperandmore.com, Sukie's Bridal and Tux Shop, Marie'e Bridal, Lillian Lottie, Oriental Trading Company, Zazzle.com, SpringHill Suites (N. Scottsdale), Jojo Hahn (musician in San Diego), JVLjewelry.com, Zales, Linentablecloth.com, and WeddingsparklersUSA.com.
Good luck, and happy planning Knotties!