Hi ladies!
I've finally started writing reviews from my wedding earlier this month. I had a fantastic experience. My vendors were outstanding and I am still getting compliments on them. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about them or about the work they did for the wedding or what I asked of them. This list is going to be long. It might require more than one post.
Reception:
DJ- Curtis & Anna from Curtis Knight Entertainment
Videographer- Alyssa from Curtis Knight Entertainment
H and I met with Curtis and Anna over a year before our wedding date. We had really clicked over email but we wanted to meet with them in person to see if the same would be true. It absolutely was. As they were able to also provide a videographer for the ceremony as well as the reception we were hooked, and we signed on the dotted line. Their online organizer is fantastic and easy to use, they're super responsive if you have any questions or concerns, and they are FUN. They had our crowd up and dancing and laughing all night long. We just got our video yesterday and H and I LOVE it. Curtis was also taking photos, something he *asked us* if he could do and we now have hundreds of wonderful photos. In short, I cannot imagine having worked with anyone else. I feel like I made friends.
Caterer- Lisa Shaw Catering, LLC
H and I have known Lisa for about 5 years now. She's a pro who runs her operation out of her home while also maintaining a full time job as a steward at one of the fancy Harvard clubs. Lisa makes food an art and we knew we could go to her and ask her to make some specialized meals for our menu. She came through with flying colors. Her staff is always top notch and they were in fine form at our reception. The 3 entrees we had were all outstanding, and she helped us to pick wines from our lists that were perfect complements. Even the entrees for the kids were so good the adults were snacking on them. In short, she's a seasoned pro who will keep the kitchen running like a well oiled machine and she's a pleasure to work with. I cannot imagine having gone with anyone else.
Bakery- Lyndell's in Somerville
I know that Konditor Meister and Montilio's are really popular on this board. H and I have been customers of Lyndell's for years because we love their cupcakes. We didn't want to have a cupcake wedding but we did want to have traditional flavors with *REALLY* good buttercream frosting. Once we thought about it we realized that there really wasn't a better choice than Lyndell's. We had a tasting with them in August and the bakery manager, Karen, was an absolute delight. All of the BMs, the MOH, and H and I were there and we had a tremendously good time. The cake choices and fillings are AMAZING and what we ended up with was, hands down, the best cake I've ever had. Karen was also willing to guide us to buy what we needed, not what was the most expensive. We ended up with a two tier and two sheet cakes and they were outstanding, tasty, and gorgeous. We're planning on going back for an anniversary cake next year and party cakes in between. Lyndell's has been in business forever and there's a reason, they do their work incredibly well, they take care of details, and they do things like make sure their delivery people are not only on time, they're early. I can't say enough good things about Lyndell's.
Clothing:
Bridesmaid dresses- Alfred Angelo, Danvers, MA
I had 3 BMs and a MOH. There was a huge disparity in size, height, and shape. After looking around a lot I decided to give Alfred Angelo a try as they have everything in all sizes and pretty much everything in every color. Also, and this is important, they don't charge more for larger sizes, a pet peeve of mine, and they show women of every size, shape and color in their catalogues. We had a so-so experience in out first visit back in March 2010. Out visit in August 2010 was outstanding. All of the girls found something they LOVED and that looked fantastic on them. Our consultant, not the person we worked with in March, was WONDERFUL and super patient. Everyone got what they wanted that day and, in some cases with almost no alterations, everyone looked like a million $ on the day of.
My dress- Running of the Brides, Filene's Basement
As Filene's Basement is going out of business, there's not much to say here. All I'd add is that if there's another one before they go under, go in the afternoon after everything is back up on the racks. That's what I did. I tried on 12 dresses and found The One.
H's tux- Keezer's in Cambridge
If you've never been here you walk in the door and it looks a little intimidating. There are cardboard boxes piled to the ceiling and rack upon rack of clothing. The key is to ask for help and know more or less what you're interested in. The men who work here are incredibly knowlegeable, you just have to be willing to ask. H had purchased a tux before he moved to Boston but the pants (!?) got lost in the move. We sold Keezers the jacket and got H a new tux that actually fit better and also got a white silk bowtie. We were in and out in about 40 minutes and were thrilled. Keezer's also does rentals.
H's tailoring - Sordillo's on Boylston
We've been taking things to Mr. Sordillo for years. He's an outstanding tailor. He's not the least expensive tailor around, but the man knows his craft. He tailored H's tux just so and, WOW, did he do an amazing job. Mr. Sordillo is so dedicated to doing the job right that if he's concerned that he doesn't have a measurement right he'll call you and tell you so and ask you to come by so he can double check, which he did with H's pants. Mr. Sordillo is a total pro and an artist.
Wedding dress tailoring - Chris O'Hare - Quincy, MA
Chris was an absolute DREAM to work with. She worked on my dress and my RD dress. She hemmed my dress, added very specific straps, took in the neckline (which was loaded with beadwork and embroidery) and tweaked the neckline to make it a bit of a sweetheart. She did a tremendous amount of work and her prices are really reasonable. I had three fittings with her starting in August for a November wedding and she was always charming and lovely to work with. I recommend her unreservedly.
Bridal party tuxes- Men's Wearhouse on Boylston, Boston
We signed up for the Men's Wearhouse tux package at a bridal show. The major reason for this was that all of the GMs and the BM were out of state. As in, over 1,000 miles away. Add in that all of the ushers, fathers, etc. were between half an hour outside of Boston and 1,000+ miles away and we knew we'd need a store with a national reach. Men's Wearhouse was able to provide us with exactly the package everyone needed and everyone, including an usher from the middle east, was able to get fitted and pick up everything they needed in plenty of time. In fact, they even gave us an extra day to return everything since we had such a large group of men renting. We had one blip when a GM who was fitted out of state came to pick up in MA and his pants were patently the wrong size (he's a tiny guy). The guy in the Men's Wearhouse in Brighton didn't blink, pulled a pair of pants out of somewhere, and like magic, they worked. The staff called us regularly to keep us up to date on who had come in for their fittings and who hadn't and when my FIL had a stroke and we told them he'd be delayed in getting fitted they not only noted that in their file, they remembered to ask about him and how he was doing the next time they called. All in all, they were great. We were especially impressed with Nicole from the Boylston store.
Photography:
Kate Paradise Photography
H and I have known Kate for a while. We have loved her style, attitude, and panache and her work is great so it was a no-brainer who we'd go with for our wedding. Kate is brilliant when it comes to getting what she wants out of people. She's funny, inspired, and she's great at directing groups of people to stand this way or that to get just the right shot *without* irritating the people she's directing. We're getting the final shots this weekend, but between the prep time, service, and the reception she took well over 1,000 images.
Guest Accommodations:
Holiday Inn Brookline
We checked out the Holiday Inn and another nearby hotel. We needed a place that was close to the church (our venue) and that was pet friendly and handicap accessible. The Holiday Inn won, hands down. The staff was very friendly, their facilities were great, and they were walking distance from the church. We also had brunch there on the morning after the wedding and they were great. The set up was perfect, the food was delicious, and they were super easy to work with. Perhaps my only complaint was that the group sales manager changed 3 times during the course of the year+ we were working with them, but they still managed to keep all of our information in the system correct and updated and they handled everything from our OOT bags to the handicap accommodations we needed for one guest with aplomb.
Rehearsal Dinner:
The Fireplace Restaurant - Washington Square, Brookline, MA
If you've never been to The Fireplace, you're missing out. H and I started looking for a RD location well over a year before our wedding. We needed a very specific place and we knew it was going to be tough to find. It turns out that The Fireplace was it. We needed a place that wasn't too far from the church, our venue, was T accessible, had a parking lot and/or a lot of street parking, was handicap accessible, and had excellent food and wine. Add to that the fact that we couldn't have any "ethnic" foor because H is related to some of the pickiest eaters (adults) I have ever met and that's a really tall order. We stopped in to The Fireplace and told Kevin, the manager what we were looking for and, after confirming that 11/11/11 was open, he invited us to stay for a meal. We were, quite literally, blown away. We have since become regulars. The RD was outstanding. We had about 60 people with a menu we worked with Kevin, the manager, and Jim, the owner/head chef, to pick out. We had most of the restaurant to ourselves and we were curtained off so we had privacy. The staff was, and always is, outstanding. It was absolutely the perfect night. I cannot recommend them enough.
Flowers:
Ceremony, Bouquets, Bouts, etc.- Halani Moss
Reception, tables, hall decoration, etc.- Scott Klingeman
The flowers were outstanding. Halani is more or less retired as she's moved on to other things, but I have known her for a while and she still does flowers for her friends. She did amazing work for us. The bouts and corsages, especially, were works of art. My bouquet was also really, really lovely. Halani also handled the flowers for the RD and worked beautifully with the space and the folks at The Fireplace.
Scott handled the design and execution of the reception space based on my ideas. All of this was onsite at the church. He took several hundred white roses ordered from Costco and turned them into amazing centerpieces and decorations.
Makeup and Hair:
Karyn McHale, Peabody, MA
Karyn has been the longtime hairstylist for a friend of mine. I had been looking into various hair/makeup outfits to come to the church on the day of to do hair and makeup for me, my MOH, 3 BMs, and 2 moms and the cost all the way around, including travel, was getting really high. I wasn't sure what I was going to do until my friend introduced me to Karyn. Not only are her prices good, she's in Peabody, she's SUPER flexible, and she's SO easy to work with. She's got a portfolio on Facebook and will show it to anyone who asks, her associate, Jackie who comes alog for big parties is also super fun, and she'll work with you to get exactly what you're comfortable and happy with. I should add here that I had a couple of women that never wear ANY makeup and had no idea how to have someone else put on their makeup and I had my own hair to deal with - stick straight and usually completely uncooperative. Karyn and Jackie did an outstanding job. Everyone looked AMAZING but still looked like themselves, the makeup lasted all night, and I think I had one curl come loose after a whole night of dancing. Not bad for hair that usually refuses to curl. I recommend them without hesitation. kperry1079 @ yahoo.com
There's more to write but my hands are getting tired!