Iowa-Quad Cities

Vendor Reviews - Venue, Photographer, Videographer, Hotel, Rehearsal Dinner, Transportation

Venue - Tanglewood Hills Chapel and Pavilion - A+
Website: http://tanglewoodhillsqc.com/index.html

I booked this place about 10 months before my wedding.  Over the course of those 10 months, I e-mailed back and forth with the owner, Juli, at least 200 times (no exaggeration here!!!).  She was always patient with my unceasing emalis, happy to answers questions, and prompt with responses.  Even better, her responses were almost always "Yes, we can!" When she did have to say no, she explained why it wouldn't work and offered alternatives.  She was just absolutely fabulous to work with!  She allowed us in to decorate the day before, which eliminated a HUGE source of stress for me.  Everything worked perfectly and Juli made sure everything ran smoothly the day of.  She even let us come back on MONDAY to pick up anything we didn't take with us the night of the wedding, so we didn't have to stress about cleaning up that night.  So incredible accommodating and I loved having my wedding here.  The grounds are beautiful and well maintained too.

Photographer - Wiz of Oz Photography - A+ (so far!!! waiting on our full set of pictures which will be available in 4-5 weeks)
Website: http://www.wizofozphotography.com/

Teresa Ousley has been absolutely amazing to work with.  She did a phenomenal job on our engagement pictures and helped my fiance loosen up.  I strongly suggest having her do your e-pics if she's doing your wedding.  It helped us to get to know her and get used to her style.  Everything felt SO natural on our wedding day.  She went above and beyond and I was always amazing by her creative spirit.  It was 98 degrees on our wedding day and so she constantly made sure my wedding party was comfortable and taken care of, but kept on even with the heat to get the amazing pictures she did.  Her backup photorapher, Shannon Colgan, was also awesome!  I loved working with her and having her catch the details.  It was so nice. By MIDNIGHT on my wedding night (when she left at 10:30), she had up a two sneak peaks.  By today (Monday morning), she has up even more.  She is amazing and timely and I loved working with her.  I will update this more when I have my finished product too.  But here are a few examples of her work:

  


 

Videographer - Charletography - A (for now, waiting on my final product, wil update!)
Website: http://www.charletography.com/

Darrin of Charletography has been great to work with along the way.  He was affordably priced and was always willing to answer questions along the way.  He was super easy to work with on my wedding day and helped me to relax and have fun.  After a while, you forgot he was even there and it was just so natural. His assistant was amazing too.

I will be getting a highlight reel posted soon and my full disc in a few weeks from Darrin. I'll let you know more of what I think when I see the finished product!

Hotel - Home Ridge Inn - A
Website: http://www.homeridgehotel.com/

Working with Home Ridge Inn was a very pleasant experience.  I worked with Linda Squires and Shannon LaPay to organize my hotel block, my rehearsal dinner, and my gift opening brunch.  Everything went quite smoothly.  They were so accommodating and even adjusted their typical breakfast schedule on Sunday morning to allow my guests time to eat during my brunch.  They did everything in their power to accommodate me and plan ahead.  Everything was set up and organized perfectly.  They offered a complimentary shuttle to me and my guests back and forth to Tanglewood Hills and it worked quite well for the most part.  I did have A LOT of guests staying there and for the shuttle, it was a lot to get everyone there, 12 people at time, in the hour before the wedding.  If I had to do it over, I would probably have hired my own shuttle service, at least on the way TO the wedding and maybe used Home Ridge Inn's on the way back? They did everything they could, but they only have one van.  Overall, such a great experience working with them.. they always did everything they could to make my day easy and stress free.

Rehearsal Dinner - Bennigan's at Home Ridge Inn - B

The rehearsal dinner was very nice.  We gave our guests a limited menu ahead of time, they placed their orders weeks in advance, and I gave these orders to Bennigan's at the time they asked for them.  We set an arrival time and a dinner serving time well in advance.  My only complaint is that the service started out quite slow.  It took forever to get drinks (even water!) in everyone's hands.  If I had to do it again, I would specify water on the table prior to arrival.  Then, our dinners were served about 30 minutes later than the agreed upon time.  This was a little frustrating, but we got it done.  None of the guests at the rehearsal had a CLUE that dinner was late, just me, but we covered it by giving our WP gifts prior to dinner instead of after as we had originally planned.  The dinner was delicious and well-executed when it did come out.  Everyone loved it!

Transportation - Quad City Trolley - C+
Website: http://www.quadcitytrolley.com/

Our party bus arrived 30 minutes earlier than initially expected, which was nice because it was there when we needed it and it took some of the pressure off.  However, the driver was BRAND NEW and once our cooler of drinks and three of my WP people got on, he closed the doors and could not figure out how to open them.  It was a stressful 10 minutes while he called his boss and part of my wedding party was locked ON THE BUS with drinks, and everyone else was locked OUT with no drinks in 98 degree temperatures.  My WP is amazing and everyone stayed in good spirits, but wow, that was a bit of a hiccup on my day!  Once he got that sorted out, we had a blast. The driver was friendly and went wherever my photographer told him to.  The doors did get "stuck" a few more times, but never again did it take a prolonged period of time to get them open.  I think Quad City Trolley needs to have a bit better maintenance on their buses!  But, it got the job done and my friends had SO MUCH FUN, so that's really all that matters. :)


Other Reviews
My baker and DJ were friends of mine, but they also did amazing.




Re: Vendor Reviews - Venue, Photographer, Videographer, Hotel, Rehearsal Dinner, Transportation

  • I'm Facebook friends with Darrin and saw he posted a hightlight clip and recognized you from the pics you just posted.  Very cute video - you looked so happy - congrats!
    February Siggy Challenge - Bridesmaid Dresses - April 2013 Board

    No bridesmaids, just my flower girl

    image
  • So totally awesome.  I've received both products from Darrin and they are awesome.  If you want a sample of Darrin's work, here's my clip:

    https://vimeo.com/45145896
  • I was considering hiring Charlet Cinema and your review sold it for me!

    Wedding Countdown Ticker image

    Training to be the next companion.

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