Ceremony and Reception Venue and Caterer - Oxmoor Country Club - C-
Honestly, this would have been a lot higher if it wasn't for the
horrible service that we received the day of the wedding. We went to a
wedding show that was hosted at this country club, and met with the
wedding coordinator of the club. She told us about the amazing package
there: $6,999 that included the DJ, food, ceremony and reception space,
tables, chairs, linens, servers, and service for 100 people. Everything
sounded great and I was so excited to just be able to coordinate
everything in one place. The coordinator, Laura Ridge, was amazing when
it came to communicating, helping me solve problems, and answering
questions BEFORE the wedding. The day of the rehearsal she was there and
helped to coordinate the ceremony plan. However, when it came for the
wedding day, I saw her ONCE the entire day. She helped coordinate the
ceremony music and everyone walking down the aisle and that was the only
time I saw her. There wasn't a single time that she approached my
husband or me to check on how things were doing or if we needed
anything. This was extremely frustrating seeing as she was so involved
in most of the planning process and then just disappeared on our wedding
day. Also, my aunt was the one that made our cake and favors. She also
made chocolate covered strawberries to go around the groom's cake.
Apparently, I had misunderstood something because when my aunt came in
with the strawberries, Laura snapped at her "I TOLD her she couldn't
bring those! I already let her have the cake pops!" She snapped at my
aunt and was extremely rude to her when she came in. Instead of politely
trying to compromise or talk about having a charge to have them at a
venue, she made my aunt feel really uncomfortable and insulted. I saw my
aunt once the entire day, and she left before the ceremony even started
because of the way Laura treated her.
Our count for the
wedding had been 113, and any people you add on after the 100 for the
package, are $30 per person. The day of the rehearsal, we had Laura go
ahead and run our card for the extra people. We did a first look at our
wedding, so we only had family photos to do after the ceremony and that
didn't take very long at all. Right after, we went up to be introduced
and to eat. The tables were released by songs that were on cards on
their tables. The bridal party went through first, and then everyone
else as usual. After my new husband and I ate, we went around to talk to
our guests. Our plan was to go up again to try the entree we didn't get
the first time, and also to get salads. However, after the last table
got up to get food and went through the buffet line, the servers put
away all of the food completely. Our guests didn't even get a chance to
go up for second helpings. So we spent all this money, expecting our
guests to get plenty of food, and the food was only out for MAYBE an
hour. Our wedding was on Saturday, so I emailed Laura on Monday, to tell
her about this because we were both very upset we spent so much money
on a service that wasn't provided very well. She did some "research" on
the situation and apparently all the servers said they left it out for
plenty of time for the guest to get seconds. Laura's brother is the DJ
and lied and said that he made an announcement that the buffet was going
to be closed so that guests could go up for more food, but that NEVER
happened. The whole conversation was really frustrating, especially when
a large group of servers told us before they left that they had never
done this before and this was their first time. I wouldn't have had a
problem with this if Laura had been around to help guide so many new
people at least through dinner, but she was nowhere to be found. Besides
the buffet problem, the staff that night was great. They were quick to
respond to any problems and helpful whenever they were asked to do
something. In the end I really just don't feel the service that we paid
for, as far as the food and coordinator go, was given in the way it
should have been that day. My husband and I are extremely disappointed
by this and were really frustrated with the conversation we had with
Laura afterwards and the lies she kept telling and all the ways she
tried to get out of the problems she caused. I don't suggest this venue
to anyone because it caused more stress than help the day of the
wedding.
DJ - Ridge Rock Entertainment - A-
Our DJs for
the night were Teague Ridge and Matt McCreary. The minus mostly has to
do with the trouble that was caused by Teague with the lie he told about
an announcement he said he made so that guests could go get food before
it was put away. There were also problems when he was announcing the
wedding party and mixed up 2 of the names. There were also many
complaints from our older guests, which made up a good amount of the
guests there, about how loud the music was in the reception hall. I feel
like they did a really good job for the most part and would suggest
them to other brides. Most of the problems were minor. They also had a
photobooth that came with their service, which my guests LOVED. SO glad
we ended up having a photobooth there!
Florist - Schmitt's Florist - A++
Russ Schmitt was the main florist I worked with and he was AMAZING!!! I
loved how well he worked with and listened to me. Unlike some of the
other florist I tried working with, he didn't try to sell me a bunch of
add-ons or useless details that I didn't want or need. I told him my
budget and that I wanted to spend as little as possible on the flowers. I
didn't need any specific flowers, and I wasn't picky about what kind, I
just needed the cheapest option possible. I showed him pictures and he
came up with a price for me and we made payments on it. He was extremely
friendly through the entire process and was so willing to work with me
on all the details. He even let me come see them the day before the
wedding to make sure they all looked great, and even though I had some
changes to make on the flowers, he was willing to make them quickly and
easily for me. The flowers turned out absolutely beautiful and they
smelled enchanting! I highly recommend this vendor to any bride!
Photography - Firm Anchor Photography - A+++
Our photographers were BEYOND amazing!!! We did our engagement photos
with them for our save-the-dates and they both made us feel so relaxed
and at ease. Ben and Ashley have such amazing personalities and always
give you new reasons to smile. They know how to make you laugh and to
make you feel comfortable and capture it all perfectly. I have only seen
3 wedding pictures so far, but the ones I have seen are beautiful and I
can't wait to see the rest! Even my husband, who wasn't too crazy about
the photography in the first place, said that it was one of his
favorite parts of our wedding day and he is really looking forward to
seeing them all. Those are the kind of photographers that Ashley and Ben
are, they make you feel at ease and very comfortable. They are also extremely reasonable on their pricing and I plan to use them for future photography opportunities in our lives.
Cake - Jenny Ramsey - A+++
My great aunt has her own cake business and made my wedding cake for
me. It was absolutely beautiful and exactly what I wanted! She makes her
own butter cream icing and it is DELICIOUS! The cake she makes is
extremely soft, moist, and very tasty. She also made our wedding favors
which were groom and bride cake pops in a variety of flavors for the
guests. Our guests loved them so much and they were so good! I was so
glad she got to make our wedding cake and everything turned out great.
She has very reasonable prices and is great to work with for any wedding!
Wedding dress - Etsy shop wonderxue - A+++
They custom made my wedding dress and did an incredible job! All I had
to do was send a picture of the dress I wanted and they were able to
make it with all the special details. I LOVED my dress and all my guests
told me how beautiful it was. So happy I went through them and took the
risk! I paid $500 for the dress and it is GORGEOUS! I can get you in
contact with them if you need, because they no longer have an etsy shop.
Alterations - Dolly's Designs - A+++
Dolly's Designs is a very small alterations shop right near my house.
She only charged $20 for the alterations on my wedding dress and did an
amazing job. She is a very sweet, older woman who did an amazing job on
my dress. So happy we found her!