Our wedding was Sept 18th and here are my reviews:
Jax Cafe- ceremony & dinner venue: we had a small 30 person wedding so we got married in the courtyard/center garden at Jax and then had cocktail hour out there and dinner inside in the University room. Everything was great. Staff was attentive, had my cake and flowers put together (from 2 different vendors) for me when I arrived. Our set menu was great- steak, prime rib, chicken & fish options- and I highly recommend the shrimp cocktail appetizer. It's pricey but they are seriously huge shrimp! My fav part was the beauty of the venue. Timeless wood paneling walls, rich colors, old fashioned photo booth in lobby and ivy brick wall outside for photos etc. We didn't have any centerpieces other than the candles they provided and we used their custom matchbooks as our favors.
Smart & Chic- bridal hair and makeup: LOVED CATHI! I decided about 2 weeks before my wedding to get my stuff professionally done. They were able to fit me (and my 1 MOH) in on very short notice and without a trial run Cathi got everything right. She was on time, fun, knowledgeable and finished early. Very much worth the cost. I did the airbrush make up and fake eye lashes too and I felt like a million bucks- no cakey feeling.
Christine's Floral Touch- flowers: I can't say enough good things abut Christine. My flowers were gorgeous, her prices were very competitive and she ended up delivering everything for free because I was originally going to pick up from her location on the way to my wedding and she moved.
http://www.christinesfloraltouch.com/
Sweet Treats by Jeff- wedding cake: I had at least 3 people (at a 30 person wedding) tell me it was the best cake they had ever eaten. His stuff is SO good and only $3 per slice with a flat $20 delivery fee. The cake looked great and melted in your mouth!
http://sweettreatsbyjeff.com/
Wedding Day Diamonds- my wedding band: I am sort of obsessed with my wedding band, and wedding day was very helpful. Their prices are not the most competitive, and they dont negotiate on price, but I didnt find anything like my ring (that fit together well w/ my ering) so I was happy.
Mens Warehouse- tuxes: quick, professional, guys looked awesome. Pretty straight forward. They were even able to waive our rush fee with BM ordered his tux super late.
David's Bridal- MOH dress: I LOVED my bfs dress but Davids Bridals didnt wow me. The MG sales ladies were kind of snotty, seemed mad when we showed up and I already had a wedding dress (not from them) and their prices- for what you actually get- are kind of high. My MOHs cocktail type dress was $99 and that was only after 2 different trips and finally looking through the racks ourselves because the stuff they were showing us was not cutting it.
Erin Johnson Photography: Paige shot our wedding and I haven't received our final photos yet but the preview ones have blown me away! She was fun, personable, seemed to honestly know the ins and outs of true photography- like capturing light and movement etc- and was overall just great. Erin Johnson herself, the owner, seems a bit aloof. She lost the first signed contract I sent back and doesn't reply to emails or calls fast at all- but I picked Paige based on her work on their website and I'm very pleased. They were also able to make us an ala carte 3 hour package since we didn't need 2 photographers or hours of shooting.
http://erinjohnsonphoto.com/
http://www.erinjohnsonphotoblog.com/
Vista Print- wedding invites: We got the super simple black & white invites for like $1 per invite and I loved them. Simple, timeless and best of all, cheap!
Calligraphy with Style- invite addresses and place cards: Renee lives in the St Cloud area so I mailed her all my stuff and got everything back SO quckly. Her writing is pure art.
http://calligraphywithstyle.com/
Ebay- wedding dress, unity candle: Yup, you read correct, I got my dress from ebay. Brand new, tags still on dress that was originally $1k I got for $199 :-) It fit perfectly (after I lost some weight) and was tea length so it showed off my red shoes from Zapppos.com
