Back from honeymooning...here are my vendor reviews.
Ceremony - Maple Street Chapel, Lombard - A
The chapel is beautiful! Totally worth the money for the venue. It made a gorgeous backdrop for photos. Unfortunately we only had 2 hours of time on the day of the wedding. The parking lot is also a bit confusing for guests.
Reception - Abbington Distinctive Banquets, Glen Ellyn - A+++
I can't say enough wonderful things about Abbington. The food was FANTATIC! All of our guests raved (and I'm still getting emails about the food). The space was beautiful, it's elegantly decorated. The staff listened to all of our requests. Chris our room captain is a rock star. If you are planning your wedding with Abbington, request him! He works hard and deserves the captain title!!!
Cake - La Petite Sweet, Westmont - A+
Diane and her team are the new cake baker for Abbington. We went with what was in our package, which was more than sufficient! I went with a vision in my head and it was made perfectly into cake. There was a nice thick layer of buttercream frosting on the cake (which is obviously the best part!!!) You get a lot of options when choosing your cake and it's amazing! You have to taste it for yourself. Words can't describe. It has real flavor, not like some cardboard wedding cakes!!
Flowers - Shamrock Gardens, Lombard - B
Bride and bridesmaid flowers were beautiful and well done. The groomsmen and other family flowers had a little issue. Things weren't labeled well on delivery and with the day of the wedding chaos, things got a little stressful. The flowers on the cake were not what we had asked for, but it did the job. (The flowers on the cake were our only real disappointment of the day).
DJ - Party Train (John LeRose) - A-
John is great! He keeps the party going. He listened to our requests for must play songs and do not play songs. A few songs I requested for must play got played back to back at the end of the night, but at least they got in!
Photography - George Street - A-
Janet is great! She was on time, she was fun, she has a good eye for detail, and she's outgoing. She was fun to talk to when we had down time. George Street even sent us an extra photographer who is in training to take some additional photos during the ceremony and afterwards. I can't wait to see our actual photos. But if they turn out anything like our engagement photos, they will be amazing. Communication the week of the wedding was fantastic!
Hair & Makeup - Total Image Bridal, Lombard - A-
The girls I worked with (Michelle and Melissa) were awesome. They created my vision perfectly. My 3 girls that had hair and makeup done were also happy. Some of the makeup was a little heavy, but things still went well. Communication the week of the wedding was iffy (hence the A- instead of A+). I was very happy with how things turned out. My hair and makeup made it all the way to Jamaica the next morning on the plane. The ladies were on time and were respectful of our house as we were getting ready.
Travel agent - Island Getaways, Brookfield, WI - C
Nancy is very enthusiastic and very passionate about a select few resorts. We went on her suggestion of Couples Swept Away in Negril Jamaica. Unfortunately it was not as we had expected and when she suggested we "email her with any questions or problems" while on the trip and did so, we received no response. Kind of a waste of our money...we would have had more fun elsewhere had we not been talked into that resort.