Well my day has come and gone and I realized I haven't posted my reviews! So here goes!
Ceremony Site: The Lightner Courtyard (through the Wedding Authority)-- Although we did not want to go through the Wedding Authority, they have pretty much the monopoly on this space. It was definitely kind of expensive for a ceremony site, but in the end it seems like it was well worth it. I live in St. Augustine which was great because sometimes these ladies were hard to get ahold of (apparently if you use them to coordinate your reception etc its easier to get ahold of them, but we didn't do that). The day of the speakers went out, so we weren't going to have music (which was in our contract) so they found a violinist from an earlier ceremony (its a popular place to get married) and got him to stay to do ours, gratis! It was an amazing special treat and there is no way we could've afforded him if it wasn't for the circumstances. It was wasn't too hot in the heat of July and from the pictures I have seen it looked beautiful. They changed our day of coordinator the day before and never told us which was annoying because we had to repeat all our special directions, but Reverend Bill was great and cheerful. B+
Reception Site and Food: A1A's Bayview Room-- WOWWWWW amazing to work with. They have tastings around once a month and we went to like every one being that we were from in town and then when my mom couldn't make the tasting, Beth (their coordinator) set up a special tasting just for us two. Beth was amazing at responding to emails, giving advice, everything! And everything was so reasonably priced. We ended up adding on the full liquor bar because we came in UNDER budget on food and we were still UNDER. The food was delicious and the signature and local beers were such a success! Two small complaints were that Beth had to leave because of family emergency and I don't think anyone was really ready to fill in her shoes (we were supposed to have a champagne toast and only myself and my groom got a glass) andddd we had a waitress that was taking cards off the envelops to put into the card basket that kinds messed up our thank you lists (we didn't know whose gift was from who, but we got it figured out). Even with that being said: A
Cake: Sweet Weddings -- The cake was delicious and gorgeous! I only got the one bite when my groom and I cut the cake, but it was fabulous! Then I tried some more a week and a half later and the flavor was still great. HUGE portions could've fed an army with that cake. Semi expensive though. B+
Photographer: IRROK Photography-- Loved Ron and Odete so much! Obsessed with our engagement pictures and still waiting on our wedding pictures-- I will try to get back on here to post after I see the results. But will mention they were an hour and a half earlier then they needed to be which was great to get some extra shots in. Wish I would've listed everyone I wanted pictures with though to ensure I got them (that was more bride error then anything else), but we shall see...
Favors: Claude's Chocolate-- gave us a great deal on the chocolate and even delivered them the day before (because they are like two blocks from our reception site) Claude and Nicole have never let me down before and I knew they wouldn't that night. Everyone loved it and I am so happy to share my favorite delicacy in St. Augustine with everyone! A+
Hair: Brittnye Shore-- Brittnye came really early and did all my bridesmaid's plus my mothers hair done in record time and looking great. Every girl was happy and she stuck within my vision and our budget. She works through Small Indulgences I believe (I knew her through a friend). She also spent extra time on my hair and when I wasn't sure about how things were going to look she corrected and fixed every finicky little thing I asked. Loved her! A
Makeup: Stephanie Bolen ( Simply Make up Artists)-- Stephanie did an amazing job! Everyone who had their makeup done looked positively stunning and she came early enough to also do my Aunts makeup when she was getting jealous of how great everyone was looking! Loved her personality and chattiness, fun to talk to and help me relax. Plus she was one of the most reasonably priced. Also my look lasted all night through dancing, crying, etc! A+
DJ: DJ Joey-- Although DJ Joey was one of the few things we went lower then our budget on, you get what you pay for. He asked for must play and do not play lists then only played one song from the must play list while hitting multiple things from the do not play. He did try to do a second song, but while they had the same title, they were not the same artists and it was completely the wrong song. It wasn't like the songs on the must play were hard it was stuff every DJ should have, plus if you are paying hundreds of dollars for 4 hours, buying 5 songs on itunes for $10 should seem reasonable. He made me cut my father daughter dance short because he said people would be bored and his slow songs were things like Luther vandross which just didn't work for my young partying crowd. Also played the train when I HATE that song. I will admit I didn't get to have a phone conversation with him going over everything closer to the wedding, but that might be because he said he would call and never did. He did keep most people dancing, but truly my friends and family will dance to anything. Also he helped keep the timeline which is really nice when you have a group that is always taking forever to do everything. Definitely a disappointment. C-