I just got married last Saturday and I've been trying to take a moment to give you girls some vendor reviews. Hope this helps with your own planning:
ATTIRE: I got my dress, along with my bridesmaids dresses from Rebeccas. They were great. My bridesmaids live all over the US, so they mailed them their dresses and helped them find stores close to them where they could try on similar dresses and get measured. They don't do alterations or steaming, so they knock down the price a little bit, but they were great. the girl who helped me (Zoey) always remembered my name, dress, number of bridesmaids, etc. . .even if I made a surprise visit. I kind of felt like I needed to invite her to the wedding she was so helpful. One of my bridesmaids dropped out too when she realized her due date was the same as the wedding and they did everything possible to get her a full refund. A+
For guys we went to Colonial Quick. My SIL used them and said great things. we experienced something totally different. They lost our orders and details. Every time a groomsman went in, it was "Barron? We don't have a Barron wedding." Since they were close to where I work I would go in on my lunch break to clear everything up, but the next time. . .it was the same thing. They ordered my dad a RED suit, even though the groomsmen were in navy and lime green. I had to fix that. Then my brother was told they were ordering him a 2 XL shirt and he told them "No, I wear a 4 XT" And they insisted he didn't. So of course when the shirt came in. . .two days before the wedding. . .it didn't fit. They also COMPLETELY forgot to order a suit for our ring bearer, even though he got measured THREE times. All of this was handled by my lovely husband who didn't want to upset me right before the wedding, but it was a MESS. Never, never again. Their prices were much better and they did have big and tall suits which was a neccessity for us (my dad and brother are 7 foot tall each) but NOT WORTH IT!!! We threatened to report them to the BBB and Charles said "Our rating is already an F." So he didn't care. F
Hair: I have always gone to Splitting Hairs on Brownsboro Road, so I took all my bridesmaids there. It was $40 for everyone to have their hair done, plus a free trial run for me. Navi is my favorite, but they shut the place down for us, served us martinis and we have a blast getting our hair done. All the girls looked great. A+
Rentals: We rented from Rent and Rave and I probably changed my order 8 times. They were always nice, always helpful and never made me feel like an idoit for changing my order. The day of delivery it was pouring and my mom and I helped the guys set up all the tables. They refused to accept a tip because we had helped set up, but did come in for lemonaide. They seemed like really great guys and inspected each table they delivered. They took crummy ones back and delivered new ones with in the next two hours. The white chairs were a little rusty and had some color marks that I was nervous about, but honestly, but the time everything was set up, it didn't matter and you couldn't tell. A for the company and people there B for the products.
Limo: I'm sure everyone has heard my story on Aztec so F- for them. . .or whatever is lower than an F.
People to People: Fantastic. The Limo was HUGE. I think we fit twenty people in there and the guy helped the bridesmaids lay out all their dresses on the way to the church. He didn't have much personality otherwise, but he was helpful. The charter back at the end of the night was a great guy who made us feel like we were the best married couple in the world. He gave us a lighter when we realized we didn't have one! A
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kory Johnson is amazing. I cannot say enough. We already have teasers and it's only been a week. He's a great guy and the photos were amazing. Out of all of our vendors, he gets the highest marks. If i had to do it all over again and could only use one of the same vendors. . .it would be Kory. A+++
FLOWERS: We went with David King from Panache. David's been a friend of the family for a long time, so I pretty much met with him once and then let him have free reign. I trust him and the flowers were GORGEOUS. He cut us a deal ont he price, so I don't know what his prices are like compared to others, but meeting with him once and then not having to worry about it was such a relief. My mom didn't like the corsages for the mothers, but she doesn't like things touching her, so I'm not sure if her opinion counts. A
DJ: We went with Masterful DJ out of New Albany, IN (Mark Brisson). He was the best price around ($75 an hour.) He was okay. At points I wish he would be quiet, but he played all of the songs we requested and taught my mom and aunt Beyonce's Single Ladies dance, which they LOVED. I didn't give him much guidance, so that may be my fault, but for the price, he was great. B
I think that's it. Let me know if you have questions about anything else.