I know I'm way behind, but since I saw that someone recently reviewed their wedding that was back in May, I figured my two cents couldn't hurt either. So here it goes...
Stephen F. Austin Hotel: A+ Our experience with the Stephen F. was great. David Lopez, Director of Catering, is absolutely wonderful to work with and listened to all of what we needed and wanted for our special day. We were able to drop stuff off during the week and they took care of it. And when it came to the day of, we were treated like royalty. In addition, after the wedding, our family and friends kept saying how much they loved the food, so kudos to their chef and catering staff. If you're looking at hotels for a venue, this one cannot be beat!
Westbank Flower Market: A+ Keith and his staff at Westbank definitely are top-notch. I only had to meet with him once to discuss everything that I was looking for and he made some great recommendations on flowers that would be in season and what vases we should use. Again, one comment that we kept hearing was how beautiful the flowers were. Westbank is pricy, but definitely worth the splurge!
Polka Dots Cupcake Factory: A+ Not only does this place have great cupcakes, but they make great wedding cakes. Olga is so kind and attentive and gave great recommendations on how much cake we would need. She definitely has a lot of experience when it comes to cakes. We had the red velvet one for our main cake and then a chocolate with chocolate chip cream cheese filling for our groom's cake. I also thought her price was pretty reasonable.
Johnny Robinson, Groove Labs: A Johnny with Groove Labs was OK to work with. I was a bit OCD about the music (I gave him a do and do not playlist), but he definitely delivered when it came to emceeing the show. The only downside was that he was extremely late to one of our meetings and during the wedding he only played one of my mom's Tejano songs (she wanted a few more) and then started playing a slew of country music, which I had asked him not to play (with the exception of a few songs). But after one of my bridesmaids pulled him aside, he listened and things were back on track.
Eric Kotara Photography: A+ Eric was amazing and definitely money well spent. His pictures were great, we received a lot of compliments on them, and he captured our special day so well. It was important that we had great pictures because we decided not to hire a videographer and Eric definitely delivered! His assistant Francis was also great as well. I would not have a problem trusting Eric at all with capturing your special day.
Joanna Ruley-Garza: A+ Joanna is an exceptional makeup artist with lots of great experience. I wanted to have airbrush makeup and someone to come to me and my bridal party on the day of the wedding. I felt as though Joanna was reasonably priced compared to other makeup artists I contacted (believe me, I have a spreadsheet) and she made me look and feel like the most beautiful bride ever.
Estella Rodriguez: A+ I may be a bit biased since Estella does my hair regularly, but she did a great job with my hair, my mom's hair and some of my bridesmaids' hair. Her assistant Ana worked with a few of my bridesmaids and she did a great job as well. Both of them listened to what each of us wanted to do with our hair and everyone was satisfied with their work.
Transportation Consultants: A+ Simply put, they were easy to work with since we only required a couple of limos to transport the wedding party from the church to the hotel and back. I do admit that the limos were a bit warm and felt like the AC wasn't working as well, but I attribute it to the number of people that were riding in each vehicle and the fact that it was one of the hottest days of the year.
Paper Place: A Overall, I had a great experience with the Paper Place and we used them for all of our printing from the save the dates to the placecards at the reception. Their staff is knowledgeable and easy to work with. The only issue we have (which is why they get an A and not A+) was that there was a
major typo on our programs that shouldn't have happened (long story). However, they did take care of the problem quickly and reprinted the programs without charging us all over again.
Belle Saison: A+ I bought my wedding dress and ordered the bridesmaids' dresses through Belle Saison. Elizabeth was great to work with and made sure that I was taken care of through both processes. I also feel as though Belle Saison is pretty reasonable when it comes to the prices of their gowns. I ended up spending a lot less than expected on a beautiful gown.
Wong Long: A+ For my alterations, I went to Wong. She is wonderful! I was able to fully trust her with my gown. She has tons of experience based on all of the pictures of brides that she has up in her studio. She is sweet and knowledgeable, providing great recommendations on how to bustle the gown and what would look and fit best. Just a great experience all around!
Men's Warehouse: A+ I think this is a no-brainer, since I know others who have had a great experience with them. This was the only place my husband wanted to go for tuxes, which says a lot. They were easy to work with and we had no issues with anyone's tux.
Kruger's Downtown: A+ We went to Kruger's for all of our rings. My husband bought my engagement ring there, and we bought our bands there. They were attentive and patient with us while we decided on what styles we liked and gave their expert recommendations. Ever since our engagement, I have also been able to go in there and ask them to clean my rings, which they do so free of charge. They are a local business as well, so we were happy to give their our business.
Finally, I also worked with Amy Godoy with Kurant Events as our wedding planner. She is a good friend of me and my family's, and has a lot of experience in weddings based on her current job and in her past ones. She's sort of an unofficial vendor in my book, but I can't help but put in a good word for her. She provided some great recommendations for vendors but was open to my opinion and my choices, and definitely diffused certain situations that came up. If anyone is considering Kurant Events for catering, by all means, go for them! Amy is great and so is the rest of the people she works with, and the food is superb!
And that's all she wrote! Hopefully this helps all of y'all that are starting up your wedding plans! And here is the link to some pictures of our wedding, in case you're interested.