Finally, here are my reviews! Sorry it took so long
Hope they help out! Pretty much everything was perfect, I didn't have anything to complain about really!
A+ to F scale
Sarasota Brides and the Karis Collection A
-Wedding Dress, veil, headpiece, alterations, Bridesmaids dresses, and flower girl dress-
I started looking for my wedding dress well over a year before my wedding day! From my first appointment with Kristy, I loved it there! Kristy was so great with me and my family even though my wedding was far away at the time. I found a dress on the first appointment! It was actually one that Kristy pulled. I ended up going with an Allure Bridal gown well within my price range! Since I bought my dress on my first visit I also received a hundred dollars off.
I absolutely love the ambiance of Sarasota Brides. There dresses are to die for! I spent lots of time there since my engagement and they were welcoming every time! Alterations were fabulous!!! I went for three fittings. Nena was my alterations lady and she was so fun. She ended up having to take in my dress and actually re-sew on all the beading. My gown fit perfectly.
I also chose my bridesmaids dresses at Sarasota Brides. The staff even helped me with color ideas. I really wanted all pink dresses, but they insisted that I should add my secondary color (champagne) to the dress to complete the look. I am so happy I did that! I think the dresses turned out wonderful. I chose Bill Levkoff dresses. My maid of honor had a different style and had hers altered to a sweetheart. Some of the girls had their dresses shipped and others picked them up in the store. There were a few phone call confusions, but as soon as Kristy or another staff member who knew my wedding party got on the phone, everything was worked out.
The flower girl dress was from US Angels and a simple order for Sarasota Brides! Again Kristy helped me with colors and it matched perfectly. Sarasota Brides was so great throughout the whole process I would totally recommend them to anyone. They genuinely cared about my wedding and every detail! I will miss stopping by there!
Powel Crosley Estate A
I started planning my wedding almost two years before our wedding date and this was the very first thing I booked! I went to several locations in the Sarasota area and the Powel Crosley was by FAR the best for your money! I fell in love and booked it immediately!
It’s owned by Manatee County and I think that it’s a definite pro. No one was trying to kiss my butt or beg me to sign with them. It was a relaxed process and the employees were very nice. The rules are not bad at all! I was able to have the wedding of my dreams without any major restrictions by the venue. There were a few paperwork questions along the way, but they were always quickly answered or changed. We never had any major issues.
My guests are still talking about how gorgeous the venue was. My wedding pictures are so amazing with the Crosley in the background. This location made my wedding!!!
Jason Angelini Photography A
Jason Angelini was the 2nd vendor I booked. A friend from high school had him shoot her wedding and I loved her pictures. No one can deny how beautiful his photos are! I love that it’s a family business and him and his wife are so sweet. My favorite part about Jason (besides his amazing photographs) is that he doesn’t restrict you to a package. That was such a relief. I met with several other photographers and you had to go very high up in their packages to get any rights to the images. Jason Angelini photography lets you decide what you want!!! I thought that was perfect for us.
I’ve seen about 24 finished images as a sneak peak, and I cannot stop looking at them. They are more than amazing and I am dying to see the rest! I was really worried after the wedding because we didn’t have a lot of time for formal pictures. However, just by seeing about 24 of them, I’m not worried at all! I won’t be able to decide which pictures I want!
Flowers by Fudgie A
I felt like I might have been a difficult customer because I didn’t know a lot about flowers, but Becki was so great with my mom and I!! I had some abstract ideas that I really didn’t know how to translate and Becki helped me figure it all out! We had multiple meetings and she always accommodated my work schedule.
Flowers by Fudgie did so much more than just flowers! I was going for a vintage look and my colors were pink and champagne. Becki found the perfect flowers that we just in-between those colors and they were wonderful. I collected vintage vases and bottles, etc. for over a year and gave them all to Flowers by Fudgie for the centerpieces. They dealt with my centerpieces, ceremony décor, flowers on my cake, the mantel piece, and best of all my bridal party’s flowers. I LOVED my bouquet.
Day of the wedding we had Bill who designed the site for us. He did a great job! He was cutting open picture frames, using ladders, and dealing with everyone else running around the Crosley. Everything was so beautiful and so perfect. I am so happy I hired Flowers by Fudgie!
Troyer’s Dutch Heritage-Holly A+
I LOVED my cake. We chose Holly because her prices were fabulous and she had beautiful cakes in her portfolio. She let us sample three whole cakes to determine which flavor was the right one for us. I loved them all! We ended up with a 5 tier cake and each one was a different flavor. She made us an entire separate top to save so the whole cake could be cut up at the wedding.
Before I got married I heard tons and tons of people tell me that they had so much cake leftover. We only had like 5 pieces left!!!! That was it. We had about 120 or less people and many guests told me they tried two or three flavors each. I thought this was a great thing. We had guests asking if we had any leftover they could have!
The design of the cake was more than beautiful. I wanted a blush pink cake and I simply gave Holly a sample of the color and she did it perfectly! It was so beautiful.
A Victorian Bride Make-up A+
Linda was so sweet. She is a vendor who will be your friend! Linda and I met well before the wedding at a bridal show and we had a meeting shortly after. Her prices were very reasonable and I booked her right away!
I cannot even tell you how many people said I was the most beautiful bride they had ever seen. I even had people tell me “if someone has said you are the most beautiful bride they’ve ever seen they are not exaggerating” My make-up was extraordinary! I’ve never felt prettier. And I have Linda to thank for that. She is the best in bridal make-up!
During my make-up application I was hungry and Linda was even feeding me snacks during the process. Some of my girls were a bit finicky about having their make-up done and Linda had no problem adding a few girls to the list day of. They even touch up my flower girl so she would feel special.
We had a bit of a time crunch (something unrelated to make-up) and my mother-in-law didn’t finish getting her make-up done before the ceremony. Linda had brought two additional artists with her for my wedding party and one of the ladies, also named Linda, stayed throughout the ceremony to finish my mother-in-laws make-up. She then touched up my lipstick before the dinner!
Overall, I would recommend A Victorian Bride to anyone. I loved working with Linda and the truth of the matter is, my make-up looked incredible!!!
Simply Gourmet A+
I started working with Simple Gourmet over a year before the wedding. We selected Kathy as our day-of-coordinator almost immediately. We went through several different dinner menus just to match our budget, which we were successful in doing. They had no issue changing things around to accommodate our budget and that was such a relief. The closer we got to the wedding the more we met with Simply Gourmet to make sure everything was perfect!
Our guests LOVED the food! And even better, I loved the food! We had a pasta bar and it was so much fun for our guests. The tables, chairs, and place settings were set-up wonderfully and everything was so perfect and beautiful.
The staff day of the wedding was so wonderful. They escorted my husband and me to the buffet and filled our plates for us. We didn’t have to do anything. They treated us like VIP and always brought us our drinks, extra food, cake, etc. During our formal pictures they brought over passed appetizers for my family and bridal party. Even after the wedding they packed up the rest of the food to-go and helped my parents clear out the building.
I would definitely recommend Simply Gourmet for your wedding catering. They do so much more than just food!
Day of Coordinator: Kathy Taylor of Simple Gourmet A
Kathy was amazing! She was with us from the beginning of our wedding planning right up to the end. She knew everything about my wedding and was always there to help. She was more of a month-of coordinator, which we desperately needed! The week before the wedding I started to stress and she was always there to tell me why I shouldn’t be stressing, or to help fix the issue I was stressing about!
Day of the wedding she was calm and collected and took care of everything. I didn’t even have to think about the time schedule or what comes next in the day. I didn’t even know what was going on outside the bridal room. Kathy simply approached me when it was time to do something, and would always ask if I was ready or if I would like to change something. She was wonderful!!!
Affairs in the Air A
Dealing with Affairs in the Air was so easy! I had one meeting with them, they designed my event (literally by drawing it), and when I showed up on my wedding day everything was ready to go! They never made me feel uncomfortable about my budget, and that made the process fun. The results were just beautiful. Easiest vendor to deal with! My wedding was at the Crosley and I had ivory curtains under the loggia to make an arch. It was so elegant and beautiful, my guests were very impressed. We also had cafe bulbs for the dance floor and lighting by the water and other areas.
Sword Sounds-Rob Sword A+
Rob Sword from Sword Sounds was a fabulous choice to DJ our wedding. I heard amazing reviews before my wedding and I had total confidence in his work when I booked him. He definitely did not disappoint! First, we had some time issues prior to the wedding and needed him a couple extra hours; he had no problem adjusting his time schedule for us at the last minute.
At the wedding, he helped out all day! He was very social with family and friends and was always there to lend a helping hand. He took care of my throw away garter, brought us drinks during our formal pictures, and he even helped my mom to bustle my dress!
And of course, the music was wonderful. He really got the crowd going during the reception, and threw in a few surprises for the guests. My guests not only enjoyed the music, but they really enjoyed Rob as a person and I think that made all the difference for us.
We couldn’t have asked for a better DJ. I 100% recommend Sword Sounds!!!
Men’s Wearhouse B+
Men’s Wearhouse in the end did exactly what we needed them to; provided us with beautiful tuxes for all the men in the wedding. The tuxes looked amazing! Things were a little tough for us because I was planning the wedding in Pensacola, but the actual wedding and tux pick-up was in Sarasota. I had to make several trips to Men’s Wearhouse just to make sure everything was correct, and in the end it was. The only problem we had was the color of suspenders, but they took care of it and on the wedding day everything was perfect.
