Vendor Reivews from HR Sept. wedding

Yellow+Belle · September 2011

I was married on the eleventh of September in Newport News, VA. Below are reviews for the vendors we used. Everything else (cake, flowers, music, etc.) was DIY.

Susan Turner, Officiant: A
www.weddingbysusan.com
Susan is a lovely person. She’s cheerful, easygoing, full of resources, and willing to do just about anything to help make your ceremony exactly what you want it to be. She brought half a hundred example ceremonies with her to help us create one that worked for us.

Daniel Min, Photography: A
www.danielmin.com
Daniel was a pleasure to work with. He’s thorough when it came to capturing all the “must take” photos, but his style is photojournalistic, so he’s mostly roaming around capturing the moment. This is exactly what I wanted. He’s also very prompt when it comes to email responses. We booked him on very short notice (we planned the wedding in 37 days) based on his reviews on weddingwire.com and WPJA.com. Daniel is also a staff photographer for the Daily Press. In my honest opinion, there are full-time photographers that are a little more experienced when it comes to the flow of wedding photography, but you will also pay at least $1k more to hire them. Daniel is a great pick, his quote fit our budget, and I’m pleased with the results of his work. He even stayed almost 2 hours past his original quoted time. I would recommend him to anyone for all the above reasons (slideshow link in my sig).

Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Newport News, VA: A
www.carrabbas.com/restaurant/locations/VA/Newport-News/Newport-News
Catering from a restaurant is a safe and economical option for a small wedding. There’s no question that the food is good – as long as you like the restaurant, you’ll like your reception food J The manager helped us estimate the types of food to get and how much we’d need based on our guest list. Everything was delicious, and there were lots of leftovers.

The Body Shoppe Spa, Yorktown, VA: C
www.bodyshoppespa.com
I was disappointed with my hair and makeup experience. I’ve booked massages there, but I probably should have tried their salon services before booking for a wedding. Overall, things didn’t look bad; they just didn’t compare to any other professional hair/makeup I’ve had in the past. I feel like I wasted money for results I could have gotten on my own. Makeup artists typically use natural light and/or a bright light source. The salon area has no windows and is very dimly lit (this should have been a red flag from the beginning). I chose the Temptu airbrush makeup option offered. You can get beautiful coverage from airbrush makeup; but it was used so sparingly that it looked no different from my normal everyday makeup. She was also a smoker, and the stale cigarette breath so close to my face was kinda gross. Both hair and makeup felt rushed. For hair, I asked for a half-updo. There were no rollers involved; she curled strands with an iron and pinned some up. Most of the curls were falling out within an hour.

cmlupton · September 2011

Thanks for sharing. If you dont mind me asking, what was the price for the officiant? Did you use your dj to play for the actual ceremony or did you hire someone for that?

Thank you in advance

Yellow+Belle · September 2011

Susan charged us $100, though I believe her website used to say anywhere between $50 and $200, depending on several factors (travel time, scope of responsibilities, etc.). DH's brother plays guitar, and he provided the music for the ceremony. We made our own playlist and used an iPod and outdoor speakers for the music during the reception.

cmlupton · September 2011

Thank you. I'll look into her website.

Vendor Reivews from HR Sept. wedding

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