Across the board, we had truly excellent vendors who worked with us through each step of decisions, planning and the event itself. We highly recommend each of them!!
Location - We held both the ceremony and reception outdoors at (rented) private home in Oak Bluffs overlooking the beach.
Tom Bruhl, DJ and Musician - Based on the South Shore, Tom is a skilled musician and singer who performs live music and also provides DJ services. We were sold on hiring him because he was a nice guy, and gave us both live and recorded music in one person at one reasonable price. But there are so many other great reasons to hire Tom! We met with him a couple of times, and were in touch with him regularly, as we planned the event - he gave us his ideas and asked questions without being pushy, and he definitely made our ideas better! At our wedding, he alternated between instrumental/voice and recorded music throughout the ceremony, cocktail hour and reception, with seamless transitions. As an MC, he was constantly "on" but never annoying (unlike the other DJs we met at those sampler shows). He blended our ideas about music with his expert knowledge, and got everyone dancing. At the wedding, we happily hired him to stay for a little extra time because everyone was having such a great time.
Tilton Tents, Rentals (tents, china, tables, chairs, linens and more! - Located on Martha's Vineyard, Tilton worked with us to get literally every item we needed to pull off a backyard wedding (I.e. we didn't have a hall with the basics - we started with a lawn... And that's it). Sue and her colleagues met with us a couple of times, and stayed in touch via careful emails, while we planned. She made sure we had exactly what we needed, offering us more economical options for those items she knew we didn't need the highest-end versions of. We got tents, tables and chairs, china, linens, cookware, serving pieces, dishes and silverware, glasses and barware, lighting, a chuppah and more! She even worked with us to provide a few extras for our rehearsal dinner and post-wedding brunch. When it looked like it might rain, Sue stayed in close contact to make sure we'd have an extra "safety" tent for the ceremony to keep everyone dry if needed... But only if it was going to rain (we really wanted an unobstructed view)... We lucked out, with a beautiful sunny day, and thanks to Sue, we didn't need to have the extra tent (even though it probably would have been easier for her to give us the tent, she worked with us to produce just what we wanted). We would not have had nearly as smooth an experience without Tilton!
Buckleys Catering - Literally, the most common compliment about our wedding was (and continues to be) the food - yes, more common than the beautiful bride or the great view. Hire the Buckleys! Jessica (planning point person, and wife of amazing chef Steven) was so easy to work with... We were a bit opinionated about the food, and she totally worked with our ideas, and complemented them with her ideas to make them better. They were super organized and worked well to compliment our to-do list style. That said, if you're not the organized type, then hire the Buckleys because they'll make sure no detail of the catering goes unplanned. In addition to the truly amazing food, they are just great people to work with. On the wedding day, they showed up and set up with greater efficiency than we could have ever imagined; the waitstaff were perfect, and cleanup was pristine. Outside of the catering itself, they're just awesome to work with - the reason we hired them was (in addition to good reviews) that they communicated so well - this remained true at every stage. Jessica also helped us find a babysitter for our niece and nephew, and when we arrived on the island to find the wedding dress wrinkled from travel, our first call was to Jessica, who found us the name of the best wedding dress seamstress on the island. Seriously, hire the Buckleys - you'll be glad you did!
Donaroma's, Florist - Truth be told, flowers weren't really a big priority for us - we had a beautiful view built into our location, and we had decided to "splurge" in other areas. We still wanted beautiful flowers, but we were never going to be a florist's big event. Our lack of floral intensity turned other florists off, but not Sue and Mariko at Donaroma's... They worked with us to help us understand the flower options, respected each request we had as well as the areas where we just wanted their expertise, and worked within our limited flower budget to create amazing bouquets, aisle decorations, and a simply decorated chuppah that worked perfectly in the ceremony location. They actually got us excited about flowers, without making us increase our budget. It was awesome to see them on the day of the wedding setting up with their team - they were creative and dependable, yet really easy-going, which is just what we needed.
Jim's Package Store - We worked with Jim's at the suggestion of our caterer, and they were great. Rich, a manager, helped us pick out everything we needed (we're not really into wine, and we appreciated the honest advice that focused on the best quality for the price) and got everything organized. When a snafu meant we didn't get one of the beers we ordered in our original delivery, Deborah worked diligently (after hours on a Saturday night, we might add) to locate the exact beer we originally wanted. Best of all, Jim's came to pick up the extra drinks after the wedding, and refunded us for all those extras. Never thought we'd get such great customer service from a package store!
Portrait New England, Photographers - Working all over New England, Bill and Naome Bray of Portrait New England were super easy to work with. We hired them because they offered a great package at a reasonable price (rare find), and they weren't full of themselves (also apparently rare, or so it seemed to us). We did an engagement session, largely because we're both totally uncomfortable with the idea of being followed around with our camera. Bill and Naome made it so comfortable - they just hung out with us for a couple of hours. And the engagement pictures are awesome - they delivered a product of natural pictures with an artistic touch. At the wedding, they seemed to be in all the right places at the right times, but were never in the way or awkwardly placed. We've just started to see the first 'teaser' wedding pictures, and are amazed at some of the shots, because they somehow got these great angles without being at all obtrusive…we can’t wait to see the rest of the pictures! Great people, great price, great service!!
MB Gourmet Cafe and Bakery, Wedding Cupcakes - located centrally in Oak Bluffs, this busy little bakery is known as the home of 'Back Door Donuts' and a variety of tasty baked goods. We knew we wanted cupcakes, and tried just about every cupcake we could on the island. At the end of our 'cupcake tour' we came across the bakery and got a great deal on a really delicious cupcake - we were sold. Jan and Raffi worked with us to create cupcakes with the exact flavors and decorations we wanted, providing us with two tastings at no cost. Our guests loved the cupcakes - they looked and tasted amazing! We also used them to cater muffins and donuts for our post-wedding brunch. (They also make wedding cakes, traditional and outrageous.)
Maggie's Salon - located in Vineyard Haven, Maggie's offers everything a bride could need to get ready for her wedding. We were looking for a simple approach to hair and makeup, and for people who would make sure the bridal party looked great, but without any drama. Maggie's was easy to work with from the start, included the hair and makeup trial in the price, and made everyone look great. On the morning of the wedding, everyone was comfortable at salon... They took care of everyone right on schedule, never rushing, but getting us ready even a little earlier than we expected. We're definitely glad we chose Maggie's and highly recommend them to others!