Overall, the day was a complete whirlwind. Thank God for photos and videos-ha! Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, except it didn't rain-thank God for no rain (outdoor ceremony). Here are our reviews.
Ceremony and Reception Venue (also catering)-Post Oak Lodge-C I have wonderful things to say about Post Oak and horrendous things to say about them. After we signed the contract, they were suddenly hard to get in touch with, slow with replies. They also did some less than stellar things to us the week before the wedding. A week before they changed…like 7 things and I flipped out. One or two would have been okay but ALL SEVEN of them at once when we had previously discussed and agreed on them before…and to change them a week before the wedding-how horrible! Example-they tried to tell us we couldn’t have the rehearsal in The Arbor (where was ceremony was). Doesn’t that defeat at least half of the purpose of a rehearsal??
On the flip side, they were amazing the day of the wedding. The event director was there for our event and she was amazing. Anything that was wrong, she fixed. Example-I stayed the night before the wedding at the Lodge and they switched my room at the last minute due to A/C issues. The new room they gave me only had one bed and I needed two beds (girls staying with me) AND they put me right next to where my soon-to-be-husband would be and we were trying not to see each other before the wedding. I realized this after I got to my room and had everything outside the door. Not only did the director fix my room but she physically helped me move all of my stuff to the new room!! Above and beyond the call of duty. She was also full of helpful hints and suggestions when I asked. She acted like she cared about our day and I appreciated that very much.
The food was good. Mine came out cold but my guests said theirs was warm. It came out well timed and the wait staff was attentive. The chef did a good job at working with us on the menu and we got a food tasting.
Overall, beautiful day and wonderful wedding DAY experience. If you want to use them, get everything you discuss and agree upon into the contract AND expect delays when you need answers.
Wedding and Groom Cakes-Icing on The Top-A Amazing cakes-100% beautiful and delicious. Jennifer was wonderful to work with, prompt with responses and the cakes were awesome!
Ceremony Music (Violin)-Brava Quartette-A
Sarah was easy to work with and incredibly helpful in music selections. She met with us and played anything we wanted to hear, explained what she knew about the piece and helped us decide what to play where. She played beautifully and was delightful to work with. Also, reasonably priced.
Invitations-Joan’s Print Shop-ACindy at Joan’s was great to work with. I got our invitation custom designed, in the EXACT colors we wanted and printed for about the same price as ordering through some online store. They turned out beautiful and I received many compliments on them.
Videographer-VZ Videography-A+
I cannot say enough good things about Katie and Ryan. They are in Bartlesville (the original wedding site) and let us change the contract to come to Tulsa for no fee. They stayed the entire time, did an amazing job, created a very professional DVD with the ceremony in full, highlights of the entire day, a section each for congratulations, cake cutting, garter/bouquet toss and toasts. They sent us 3 DVDs but made a mistake with the songs and fixed that for free. We got to keep the 3 that were wrong in addition to getting 5 copes that were right. Everything is amazing-the DVD, the footage, the DVD case, etc. Very reasonably priced and easy to work with.
Photographer-Brooke Jared-C I researched photographers extensively because it was one of the most important elements to me. I had a style I wanted and I paid a lot of money to get it. I really love that artistic photojournalistic approach. Anyway, I feel Brooke fell short. On the positive side, she was responsive and easy to work with prior to the wedding. She also got the proofs to me a week early. On the down side, she showed up late on the wedding day. She felt sick and it was reflected in her work. She didn’t take some of the shots I asked her ahead of time to take, she wasn’t as directive as I thought she should have been when taking the posed shots (I got a lot of this person not smiling or the jacket was up or the pillow was upside down) and I’m just rather disappointed. Yes, she took some great shots and yes we have beautiful photos, but I was expecting exceptional. And I was stressed as heck after the wedding that our photos would be terrible or she didn’t get certain critical shots-I shouldn’t be in a place where I felt worried.
Overall, we feel disappointed with our photos and that she didn’t do the entire job we hired her to do.
Reception DJ-Party AllStars-A+ We booked a package that included a DJ with unlimited time and a day-of-coordinator for the same price as other DJs in town charge for approximately 4 hours of DJ-only service. Very reasonably priced and one of the best decisions we made. Randy was an excellent DJ-played what we wanted, was responsive before the wedding AND ended up throwing last minute upgrades our way, like their new beautiful DJ booth, an LCD photo slide show above DJ booth, mood lighting, our monogram on the dance floor in lights, etc.
Kena was the day of coordinator and she was a life saver. SHE made the reception. My husband and I (along with our families) got to enjoy our reception and not worry about the timeline and events because she took care of that. She made sure we accomplished the task list and moved things around as she saw need (moved up certain events because guests looked bored or whatever).
Wedding Night Accommodations-The Ambassador-A This is a beautiful hotel and they picked us up from our venue and took us to the airport the next day. Wonderful honeymoon night.
Flowers-Silk Degrees-A Janis was amazing to work with. Worked with me on price and flower selection. The bouquets and bouts were beautiful and the petals she put on the aisle could not have been more beautiful.