Venue: A
Boone Hall Plantation--Beautiful location to have a wedding! We got married on the Cotton Dock, and it was just gorgeous. Jennifer, the event coordinator there, is very flexible and easy to work with.
Photographer: A++
Richard Bell Photography--We had Mell Bell as our primary photographer and Wanda as her assistant on the day of the wedding. Mell is super easy to work with, and I didn't feel pressured to be away from the festivities taking a ton of pics, yet, I know she has a TON of great pictures.
Catere/Bar:: A++
Crazy Dutchman Catering--Hans and Karen rock! They were both so easy to work with and the food was amazing! They took care of the bar as well as glassware and heater rentals through Snyder Rentals. We added a lot of rental things at the last minute as well as changed some of the numbers in the last week and they were super flexible and helpful. I have heard a TON of complements from our guests about the food. Plus they were way more affordable than a lot of other caterers we looked at in the Charleston area. They sent food back to the hotel with us since the bride and groom never get to eat enough at the reception, and dontaed leftover food to a soup kitchen since we aren't local and couldn't take it with us. I thought it was a really nice way to not let things go to waste.
Cake: A
Publix in Mt. Pleasant--They were really easy to work with, affordable, and they delivered. We did cake and cupcakes and they were yummy!
Officiant: A
Doug Farmer--Doug was super friendly and made us feel at ease. His service was beautiful and I have heard a lot of complements on it. I'm not giving him an A+ simply because he messed up my hubby's name when he announced us...he called him 'the third', when he is a 'jr'. Not a huge deal overall, but I'll always remember that.
Ceremony Music: A
Palmetto Strings--We had one violinist (Lauren). Overall I think it was just fine, but we were halfway down the aisle before she started the wedding march. I'm not sure if we didn't wait long enough to start walking (though I felt like we did) or if she just wasn't prepared...
Reception Music: A+
Jay Maxwell's Music by Request--excellent DJ. He was very organized, and a lot of fun. Plus, he gave us a CD with all of our important music on it (first dance, ceremony song, last dance)! One of my friends sang during the ceremony and he took care of her music and mike and also amplified the officiant for us.
Floral: A++
Tiger Lily Florist--LOVE LOVE LOVE the work Gayla did for the wedding. She was great about updating and changing the proposal when I changed my mind about things. The flowers turned out beautifully and were exactly what I wanted.
Month-of Wedding Coordinator: A+
Tiger Lily Weddings--Lindsey and Caroline really brought my vision for the wedding and reception to life! They did a TON of work on the day of the wedding and were done by the time the photographer showed up mid-afternoon to do decoration shots. Lindsey did a great job coordinating all of my vendors and making sure everyone showed up on time. If there were any issues with any of them, I never heard about it, and that means a lot!
Hair: A++
Charlotte Belk--Charlotte was great! She came to the hotel before the wedding and did hair for me, the bridesmaids, moms, grandma, and flower girl. She had a couple assistants and stayed completely on time and everyone loved their hair. My hair is kind of short and very fine, and I swear she made it look like I had three times the hair I really do!
Make-up: A++
Pamela Lesch--I can't say enough good things about Pamela. She is one of those people who makes you feel and look gorgeous! She is super sweet, and very talented. I LOVED my makeup and she really did exactly what I wanted. Plus, I cried more than once during the ceremony and reception, and that makeup didn't move one bit! My eye makeup looked as good at the end of the night as it did at the beginning.
Reception Rentals/Decorations: A+
Ooh! Events--I worked with Terri Tezza and she was wonderful! She never pressured me to do more decorations than I really felt I wanted or was in my budget. She was super flexible with changing the proposal several times until it was just how I wanted it, and while she made suggestions here and there, I really felt like I was in control in the end.
Transporation: A
Charleston Black Cab--We only used them for end of night transportation for my husband and me back to the hotel. Overall it was a fun experience, but apparently the cab driver was unfamiliar with the area b/c he got lost at least twice going from Boone Hall to the hotel...and he had a GPS so I'm not really sure what the issue was there...