Hi all - I didn't spend a whole lot of time on the WI boards during my planning, but I thought I'ld post vendor reviews from my wedding in case they help anyone out. I didn't grade any of them, mostly because all of them would have gotten As so it would have gotten a little redundant.
Church - Lake Country Congregational Church; Hartland, WI
FI and I are both Catholic, but neither of us were really interested in getting married in a Catholic church. However, a religious ceremony was still important to us, so we had to find a church that would allow non-members to marry there. I found LCCC in a local wedding magazine, and loved it. Reverend Shelley was amazing to work with, and did a great job during our ceremony. The church was fully decorated for Christmas, so we didn't even have to do anything to decorate.
Hall - Broadlands Golf Club; North Prairie, WI
I wanted an "all-inclusive" hall where I didn't have to pick a caterer, and an alcohol provider and so on, but I also didn't really want a hotel ballroom. I found Broadlands in the same magazine I found the church, and as soon as we visited we knew it was our venue. The hall is clean and simple without being boring, and it gives lots of options to how to decorate it. The food was delicious, and Yvonne, the event coordinator, was a joy to work with. The food and cake got out to the tables quickly, and the bartenders rocked.
Flowers - Garden Party Floral; Mukwonago, WI
L.O.V.E.D. this vendor. They were seriously one of my 2 favorite vendors (sorry to the other vendors, I did love you all, lol!). I knew I wanted something big and decorative for my wedding, and white...and something that didn't involve baby's breath. And that was all I knew. They worked with me to figure out exactly what I wanted, and put up with me when I changed things, like, 3 times. On the day of, I could not have been more pleased with the flowers. My bouquet was seriously my favorite thing from my wedding, and the BMs bouquets and all of the centerpieces, and all of the bouts and corsages were perfect, and I think they were very fairly priced for all of the flowers I got.
Linens - Small Details; Muskego, WI
The hall provided white tablecloths and napkins, but I really wanted something that went more with our black and white theme, with the touches of dark red. I found Donna at a bridal show, and she was the only linen person I found with the perfect dark red color that wasn't purple-ish. She also rented us black tablecloths, and deep red napkins that matched the chair covers. She got everything set up perfectly, and it really looked fantastic (to me, at least).
Photographer - Sarah Immel; New Berlin, WI
My favorite vendor of all. Sarah did our engagement pics back in April, and we were super excited to work with her again for the wedding. We got our pro pics back last week, and I'm in love with them. She captured all of the details of our wedding that I worked really hard on, but also got a huge number of fantastic candid shots. We have just over 1,000 pictures from our wedding, and they are all fantastic. She got all of the posed photos we wanted, but they were done quickly so we didn't feel like we were sitting up at the alter smiling forever. She even ventured out in the rain and snow with us to get some fantastic outdoor shots. I honestly could not have asked for a better photographer, and I'm so glad we found Sarah.
Ceremony Musicians - Elegant Music Services; Racine, WI
I honestly never spoke to our musicians, and obviously wasn't around for much of the prelude or the postlude, so I don't have a whole lot to say. What I did hear sounded fantastic, and our processional and recessional were the songs we wanted. We had a violin/cello duo, and they were reasonably priced.
DJ - Midwest Sound; Waukesha, WI
I'd heard Midwest Sound at a few friends' weddings, and they always seemed fine to me. I got nervous because I had read a few negative reviews here on the Knot, but Kevin was fantastic. He called me a few days before the wedding to introduce himself and make sure we were on the same page which was awesome, and he put up with me when I couldn't remember the song I wanted for our last dance (turned out it was Save the Last Dance for Me, but the Michael Buble version). I was really clear with him that I didn't want any group dances unless my guests requested them, but under no circumstances was the YMCA, Chicken Dance, or Bunny Hop to be played. We ended up having the Cha Cha Slide and the Electric Slide played, which was fine because the floor was PACKED during those songs. There was one moment where the music went dead (I think it was actually during the Electric Slide, which made me laugh since I'm really not a fan of the group dance type songs) and as soon as it was back up he sought out me and my husband and was super apologetic, which was sweet but in my mind totally unnecessary since it was hardly noticeable. However, I was amazed by how willing Kevin was to go above and beyond for us. When we got to the hall, we weren't quite sure how to go about getting in and handling our grand entrance, he ran out in the rain and climbed in the limo with us and helped us orchestrate and pull off our grand entrance. He was fantastic, and the dance floor was moving all night long.
Day of Coordinator - Dreams & Designs (Danica)
Danica was fantastic. I had some DIY elements to my wedding and wanted to have someone other than myself to set them up the day of the wedding, which is where Danica came in. She set out all of the details at our reception (excluding the centerpieces and cake) and everything looked exactly like I imagined it. She also got us down the aisle close to on time. (The only reason it wan't perfectly on time was because the aunt who was bringing my dad's mom to the wedding was - as usual - running late.) She made sure everything flowed smoothly, and alleviated so much of my stress. I honestly don't think my day would have gone as smoothly as it had without her.
Transportation - Churchill Limo; Cudahy, WI
We booked Churchill's white 14-16 passenger white Escalade at a bridal show and got a great deal. The driver showed up early for everything, and the limo was clean and well-stocked with lots of champagne glasses. Our driver (I think his name was Luis?) rocked at helping me and my BMs in and out of the limo. The only thing I thought was a little odd was that we were charged $25 for a champagne glass that one of my GM broke. I understand charging for something we broke, but $25 for a cheap glass flute seemed a little excessive. Jon and I also booked the Town Car to come back and get us at the end of the night, which turned out to be a fantastic idea because by the end of the night it was snowing pretty hard and the wind was pretty brutal. The car was a few minutes late, but just as I was starting to worry...the black Escalade limo pulled up to pick just my husband and myself. w00t!! It was so cool being able to stretch out in all that space with my husband and just enjoy the ride back to the Delafield Hotel.
BM Dresses - Beratti Bridal; Germantown, WI
We ordered BM dresses from B2. They were fairly priced, and came in in the timeframe we were told they would. My SIL's dress was supposed to have extra length, and when her dress came in there was no extra length on it even though it was marked that there was. Beratti re-ordered the dress and rushed it, and it was here in more than enough time for the wedding.
My Dress & Accessories - Jay's Bridal Online; Gainsville, FL
I found a dress that I loved at a local salon here in WI, but had a horrible experience at the appointment and didn't want to give that shop my money. Because I knew the style # of my dress, and what size I would need to order, I took a chance and ordered my dress (and veil, tiara, and earrings) online. I saved huge amounts of money by ordering it online, and everything was in perfect condition and the dress fit perfect.
Cake - Extra Special Touch Bakery; Waukesha, WI
We had Diane step in to make our cake after our original cake baker fell ill and had to leave the industry due to some serious health issues. Our cake was delicious, and looked perfect. The only thing that concerned me was that Diane didn't always respond to our e-mails, but the cake was there on time and everyone said it tasted amazing. I had two bites of it...but the two bites I had were delicious!!