Hey Ladies! I am writing with my vendor reviews for our wedding on 5/29/10 in Milwaukee. Overall, the day was perfect and everything went off without a hitch. Planning was fun but stressful at times and we are so happy to finally be married!
Reception Venue: Milwaukee County War Memorial - A+
We loved, loved, loved our venue! And so did our guests! The price to rent it was awesome for its location, although it gets booked up quickly. The coordinator Amanda was easy to work with and seems to be a real pro at making the War Memorial's events run smoothly. She asked all of the right questions and had great pointers during our final walk-through before the big day. We had our cocktail hour on Fitch Plaza overlooking Lake Michigan and guests raved about how beautiful it was. Our coordinator said that Memorial Hall was set up exactly how it was planned and it looked great for the dinner/dance.
Caterer: Irene's Catering - A-
Irene's works with the War Memorial all of the time, so the coordinators know each other and work together flawlessly. Irene's was professional and all of our linens and table decorations that they set out looked better than we pictured it. My only complaint is that I thought the food I was served at our reception was not as good as what I had during our tasting, which was probably due to the preparation process. Other than that, they were so easy to work with and very responsive to any questions or concerns.
Photography: CaseyBower Photography - A+
I was referred to Casey Bower through friends, and we knew we had to book her after looking through her website. She is sweet and easy to work with, although slow at responding to emails at times. We thought her packages had the best value of a lot of photographers in a similar price range, in terms of what they included. We loved our e-pics and our "sneak peek" of our wedding pictures. We can't wait to see the rest of our pictures! Here is her blog post of us:
http://www.caseybowerphotography.com/blog/?p=1809Florist: Petals Floral Design by Carrie - A+
I can't say enough good things about Carrie! She is AWESOME to work with - she listens to your vision, gets excited with you, and gives great suggestions! She was willing to work with my budget and lower some prices for me to make things work. I met with her a couple of times and she was very patient with me as I changed my mind about centerpieces and bouquets. I had no complaints about our flowers on the day of the wedding - everything was prettier than I had imagined and we got tons of compliments. People said her centerpieces were the coolest they'd seen (we had a 32 inch narrow vase with floating orchids and seagrass, all her idea). Definitely recommend her!
DJ - Sound by Design - A-
I booked Sound by Design because we loved Paul Hackbarth (the owner) at my sister's wedding in 2006. We had his brother David for our wedding and he was great overall. Very professional in emails and on the phone before the day, and definitely not the obnoxious DJ personality on the big day. He kept in touch with me throughout the night to make sure we were happy and things were still going as planned in the timeline. My only complaint is that he could have played more of my requested songs! But, the dance party went strong until the very end and everyone had a blast.
Cake - The Extra Special Touch Bakery - A-
This was also a vendor that my sister used and liked so I went with as well. Diane's cakes are beautiful and she is moderately priced in comparison to other bakers we checked into. Our cake was beautiful and delicious on the big day. My only complaint about Diane is that she doesn't have the best customer-friendly personality. She was sort of flat during our tasting and didn't do the best job of guiding us through choosing flavors and a design. But, her work is wonderful!
Transportation - Riteway - A+
I searched high and low for wedding transportation that wasn't obnoxious (ahem, stretch Hummers - sorry for those of you who booked one, but gross!) or ridiculously priced. We paid $500 for 3 hours of a short coach bus from Riteway, including service charges and tax. They were easy to work with, professional, and punctual on the day. We brought on a cooler and snacks and had a great time getting to pictures and the reception.
Videography - JC Designs - A?
It's hard for me to rate our videographer yet because we haven't seen our video. But, Jaime was professional in all of our interactions before and on the big day, and was willing to negotiate a lower price with me for our 2-hour, ceremony-only coverage. She wasn't obtrustive during our long Catholic ceremony and I barely noticed she was there!
Hotel Block - Comfort Inn & Suites Downtown - D
Thank goodness I didn't have to pay them any money. This was the only "vendor" I was pretty disappointed with. Half of our guests didn't show up under their block in their computer system, even though the guests told us they registered under the block. The woman we set up our contract with left and was replaced by a new manager who was a total jerk when we went to talk with him about details before the wedding. He couldn't answer any of our questions about the shuttle or free hospitality room that were in our contract, saying things like "It might be available, but it depends on how many weddings we have that day, " and "The shuttle usually goes until 11pm, but it might go to 12am." Nothing was definite so it was hard for us to tell our guests how to plan for transportation. Our parents were going to host guests in their hospitality room before the reception, but they were so annoying to deal with that they hosted guests at a home instead. Our Marriott Residence Inn block went so much better!
Rehearsal Dinner - That's Amore - B+
My MIL planned this but I think she had an easy time dealing with their staff. We had the upstairs room for our event and it was a tad crowded the way they had the tables and chairs set up. The food was good but the service could have been a little quicker and more attentive.
Paper Products - The Paper Depot, Minneapolis - A+
We did DIY pocketfold invites and got our design and all of our products from The Paper Depot in Minneapolis (where we live). They will provide free design help and plan out exactly how much of each paper you need to execute your design. You can also use their die cut machines and paper cutters there for free. I don't know if there is a similar store in Milwaukee, but I highly recommend this one if any of you are around Minneapolis and need wedding stationary! I can't tell you how many times I was asked how much I paid for our invites because they looked so fancy! If I would have had them made, they would have cost 3-4 times what I paid.
Honeymoon - Aura Wyndham Grand Bay Cozumel - B+
Our honeymoon was great overall. The weather was 85 and sunny everyday, the food was mostly good, and the pool and beach were lovely. This resort is a small all-inclusive, adults-only, so it was fairly quiet. We were upgraded to a swim-up suite when they tried to put us in a room with double beds when we checked in. We had a few small issues when we were there (housekeeping didn't come one day, room service was late) but management was responsive to our complaints. The biggest issue we had was I got severe traveler's diarrhea when we got back. A few days of antibiotics did the trick, but it must have come from something I ate since we weren't drinking the tap water. Oh well!
I did so much planning but tried to make sure I would have little to do in the few days leading up to the wedding, so I could just relax and enjoy it. Don't be afraid to accept help and ask for help for little tasks on the day of the wedding, so you don't have to worry about much. Happy planning, everyone!