Hi all,I was married on 11/1 at the Barr Mansion. I haven't posted very much since I'm one of the dummies who made my email address my id and didn't want to keep putting it out there. However, these particular vendors were so fabulous that I will risk all the spam to brag about them, no grading necessary, just know they were wonderful! I apologize for any ramblings or errors, I'm trying to get these reviews out so I can start on the TY notes!The Barr MansionVenue & food & flowers & cakeThis venue is gorgeous. A historic mansion sits on the grounds, but the event itself is either outside or in a ballroom that is a cross between a greenhouse and an old European barn. My description is not doing it justice, you need to see it! At first, the Barr may *seem* a little more expensive than some locations that allow you to bring in your own vendors but for us, once we priced out everything and discussed how much time it would take us to coordinate everything, hands down this was the way to go. And it was wonderful.Abby is unbelievable! In addition to being the Barr's florist (you can use her, or your own vendor for flowers, there is no pressure either way), Abby is also one of the Barr's event coordinators and was our day-of wedding coordinator. She worked with our budget, she didn't try to bulk up the budget with unnecessary flowers and she recommended less expensive options when appropriate. she let us bring in our own soy candles to cut down on costs, and perhaps most importantly, she handled my freak outs very professionally (we won't all fit in the ballroom and need an outside plan! it might rain, we need a tent! we will all fit in the ballroom after all, reconfigure! we lost a bridesmaid, gained a male attendant, need an emergency extra boutonniere! and so on...). On the day itself, she kept the day going smoothly and I never worried about a thing. Abby was incredibly accessible, even responding on her day off. I never worried about communicating with the Barr Mansion.Things to know--they are an organic facility. Soy candles must be used in the ballroom so as not to damage the thatch roof (soy candles are more expensive, no blow out sales at Hobby Lobby for these), and there is no such thing as organic fondant, so your Ace of Cakes-worthy design will not work here, they can use buttercream and modeling chocolate. They have a seasonal tasting "party" with selections from their full menu, but you can not taste every single item. All of that was fine with us. The food really was amazing! The location is gorgeous, the food was delicious, the cakes (a bride and groom's cake are included in the cost) were beautiful and tasted great. My wedding was elegant, understated, romantic and intimate. It was really a perfect night.
www.barrmansion.com Vignette PhotographyPhotographyElizabeth and James Hafner, a husband and wife team own Vignette. When I was looking for a photographer, I found them through a recommendation of another bride who used Barr Mansion. I was checking her reference for the Barr and looking through her photos. I liked them so much I asked about her photographer and viola!Elizabeth and James are wonderful. They care about their clients and are genuinely invested in making sure your event is captured perfectly. I hate having my photo taken, and they made sure I was comfortable with them. We met for dinner, we did an engagement session, we chatted on facebook and by the time my wedding day came around, I didn't think twice about the photos. They managed to be everywhere and at the same time never in the way. Guests told me how polite they were, and how every time they looked around Elizabeth or James was capturing a perfect moment. Based on my engagement photos I can't wait to see the wedding photos! There is a "sneak peek" up on their blog now--
http://vignettephoto.com/blog/posts/married-lori-allan-sneak-peek/#commentsElizabeth is very responsive. I never had trouble getting a hold of them, getting questions answered or just checking in. I know folks have strong feelings about their photographers, and I'm no different, love them!
www.vignettephoto.comByrne RockDJWe did not want an obnoxious DJ who MC'd the event with a lot of group participation dances and theatrics. Now maybe Byrne CAN do that, but I wouldn't know, because for us he was perfect. Byrne is pretty low-key, his goal is to play the perfect music for your event and that's what he concentrates on. We gave him some basic guidelines on what we liked and some do not play songs and trusted him to take it from there, and he did great! He was always accessible and responsive. I never worried.On a related note, Byrne really did go above and beyond for us. My sister-in-law was supposed to sing all the wedding ceremony music for us, in Hebrew and a capella. She got sick on the way down to Austin and by Saturday still had no voice. In a last minute panic, we called Byrne who was on his way to another wedding. Byrne asked us to send him the songs/composers we wanted and he would find the music in Hebrew to play if her voice didn't return by the next day. 3 hours before the wedding her voice was strong enough to sing and the additional music wasn't necessary, but we really appreciate the effort he went through so that I wouldn't be forced to walk down the aisle to music that had no meaning for me.
www.byrnerock.comHair and MakeupBFleyeSarah Hathaway does makeup and her sister Kelsey does hair. Together, they made a great team! Sarah took my stressed-broken out turns-red-and-blotchy-when-I-cry skin and made it perfect. We did a trial which I loved, but then the next day, because I'm me, I wanted it changed. Sarah went with the flow, emailed me some suggestions for things to change and on my wedding day it was perfect. My husband could not stop looking at my eyes and telling me how beautiful I was. Kelsey took my hair and did a half up do and my hair--which never behaves--looked perfect all night. They made my bridesmaids, sister-in-law and aunt all look radiant.
http://bfleye.com/The rest of my vendors were all fine. Twin Liquors for alcohol, Alfred Angelo for dress etc. But these four, in particular were a big part of the reason why the day went so perfectly. Please feel free to email me if you have more questions, especially if you're Jewish and want to know about my Ketubah and yarmulkes vendors etc... Good luck with your weddings!Loriveryevilelf at yahoo dot com