I wanted to share my vendor reviews with other Austin brides who are still in the planning process and trying to decide on vendors. They're abit long but I hope it helps some of you. If you have any specific questions about any of the vendors, please e-mail me at
aggiechica28@gmail.com since I don't think I'll be on the boards much now that I'm married.
Venue: Texas Federation of Women’s Club Mansion
Grade: A++
We absolutely fell in love with the TFWC mansion after visiting it when we began our search for a reception venue. In fact, we didn’t look at any other venues after seeing it and booked a date as soon as we could. Their space is GORGEOUS and their staff was always willing to answer our questions. And, it was very convenient that they allowed us to bring in our own vendors. We were also very grateful for working with us on wedding set up. We had scheduling conflicts with some of our deliveries and Mari allowed us to make arrangements to have them delivered the day before our wedding and store everything in a secure location.
Band: Jumpstart
Grade: A++
Jumpstart did a sensational job at entertaining our guests during the reception. They are a very talented group of musicians and I’m very glad that we chose them. Mike was very professional and worked with accommodating our song selections into their set. Additionally, they were able take into consideration the musical preferences of our guests and added songs to keep everyone dancing. I’d HIGHLY recommend Jumpstart to any couple dreaming to have a rockin’ reception.
Rental Company: Marquee Events
Grade: A-
Marquee was our choice because of their wide linen selection. We found our preference of linen style there and took advantage of their linen sale. After that great deal, we decided to have all of our rentals be from their company. It absolutely helped us out that they held their linen and chivari chair sale before our wedding. They did a great job of combining our orders and managing the order placed by one of our catering companies for our event. The only thing that kept me from giving them a higher rating was that someone failed to double-check our napkin order before delivering it to our venue. As a result, we were left 50 napkins short of what we had paid for. Our coordinator had to scramble to get someone to go back to Marquee to give us what we were missing. Unfortunately because of this oversight, we had to start our dinner later than planned and it cut into our reception time.
Catering Companies: Courtney’s Catering & Salt Lick BBQ
Grade: A+
Both of our catering companies helped our reception be a success. Courtney’s came in and covered the food for our cocktail hour and provided bartending/wait staff services throughout the night. Mary with Courtney’s Catering was very understanding about our needs and did a great job of taking care of the missing pieces we needed. Salt Lick provided our dinner and it went very well. Both companies had great food and everyone enjoyed it.
Wedding & Groom’s Cake: Classic Cakes by Lori
Grade: A+
Our wedding and groom’s cakes were WONDERFUL. We were very impressed with the quality of the cake and the presentation of our designs. Classic Cakes did a marvelous job of taking in our vision and helping it come into fruition. In addition to looking beautifully, the cakes were very delicious. I will say that it was the best wedding cake I had ever had, and I’m not just saying that because it was my wedding J
Wedding Favor: Say Cheese Photo Booth
Grade: A+
I think it was a FABULOUS idea having a photo booth at the reception and Say Cheese was AWESOME. Our guests LOVED the novelty of taking goofy pictures and being able to keep a memento. We appreciated the staff accepting our own logo design to include on the photo strip and covering our reception for almost the entire evening. The money invested in hiring them was well worth it and now several of our family and friends have a photo strip to remember our wedding by.
Limo Services: Cynthia’s Manhattan Limousines
Grade: A
We had a complicated schedule the day for our wedding and Cynthia’s limousine was able to be flexible with us. They were there to pick us up when we needed them and drop us off in our desired location. The driver was even gracious enough to give us his card with his cell in case we needed to change any of our plans and he’d have to go to a different location or at a different time. The limo was very well kept and I’m sure it’s going to look great in the pictures.
Florist: Bella by Sara
Grade: A-
I must say that Sara did a fantastic job with our reception décor. After our initial consultation meeting, she took our ideas into consideration and applied it when preparing for the table décor. We received numerous compliments on them at the reception and I was very fortunate that they dazzled everyone. The only detail that I was surprised with was the floral pieces for our wedding mass. We ordered corsages that didn’t quite look like they should’ve (they looked like a boutonniere with a small wilting flower underneath) and my bouquet looked like the flowers had already started to wilt a day ago. I was abit disappointed after the wedding mass with the flowers but I reconciled my opinion of Sara when we arrived at our reception and saw her floral arrangements J
Hair: Divine Weddings by Tammie Garza
Grade: A
Tammie was referred to me by our wedding coordinator and I appreciated her willingness to accommodate our early wedding. We bonded at my hair trial and it made me feel comfortable with her doing my hair on my day of. She arrived at my sister’s condo rental at 5:00 a.m. and worked consistently on my bridesmaids, mother and I until 9:00 a.m. I will say that Tammie is very passionate about what she does and feels very confident about her creativity. As a result she hears a person’s suggestions but likes to put her own spin on it. Thankfully it worked out for me and my hair looked beautiful. But, I think that my sister was a bit caught off guard by the execution of her hairstyle and so I had to hear about it at the reception.
Make-up: Ana Bazan
Grade: A+
I’m very lucky that Tammie, our wedding hair stylist, was able to introduce us to Ana. Ana did a great job with my make-up and I was very glad to see that her work was consistent. My make-up looked as it did at my trial and she even made sure to enhance it with artificial eyelash extensions. My wedding look was complete after she finished my make-up and it looked gorgeous the entire evening.
Rehearsal Dinner: Casa Maria Restaurant
Grade: A+
We are very happy that Casa Maria opened up a party room next to their restaurant and were able to accommodate our RD. Since it’s one of our favorite restaurants in town, we were delighted when they were able to serve our guests a delicious dinner. I was very worried about the guest count and when more people arrived than expected, I thought the CM staff would be upset. However, they were very understanding and were able to seat our plus ones and provided enough food. Their very reasonable prices are another reason why I’m going to be recommending them to anyone looking for a location for a party or dinner.
Liquor: Spec’s on Brodie
Grade: A+
Even though Courtney’s Catering offered our bartending services and a necessities package, we wanted to purchase the liquor ourselves to be able to save some money. So, we visited Spec’s on Brodie and were VERY PLEASED with what they offered us. Jamie at Spec’s advised us on our purchase and even worked with having it delivered, despite their busy schedule. After our order had been reserved, we stopped by and Jamie gave us input on what will work for our guests and what might not. We made some revisions and paid our balance with ease. Even after that, Jamie offered to help us if anything came up, despite him being off work for the next couple of days. The caliber of his customer service is greatly appreciated and we are glad we went with them.
Wedding Coordinator: Allison’s Events by Michelle
Grade: A
We met Michelle at a bridal show and were very impressed with her experience. We looked forward to working with her since she had coordinated weddings at the TFWC mansion and had several contacts in the wedding business. She did a great job making vendor recommendations and giving us advice on our decisions about the wedding. The day of the wedding, she and her staff were able to successfully execute our plans and the reception was a HUGE hit. The only reason that I’m not giving Michelle a higher rating is that there were some stressful moments with her during the planning process. Because of her busy schedule, sometimes she’d forget details we discussed and had to be reminded of the tasks she said she would do for us.