I just got married this past weekend (May 22) and wanted to give you all a heads up on what WONDERFUL people I had helping me out for my amazing wedding!!
Wedding size: about 170
Total Wedding budget: 12k
Venue: STAR RANCH GOLF CLUB (Hutto, TX) A+
www.starranchgolf.comFirst, the facility is absolutely beautiful!! The cermony is right next to the putting green looking over the golf course. We had our ceremony at 6pm so the sun was just starting to set. Everyone kept giving us compliments on how beautiful the facility was. Second, the cost. It was sooooo inexpensive compared to several other wedding venues. The minimum spend was only 6k, whereas other golf clubs I looked at for the amount of people we had were around 10-15k.
Photographer: MEGAN SMITH (Austin, TX) A+
www.megansmithphotographer.comYou can click on that website to see some of our pictures she posted online. Megan is actually a friend of mine, but she is an AMAZING photographer. She is just venturing out on her own so her prices are fabulous. She's got a great eye for things and is such a sweet person. She took our engagements, my bridals, came to our rehearsal dinner, and was there at noon on wedding day taking pictures of us getting ready. Love her!
DJ: HOLLYWOOD SOUNDS, DAVID COMBS (Austin, TX) A
www.austinweddingdj.comSo David did two of my friends weddings, so I knew what I was getting into before hand. He is kind of hard to get ahold of before the wedding and kinda stressed me out when he hadn't talked to my facility two days before the wedding. However, everyone said they had a blast dancing at the reception. He does a wonderful job reading the crowd and getting everyone out on the dance floor.
Cake: AUSTIN CAKE LADY, JOYCE SWAN (Austin, TX) A
www.austincakelady.comOk, so if you look online and read reviews about Joyce, they are VERY mixed. If you want a delicious cake that is BEAUTIFUL and from someone experienced and knows what they're doing - she is your lady! She's very set in her ways, however. Like for example - she doesn't want you to wear purfume to her house during consultations because she is allergic to it. And she will tell you that. And apparently that upsets people - but I'd rather her tell me on the phone before, rather than when I get to her house, and have to reschedule. If she can't do something, she will tell you. Personally, I don't think that is a problem. She is odd - but she is a fabulous cake maker! My cake was perfect - exactly what I wanted. And for a great price. No complaints here.
Dress: BELLE SAISON BRIDAL (Austin, TX) A+
www.bellesaisonbridal.comOf course, everyone loves their dress.
Belle Saison was great though. I bought mine off the rack about a year in advance and they stored in there for me. Also I got it steamed and pressed before the wedding and they are cleaning and preserving it for me after the wedding (I still need to do that). They were great about letting me come in and try on my dress for family/friends and pick out accessories. The prices weren't bad either. They were honest with me too about what they thought looked good and what they didn't. They have a HUGE variety of dressed too.
Bridesmaids: THE BRIDESMAID STORE (Austin, TX) A+
www.bridesmaidstore.com
The ladies that work here are great and very friendly. The dresses came in EARLY which was a huge plus and they steamed them for my girls for free after they got alterations, which I thought was nice.
Makeup: BEAUTY MARK AGENCY, Ana Bazan (Austin, TX) A++++++++
www.beautymarkagency.comI could not be happier with Ana. She did such a fantastic job on my makeup! I am a high school coach so I don't wear a lot of makeup or get dressed up often so I was so worried about not looking like myself after getting makeup. When I first looked in the mirror, I wanted to cry at how pretty I looked. And it still looked like me. I got soooooo many compliments on how great my makeup was all day. I got my foundation airbrushed on and it stayed on almost the entire night (it was REALLY humid). I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend Ana!
Any questions about anything - feel free to ask! All was fantastic and I hope you have a great time planning your wedding! Live it up and soak in every second, because it goes by fast!