It was a great day and we are back and recovered so it's time to start reviews (sorry if this is to long).
Venue: Mansion at Judges Hill - A-
Pros: The venue is beautiful. We got married in the courtyard, cocktail hour on the balcony and reception in the venue. Their price was midrange, people actually liked the food and they included a day of coordinator who was great. The ballroom is already decorated some with twinkle lights in the windows and really pretty chandeliers. The twinkle lights make for a great first dance photo. They also have some stuff included for the tables like votives etc... if you want to use them.
Cons: There is no where for you to get ready unless you get a room (which are expensive). We had to have everything out of the room the night of and
I would have really like to have been able to get up early and clean up in the morning. Last, I'm pretty sure they overcharged me for parking and I'm working with them on that.
Flowers: Wild Poppy A+++++
I can't say enough good things about Rebecca Bonura. There is not one single thing I could complain about. My bouquet was beautiful and exactly what I wanted. She went out of her way to find some of my other decor elements even though they weren't flowers. The flowers were beautiful and so much more than I pictured. On top of that, she had the most reasonable prices (even compared to the other reasonable people that are often quoted on here). She was easy to get a-hold of and responsive to any questions that I had. I love love love her and people should really call her.
DJ: Greenbelt DJ (Anthony) - A
We had Greenbelt do everything from the ceremony music to the end of the reception. Anthony was professional, kept everyone dancing and great to work with. As a company, you can select a specific play list which we had a blast doing as we asked for song requests from our guests on our RSVP cards. With itunes and the Greenbelt website open it was fun to select our songs. He also helped us pick some nontraditional music for our ceremony. It was great.
Cake: Cakes by Rosemary - B-
Pros: The cake was beautiful, the frosting was amazing and the cake was moist. She was also the most reasonable when it came to price that I found (and I tasted a lot of cake).
Cons: The filling was so thin it might as well have been nonexistent. The big reason for the downgrade was I got a series of really weird emails right before my wedding which really made me feel like she was trying to get out of doing my cake. I think she raised her prices and regretted that I had a lower price but I can't prove that. I was nervous the day of that she would show up, but she did and everything was fine.
Cake Balls - Objects of Confection - A
We did cake balls instead of a groom's cake. Jessica's cake balls are the best in Austin, by far. She was great from the beginning and her displays (if you use them) are amazing. Everyone loved the cake balls. Even though I ordered quite a few extra there were almost none left at the end of the night.
Snowcones - The Chocolate Cup - B
We had snowcones before the ceremony as a refreshment for the guests since the wedding was outside in May in Texas (along with flavored water). The plan was for them to serve from 30 min before the wedding and have the bridal party and us grab a snowcone after the wedding. I hear they were delicious and they were definitely a big hit. I have no idea of they were good or not because they left before any of the bridal party could get one.
Photobooth - Max Photo Studio - A++
The photobooth was the star of the night. I really recommend it. Everyone I talked to from this company was incredibly professional and our guests loved the photobooth. We also make our own scrapbook instead of using the one they provide. Ours had a place to glue the extra strip (2 printed with each trip to the booth) and options such as caption for the photo, memory of the night, advice for the bride and groom, funny story about the bride and groom etc... Looking at the pictures and reading the captions was hilarious.
Dress - Weddings By Debbie - A++
This is in Houston so it's a bit of a drive but it's the perfect place if you wan the princess experience. It's beautiful, great lighting, tons of huge framed mirrors. There is a huge selection in a range of prices and I felt no pressure to spend over my budget.
Alterations - Coutures By Laura - A
Laura makes wedding dresses and her work is great, fast and incredibly well priced.
Tuxes - Men's Warehouse - A
Nothing much to say other than decent selection and everything came in on time.
Bridemaid's Dresses - David's Bridal - C
I picked the fabric and the bridesmaids picked the dresses. The downgrade comes for multiple reasons. The first is that I must have gotten 2 dozen phone calls from David's pressuring me to buy my dress from them even though I told them I already had a dress. The second is that almost everyone had problems when trying to have shoes dyed.
Hair and Make up: Siren's Salon - A
They were early, the hair and makeup looked great and everything stayed through the night.
Photographer - AJH Photography - Prelim
Arol was amazing throughout the whole process. I obviously haven't seen the final product yet but I'm not worried because the engagement photos and bridal portraits were amazing. Arol was happy when we wanted extra time to take specific pictures before the wedding and he and his assistant were everywhere at the wedding but never in the way. After the disaster with the first photographers that we hired, he was perfect and who we should have hired in the first place. I would highly recommend him to anyone and can't wait for my final photos.
Videographer - Altared Weddings - Prelim
Haven't seen the final product yet but everyone we met with was amazing. I was torn whether to hire a videographer, but there work is so far above anyone else I met with that I couldn't help but hire them. There is nothing cheesy about their work and their style is very cinematic. They were there from 1130 AM til 11PM. They were in the background for everything and I can't wait to see the final product.
Hope this helps.