Finally - my vendor review! Thank you to everyone that helped me along the way, I hope this helps the next group of NM brides!
Wedding Venue: Old San Ysidro Church, Corrales NM - A+
This is a perfect venue for those looking for traditional NM architecture. The church is no longer an actual catholic church. It is very dramatic, and with only a few decorations can be elegant and slightly dramatic. The rental fee includes the Church for 3 days, chairs and other furniture are included. There is no air conditioning or heating of any kind really, so I suggest not having a January or July wedding here. Must book at least 5 months in advance in order to get the date you want. I originally wanted my wedding early October, but changed it to mid-September because of booking constraints (we booked the previous December!). Also, the scenery (old cottonwoods and architecture) makes for some great wedding photographs! Very great natural acoustics for live music.
Refundable Deposit: $300
Fee: $500
Cleaning Fee: $50
Reception Venue: Desert Greens Gold Course, Albuquerque, NM - A-
I was originally going to have a small reception at Casa Vieja in Corrales, NM. Unfortunatly, about a month before the wedding, a massive storm destroyed part of the building. In a mad rush, my fiancé found Desert Greens. We literally booked the place 1 month before the wedding. The wedding coordinator, Alena Swanson, is fan-frickin’-tastic. She is amazing at getting back at emails/phone calls/etc, and works with your budget. She is really nice and professional, and it shows that she enjoys her job. I feel lucky to have worked with her. I chose to do a Sunday wedding because of the major discounts I received at this venue (discount on dance floor and ceiling decorations). The room we rented was a little too big for our venue, however, the floor-to-ceiling windows were excellent, and the separate food room was great too. Food was good but not great - we chose the chicken and beef tacos with beans and rice. Nobody complained about the food - or got sick. However, the food servers were stingy with the food and there ended up being too much in the end, which wasn’t so much a problem, just silly of them. We were allowed to take a golf cart out to the small lake and take pictures on the golf course as well (however I think this is a deal Alena has with the photographer we used and not necessarily a Desert Green’s Policy). I highly recommend this place. You should go visit. I planned by wedding from out of town and Alena is awesome!! Price included 250 person-sized room for 4 hours (or 5?), cake cutting service, toast service, cash bar with 100 sodas available free to guests, setup and cleanup, dance floor, food for 120 people, tea and water. If you do a Sunday wedding you have to decorate that morning due to the wedding the previous evening.
Cost: $2147
No deposit
Flowers: Azarel Floral Co. - B+
Kathy is awesome. I knew the colors I wanted and she found affordable varieties that fit my needs exactly (instead of dahlias, Gerber daisies and chrysanthemums). I really wanted zero yellow, orange or straight red, so they painted the centers of the flowers for me. I added an additional corsage to the order 2 days prior to pickup and they had no problem with the change. Order included: 1 Bride Bouquet, 1 Maid of Honor Bouquet, 4 boutonnieres, and 5 corsages. The only issue I had is that when I went to pick up the flowers, I had a mini panic attack in my head when I saw that all the center of flowers were not painted. They went back and painted them, but it was annoying that it wasn’t already done. I did really like that the bouquets were in vials of water covered with stems! However, some flowers were not all the way in and began to wilt a little (only 1 or 2 flowers in the entire bouquet) after the ceremony. Good quality overall. Picked up the flowers at 5PM on a Saturday for my Sunday wedding.
Cost: $213
Photography: Mark Wayne Photography - A
Mark is professional and does his job correctly. He responds to emails quickly and is willing to work with your budget. I couldn’t believe how expensive wedding photos were after researching a bit; with Mark, I was able to keep the costs down but also get what I want. We got the Bronze Package, 6hrs photography at 2 locations, 1 hard-back album and all pictures on DVD with copyrights. I was able to modify the package so that I received no prints but got 50 more photos in my album. I am very satisfied with the service/product I received.
Cost: $981
Ceremony Music: Empire Strings, LLC - A+
I was looking for a duet because a quartet was way out of my budget. I initially wanted 2 violins, but based on my music choices, Catherine suggested 1 violin and 1 cello. They were awesome, and everyone loved the music. Catherine came to the wedding rehearsal to get queues down, and the 2 musicians were there 2 hours before the wedding to prepare. I had to purchase a couple of songs for them but it was added to the total balance (an additional $8 for the sheet music). Don’t skip on the ceremony music. It makes it SO much better with live music playing!!! Music choices: Seating of Guests - Arrowsmith (Don’t want to miss a thing), Seating of Moms - Queen (Somebody to Love), Best Man/Maid of honor - Delibes (Flower Duet), Bridal - Elvis Presley (Can’t help falling in love), Recessional - U2 (Beautiful Day).
Cost $305
Wedding Dress/Maid of Honor Dress: David’s Bridal - B+
When I went to find my wedding dress, I had looked way too long at pictures, and the styles of dresses I thought I liked didn’t fit my figure (pear shaped). The girl that helped was awesome and very down to earth. I let her choose some dresses for me and we ended up finding the right one (strapless - which I didn’t expect) They don’t have my dress anymore, but it was like style: N9829 but no train and had a lace-up back. Was great! When my Maid of Honor went back (with an appointment) she had to wait 30 minutes, but she was able to find her entire outfit for cheap! They were nice to her, but obviously their main concern is selling wedding dresses.
Dress + all the undergarment goodies: $470
Maid of Honor Dress + shoes, alterations, purse: $130
Cake: A Cake Odyssey - A+++
This cake taste was amazing. I have never had cake this good. I was expecting flavorless cake with overly sweet icing. This was not the case. We had a cake tasting and chose the chocolate cake with cream cheese filling and buttercream icing. The cake decoration, however, was not what I expected, but it was great regardless. If you are extremely particular, I would recommend going in person with pictures and verifying over and over that the picture is exactly what you want. They deviated from my pictures a bit. I was so worried about these things before the wedding, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter. The cake was there, beautiful, and damn delicious. Cake toppers were costum made by my wonderful sister/maid of honor and my mom. I bought Wall-E and Eve and we make a top hat and veil for them. The cake was a little expensive in the end, but it was so tasty; 4 layers to feed 135 people, keeping the top layer.
Cost: $550
Tuxes: Men’s Warehouse - A
Nothing more or less than you expect from them. Groom shirt didn’t fit and they had a replacement in the store. Easy because you can order/measure out of state and pick up at a different store. Good service.
Cost per tux: $130
Nails: Nail Place - A
Great acrylic sets. The girls are really nice and not pushy. They listen to what you want. Reasonable prices.
Cost per set: $35
Hair: La Bella Salon (Westside location) - B+
They worked fast and even opened 2hrs early for us. Two girls did our hair, and I chose not to do a consultation prior. All our hair came out great; make sure you bring all your hair accessories! I chose a fancy feather instead of a veil. They do tease the crap out of your hair, and it took a solid hour to get my hair brushed out, just FYI. Great job. I recommend getting your hair done at the site of the wedding if you can, or find a salon close to your venue.
Total Cost, 3 styles: $170
Wedding night hotel: Hard Rock Hotel - A+
Great place now that it’s been renovated!! We were upgraded to a suite for free (I was wearing my wedding dress!). Pretty good food too!
Cost $130
Other Stuff:
I bought my BLUE shoes from Unforgettable Moments via Payless Shoes. With online coupon, it came out to $44. My feet hurt badly after the whole event was over, but they looked damn good, and I feel like it was worth it. You don’t buys heels because they are comfortable. 
We chose to use an iPod for the reception. As long as you can get good music and an introduction isn’t necessary. For toasts, the groom introduced the best man and it went smoothly from there. Fee was $130 for a weekend rental of speakers and a powerful system + mic. This was a cheap alternative to a DJ, and makes the event quieter because we chose the all the music, which is what we wanted. If you want dancing to be a major part of the night, get a DJ. Rented the stuff from a nice guy in Edgewood, 30min drive. Cost: $130
Instead of getting my makeup done, I went to an Estee Lauder lady and got my skin matched to a long lasting foundation. I bought a set of lipstick, eye shadow/blush and had the woman teach me how to put it on/blend colors correctly. I did my makeup at the salon while my sister got her hair done. Cost: $70
Save the Date and Invitations were ordered from Wedding Paper Divas. Order samples helped a lot. If you sign up for their emails you get discount codes, and they usually have a discount going on anyway. This site was easy to use and had a great selection. Made my programs myself with my sister. Printed program on card stock at Office max and glued them to this vintage-type scrapbook paper. Added teal bow. Cost includes save the date and initiations, stamps, programs. Cost: $450
Wedding Favors were made myself. Bought small cloth baggies and filled with Hugs and Kisses with circle labels I made containing our names, date of wedding, etc). Cost: $30
Table centerpieces: The power of Hobby Lobby! J My sister, Mom and I designed these. Was really fun if you have time to do this, and they come out exactly as you want. Cost includes 2 large wedding pieces, all ribbon needed, 15 centerpieces. Cost $150
Travel - I recommend looking at both American Airlines/Delta/etc as well as Southwest Airlines, sometimes you can mix and match for direct flights/cheaper flights.