I'll do the good first and the bad at the bottom:
Archer's Florist: A
I worked with Scott Archer. He was great! There is obviously a reason this is the longest-lasting florist in Huntington. Scott always returned all my phone calls, kept in touch with any possible problems or changes (monsoon in Hawaii almost kept my fern curls from me- but we got them!). I love, loved my bouquet, it was exactly what I asked for:
Jeweler: Wellman O'Shea: A
They were great. I love my ring. It was a good price and came in on time.
Food- Bon Apetit Catering: A
Food was delicious, exactly what we asked for, ready on time, and displayed nicely. I don't have my pro photos back yet, but here's a fruit tree display:
A to Z Rentals: A
I worked with Hailey. She was nice, e-mailed me with photos and answered my questions. I wish they had more selection and lower prices, but I was happy with everything we rented.
DJ- Rashad Harold Sanders aka "DJ illspin":
B
He was pretty good. I sent him a long music list (6 1/2 hours he told me, which I didn't know) for a 5 hour reception. In that case, every song played should have been a song on my list in my opinion, and songs not on my list were played. No issues other than that.
Francois Bakery: C
We worked with Jill. The cake itself was very tasty. Quite a few people mentioned to me how yummy it was. We originally wanted banana bread cake with chocolate and peanut butter ganache. The bakery at first stated they would try it, but then said the owner refused to try anything new and not "traditional french" because someone at the wedding might like it- and then they'd have to make it again. Um, isn't that good for business? We ended up going with Chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream and fresh strawberries for one layer and Italian Creme Cake with Hazelnut filling for the second layer. The cake itself was very pretty. However, it was not what we had discussed and agreed upon. It was supposed to have a branch spiraling up the top two layers and there was supposed to be butterflies on it as well, especially two on top to signify us. There was NO branch and NO butterflies:
Wedding Coordinator: Nicholette Inman/Inman Event Planning: F
This was a complete waste of money. She said she would have assistants. We met on Thursday night before the wedding so she and her assistants could start decorating the ceiling, which we were hanging tulle and chinese lanterns from. Her assistants were her friend and her mom. Her friend spent most of the time texting on her cell phone and her mom was playing on the piano in the reception room. She spent three hours hanging four rows of tulle. One was crooked and one got a rip in it and she just kept going, planning on leaving it up there like that. This took her three hours and then she tells me I only get "four hours of decoration time". It didn't say anything about that in the contract. It took two groomsmen 10-15 minutes to re-do all the tulle on the ceiling the next day. On the wedding day, came back to hang 20 chinese paper lanterns- which took her an hour and a half. At the wedding ceremony, a guest had to play the music. She should have had an assistant there to handle that. My MOH and I had to do almost all the decorating at the reception site ourselves, which is why I even hired her. I would not recommend her.
Florists: PJs Florist and Garrison Design: F
PJs Florist was the first one I planned on using. I called them and e-mailed them in February. In April, I was in the area (planned from out of state), and stopped in the store, gave them my photos and asked them to call me. No one called. A month or two later, I called and e-mailed again and got someone on the phone. They asked what I was interested in, and told me they would get some prices, and call me back. I call and e-mail a few more times. I get ahold of them in August finally and they tell me- oh, we booked 3 other weddings that weekend and we can't do yours now. Thanks. I had lost confidence in them by then anyway.
Garrison Florist- I spoke with them, they asked me to send them an e-mail with photos, then no response. I e-mailed again. They never e-mailed or called me back again.
I think that's it? I don't have my pro pics back yet, so I can't review them yet. Hopefully this helps someone else. The WV board was awfully slow when I was planning. Good luck!