Venue--The Atrium at the Granville Arts Center A+We loved everything about this venue! The only downside is that you have to pick a caterer from a list they provide. Two sides of the venue are floor to ceiling windows and that was the main thing that sold us on having our wedding here. They have a courtyard, another plus, since I always wanted an outdoor ceremony. There was no event the day before our wedding, so they allowed us to get an early start on setting up for Saturday, which was great!! I had no idea chairs covers and sashes were so time consuming to put on!! The only bad thing about the Atrium is that you have to pick to pick a caterer from a list they provide. All in all, I would definitely recommend this venue!Wedding Coordinator--A La Mode Soirees A+++++++(formerly K&M Affairs) Martina is awesome!!! Seriously, hiring her to help with the wedding planning was the best investment we made! I had trouble deciding on linens, mostly because they are ridiculously expensive! Two weeks before the wedding, I was freaking out because we still had no linens and our wedding budget was kaput. Martina told me not to worry and a week before the wedding, she found linens that fit in our budget. She even went out to the ladies house with me, we reserved the linens and the day before the wedding we went to pick them up and then we were off to set up the venue. Martina far exceeded my expectations, she made the signs for the candy buffet, sign in table and applied the finishing touches to my fan programs.
Photo booth--Create the Memories B-The photo booth was a huge hit!!! The bad thing about having kids at the wedding is the parents that let them run wild and apparently the kids really enjoyed taking pictures of themselves. I went to take pictures with DH and the screen froze; we had to go hunt down the attendant because he was no where near the photo booth. I assumed he would be near it the entire night. We reserved the photo booth for 3 hours, 7:30-10:30; right about 10p.m. my MIL comes up to me and tells me that she told the guy that he could go ahead and leave because the kids were playing with it too much. He left. Correct me if I’m wrong but, if he’s going to leave before the 3 hours are up shouldn’t DH or I be the only ones he should listen to? I mean, MIL could have just been some random wedding guest!! Don’t get me wrong I was upset with her too! The other thing is that we should have received a disc of all the photos taken; well the attendant handed that to SIL, who handed it to BIL who took it to an after party at uncles house and who knows where it is now. I think he could have taken the time to look for DH or I, or even Martina because I know for a fact she introduced herself when he showed up.
Caterer--CN Catering BFood was good, but definitely not as good as the tasting we had. Two weeks before the wedding I spoke to them to get all the details worked out, I told Kristin we waiting to get in contact with a few people before giving them a final count. We’re going over the menu and what she has is completely different from what I have. She looks and she finds the right paperwork, problem solved. Right? A week later, I call and give her the final count, Kristin tells me to expect the new quote shortly. I finally get it 3 days before the wedding and I get sticker shock. To add 50 more people was going to cost half of what it cost to feed 175! Apparently, they never charged us for fruit kabobs that we thought we paid for when we booked them. Thankfully, we had some last minute out of towners that were not going to be able to make it so we reduced the number to 25 extra. I really wish I had cancelled the fruit kabobs too because they were nothing like what was described to us. If they had said we were going to get 4 small pieces of fruit on a toothpick, I would have saved my money. Oh, on a positive note, they allowed us to purchase our own alcohol, we gave it to them the day of and they of course served it.
Dress--Miis Bridal A
I didn’t have any problems with them. My dress arrived when they said it would, the staff was very friendly. I had a great experience.
Bridesmaid Dresses--Davids Bridal A (Mesquite, TX)Another great experience here. I loved the dress the girls chose and it looked great on all of them. Our consultant was very nice! We ordered the dresses in February, they did make it seem like we were cutting it close on time but the dresses were here way sooner than we expected.
Groom/Groomsmen Tuxes--Als Formalwear A (Mesquite, TX)The only bad thing about Als or pretty much any tux rental places is that none of them have flat front pants available to try on. The guys wore Converse and DH didn’t want pleated pants, it was impossible to try any on before ordering. The service was great and I don’t think the guys looked prom-ish at all.
Florist--A Man and A Women Floral Design AThis is one of the vendors Martina told me about, she gave them my budget and they came in right under it. We didn’t want any centerpieces, just the bridal party flowers. I seriously don’t know a thing about flowers, I went to the appointment with colors I wanted and a picture of a bouquet that I liked. I don’t remember the gentleman’s name but he was very nice, he even got my 3 year old involved in the discussion and gave her a flower at the end of the meeting. I was very pleased with the results!
Cake--Mandy Martin AAnother referral from Martina! Mandy works out of her home and is very budget friendly. We had 2 cakes, the grooms cake was guitar shaped and the handle was made out of rice krispy treats! Everyone kept telling me how delicious the cakes were! I don’t remember how much it was per slice but we paid $500 for both cakes, including delivery. I was a happy customer!Cakinthingsup.com
Alterations--Becky Fowler AI think the only bad thing about Becky was the wait! I took my dress in March and got it back a week before the wedding. Other than that, she did a great job!
I don't have a review on the photographer or videographer yet, I'll do those when I see their work!
ETA: Funny story, we used a pastor from our church and the night of the rehearsal he seemed to have everthing under control. Well I guess at the wedding he got nervous because he forgot to ask my dad "who gives this woman away." I was standing at the altar with my dad for what seemed like forever while the pastor talked about marriage. I finally nudged my dad and whispered to him that he could go sit down, I guess the pastor looked up as I was doing it and got the hint. I can laught now but it was starting to get a little awkward!
