Dress- Langs Bridal Arlington: A++
I actually found my dress while dress shopping in Missouri with my mom. I wanted to check and see if the dress was avaliable locally before purchasing out of state. I called 3 DFW shops. Langs was the only shop that would tell me yes they had the dress in stock and exactly how much it sold for and how much down I would need. It was actually $80 cheaper than in Missouri. The dress came in early than I expected. It was a good chunk of change so I only paid half down. They held the dress for me for another month free of charge. They let me wait until I had budgeted to spend the money to come get it. They even tossed in a really cute pink dress bag and a free costume jewelry bracelet just as a way to say thanks.
Shoes and Veil- Classy Concepts Mansfield: A+ They were really awesome. The owner shipped in my dress before the appointment just so I could visuallize the veil. She did a great job of helping me pick shoes. I ordered my dress petite so I wouldn't have to do alterations on the lace. The manager at the shop measured me exactly and picked the exact hieght of heel I would need. It was perfect. When I put the shoes on with the dress, the dress kissed the floor perfectly. She even let me just rent the veil from Th-Tu for just $40.
Tuxedo Junction Parks Mall - B, They worked really well at accomadating my out of state brother. My only problem was DH button kept falling off his coat all night. It fell off right before reveal pictures and really delayed things. We had to stop whlie we waited for my mom to sew it back on.
Colleen's Cake- A-, She is so sweet! The cake was amazing. We had several compliments on how not only was it beautiful but delicious. She had actual flavors of cake not white cake with different fillings. We got to have a different flavor in each tier. She also custom made a flavor for DH. She made white chocolate with cookies and cream filling to taste just like the ice cream. She even through in an extra tier with a different flavor for free just for the bride and groom to take home. The only reason I gave her an A- was the layout of the cake shaped like a tub of ice cream. I noticed right away that it wasn't smooth all around and the printout of the design was all crinkled up and looked sloppy.
TLC Flowers: A, First off I will say I am NOT a flower person. However after having my arm twisted I gave in. Tarah was beyond budget friendly in my open. I got all the flowers for 22 people, plus a toss bouquet, and delivery for like $350. She also did the reception tables for me after I caved in more. She did the reception decor for about $400 or so. When the flowers came in the week of the wedding she did a mock up just as practice. She decided she hated them, sent me a picture of them, and added more glitz and glam free of charge. She was really sweet.
DJ Glenn Roush: A++++ We love this guy! He was defintely over my budget but I wouldn't of gone with anyone else. I was so worried that no one would dance. There was always someone dancing all night. I was also worried that my BP would just totally clam up during the intro at the reception. He gave everyone and good pep talk. All we heard was screams, yells, and claps from the guest while we waited. Apparently he really got through to the bridal party and they came out breaking it DOWN lol He kept it following through the night letting me know what was coming up. If I suggestted somethng but it was bad timing he flat out let me know, which was great. He kept people who wanted to stop the party and babble on the mic away. I don't even think he stopped to eat even though I kept trying to get him to. During the last private dance my brother in law and bridesmaid came back in and started asking a billion questions. He saw I was irrated and kicked them out so we could have our dance. It was AWESOME! He was really good at ready my energy towards the ongoings and people.
Nine Photography: A They were our favorite vendors I joked through the process that Kelli and I became BFF's. They were so friendly and helpful. Kelli knew I wanted a photobooth. I told her we weren't getting one b/c I've flat out spent way to much money. She said. "oh girl no worries, we'll gift it to yall"! I was also worried about pretty pictures. The ceremony was at DH family church. Not really the most picture friendly. They came early scoped out the place and took us off into the field down the street. Also, I worried about the getting ready rooms. Guys and girls were both in nursery sunday school rooms. There were pictures of Jesus, sunday school signs, and toys everywhere. From what I've seen you would never notice that's where we got ready. The only reason I gave them a regular A is timing. The engagement pictures took a while to receive. We took them in March and got them right before Mother's Day. I'm pretty sure the wedding photos will take even longer. At first glance of the contract it does seem like it says 2wks. I know I've heard other brides complain that they didn't hold up to the contract. But on the contract there is really no time of when you will first see them.
Reception: The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Roxanne McLarry Catering Director B+
I have to say I would not of looked at this as a budget friendly venue. When I went for my initial meeting I told them I didn't want to go over $10,000 for 100 people. Long story short as time went along we needed to bump up to 118 people. They updated the charges and the total came to $16,000. We paid cash for our entire wedding so that big of a jump a few months away was not an option. I totally freaked out. I even considered pulling all the way out and switching to bass hall and just eating the deposit at The Modern. Roxanne told me to just take a deep breathe and it will be over soon. She would "work" on my total. When she got back to me she widdle it down to $12,000. After all of that widdling the only major thing we lost were viewing the galleries for $400, closing the bar during dinner and standard hor d'eourves instead of premium. The rest she just kept discounting as much as she could to make it happen for us. We were even allowed to find our own dance floor as opposed to paying $1000 for theirs. The food was amazing!!! They even made a custom menu for us b/c we didn't like the standard buffet options. Our guest are STILL raving about the lobster mashed potatoes they made for us. The only thing I did not like was the bar was based on consumption. They estimate what the total will be and we had to pay that amount in advance. Also, they went through 3 different wedding coordinators in the past year. The first one left to work close to home, Roxanne took over until they found a new one, the new one came sometime in the summer. However, lucky for me out of all the brides I was the only wedding Roxanne didn't turn over to the new lady. I dealt with the new lady a month before the wedding while Roxanne was out and she about drove me crazy. She would call/email me like 5 times a day, overly anal to say the least.
Invitations- Works of a Wink A+
Erica was amazing. She went back and forth with us until we loved the design. She made us a madlib style RSVP postcard too. We had more than 20 emails of getting it just right. She even made them and then waited until we had the cash to pay. She made custom labels and invitations. She even designed cards for our sweets buffet. She gave us a discount b/c we ordered the invitations through her too. Everyone LOVED the invites and said they were the most unique creative things they had ever seen.
figuring it out as i go
124 Invited so far!
105 (including 4 extra plus ones) Are ready to party!
9 Will be missing out!
14 Are making me slowy go crazy!
RSVP Date October 15th