Vendor questions

manello

I'm getting close on narrowing some vendors down.  Even though I have over a year till the wedding, the more people I have booked the better I think I will feel.

Tiffany & Stephanie, I noticed you guys used The Cake Guys.  Did you both do the Inspriations package?  What did you think?  How was the cake?

Venue - Hilton Garden Inn in Allen.  Anyone used them?

Minister - Marty w/ Love Notes or Tim w/ My DJ Tim. 

DJ - Tim w/ My DJ Tim.  He is a dj and an ordained minister.  Right now, we think we are going to go the iPod DIY route, but in case his DJ rates are really good, does anyone think it would be weird for the same guy that married us be our DJ?

Cakes - Anyone used Sweet Art Bakery in McKinney?

I think that is all for now.  Am I crazy for trying to get these things booked so far in advance? 

Thanks!!!
Maryanne

AmberMarieTX

I'm no help, but it's not crazy to book in advance! Especially a venue and a DJ. When we were venue-hunting in June, many of them were booked up for June 2011.

llc2011

I just wanted to add that there's nothing wrong with booking in advance.  I booked the majority of my vendors in 2009 for my 2011 wedding and am so happy to have locked in those cheaper rates.

I'm not booked at the Hilton Garden Inn, but if we had done the wedding at my family church in Allen, that is where we would have had the reception.  The sister of one of my friends had her reception there and from the pictures it looked nice.

shortgirltx

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_vendor-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:102Discussion:88a425a3-cdfa-4a7c-98af-4e1e68305526Post:d42548a1-6ab8-4360-a40d-5303e374cf4f">Vendor questions</a>:
[QUOTE]Cakes - Anyone used Sweet Art Bakery in McKinney?Posted by manello[/QUOTE]

We did a tasting with her but decided not to go with her because the cakes weren't all that wonderful and she had fees for every little thing.  When we had the tasting, it was a year ago, but there was a $10 fee for every tier you wanted a different flavor plus delivery, etc.  Even though she was cheaper per slice (and our second cheapest), she ended up being over our highest price per slice and we didn't really want any thing out of the ordinary.  The price just did not justify what we wanted in the end.

Tiffany618

Our cakes came from the Sweet Inspiration package with the Cake Guys.   They were absolutely perfect and delicious.  I highly recommend them especially for the price.   I would have never had the budget for a 4 tier brides cake from another bakery otherwise... it was just stunning.

manello

Tiffany, do you have pics I can see, please? 

Thanks shortgirltx, I love the feedback!

Tiffany618

Yes, ma'am..  :-)    You should be able to click on the images to make them bigger.  If not you can email me at tiffany618@aol.com and I will email them to you. 

fallbride1109

I also used the Cake Guys and also loved my cake.  They did not have the SI package when I booked with them.    My cake was almost $800 but it was awesome and beautiful.  The SI package is the way to go unless you want some specific design element.  I have, however, heard of them being VERY hard to get ahold of, although I did not experience that.  Also you don't get a tasting with the SI package (right Tiffany?) but that doesn't matter.  The cake is delicious.

All that being said, there are alot of great cake vendors in Dallas.  I'm not sure how the SI package compares to others as far as price.



I kind of think it's weird for the DJ to be the minister, but that's just me. 

Tiffany618

Stephie -  You don't get a traditional tasting with them, no.  However I asked them for a tasting plate... and basically what they did is charged me $25 for it.  When I booked them, they took the $25 off of my package.

This was around the time that you and several other people were raving about how delicious they were so I figured it was worth it... and it was!  We had cake for days from just that one plate, so even if we hadn't booked it was worth it.

Edit:   We got the 125 person package and I think it was $535 for both the bride and grooms cake. 

Donnaaries

I did a tasting with Sweet Art Bakery in McKinney and really was not impressed with her cakes.  They were dry and the icing was too sugar and hard.  I think there are much better bakeries for the price, like Cake Guys recommended above.

Donnaaries

Oh and I went to a "faux wedding" hosted at the Hilton Garden Inn in Allen and thought it was really nice, especially for the price!  The food was good for hotel food.

Buttercup509

Marty with Love Notes was our minister. He was great. We met with him several times before the wedding. By the time our ceremony rolled around, it was like we had known him for years.

fallbride1109

We also loved Marty.  His fee is around $450 however, or at least it was last year.

tam427

Tiffany-- It looks like the Cake Guys now include the tasting cake in their packages. I'm wary about putting down a deposit without tasting, but if you ladies say it's awesome then I might just trust you.

Our officiant is Arianna Gray, her fee is $250, or $350 with the rehearsal. She's so awesome.

manello

FI is really nervous about ordering without tasting too.  But, I told him how many great reviews there were and he said OK!   Thanks again!!!