Ceremony and Reception Venue -- Hickory Street Annex -- A+
Hickory Street was the perfect venue for us! It was out of our budget but we loved it so much that we decided to do a Friday wedding so it was in budget. We were married outside, which was beautiful and had the reception in their awesome building. Michele was so great to work with when we were planning everything. She was readily available to answer questions and offer her expertise on things I never even thought of.
There are already white Chinese lanterns and Christmas lights in the space so it doesn’t require much more of that kind of decoration. We chose to buy some purple Chinese lanterns online (paperlanternstore.com) which they hung up for free since we let them keep them.
We got a TON of compliments on the venue and definitely wouldn’t change anything.
Officiant -- Love Notes (Ken Savage) -- A++
We could not have been happier with Ken Savage from Love Notes! He was the first officiant we met with and we immediately went home and cancelled a couple of other appointments because we knew he was the best.
When you hire any Love Notes officiant, you get access to their book of ceremonies and several worksheets to fill out which was invaluable in our ceremony planning. It helped us customize our ceremony to be exactly what we wanted and gave us all the information we needed in one place.
Ken was great at our rehearsal, taking charge and making sure everyone knew what they needed to do. On the wedding day he was amazing, also. He knew exactly what he was doing and struck the perfect note between fun and sweet in our ceremony.
I highly recommend him!!
Caterer -- Black Eyed Pea Catering -- A++
Hickory Street has a list of approved caterers to choose from and BEP was the only one we could afford. We were a little nervous going into the tasting but we definitely shouldn’t have been. We worked with Heather, who was completely amazing and loved everything we ate.
In the end, we went with chicken parmesan and blackened chicken which everyone seemed happy with. We also used their bartender and rented some wine glasses from them (this was very inexpensive) and were really pleased with those services, as well.
On the wedding day, the BEP staff went above and beyond and helped with anything we needed. They helped put decorations on the cocktail tables, set out my table numbers and even took down all the chairs from our outdoor ceremony.
Bottom line, they have great food and outstanding service at a very affordable price.
Calling All Cakes: A+++
Whitney at Calling All Cakes did both the wedding cake and the grooms cake and they were probably the most delicious cakes I’ve ever had. Honestly, we weren’t floored by our taste test with her but the price was right and her design ideas were exactly what we wanted so we decided to go with her.
On the wedding day, we were amazed at how delicious the cakes were. Several guests commented that it was the best wedding cake they ever had. Our wedding cake was cinnamon with chocolate ganache filling on one tier, cinnamon with cream cheese on another tier and lemon with cream cheese on the final tier and they were all great. Everyone’s favorite was the cinnamon with chocolate, though. Our grooms cake was chocolate fudge with Bavarian cream which was also extremely popular.
She was one of the most affordable bakers we talked to and definitely the best, I will absolutely use her in the future.
Flowers -- The Lily Pad Flower Shop – A
I know there have been some negative reviews about Kirsten but I was really happy with the flowers for my wedding. She was really great to work with and had lots of really wonderful ideas for me when I was having trouble deciding what I wanted. She was also the only florist I found who would give me so much in my limited budget. She did my bouquet, bridesmaids bouquets, boutineers, centerpieces, aisle décor and I rented my arch from her.
The only negative thing is that she can take awhile to get back to you and is a little scattered at times but that doesn’t really shock me since she IS Lily Pad Flowers. If that will bother you I wouldn’t go with her but otherwise I highly recommend her for beautiful flowers on a budget.
Photographer -- SixFourteen Photography -- A++++++
I’m not going to say anything about Colton that hasn’t been said on here a hundred times but he was by far my favorite vendor to work with. I felt really nervous about our engagement photos and again with my bridals because I’m pretty uncomfortable in front of the camera. He is so fun to work with, though, and so great at his job that I had a great time on both.
He was great on the wedding day and made sure that we kept things moving along and got photos of everything we wanted. He did an amazing job of getting photos of everything without being in the way. Honestly, when I look at our ceremony photos I’m like “when was he over there??”. Lol!
He got our wedding photos edited and back to us in just a couple of weeks and they are over the top amazing. Way more than we ever could’ve hoped. Photography was the biggest splurge in our budget but completely worth every penny and more.
Angie Williams Hair and Makeup A++
Angie is amazing!!! When she did my hair and makeup for bridals she got it right on the first try – no need to try out multiple hairstyles or looks.
On the wedding day, she and her assistant did hair and makeup for me, 3 bridesmaids, both mothers and my sister. We were done in less than four hours and everyone looked completely gorgeous. I was actually sick on the day was reddish from fever but once she worked her magic you never would’ve known.
She was fairly expensive (for my budget) but definitely well worth the money if you can afford her.
AMusicWave: B-
We decided to hire a DJ at the last minute and only had around $500 to spend on it so our options were limited. Andrew at AMusicWave was one of the few we found willing to work with our budget so we went with him. Prior to the wedding day, he had a lot of great suggestions and a very thorough form we had to fill out which was very helpful when thinking through what we wanted for each song.
On the wedding day, he was pretty good but did mix up a few of songs we had chosen (entrance song, garter toss). He also seemed a little annoyed with us at times, especially when he wanted us to do the first dance immediately after we cut the cake and we wanted to wait a few minutes for everyone to eat their cake.
Bottom line, he gave us such a great price and kept people on the dance floor so I was happy. If I could’ve afforded someone else, though, I probably would’ve gone with them.
I tried to post some photos but TK won't let me. If anyone is interested, I have quite a few in public albums on my Facebook (click below):
Album 1 (First Look, Wedding Details, Wedding Party)
Album 2 (Ceremony and Family Photos)
Album 3 (Reception)
EDIT: I orignally left off my officiant but have added his review above!!