Grooms Cake: Just About Cake (Cathy Porter) cathp@cablespeed.net - A Cathy made a grooms cake in the shape of DH’s car. It was absolutely perfect! Not only did it look just like his car but it was delicious as well. She was easy to work with and very reasonable. Venue: Hotel Monte Cristo Ballroom: staff = F-, Venue = B Working with the staff at the Monte Cristo was a complete nightmare. They are rude, disorganized, dishonest, and all around really should not be working in the service industry. There were too many conflicts to name here but a small sampling is: every time we turned around they wanted more money, they wouldn’t let us have the ceremony set up we wanted (and had seen at a previous wedding there a few months prior), they wanted $300 to serve a root beer keg (which previous owners had let another couple do for free), they were late letting us in for the rehearsal and instead of apologizing argued that they were on time, and it was like pulling teeth to get a reply to a phone call or email. I would NEVER recommend this place, despite it being a beautiful venue. The only drawback to the venue itself is that there are no rooms for the bride and groom to get ready, I had to change in a cramped office upstairs, and some of our pictures have junk and bags of trash in the background because of it. DOC: Happily Ever After Events (Teasha Singh and Shannon MacDonald): A+ I cannot even put into words how happy we both were to have Teasha and Shannon there to coordinate the wedding. I felt so calm and relaxed knowing that they were downstairs working hard to make sure everything ran smoothly. I was thrilled that I did not have to answer even one question that day about set up or logistics of the wedding. I did not have a highly specific vision for how I wanted most things set up and they were able to take what I had and present it in a way that was totally perfect and professional. For example, we just had soda and water, and I was a little worried that it was going to look tacky but they way they set it up was so professional, I wish our photographer had gotten more pictures of just that table. The little things really do count, and Shannon and Teasha pay attention to them! The things that I did have a specific vision for, such as the centerpieces, table runners, and aisle decorations were exactly as I had pictured them in my head. From the very first meeting I knew that I could trust them to handle everything and make our day perfect. I loved that during the planning process I was never asked the same question twice and I really felt like they both cared about how I wanted things and when I wasn't sure were able to offer excellent suggestions. I really appreciated the prompt communication and copious amounts of notes they both took. At the rehearsal you ran everything quickly and smoothly, and everyone was impressed! I received so many compliments on Teasha and Shannon of you from my family and bridal party, because of you they were able to sit back and enjoy the day, instead of being assigned tasks as they are at most other family gatherings and weddings. Both my DH and I really felt that they both went above and beyond anything we could have imagined and agree that hiring them was by far the best decision we made in the wedding planning process. Photographer: D. Marrie Photogaphy (DaMora Upchurch) – A+
http://dmarriephotography.blogspot.com/ - I’m not sure if this is her actual website or just the blog DaMora was amazing! We LOVE how our pictures turned out. We really did not want the more artsy pics that seem to be the trend lately, but rather a lot of more traditional candid and posed shots (not as many posed though) and DaMora was perfect for this. She was professional and discreet, I hardly noticed her and my mom said the same thing. She got pictures of details that I didn’t have time to notice, and I of all of our guests. I would definitely hire her again! Dress: David’s Bridal, Lynnwood – B I loved my dress but service was pretty bad. The first time I went in I had an older lady for a consultant that did nothing but complain about how much she hates selling wedding dresses. Despite a few moments of panic when I was told my dress wouldn’t be in until 3 days before the wedding everything else was fine, not great but fine. I did have to buy one of the try on bras because I was told it would take 6 weeks to order new, and that was a little gross. Alterations: Deb Hedeen – A Deb was friendly, fast, and my dress fit like a glove when she was done. Can’t ask for much more than that! Rehearsal Dinner (Lunch): Smashed Tomatoes Café, Everett – A My in-laws organized this so I don’t have much to say, but they opened the restaurant early just for our group and made a custom menu. The food and service were great! B-Pics and Trash the Dress: Jenny GG – A+ I looked so hot in my b-pics and my husband said it was the best gift he has ever received! A couple months after the wedding we did a TTD and posed portrait session with her and it was super fun, and we got some great pictures! Jenny is fun to work with and really cares about her clients. Flowers: Costco – C I ordered a bunch of roses and these other flowers that were supposed to be like mini peonies, the roses were fine but the smaller ones were seriously tiny and a lot of them were rotten, then we couldn’t get a refund because no one thought to take a picture of the rotten flowers. My cousins assembled everything and ended up having to go to Safeway to supplement. Everything still looked beautiful though! Food: Costco – A (I guess) We had a dessert buffet and got most of the stuff from Costco. It all tasted and looked good, just what you would expect from Costco (love their cheesecake!). Everything else came from random cheap places (for example we bought invites at Wal-Mart on clearance) and I don’t have any major complaints because it saved money.