This is a long one, but hope these reviews help you guys still planning like all the other knottie reviews helped me! If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me at
deetzel@aol.comCeremony: Clarendon United Methodist Church (A)- It's weird to rate a church, but since I actually found them through a knottie recommendation, I thought I'd pass along my good experience in case anyone else is looking. Since DH and I are both raised Christian but not the same denomination we were having a tough time finding a church that married non-members that we both felt comfortable in. The pastor and people here were AMAZING and made us feel very comfortable so I would highly recommend for anyone looking for a church in the Arlington area.
Reception: Key Bridge Marriott- Food (A+) View (A+) Everything Else- e-mail me for details if you want more information or are seriously considering this venue....
DJ: Kirk Rubley with Kirkabee (A+)- the man is amazing, what more can I say? He kept everyone on the dance floor for what little dancing time we had (not his fault), and stayed over for me to allow some extra fun since our whole timeline got thrown out the window (again, not his fault). He got drinks for us and our parents and basically ran the show and played host to everyone. He was AWESOME!!
Photographer: Kelsey Thompson with k. thompson photography (A+) She is amazing as well! Found her through multiple knottie recommendations and she was a dream from start to finish. She did our engagement session, made us a guest book, dealt with my DH who HATES photos the whole time, and made us all look gorgeous! She also went above and beyond on the day of. A sample of our wedding photos can be seen at
http://kthompsonphotography.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html
Hair: Lauren with Salon Virage (A+) Lauren made me look absolutely amazing. About a month before my wedding she did a full set of SOCAP extensions in my hair so I could have long curly locks for my wedding day. Since I'm so indecisive I basically said "make me look hot, and try and keep hair out of my face while you're at it" and she did just that! Pics of hair can be seen in photos above.
Make-up: Aisha with Picture Perfect Make-up (A+) Aisha also made me and my bridesmaids look awesome. She had perfect make-up styles for each girl even though she had never met them. We all looked great but not cookie cutter. I also decided at the last minute I wanted to add a little extra drama to my eyes from what she did at the trial and she was able to achieve that for me perfectly. Pics of make-up in photos above as well.
Flowers: Twinbrook Florist (A+) Mickey (Margaret) did a fabulous job with all my floral arrangements. She was a recommendation from a coworker so I just booked her based off of that and didn't do a trial or anything. I kept adding to my order up until 2 weeks before the event, and Mickey was able to handle everything perfectly. I would just spew out a vision and she took all the jumble I said and made it into beautiful bouquets, bouts, corsages, centerpieces, and kissing balls for the church pews.
Dress, Veil, and BM's Dresses: Blush Bridal Boutique (C) The sales staff was very helpful but not too pushy when I tried on dresses and while I was looking at BM's dresses. There was a pretty big mistake on their part with ordering the BM's dresses, but the owner did make up for it by rushing them. I had multiple problems with what I would call a lack of customer service in getting calls back after this happened, and to confirm when the BM's dresses and my dress would be in (my dress was late). My veil came in the time frame I was quoted and was exactly as I ordered.
Alterations: Tang's Alterations (A) The two most recommended seamtresses in the area were already booked once I ordered my dress so I found Tang through my cousin who had just gotten married. We had 4 total fittings within a few weeks of my wedding and she was able to make the dress fit me like a glove while still making it super comfortable for me.
Shoes: James Ciccotti (A+) Amazing designer, amazing customer service, amazing shoes. After I sent an e-mail with a few questions, he called me back himself and had a long conversation with me about styles, sizing, comfort, etc. He then proceeded to mail me multiple pairs of shoes and heel heights to try on to see what I liked best (his store is in Chicago and I wasn't going to be able to make it there before the wedding). I just sent back what didn't work and was left with a beautiful pair of shoes I wore all day and night! They are also dyeable so I can dye them black and keep wearing them.
Transportation: Chariots for Hire (A) We used them for transportation on the day of the wedding and my in-laws worked with them for rehearsal dinner transportation. Everything was on time and went as planned, no complaints.
Invitations, Programs, Placecards, Menu Cards, and Favor Cards: Hawthorne House (A+) They did an excellent job helping me create a custom invitation (I planned on picking something from a book, but once we started talking, Diane just had this awesome idea that I loved). They also made my programs, place cards, favor cards, and menu cards all match the theme of my invite and all on short notice (which was my fault). I would have been happy with just typed pieces of paper, but they made some great templates and made everything match. Above and beyond! There's a picture of the menu card in the photos above.