Hey Ladies!
My wedding was a few weeks ago and the dust is beginning to settle, so I wanted to report on my vendors.
Caterer:
Toscana Catering DC (
www.toscanacateringdc.com)- Toscana is a little-known gem for DC caterers. The basic deal with them is that they've got FANTASTIC food at really reasonable prices, but they are somewhat new to the wedding scene. They ended up rising to the occasion and did a GREAT job at the wedding, but I did feel I had to keep an eye on the decisions they were making and things they were proposing during the planning process. I had no problem doing this, because I used to work in wedding catering and knew what needed to be done, but someone who isn't so knowledgeable about food service and party planning might want to be more careful with them.
Venue: Glenview Mansion, Rockville, MD (
http://www.rockvillemd.gov/glenview/)- We LOVED Glenview! This place was a little more expensive than what we were aiming for at first, but I'm so glad we went ahead and put out the extra money for it. The venue really made the reception- people were raving about the grounds, and we universally heard that people enjoyed not being stuck at a banquet table all night. It felt like a big house party, because people could wander around at will, enjoy the art gallery upstairs, and chat with friends. Also, once the music started in the conservatory, it didn't totally take over the evening for the folks who didn't want to dance, so both the dancers and non-dancers were happy!
DJ- Kevin O'Donahue with Kirkabee DJs (
http://www.kirkabee.com/)- We were very satisfied with Kevin. My husband and I aren't huge music people, so we didn't want to spend a lot of time and money finding the perfect, hip DJ. Kevin was a good MC, and he kept the dance floor filled with the standard wedding hits, which is exactly what we wanted. He's also very reasonably priced.
Photographer: Jay Mallin Photography (
http://jaymallinphotos.blogspot.com/)- Jay was a fantastic photographer. He usually sticks to newspaper and nonprofit work (he does work for the nonprofit my husband works for), but he's starting to branch out into wedding photography again. Jay takes great photos very quickly-- which is what we wanted since we only had about 45 minutes between the ceremony and the reception to take all of our posed photos! Jay's also just a really nice guy, someone who you actually want around you on your wedding day!
Cake- Candace at Candy Cane Cakes (
http://candycanecakes.com/): Candace makes delicious cupcakes. Seriously, her red velvet cupcakes are better than Hello Cupcake or Red Velvet in Chinatown. As good as, if not better than, Georgetown Cupcake. I don't think she does full-on multi-tier wedding cakes, but the cupcake display she set up for us was lovely. And she's less expensive than getting your cupcakes from one of the big DC cupcakeries!
Happy planning!