Colorado-Denver

Vendor Reviews for all you Brides to be (PIP and long)

I found the majority of my vendors from recommendations on this board.  Here are mine and I hope they help you in your search for vendors to make your special day beautiful!
 

Venue: Arrowhead Golf Club: A-

 

Choosing to have our wedding at Arrowhead was one of our best decisions. We were blessed with a beautiful day and thus were able to have our ceremony out in the gorgeous ceremony ring that overlooks the beautiful red rocks. The pictures in such setting are priceless and all the out of town guests were blown away by the beauty of Colorado!

The service at the reception was great and the food was excellent. I was a little scared after a so-so tasting in January of the food selections we picked for the day, but on the big day, the food was hot, well prepared and delicious.

Some minor negatives were that they allowed golf carts to whip by our ceremony during our vows and they had a patio very close to the ceremony where patrons were being loud...very rude. Also, we didn't have the right away when it came to taking pictures on the golf course. We kept having to wait for golfers to finish teeing off. Not cool when you are paying major $$$ to have your wedding there.

They do not have a place for the bridal party to get ready so you have to come ready. Their wedding coordinator isn't actually at your wedding, just a team lead, so it's beneficial to have a Day of Coordinator.

Overall it was the perfect setting for our wedding! And if you have good weather than Arrowhead is one of the best places to get married in Colorado! Www.arrowheadcolorado.com




 

DJ: Spinnin Tunes A+

 

This company was reasonably priced, professional, and very personable! Kevin, the MC was great!

They provided the microphone and PA system for the ceremony as well as the reception. Everything went flawless and they had all the music we wanted! People were on the dancefloor all night! I would definitely hire them again!

 

 

Flowers: Plum Sage A+

 

Erin was fabulous! I've heard from many brides just how great she is and it is all true! My flowers were gorgeous, the flower petals in a pattern up the aisle were amazing, and the centerpieces were lovely. I had originally wanted the groomsmen to wear purple calla lillies as their boutinerres, but when the lillies came in they were HUGE, so Erin improvised and made a beautiful substitute the day before the wedding. I was very happy! Plus, she let us use a lot of stuff like the bouquet holders for extra decoration during the reception for free!

I really liked her business style too! She's very professional and organized and makes sure you have the most recent copy of your flower details and costs. She worked within my budget and didn't push me to increase it ever. Hire her, she's awesome!

Here is a pic of my nephew playing in the petal aisle after the ceremony...



 

Cake: Totally Baked Chef LLC. A+

 

We loved Val from Totally Baked Chef from the moment we met her for the cake tasting. Her cakes taste so good, that it was hard to decide what flavors we wanted!

I had originally wanted buttercream on my cake but the day ended up being hotter than expected so she put fondant on it for no extra charge, just to make sure it wouldn't melt and it was beautiful for the reception. She also provided us with several (we had only asked for two) gluten free cupcakes for two of our guests. All the guests commented on how yummy the cake was. The cake we got from Val would have easily cost around $600 at one of the popular wedding bakeries”in town. The cake, cupcakes and delivery fee were less than half that! Can't go wrong with Val!
www.totallybakedchefllc.com




 

Photographer: Encore Photography: A+

 

If I could recommend one thing to brides to be, it would be in addition to making a good photographer one of the highest priorities, also to make sure to hire one that has experience at the venue where you are having the wedding.

Gail and Bella from Encore Photography were great! Not only talented, but personable and a delight to have recording memories from our gorgeous day. It was extremely beneficial that they knew our venue inside and out because we were able to expedite getting gorgeous shots and keeping to the timeline. I can easily see that if someone less familiar with the venue had been there, they wouldn't know the best shots and probably would have delayed us getting back to the cocktail hour with our family and friends.

Plus they uploaded shots from the day to play in a slideshow during the reception...Very cool!

 

The best part was the value of their photography packages. They have 4 wedding packages available and in each one you get WAY more than you pay for. When I initially hired Encore, I had to turn down an equally talented photographer who was charging twice as much for half as much value. That photographer asked me why I didn't hire them and I gave them the package information from Encore...they told me to jump on this hard to beat deal! www.encoreportraits.com" target="_blank">

www.encoreportraits.com
 

Videographer: Wolf Paw Video B-

 

My video ended up being great and the best value I could have asked for considering I only budgeted a small amount for a videographer.

I gave Wolf Paw Video a B- because Paula was supposed to call me one week prior to the wedding to go through details. I only heard from her the day before the wedding when she told me that she had hurt her back and wouldn't be able to shoot the video. Thankfully she had found a substitute. I was apprehensive because I had never met this substitute or seen any of her work. It ended up being great, as Jennifer (the last minute substitute) was great. We have already received our unedited video and I love it! What could have been a disastrous event ended up good.

www.wolffpawvideo.com" target="_blank">

www.wolffpawvideo.com

 

Transportation: Presidential Limousine: A

 

This company was easy and great to work with. I shopped around to provide transportation to and from our hotel for around 60 guests and they gave us a great deal! They also provided the transportation for the bachelor party, the bridal party on the day of the wedding and the town car that took us back to our hotel after the reception. All this, plus tax, gratuity, and gas were included in a price WAY lower than I expected!

My only complaint is that the driver who drove us back to the hotel didn't offer us the champagne we were expected to have in the town car, we had to ask for it and he handed it back to us as an afterthought. As this was one of their selling points, it should have been served to us prior to departure. Also, this guy took a wrong turn into oncoming traffic. If it hadn't been late at night, we could have gotten into an accident.

I highly recommend this company, but if you use them than email me so I can give you the name of the driver so you can make sure you don't get him.

www.wolffpawvideo.com/">


 

Beauty on location by Liz : A+

 

Liz was fantastic! She is extremely talented and was able to take the pictures I gave her of what I wanted my hair to look like and make it a true reality. Because my mother and all 6 of my bridesmaids were getting their hair and makeup done too, she gave us a group deal and threw in fake eyelashes and airbrush makeup for free. She had an assistant doing hair that was very talented too.

It was very convenient for her to come to us for getting ready. We were able to lay around and chat and drink mimosas in the comfort of my hotel room.

She was about average of what people were charging for hair and makeup and the convenience of her coming to us was priceless!

www.beautyonlocationbyliz.com



 

Hope Coutour Bridal =) A

 

I did not wear my mother's dress and had some guilt about it, so with my mother's permission I had a headpiece that I had intended to wear at the ceremony made from material from my mother's dress. Alicia was great to work with and I was happy with her creation. My vision changed for what I wanted to look like at my wedding and I ended up not wearing it, but as far as custom bridal accessorries...this girl is fantastic! She made a ring bearers pillow for me out of material left over.www.hopecouturebridal.com/">Www.hopecouturebridal.com



 

D'anelli Bridals: B

 

I had gone to almost every bridal salon in town and was becoming discouraged that I wouldn't fine THE dress. Jessie from D'anelli's found the dress for me! She was great and the whole process was pain free until my dress came in and I went to pick it up. I live in Parker so driving to Lakewood for alterations when I could find them closer to where I live was out of the question. When I picked up my dress, the alterations lady who helped me was abrupt bordering on rude. I was so excited to be in my dress when trying it on that I couldn't keep my hands off it. This lady barked at me to stop touching the dress and made me feel uncomfortable. I'm sorry lady...I own this dress. If I wanted to pull it behind my car on the way back to Parker I can, dang it! Anyway, this lady was not only rude, but she also started bad mouthing almost every alterations place in town to try and get me to do the alterations at D'anelli's. It only made me more determined!

Buying the dress was a pleasure but I wouldn't recommed D'anelli's for alterations. www.coloradobridal.com/">Www.coloradobridal.com

 

 

Donna Savoy Alterations : B+

 

Donna was convenient to me as she only lived two blocks away from me. She did a good job on the alterations which were to take it in and up and add a french bustle. She did a great job on fitting it to my body, but the ties to make the french bustle fell apart during my wedding day and I ended up trailing unspinning fabric behind my dress as I walked down the aisle. Not cool. She added bra cups to my dress and I don't feel like they fit me just right. I was readjusting them all night. That being said, I felt beautiful and got many compliments on my dress and how it looked on me.


Aria Bridesmaid dresses: A

This was an online bridal designer who made it easy for me to pick a color and fabric and just let my bridesmaids decide which style flattered them the most. I had 6 bridesmaids and each of them had a different style of dress.  They were all dark purple and kneelength.  They looked gorgeous.  Aria was easy to work with and affordable.  They have a try on program through the mail that worked well for the bridesmaids to try different styles.  I would definitely recommend!
www.ariadress.com



Day of Coordinator:  Dawn Finnegan A++

My Dad had food poisoning the day of my wedding and had to leave early.  My mom was preoccupied with that, and so if I hadn't had Dawn as my DOC my wedding could have been a disaster.  Instead it went smoothly and beautifully!

Dawn was the most organized person I've ever met.  She was knowledgeable and had great taste.  I'm not a crafty person but I had big ideas and she took my ideas and made them beautifully into reality.  From table assignments as Colorado Microbreweries, to the cute bottlecap magnets and my popcorn buffett as favors to our guests, Dawn pulled off my wedding with flying colors!  I didn't have to worry about a thing and neither did my mom, which was important to me.  She was there from set up to take down. (Her husband even took my dad home when he was sick which went far above and beyond)
If you are looking for an organized, talented and afforadable wedding coordinator who cares than hire Dawn!   Contact me if you would like her info!





Al's Formalwear: C

The groom and groomsmen all looked handsome and the selection at Al's was affordable and good.  However, my husband had to go back 3 times for fittings before getting it right because the guy who measured him was an idiot. My husband is a guy that will pull out his own teeth before going shopping and trying stuff on so this was a stressful occurance. Also, his dad got measured at an Al's in TX and the tuxedo was sent to a wrong location.  They were able to get a replacement in time but again, added stress. 
Also, many alterations were needed once the tuxedos came despite being measured prior.  They weren't apologetic or tried to compensate us for the  inconvenience either which I thought was bad business.  But the bottom line is that everyone had their tux on the big day and looked fabulous!
www.alsformalwear.com

Invitations: WindSong Stationery:  A
Tammy from WindSong Stationery in Castle Rock was fabulous to work with!  She took my concept for the invitations and made them beautifully into reality!  She stayed within my budget and gave me several proofs to make sure I was satisfied.  She also did the rehearsal dinner invites in the same theme.  I highly recommend them.  Plus they are a small business which is always great to support!
www.windsongstationery.com

Sorry this is so long.  I hope these reviews help you.  Let me know if you have any questions!  Happy planning!  xoxo  Whitney


 

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Re: Vendor Reviews for all you Brides to be (PIP and long)

  • edited December 2011
    How much did you play per girl for MA
    - R&G - July 2, 2011
  • edited December 2011
    you look gorgeous and i'm glad everything got a good review! thanks for the info and congrats!!!
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  • HeywhitneyHeywhitney member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Giuliana- It was $100 for hair + makeup for each bridesmaid.  She threw in fake eyelashes and airbrush makeup for free and didn't charge the travel cost.  We saved quite a bit because of it!

    Sarah- Thank you!  It was a lovely day!
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  • wallacjewallacje member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    You looked great in the pictures you posted!!! Congrats!! Great Reviews too!!!
  • JessieR933JessieR933 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    YAY for Val. She threw in a 4th layer of cake for free for our wedding, she is so sweet and nice.

    You looked BEAUTIFUL and your wedding looked AMAZING! Congrats.
    Visit The Nest! Visit The Nest!
  • edited December 2011
    Gorgeous pictures, glad to hear everything went well.  Congrats, married lady.  :)
  • HeywhitneyHeywhitney member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Thank you ladies!

    Jessie!  Love your dress!

    Wallacje:  How was your day?
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  • JessieR933JessieR933 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Aw. Thank you, Yours was fabulous! 
    Visit The Nest! Visit The Nest!
  • mizjodimizjodi member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    glad it turned out so fantastically!
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  • ksheeksksheeks member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Wow - great post, I know I picked a lot of my vendors based on posts here so it's great of you to be so detailed!  I'm using Liz for my hair & makeup in less than 3 weeks!  :o)
    image
  • edited December 2011
    Hi. I haven't posted on this board before but I have been lurking. I am getting married next June and haven't priced around a lot. But I was wondering, if you didn't mind, if you could share how much your floral cost was. I really want beautiful flowers but I am just afraid I will not be able to afford it. I have no idea what to expect so if you could share that would be great!

    Also congratulations on your marriage. You looked beautiful and I love Arrowhead. I live in Roxborough and just love how beautiful it is out there.
  • HeywhitneyHeywhitney member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Hi Cassie!  Thank you for your compliments.

    I budgeted 2,000 for flowers for my wedding.  That was for 6 bridesmaid bouquets and my bouquet, 8 boutennieres, 4 corsages, 12 centerpieces, 2 ceremony pots and the rose petals up my aisle.

    I didn't really know what to budget in the beginning, but when we decided on 2K, Erin said that was a good budget for a wedding my size around 100 people.

    Hope that helps!
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