Hello! I wanted to give you some vendor reviews from our wedding on 5/25/12.
Ceremony- We needed a ceremony location that was suitable for my grandmother who doesn't get around well so instead of a beach location we chose the Whalehead Club. It was gorgeous, we bought the smaller package because we only had 10 guests. We also were engaged there last summer so it seemed like a great place to get married as well. Kari is the contact there and was very helpful. They also have someone onsite the day of your event to monitor other visitors and keep them out of your way. Nanette was there for my wedding and even offered to pin on bouts. She also gave me a signal when it was time for me to start walking over the bridge to our ceremony location. We had our reception at the house we were renting.
Music- Music by Tommy (Tommy Midgett)- Loved him! My husbands 11 year old son was going to sing a solo in our wedding and it was his first performance. Tommy willingly allowed us to come to his home so that he could rehearse with him since he would be playing the keyboard to accompany the solo. He spent about 2 hours practicing with him so that it would be perfect for our wedding day. He arrived at about 1:30 on our wedding day to set up the reception and then headed over to set up for our 5:30 ceremony. He did a great job playing during the ceremony! We had hired him to DJ until 9:30 but at 10:15 he was still playing which we enjoyed! We gave him a list of music we wanted to hear and then he picked some on his own but all of it was enjoyable.
Food- High Cotton- On a wedding planning visit to the Outer Banks we stopped by High Cotton to try their food and get some information about their catering since I had read good things about them. The owner Will came over and sat with us providing us with lots of information. He let us try everything on him and gave us recommendations of other vendors as well! The food was delicious as we anticipated and there was more than enough. The only thing we wish we had known is that they we needed to provide something to keep the food warm. They set it up nicely but didn't bring the candle things (not sure of the name?) to put underneath the food to keep it warm.
Chairs/Tables- Ocean Atlantic Rentals- They were great and even though they said they could only quote a drop off time for customers purchasing premier setup they were able to give me a ballpark time they would be arriving.
Huppa- Renee Landry- She did awesome! We sent her a picture of what we wanted and we got an exact replica!
Flowers- Maggi at the Harris Teeter in Kitty Hawk- Maggi was very responsive to emails and our flowers were nice. She was half the price of the other 6 quotes I got. The only problem was that my mom's bouquet was forgotten but it wasn't a very big deal, my mom didn't really want one anyway. She sent our flowers to the Corolla store the morning of our wedding which was super helpful. I would definitely recommend her!
Hair- Eden Day Spa Corolla- The only vendor that I would not recommend. I had a hair trial with my stylist at home before I headed down to the Outer Banks. She dd my hair and took several pictures so that I could show the stylist what I was looking for. When I went for my trial the stylist didn't get it the way I wanted it but by the time I left she had me convinced she knew what she needed to do different for the wedding. I was a little nervous but figured she would get it right the second time. On my wedding day there were 7 of us scheduled to get our hair done and 5 for makeup so they said they needed 4 people at the salon at 1. When I got to the salon at 2 my mom had the worst hair style I have ever seen (it looked like a 50's beehive). She had taken a picture of what she was looking for and needless to say her hair looked nothing like the picture. I told the stylist she needed to redo it and she said she would. After redoing it it looked much better but since it was the same stylist that was doing my hair it put her behind for my appt. Needless to say I was sitting in the chair nervous that I was going to be late for my own wedding. When she finished she asked me what I thought and my response wasn't the nicest. At that point it was too late for her to try to fix it, I had to get back to the house to get ready!! On a positive note I did like the makeup artist!
Officiant- Betsy Haas (Associate Pastor at Kitty Hawk United Methodist), my family is still raving about her!! We wanted Rev. Jay after all of the good things I read on here about him but he was booked so he recommended his friend Betsy. I figured since it was his recommendation she would be worth looking into. I made an appt to meet with her during a wedding planning visit and we loved her immediately. She wanted a rehearsal which we also wanted (some other officiants we talked to were not as receptive to the idea of a rehearsal). She was wonderful at the rehearsal and at the ceremony. My mom who hasn't been to church in years said if she was a preacher where we live she would go to her church.
Carolina Cupcakery- We decided to go with cupcakes after finding out the cost of cakes (for only 10 guests it was more economical). The cupcakes were ok, some better than others. I definitely recommend Almond, I Do which I would never have thought to ask for, it was the suggestion of the lady we met with at our tasting. We also had Banana Cream but they tasted much better at the tasting, Key Lime (I never got one of those) and Peanut Butter (good). Their icing is very sweet and I am not big on sweets. My husband was at the house when they delivered the cupcakes and after they left he had to move things around on our cupcake tower to make it look nicer. He also had to move the cake topper. He said they placed in off center at the very front of the cake.
Photographer- Jason Denson with Keeler and Denson Photography- We can’t say enough wonderful things about him. He was wonderful to work with from our initial meeting during a wedding planning visit to email and phone conversations. He was at our rehearsal and even offered to go pick up sunglasses for my husband the day of the wedding because we discovered at the rehearsal that they may be needed. He brought an assistant with him (even though we hadn’t paid for two photographers) and they were both amazing. You can check out our pictures if interested: http://photos.kndprophoto.com/brandyandstephen/. He had them ready for online viewing only 6 days after our wedding. I have been emailing him requests ever since and he has been very willing to do whatever I request. The price was also much cheaper than others in the area! Highly recommend!!!
Spray Tanning- The Sun Shack in Kill Devil Hills-I can’t remember her name (Christine, I think) sprays it on by hand. She is willing to keep going until it is the shade you want.
I think that covers everyone! I wouldn’t change anything about our Outer Banks wedding and would recommend it for anyone looking for a destination type wedding without wanting to travel out of the country!