VENDOR REVIEWS.. finally
HIGH COTTON BBQ
We ordered and picked up food for our Welcome BBQ. Yummy. We had lots of leftovers all week for lunch. My brother-in-law took the sauce home with him it was so good. It was easy and good and just what we needed after the hectic check in and rehearsal.
REV. JAY BOWMAN
He was superb! Great personality and truly loves OBX and his job. He guided everyone through exactly what they had to do, and was great with all of the kids involved in our wedding. We had some questionable weather and he navigated us through that without a hitch. He even incorporated the lightning strikes during our vows into the ceremony as if they were meant to be there. Everyone loved him and kept talking about how great he was and “Where did you find him?” He also makes for great pictures. He was dubbed by some as Rev. Hottie. I am so so happy that we chose him.
RED SKY
The food was delicious! Everyone raved about it. Among the favorites that I heard about: Mini Beef Wellingtons with Cajun Hollandaise, Petite Carolina Crab Cakes with Sriracha Aioli, Rosemary Roasted Red Potatoes, Bleu Cheese & Herb Encrusted Beef Tenderloin with Creamy Horseradish Sauce and the kids’ Macaroni & Cheese. I must say I barely ate myself, but what I did eat was delicious. I did LOVE the Beef Tenderloin and the Crab Cakes. We thought the fish and the chicken was a little dry though. I was looking forward to the Mahi and didn't end up eating it. Eric was so easy and friendly to work with. He had everything laid out for the catering staff including the recipe and picture for my signature drink, instructions on where the cocktail and reception were to take place, and even a notice that one of the kids had a peanut allergy. We used their bartender service and we supplied the liquor. They came on time, started cooking and kept everything rolling. These guys are real pros. This allowed me to really finally relax and enjoy the evening. The one thing I was not going to skimp on was good food, drink and the catering. If people were going to travel all the way to come to our wedding they were going to get a good meal and plenty to drink. We did the tapas buffet so they everyone could try a little of everything they wanted and didn’t have to choose one dish a month out. There was lots of leftovers and they packed them up for us and left them in the fridge. I had crab cakes the next two days. Yum!
One word of caution: depending on whether you buy or rent your linens, be sure to tell your caterer what belongs to whom. Red Sky supplies white napkins. However, I bought all of my own linens and set my own tables because I wanted to customize them. They were so efficient at clearing tables, etc. that my napkins ended up in a trash bag by the rentals in the driveway. Metro Rentals delivers all of your rentals and leaves them in the driveway. Red Sky was great and stacked all of the glassware and plates in the crates and put them in the driveway for pick up. We didn’t even have to worry about that for the rental pick up the next day. It took lots of phone calls and searching to finally find the napkins in the driveway.
FLOWERS
I did my own flowers the night before and morning of. They were pretty simple. I was planning on ordering from Sam’s and having them delivered, but worried about the logistics of the delivery and keeping them hydrated and cold, especially the hydrangeas. Then I discovered Maggie at Harris Teeter in Kitty Hawk. They were so much less expensive than even Sam’s. She just needs 3 weeks advance notice to order. They are open 24 hours and they keep them in the cooler. I made centerpieces, hanging bottles for the ceremony, 2 bouquets, 3 boutonnieres and loose petals for the flower girls. I waited until after our welcome BBQ to pick them up which was perfect. I ordered blue hydrangeas, green hypericum berries, freesia and ivory roses. The hydrangeas looked beautiful and fresh, as well as the hypericum berries. However, I was a bit disappointed in the roses. They looked cheap, closed and a little bruised. They didn’t have any others in the store either to replace them with. I loved the centerpieces and I think my sister’s bouquet turned out gorgeous though with just the hydrangeas, berries and freesia.
DANIEL PULLEN PHOTOGRAPHY
Daniel and Kate were super nice and I thought I received fair pricing on the package of photos. I loved his artistic and creative style and use of light. I like the fact that you get two photographers for one and rights to the pictures. I haven’t received my photos yet, so I don’t have a lot to add here yet. We did see a preview of the lightning strike that Kate caught during our ceremony. A rare occurrence to catch on film. One of the OBX brides saw it on their FB page and alerted me to it. We had seen it on their viewfinder at the reception, but didn’t know it was posted. We had some sketchy weather and just barely made it through the ceremony avoiding a downpour moving its way down the beach. This didn’t allow us to take all of our bridal photos on the beach after the ceremony though. Daniel mentioned that the lighting was actually very good and the photos looked like they had already been photoshopped a couple of times. We planned for the cocktail hour to be around the pool and reception inside the house. It was raining pretty good, so everyone was indoors in the recreation room for cocktails. When we moved upstairs for the reception, the sun started to come out. Daniel and Kate noticed the rainbow emerging and had us go outside to capture some pictures with it. While we were out there, a double rainbow showed up. While I didn’t get all of my bridal party and couple shots, and sunny day photos, I think we’ll end up with some really unique wedding photos. We used them the next day for a family photo shoot as well since my whole family was down at the beach. I will report back when I get my photos from them.
GREAT CAKES!
We got a three tier Key Lime Bliss cake that was really beautiful, even considering we didn’t need a big one for our small affair. I supplied a photo and they decorated it exactly as shown. It was decorated with chocolate shells and sugar “sand” which shocked everyone the next day when I started eating the white chocolate shells. They thought they were real! I am not a big cake eater, but you have to have one. I only had a quick bite of it when DH and I exchanged cake, but I think it was good. I was already a couple of Ocean Blue Lemonade cocktails in when I tried it and enjoying myself. Everyone else seemed to like it. They were easy to work with and delivered on time.
I also had a candy bar because I had to bribe my nephew and ring bearer to be in the wedding. (He’s actually a good eater eating mostly vegetables and fruits, so he gets away with the candy aspect.) The buffet included hand delivered cocoa and white chocolate covered Oreos that I made and people really loved, assorted Jelly Bellies, blue raspberry taffy, chocolate covered pretzels, customized M&Ms and candy Ring Pops. I have to tell you that the Ring Pops were a huge hit with everyone, especially the kids. And my candy addict little nephew kept choosing the blue ones that matched our colors. Kids that didn’t even stay at our house kept stopping by all week looking for them. Go figure, the least expensive item in the whole wedding.
HAIR, MAKEUP & NAILS
I looked around and couldn’t find a reasonable source for hair and makeup for myself and my sister. Everything was crazy expensive, and some didn’t even respond to my inquiry. Why charge a bride $85 for hair and then even more for makeup, eyelashes, etc.? I really wanted something in the Duck area so that I didn’t have to travel too far on my wedding day, especially on a busy check in day like Sunday. The traffic can get crazy on the weekends. In the end, I decided that I could do my own makeup, but really wanted some help with the hair. I could have probably done it for someone else, but I don’t usually do an updo every day for myself. I used The Sanderling for my hair and it worked out OK. Expensive though, I think. My sister and I got to get out of the chaos of the house and have some tea while she worked on her speech. I got permanent eyelashes (Xtreme Lashes) at home beforehand and had a quick touch up before we headed out of town. I highly recommend them. I didn’t even need to use mascara and they looked long, but natural. I had a lot of girls say they wondered how I had such long lashes when I finally let them know they weren’t mine. It was great not having to worry about mascara and using minimal makeup the rest of the week at the beach. I used the Model in a Bottle to set my makeup and it worked great. With the rainy weather, there wasn’t much chance of sweating my makeup off though. My skin does get oily and I worried about looking used halfway through the day. It kind of feels like you’ve sprayed your face with hair spray, but it did the job and I think it works well for a special event. I had shellac done on my hands and feet before we left and it still looks perfect. I highly recommend it. I do a lot of things with my hands and it really held up. With all of the DIY projects, packing, luggage, moving and set up, it still looks great. Two weeks later there's only the part where the nail grows out, but I picked a light pearly pink and you can't even tell. I think it's even made my nails stronger. I will continue using it and I'm not a manicure type of person.
METRO RENTALS
Easy to work with, delivered and picked up the rentals as agreed. Not much more to add except I can’t believe how much rentals are and how much it costs to have a wedding, even a small one, in the Outer Banks.
LINEN TABLECLOTHI bought all of my own linens, runners and sashes. These guys have great pricing, coupons and free delivery on orders over $50. So much less expensive than renting and I own something in the end. You can follow them on Twitter or like them on FB for deals, coupons and contests. My only wish was that the napkins had a hemmed edge. But the way we had them folded with the menus tucked in, the edges weren’t seen anyways. Definitely a cost savings going with these guys and worth mentioning.
I did a lot of DIY including table and linens, signage, house lighting and décor, welcome bags. I’ll have to say that with all of the hectic events going on and the weather threatening to rain on our plans, the experienced and professional vendors we chose made a difference. All in all, it was a beautiful wedding and enjoyed by many. We had our wedding and enjoyed the following week and barely made it out before hurricane Irene rudely came in and took over. And to think we almost chose this weekend for our wedding. Hadn't it been for the kids and their school schedules, we might have been a sad story. I am hoping that the Outer Banks survives Irene for all of the other brides to enjoy. Here are some of the photos captured by family and friends.
