Hello! Joe and I just got back from an amazing week in the OBX followed by a week in TN for a honeymoon. Just thought I would pass along some vendor reviews for those curious. I'll have a link with pictures to share soon for some ideas or just for a way to pass time!
The Love Boat (Event Home/Ceremony Site/Reception Site): AMAZING!!!! I cannot say enough good things about the house. The site is amazing. We were married by the water, had a cocktail hour by the pool, and had the reception under a tent in the backyard. To top it off, the way the sun sets on the water gives off this incredible glow around dinner time. It's just unbelievable. Throughout the week, any problems that we had (and I mean ANY problems from mosquitos to not enough garbage cans) Joe, the owner of the house came by to fix. He sprayed for mosquitoes and gave us his garbage cans to make sure we were covered. He was just fantastic. From what I understand, Spa Koru is managing the house next year so go to their site for more info (Joe is involved with Spa Koru, so it's a more streamlined process!)
Catering Company of Hatteras: Another person that I would recommend in a heartbeat is Tia Morris from Catering Company of Hatteras. Tracy is the chef and Tia does the managing and legwork in terms of booking contracts. I'm telling you what, on our wedding day, she was making sure our guests were comfortable, kept the food coming, AND fishing shoes out of the canal when the littlest guests thought it would be a great idea to throw them in. She was more than just a caterer, but she was a point of contact and really acted like a planner for us. What's even better is that the food was delicious. I don't think we heard a single negative word about the food that was served. Definitely worth every penny.
Like a Dream Photography: Kristin and Glenn are amazing. Meeting them for the first time was like meeting old friends and for the remainder of the night, I never felt intruded upon or like we were being posed. They have great chemistry together and that carries over into the shots they get. They didn't charge us a travelling fee, just asked that we put them up in a safe place for the night. They are DEFINITELY worth looking in to, regardless of where you are getting married.
Spa Koru: Chloe took care of everything I needed (hair/makeup/mani/pedi) and Desiree did the hair of my bridesmaids. I think they did a great job at listening to our requests and made us look great for the ceremony and all night long!
DJ Professionals and Video (George Wainwright): I was a little hesitant about booking a DJ that I hadn't read any reviews about here, but George was wonderful. He did the ceremony music (recordings) as well. He did a fantastic job of tweaking the music he played to what kind of music people were dancing to. He also made sure to play my requests. His group has an online "reception planner" which is great for out of town brides to plan their musical preferences for the night. Admittedly, I gave him a hard time and changed things around quite a bit (up to the last minute even) and he took it in stride and was cool as a cucumber the entire time. Definitely a great guy to work with and very professional.
Ocean Atlantic Rentals: Unfortunately, this is first review I have to write that is less than stellar. While the company knew the setup of the Love Boat like the back of their hand, and they were able to devise a CAD drawing of how the setup would go, there were several errors on the billing sheets. My mom handled this aspect and she caught several errors in billing (which were immediately rectified) and then, 2 days before the ceremony, I got a call asking if we wanted a catering tent because it wasn't on the inventory sheet. !?!? This was just additional stress that we definitely didn't need. That was an extra $500 that we didn't budget. They were on time with set up and haul away though, so that's a plus.
Island Perks Cafe: Another bone of contention. This place was recommended by the caterer because the cake is delicious (we had carrot cake with cream cheese frosting). It was, in fact, amazingly delicious and beautiful. Unfortunately, we asked for a three tier cake and got a two tier cake. It all got worked out in the end, but I worked with these people for weeks making suring everything was set, and it still got messed up. I was less than thrilled, to say the least. On the upside, the cake was FAR less expensive than it would have been to go with Great Cakes or another vendor. And in fairness to Island Perks, they were dealing with some "restructuring" issues with new hires that just weren't working out. As I mentioned, it all got worked out before we left, so it isn't all bad.
Every Bloomin' Thing: My flowers were beautiful!!! They were exactly as we had discussed and they were delivered in the time frame that she said they would be. I would trust Jinny 100% if you are unsure about flowers, like I was. I sent her an email with a few photos of things I liked and she went from there. (Sidenote: since we went to TN after the wedding, we stopped by The Rose Pedaler. She makes roses into wearable jewelry, so I'm having the roses from my bouquet made into a necklace to remember the day!)
Sorry for such a long post. I'm sure I forgot some vendors, just because it was a long, busy day! Feel free to email or post if you have any questions or would like pictures!