Since reading reviews helped me with a lot of my vendor choices, I wanted to post mine in hopes that it will help someone else!
Coordinator/Planner: Yoj Events
Candice did such an amazing job taking our ideas and turning them into something wonderful! She had so many ideas based on a few things that I liked. I could not have been happier with how the details of the wedding turned out.
Venues: Harborside East and St. Luke's Chapel
St. Luke's is such a beautiful place for a wedding! The stained glass is beautiful and the ceiling is amazing. There is a courtyard that is nice for pictures. They have a room for the bride to get ready which has a bathroom attached. Their is a small room for the groom and groomsmen, but that was mostly just for the groom to sit and wait since we had the groomsmen act as ushers. Also, it seats around 265 people. They have a small lot (15 spots) that you are able to use the day of the wedding. They also gave us 20 passes for the Ashley Rutledge garage which is about a 2 minute walk away. There is also street parking.
Harborside East is a wonderful venue with an amazing view. It is at the foot of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. bridge on the Cooper River. We had pictures taken outside with the bridge in the back ground and they are gorgeous! There is a large patio as well as a few spots for an outdoor ceremony. There is a bridal room there that has a couch and mirror/sink. It was nice to have to put our bags. Lindy was great to work with and was very helpful! We showed up when they first reopened with out an appointment and she was kind enough to show us around and we booked that day. Such an amazing place!
Flowers: Branch Design Studio
I am so happy that I met Whitney with Branch! When I met with her I showed her a few pictures of bouquets that I liked but did not want an exact replica. She put together the most beautiful arrangements! My good friend also used her in May and her flowers were gorgeous as well and we had two totally different styles. Mine was more vintage with light pinks and yellows and hers was more bright colors with yellows and greens. I would highly recommend Branch!
Dress: Bridals by Jodi
The staff at Bridal's by Jodi were so helpful! I never felt like they were being pushy, and they made me very comfortable. It was our first stop and even though we decided on a dress I wanted to go to a few other places just to make sure. We ended up going back the same afternoon to order my dress (Allure 8800). I received SO many compliments on my dress! It looked much more expensive than it was.
Alterations: Stitch Witch
I went with Stitch Witch based on several recommendations even though I had heard negative things about the owner. I was fortunate enough to have someone else do my alterations, which came out perfect, but my encounters with Roberta (the owner) were less than pleasant. She treats her staff like crap and is extremely rude.
Hair/Makeup: Vanity Salon
I booked Shirley at Vanity Salon early on based on recommendations from my wedding planner. She ended up moving out of state due to her husband's job, but agreed to come back for my bridal portraits and wedding. She did an amazing job on my hair both times. It was exactly what I wanted. When I went for my bridal portrait hair and makeup, I had my makeup done first. I did the airbrush, which is amazing. However, the girl doing my makeup didn't ask if I had any say in what I wanted, she just did what she thought looked good. The mascara she used was clumpy and looked awful. The rest of the eye makeup was way too dark. Shirley tried to touch it up for me. On some of my bridal portraits my photographer actually had to touch up around my eyes because it was so dark. For the wedding, I went with a different makeup artist from Vanity, Shauna. She did my makeup for my friends wedding and I was very happy with it. She did a fabulous job on my makeup as well as all of my girls. We all did the airbrush. My mom also did the airbrush and was not happy with it. It seemed to not have as much coverage as her normal makeup and she looked better when she did her makeup herself.
Caterer: Charleston Tides (through the Marina Variety Store)
My dad is friends with the owners, but I was still hesitant about using them because they have not done as many weddings as a lot of the other caterers in Charleston. The food was delicious! We have had so many compliments on the food!
DJ: Carry a Tune DJ
Richard was wonderful to work with. He replied to emails quickly and even sent me a form to fill out with song choices, etc. We met the week of the wedding to go over everything. He did such an amazing job with the music choices. He knew what songs to play based on what the guests came to the dance floor to, etc. I would highly recommend him!
Photobooth: Shutterbooth
The photobooth was so much fun! We did the package where guests get a copy and a copy goes into a scrapbook for us and they sign it. We used this as our guest book. It was so fun to look through the album! We also received a disk with all of the photos on it and they post them all of the website. All of the guests seemed to love it!
Cake: D'lish
We decided to use Molly based on her reviews as well as the amazing taste of her cakes. We were able to try several different flavors and icings. She also allows you to do different flavors without additional costs. I sent Molly 3 different cakes that I liked and what aspects of each that I wanted in our cake. She ended up going on my pinterest and seeing the cakes I pinned and created something from that, which was nothing like what I told her I wanted. She corrected it and sent us 3 different cake designs to choose from. So, when we arrived to the reception around 6:45 and did our first dances, we went to speak with the guests. It was at that time that I noticed that the cake was leaning. We ended up having to cut the cake right after the food stations opened because my wedding planner was afraid the cake was going to fall on the floor! Although the cake was delicious, we were upset that the cake had to be cut so early. The cake was gorgeous and I would have loved if it could have been displayed longer. The Tuesday after the wedding, Molly sent my mom and me an email apologizing and stating that she was concerned about the weight of the tiers but did not want to call me 24-48 hours before the wedding and upset me. I would have happily changed the design of the cake if she knew there would be a problem. Since then, Molly has refused to take any responsibility for the cake issue and has a different response in each email as to why it's not her fault. Yes, it's hot and humid in July, but it was no more hot than normal and the cake was in a well airconditioned room. I truly think the weight of the tiers was just too much. Again, the cake tasted amazing, but I wish that for the price we paid for the cake, we would have been able to enjoy it longer.
Photography: Amy Prikazsky Photography
I love Amy! She did such an amazing job with all of our pictures. We did an engagement session with her at the beginning of the year in downtown Charleston at the battery, rainbow row, and some of the cobblestone streets. She was so great to work with and made us feel relaxed. We did my bridal portraits at Thomas Bennett House. Those pictures turned out great as well. As I stated earlier, Amy edited under my eyes since my makeup came out so dark in some of the pictures. We received our wedding portraits this past Saturday and they are beautiful! She got so many great shots. She sends the disk for all of the pictures, so you are able to get them printed out where ever you want. For the wedding, we have 4 disks of pictures! She also makes 2 extra copies of the wedding picture CDs for family, etc. Again, I could not be happier with the amazing job that Amy did!
Videographer: Life in Rewind
This is a partial review since I have only seen the trailer for our wedding video, but from what I've seen so far, it is amazing! I am so glad I decided to get a videographer and can't wait until we get the full version.
Suits/Bridesmaid dresses: Charleston Tuxedo
I had already chosen the bridesmaid dresses so that was easy! We went with an Alfred Sung style and the dresses were beautiful. They arrived fast with enough time for alterations. We also had the suits rented from Charleston Tux. Some of the suits didn't fit as well as others and some of the pants were too long. Not all of the groomsmen were fitted at Charleston Tux since they were out of town, and that could be the reason for the fitting issues. They did do the minor alterations to make them fit better. The prices were great and the staff is very helpful!
Mother of Bride dress: Bridal House of Charleston
I know it's weird to mention where my mom got her dress, but considering the circumstances, I felt it necessary. My mom decided on a dress with an expected arrival date of late June. When she ordered it she didn't love it but was unable to find anything else that she liked (she's very picky). The day prior to her first fitting she tried the dress on for me and it had a spot on it. We left it and when we arrived at the Bridal House they tried to get it out. While we were waiting for it to dry, they mentioned they could call the designer to see if they had anything in her size that they could ship or she could pick from the samples in the store and they would just do a swap. Thankfully, they had just received a new shipment in and my mom found a dress that we both loved! They just swapped it out for her and her alterations were done in a week. Such wonderful customer service!!
Invitations: Open House
The staff was very helpful in helping us choose our invitations. I thought I wanted one thing but ended up going with something that was totally different. A few months before the wedding, we decided there were a few more people we wanted to invite, but we were out of invitations. Open House ended up taking the invitations and essentially made a copy of it. It obviously was not the same exact look, but it was close enough!
I hope these are helpful to someone!!