October 11, 2009
Life has just settled down so I can write this! Sorry for the delay- I loved reading reviews when I was in the planning process.
Hope it helps!
Kathy
Wedding/Reception Location: The Inn at Middleton
There was a change in staff right before the wedding that caused some hiccups; otherwise reasonably priced, easy to work with, beautiful back drop, yummy food (I had 7 calls the day after the wedding asking for the fried green tomato recipe), and we could bring our own booze.
Photographer: Jeni Rone, Sea Star Arts http://seastararts.smugmug.com/
LOVED Jeni!! She was my favorite vendor to work with and she captured everything!! My groom had stomach virus the day of our wedding so she did a fantastic job getting him to smile through his nausea. Our pictures are here: http://seastararts.smugmug.com/Weddings/Kathy-Seay-and-Dave-Welborn/10431959_eAk6U#747770719_iLBoA
Cake: Michelle from Piggly Wiggly, Seaside Farms, Mt Pleasant.
Our wedding cake was three flavors with three fillings for no extra charge and she was able to make our icing shimmer like my dress. Beautiful! The grooms cake was a beautiful brownie cake with cheesecake filling.
Flowers: Same Piggly Wiggly as above. I had a really hard time with flowers- I knew what I wanted but was not able to find an exact picture and couldn't find a vendor who duplicated my hard to explain vision. I went in to talk with Michelle who sent me over to their floral department. I saw another bride's bouquet and knew it was the one! It worked out perfectly! I would have never guessed that my supermarket bouquet would be the one I had always imagined.
Wine/Beer: Same Piggly Wiggly! They were wonderful about returning what we didn't use.
Pumpkins: Piggly Wiggly- they matched the competitor's lowest price and let me pick out my perfect pumpkins.
DJ: Rhett with Jay Maxwell: LOVE him!! We wanted each member of the bridal party to enter to a different song, dubbed in the right spot and he made it happen! He also found a very hard to track down tune for the groom/mom dance.
Hair/Makeup: Jennifer Graffeo, Save the Date studio. jenngraffeo@yahoo.com Another vendor who took my idea to a whole other level- much better than I could explain that I wanted.
Spray Tan: Sun Station Tanning. The best spray tan! I had always used Ultra Tan and was never happy with my orange color. Sun Station was natural! And they understood that I was a bride and was running late and stayed open after hours for me. Highly recommend!
Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas. Coupon codes saved me a fortune!
Calligraphy: Karen Campbell- 803-422-4094. She lives in Columbia and is happy to ship. She does gorgeous work and was more budget friendly than any Charleston vendor that I priced.
Rehearsal Lunch (instead of dinner) was one of the best ideas I had. It was before the rehearsal so people were on time to the rehearsal and they had already eaten so they were happy and not doing the usual "when are we going to be done so I can eat" complaining. Poogan's Porch- my favorite Charleston restaurant.
Rehearsal Invitations: Shutterfly. I had a coupon for 12 free cards and it was a small number so it worked out perfectly.
Save the Date: VistaPrint. I had no idea what invitations I wanted to use so I went with the free 100 postcards. I wish I had known my color scheme so that it would have matched better, but oh well. It served the purpose and the budget well.
Alterations: A Stitch Witch. She is a sewing genius, she stays busy so don't wait to the last minute. She also steamed my dress so I didn't have to make another stop between alterations and ceremony day.
Rings: Mine: Zales outlet, his: Jewelry Warehouse, Columbia, SC.
Wedding Dress/Viel: The Castle, Spartanburg, SC. My mom lives there so it was easier to go shopping with her. Great dress, fantastic price!
Bridesmaid Dresses: Dillard's, easter clearance rack.
Groom/the Guys: The Black Tie, Mt Pleasant. They were very patient. We had two groomsmen who live in Germany and they worked with us to get the measurements and also gave us a personal number to call in case we had a problem since we were getting married on a Sunday.
Hankies for the parents: Harbor Specialities, East Bay Street
I had a wonderful wedding planning experience! I highly recommend all the vendors that I used.
Congratulations and good luck!