Hello all, here are my reviews from our lovely wedding day! (Almost) everything went off without a hitch, and we had a
great time. We did a budget wedding with 50 guests for under 10k.
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Photographer: Ron Wood Photography - Jamie Bristow; A++
When we met with Jamie for the first time at the Ron Wood studio downtown, we knew we had met our photographer. It was abundantly clear to us that she really understood what we wanted. Throughout planning and engagment photos and the like, Jamie was very good at responding to us. We absolutely love all of the photos we got from our engagement shoot as well as from the wedding. At the wedding, we were shocked when we saw that she and her second shooter had a laptop with photos from the ceremony set up on the bar at the reception! Everything looked amazing, even with zero editing! I believe that is the mark of a truly talented photographer.
All of our wedding photos were up on the Ron Wood site in less than a week - we were able to peruse them during some downtime during the honeymoon and were really blown away with how wonderfully the day was captured. I cannot recommend Ron Wood Photography and Jamie enough.
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Hair: Corey Adams A++
Corey has been cutting and dying my hair for the last 4+ years. When it came time to think about where to get my hair done for my wedding, it was a no-brainer. After getting engaged, I immediately made appointments for myself and my Maid of Honor. Later, I added appointments for my mom and the MOG. I went and got my hair cut the last time about 4 weeks before the wedding, which happened to coincide with my Bachelorette party. When she heard that, she insisted on styling my hair for the night - it was super sexy! Corey is located in the Salon Lofts in Kenwood, so on the day of the wedding, we all went and had brunch at the First Watch nearby, then went as a group to get our hair done. Corey did a fabulous job on everyone, and totally didn't mind that we brought extra chairs and that I was doing my own makeup and drinking champagne. Corey is the best, hands down.
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Ceremony Venue: Heritage Village Museum; A
The Heritage Village Museum was exactly what we wanted. A great place for a small wedding with abundant options for photographs. The space was beautiful - and airconditioned (we were in the Somerset Church) - and we were able to decorate the day ahead at the rehearsal, which made our day-of that much easier. Mary came on board part of the way through the planning process, but was very easy to work with. The only downside to the venue was the walk all the way back to the church, which we thought we had figured out...
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Guest Shuttle: Executive Transportation; F
Executive Transportation came recommended for their reasonable pricing. I was very excited to have found a place that wouldn't break the bank or make us use their services for 3+ hours when all we needed was a shuttle for about an hour. However, when it came down to it, the driver didn't know what car they were supposed to bring (about an hour before the ceremony he called to see if we wanted a limo or a car - we said car, like discussed). Part of the way through pre-wedding photos I noticed my elderly grandfather walking down the gravel road. I realized that the shuttle had never showed up. I was livid.
Executive Transportation may be good for getting people to the airport, but I would never trust them with something as important as a wedding day.
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Ceremony Officiant: MarriageChaplain.com - Rev. Paul Ravenscraft; A+
Rev. Ravenscraft was extremely patient with us throughout the planning process. He also was very open to our non-traditional wedding - he never tried to steer us one way or another, just asked questions and made recommendations based on our needs. He was very prompt in his email responses - even when we (unfortunately) were not. Our marriage ceremony was exactly what we wanted!
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Reception Venue: Raffel's Catering, Blue Ash Banquet Hall; A
Raffel's is one of the few catering companies in the area that quotes you the out-the-door price. They include tax, gratuity and all those other 'gotchas' up-front. This was one of our main selling points. Also, the banquet hall was the perfect size for our smaller wedding. It was still a bit large (it seats approx 150, while we had 50) but just about anywhere would have felt the same. Throughout the planning process, Maggie Raffel was happy to answer our questions, and did so promptly. We were able to plan a tasting easily, which was extremely helpful considering my DH's erratic work schedule. The food the day-of was very tasty, and totally worth the money - also, we felt it did not differ extremely from the food presented to us at our tasting. I would recommend this family business to anyone - especially since they also do outside catering as well!
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DJ: Agency Entertainment; C-
Since we were doing a budget wedding and much of that budget was allocated to the photographer and food, we were looking for an especially reasonable DJ. However, to throw a wrench in things, DH wanted Karaoke as well. It seemed that Agency Entertainment was up to the task. Throughout planning, Michael Crisp was very easy to work with and even mailed me a Karaoke book to look through. On the day-of, the DJ was very adept at directing people's attention and played everything we asked for. However, we did have some technical issues with the Karaoke and they ended up not even having a working version of the song my DH was going to sing, so the Karaoke was a bust as far as he's concerned.
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Baker: Cakertainment; A-
Amy was very receptive to all of our ideas during planning and followed through very nicely. We made our own cake topper and placed it on a 6" round base to distribute the weight. I emailed Amy to let her know our plan for this, and she said this was ok. However, the day of I found that the top layer of the cake was also 6" round. It wasn't a huge deal, but as an artist myself, I didn't care for the aesthetic it made. I just wish she had reminded me of the size of the top layer so we could have made an adjustment.
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Night of Accomodations: Best Western Premier Mariemont Inn; A
Because we had so few guests and even fewer who were from out of town, we did not do a hotel block. However, we did splurge a little and get a nice hotel for the wedding night. We already lived together, so I didn't want to go home and fall into "at home" mode. So, we got the King Suite at the Mariemont Inn. This room was awesome, and perfect for the wedding night. The room was complete with a huge jacuzzi tub
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All in all we had a great and unforgettable day and night!!