My Wedding Vendors Review

equevedo

Hi Everyone, 

I just got married on July 10th, and wanted to let everyone know about vendors in case someone is looking for reviews...I loved all of my vendors and would recommend all of them.

Venue: Darlington House - This is an amazing venue, especially if you want to have the ceremony and reception in one place. The gardens are lovely and do not require much decoration from you at all in terms of florals. I did not do anything extra in the ceremony courtyard as it's already really beautiful. The only negative was that I had to rent all the tables and chairs, but I liked that as I was able to make my vision a reality with renting specific items.

Catering: Continental Catering - they were amazing and very cost effective. All of my guests complimented how great the food and presentation was. I had three different food stations during the reception - seafood, Cuban food and a mash potato station. I also had a cocktail hour with tray passed appetizers and a cheese station. My menu was about $38 a head (not counting tax and service charge) and the bar was only $7 a head as I was able to supply all of the alcohol. (Saved a lot of money by going to Costco and the San Diego Wine Company.)

Photographer/Invitation Designer: Studio Castillero - they were the best decision we made during our wedding planning. Rico and Rachel Castillero are a young hip married couple who take amazing photos and are a joy to work with. I highly recommend them. Our save the date and invitations were also beautiful and creative. Check out their website and blog athttp://www.studiocastillero.com/

Florist: Rae Florae - Paula, the owner of this company, does amazing work and will work with whatever budget available. Everyone loved the centerpieces, which had cut up oranges in the vases and then had a mixed bouquet of flowers on top. I loved my bouquet and my bridesmaids bouquets. Highly recommended.

Cake: Sweet Cheeks - The cake was so delicious and beautiful! They also made a grooms cake that looked like a baseball and had the Red Sox logo on it. We ended up with four flavors and two fillings in each flavor. So yummy! We enjoyed eating leftover cake for a few days.

Officiant: Pastor Mike - At first I was a bit worried because his email was not working well, but Pastor Mike was so great. He is a nice kind gentleman who moved our guests to tears during the ceremony. Really enjoyed meeting with him leading up to our wedding.

DJ: TNT Mobile DJ - Troy Cook was awesome. He made a whole Boston themed music sequence and had the dance floor really going. People complimented our music choices. We did give Troy a lot of requests, but he was great about playing our obscure music choices.

Ceremony Music: Impresario Music - My husband's only demands were open bar and live music for the ceremony. We hired a violinist and cellist from Impresario Music. They were so wonderful. I could hear them playing leading up to the ceremony and it sounded like heaven.

Hairdresser/Make Up Artist: Teresa Piazza - I have been going to Teresa for a year leading up to my wedding to test her out. She is wonderful and really relaxing to be around. The day of my wedding, she came to my hotel and did my hair and make up along with my mother and my sister's hair and make up. Great job! She is very patient and will make changes along the way if you are not satisfied. I was satisfied so no adjustments were necessary.

Well, that's about it. I hope this helps someone out there who is wedding planning! Also, I did not have a formal wedding coordinator, but my good friend who has planned events with me at work (I'm an event planner at SDSU) helped me a lot. She should be a wedding coordinator, and wants to one day open her own wedding planning business. If you need help with DIY stuff for weddings, let me know and I will refer you to her. A lot of my vision would not have come true without her help.

Let me know if you would like more information on any of the vendors listed above!
Good luck in your wedding planning!