The day was perfect - so fun - such a blur!! People are STILL talking about it ; ) My husband and I look back on the day and reflect and we keep saying "It. Was. AWESOME!"
Here's my A-Team:
First - for without her, I simply couldn't have done it: My wedding coordinator, hired for "Day Of" coordination, but she went WAAAAY above and beyond. Colleen Sutton of Ava Rose Event Design: A+++++ I should really pay her more I STILL keep thinking...We just didn't have a big budget to work with (and my then-fiance didn't think we really needed one, did we?) and by the time we hired her, I wasn't sure where that money was going to come from. Best money we spent -- my fiance will vouch for that! She worked with us, knows her stuff, incredibly professional, prompt, and super easy to work with. A great person!
She also saved me when I came to her moping about the fact that I waited too long to decide on whether or not to hire a videographer. By the time I hit the "I can't live without a videographer" stage -- it was 3 weeks before the wedding and every GREAT videographer in Cinci was booked. I was crushed. But then Colleen saves the day and says "Ya know....this company out of Louisville is trying to get into the Cinci market and they sent me some stuff. We should check them out - can't hurt, right?" The rest is history!
Ceremony/Reception Venue: Hall of Mirrors - Cincinnati Hilton Netherland Plaza. I'm not sure I need to gush -- I think it goes without saying (??) but I worked with Hanna Minor. She and her staff were top notch, every step of the way. The big details, the tiny details...all perfection. No "hidden charges" or fees. No uppity attitudes (like someone asked me recently!) Super easy to work with. The food was amazing! The staff - again - amazing, every single one of them. I felt like royalty! A++++++
Officiant: Bill Proud. Simply search for his name on here, you'll see the raves and then you'll find out why: Genuine, warm, gives you exactly what you want, knows his stuff. Professional and on his game. Super easy to work with. Since we weren't marrying in the church, I still wanted a ceremony that was religious & spiritual, with a little bit of "us" thrown in. We got it! A++++++
Photographer: Christina Littleton (out of Dayton area). Another spot-on decision I made. The e-Pics were incredible! Her vision and artistic eye is a gift. Super easy to work with. We were torn on choosing a package (mostly because we felt we couldn't afford what we really wanted) and she REALLY worked with us. She said if only more people would ask -- so DON'T be afraid to ask!! Oh, and did I mention she is just so incredibly sweet?! I can't wait to see the wedding pics....if you want a teaser, you can google her name and check out her blog. We are the first 2 teaser pics on there....I'm pretty sure she will be doing all my future preggo pics, family pics, and any other family event I can convince her to shoot. A+++++
Hair: Jen Nally. AWESOME. Super sweet, professional and mega-talented! Came to US on the wedding day, which was huge for me. Easy to work with, oh, and she reads minds too ; ) (Kidding, but when I went for my trial, I had no picture of what I wanted, only a VERY vague description that, when I finally spat it out, made NO sense at all -- she NAILED it!) A+++++
Make-up: Mollie with Brideface. Again, you search this one and you're gonna see/hear great things. Knows her stuff and made us all look glamorous and pretty without being overdone. Airbrush foundation (which I always wanted to try!), individually placed false lashes (who can't use a boost?!) and it all stayed put. Easy to work with & hilarious to boot! A+++++
Alterations: Stitches By Pauline A++++++ Super sweet. Expert seamstress. I just wish I didn't live so far away from her or I'd have my whole wardrobe tailored ; ) Helped me look more "pretty bride" than "pornstar bride". See my dress gripe below.
DJ: Brennan Scanlon of Music By Request DJ Butlers. There was a LOT of opinions on the DJ vs. band decision amongst the fam. I didn't even shop around much for a DJ -- my requirements were someone who knows what they're doing, can run the show -- and most importantly -- keep the dance floor packed with a big random group of people. (I hate going to wedding receptions where nobody dances, or you're forced out there onto the floor, but just NOT feeling it, but you keep dancing anyway because you feel bad. I didn't want a "pity dance floor", lol!) Brennan TOTALLY delivered. I had people asking me all night "Where'd you find this guy -- I need his card!" Super easy to work with, even when I was emailing or texting him titles of songs just DAYS before the wedding. Oh, and the dance floor stayed PACKED! Great sound system too. A+++++
Flowers: Timothy's Florals. I just plain didn't want to spend a lot of $$$ on flowers because 1) Hello, we ran out of money 4 months ago! and 2) the Hall of Mirrors is so gorgeous, why take away from its beauty & splendor? I did, however, decide I probably needed the bare minimum which were: Bouquets, bouts & corsages, humble lil' centerpieces (some of which doubled as ceremony aisle pieces), 3 flowers for the cake, and a flower-ball-thingy for the flower girl. I kept it simple, just told him I wanted all white Peonies, maybe splash some green in there, and he could do whatever he wanted. The flowers were beautiful! The centerpieces were all different and SO COOL - very modern and just what I wanted. He also worked with me on price, so I appreciated that.
I'm leaving out the pluses because I was slightly disappointed that my bouquet wasn't bigger. I thought I communicated that I wanted it to be BIG. HUGE. A monster bouquet of peonies. It turned out to be a hair bigger than the BMs bouquets. Still gorgeous though. A
Cake: Spoon Fulla Sugar. Eveyrthing with them was PERFECT from the FUN tasting to the finished cake. I handed Mark a picture of what I wanted and my cake turned out EXACTLY like my photo. That was pleasing....but the taste....ooooooohhhh the taste. I have NEVER tasted better wedding cake in my life -- I'm serious! We had so many people tell us that too! We did a layer of carrot cake w/cream cheese filling (boring sidenote: Neither my husband nor I have every been crazy about carrot cake - until we tasted this. SO good that we did our top layer in it too that is awaiting our one year anniversary in our freezer - can't wait for that!) Another tier of chocolate with a mocha whip filling, and a tier of white cake with cream cheese & fresh strawberries filling, all with their Italian Buttercream frosting. It tasted like heaven on a plate. A+++++++++++
Misc: I bought a bunch of stuff on etsy and let me say: I'm a big fan. The invitations, a monogram cake topper, my garter, my clutch, my earrings, my bracelet, a blue feather thingy I wore in my hair.....all the sellers rocked and made quality stuff. A+++++
Wedding Bands: Stafford Jewelers in Florence. We told the guy exactly what we wanted. (My fiance knows a lot about diamonds at this point, so he even specified cut & clarity for each diamond) He quoted us a price (which we then price compared to Blue Nile) and Stafford was right on the money (maybe even $5 or $10 cheaper, something like that). We only did wedding bands, but if I ever get an engagement ring (my first one was stolen, we just never replaced it), we will go back to Stafford. Great service, local, fair prices. A++
Videographer: ICVideo out of Louisville, KY. Chuck & Megan & Preston were really sweet to work with. Since I contacted them so late in the game, I didn't get to go down to meet with them and see all their work, but I could tell by looking at their website they are pros. Our Best Man was making fun of us for hiring a videographer, but when he saw this team show up with their equipment he was like "Whoa.....I take that back dude." I have no idea what our finished product looks like yet, but I have high hopes. I will give them big points for communication, easy to work with, and pricing. We were able to negotiate (not a lot, but a little) and the balance isn't due til after the video is done. Which bought us some breathing time after weeks and weeks of shelling out money ; ) A+++++
So that was my A-Team. Truly great peeps.
Some less than stellar reviews:
My dress: Got it at Fabulous Bridal. I loved that dress. When they measured me, they told me I was an exact size 6. Great! Let's order the 6! "Oh no.." they told me. "You MUST order a size up in case you gain weight, easier to take it in than let it out, blah blah blah". They also offered the option of giving me a custom sized top since er....my cup runneth over. I said "Yes, let's do that. I definitely don't want the chest area to be too small for me". "Oh no....the standard size 8 will be fine." I figured they are the experts, I will trust them. WRONG O. I had alterations done by Pauline and while she greatly improved the fit (she actually added fabric to the neckline for more coverage), I still felt uncomfortable all night long. Shoulda added straps and called it a day. Or better yet, I should've insisted to Fab Bridal to order a bigger top and a smaller body, like i originally wanted. I've decided it's all a big scam (sizing and ordering). I've never met anybody who has gotten a dress that fits them right, despite the numerous measurements from every angle!
In addition, my MIL got her dress there and they worked her over good. Charged her an extra couple hundred $$ for a CUSTOM measurement (this means your dress is made to fit YOUR body, no sizes needed). It came in WAAAY too big. Then they charged her a bunch for rush shipping. THEN they didn't have the dress ready til 2 days before the wedding. When she went in to pick it up (on May 6th) they said "The wedding's not til the 8th". ???? (Were they expecting her to pick it up the day of? Trusting it would suddenly, magically, be right since they'd already screwed up?) So they get a big fat "C" from me. And that's being nice.
I saved the Tuxes for last...we got them from Folchi's and they get a big fat "D". They screwed up the groom's tux. They DIDN'T EVEN HAVE the Best Man's tux (at all. It wasn't wrong, it wasn't dirty...it just plain wasn't there!), they charged FULL price (when they told me it would be $40 less) for our little guys' tuxes (junior GM and RB). Annoying. All this of course, doesn't get addressed til you pick up the tuxes, which resulted in my fiance being late for the rehearsal. Not cool.