Its taken me a couple weeks to get around to reviewing my vendors, so here goes:
Elegant Fare Catering: EXCELLENT!! Julie, who was the sales/catering manager assigned to my location- Cincinnati Nature Center's Krippendorf Lodge, was amazing! Her staff didn't want us to lift a finger on our special day. From Julie helping me "fluff" my dress before I walked down the aisle, to the catering staff boxing up all our food AND decorations after it was all over- I couldn't have asked for anything else. Everyone raved about the food, both the vegan choice and the buffet food.
Ryan Kellinghaus' 513 DJs/DJ Tom: DJ Tom was great! At first, communication was a little sparse, but when the date got closer, was much easier to get a hold of. I loved being able to make my playlists on their website, as well as pay my balance as I wished through a PayPal link on their site. It was easy and provided a great time! I wish I had extended the playtime another hour, but it being a Sunday, it couldn't last forever I guess. DJ Tom did an excellent job playing my "must-haves" and filling in between with songs that complimented my choices. I had mostly indie music for my ceremony, crooners for cocktail/dinner, and all the classics for the reception. One negative was that he didn't have a song that one of the bridesmaids requested at the reception which was a current Top 40 Hip Hop song, however he was able to get all the off-the-wall indie songs that I put on my playlist ahead of time. All-in-all, GREAT!!!
Bon Bonerie Cupcakes/Cake: I had two flavors of cupcakes instead of a full cake, then a small top tier carrot cake that I had them decorate with fall colored sugar leaves. Everyone was snapping pictures and said it was too beautiful to to be the first to dig in. I, however, had long awaited that carrot cake, so I had no reservations. Both the carrot cake and cupcakes were delicious and aesthetically perfect!!!
Bamboo Salon: LEAVES A LOT TO BE DESIRED. I went here since it was close to my location for my bridesmaids and I to get a set of gel nails done. Luckily only one of my girls could make it to the appointment on time, because when we got there, only 1 girl was there. During our appointment time, she rushed both of our nails and ran back and forth between a pedicure that was in progress when we arrived. Our nails ended up crooked, which we had to file down ourselves later because our appointment ran late and we had a rehearsal to be at. Supposedly, the other nail girl went home sick, but it would have been nice to get a phone call to let us know ahead of time that it would put our appt late. Ugh. Live and learn.