We just got married on July 3rd, and it was amazing! Everything went perfectly, and our vendors were awesome.
First of all--
The Manor House: We had our ceremony and reception there. It was AMAZING. Yes, it was expensive, but I did not have to worry about a thing, literally. If you're curious about the final prices for things (for our wedding with 212 guests) PM me. I freaked out a little bit because we had a two add-ons the day before the wedding, but they were very accomodating, and it was fine (it helped that I also had a couple cancellations right before, as well, I'm sure). We worked with Sherri, and she was always great about getting back to me with any questions I had quickly, and she was super nice. We got married in the gazebo, and it was beautiful. All the flowers they have around were awesome because we did very little to decorate outside--it's pretty enough as it is. We did a sit-down dinner to save a little money, and it was SO good. Our choices were the chicken marsala or prime rib, with sides of green beans almondine and roasted red potatoes--I've heard tons of people rave about our food. I was a little worried that it would be cold or something since it would all have to be prepared at once, but it was fine.
A Flying Buttercream: Awesome. The cake was so good--we did three flavors: red velvet/buttercream, chocolate/raspberry filling, and white/strawberry filling. It was beautiful, and Tiffany was great to work with. Plus, she was very affordable.
A+Queen City DJs: Brad was great. He was very easy to email with questions, and very nice. At the last minute, (seriously, the day before) I asked if we could get two microphones for the ceremony, and it was no problem. People danced all night, and it was so much fun. H made a request for a song he didn't have during the reception, and he got it right away.
A+Bridal and Formal: I got my dress and we got the BM dresses here. I worked with (uh oh...I don't really remember her name...) Lacrecia? She actually found my dress for me, and it was one I never would have picked myself. I went on a weekday (I think a Tuesday afternoon) last August, and it wasn't busy at all. My dress was by "Forever Yours" and it was actually less expensive than any of the dresses I liked at David's Bridal. I ordered my dress in mid-August, and it came in in mid-January, exactly when they said it would. We knew we wanted Alfred Angelo dresses for the BMs, and when we went back in December, the salesperson pulled every AA BM dress they had for my girls to try on. So easy. We ordered them at the end of January, and they were in in early May.
AAlterations, Beverly Crain: She was amazing, and very affordable. She did my dress and one of the BM dresses. My bustle was fantastic! If you want her contact info, PM me!
AMusic, hair, and flowers were all family friends, so I don't really have a vendor to review there. If you need someone though, I know my musicians (a violin and classical guitar) do weddings pretty often and I can get their information.
Zazzle.com for invitations: Worked out great. I got a lot of compliments on our invites, even though I didn't think they were anything super special. The printing and colors on them were very pretty, though. I had no way of knowing when they were coming though, but I ordered them in plenty of time and I believe they came in about two weeks.
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Vistaprint.com for STDs: Again, great. We did a postcard with one of our e-pics, and turned out great. Very easy to do.
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My accessories: My veil was from valuveil.com, they were awesome and cheap. Shoes from Zappos.com, again, amazing. Garter from sewuniquegarters.com, and they were great. I got a super cute Mario garter! All
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Men's Wearhouse: The guys got their tuxes from here, and as far as I know, no problems. H was totally in charge of that, though, so if you have any more specific questions about it, PM me and I'll ask him!
Fred Meyer Jewelers: We got our wedding bands from here. They were fantastic, and I'd recommend them. Much more affordable than anywhere else we looked.
AOur cake!!
A good view of the bustle
All the girls
The gazebo
I would absolutely recommend any of these vendors, they had it completely under control. I was a pretty hands-off planner, and once I told them what I wanted, it was completely taken care of.
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me, or page me over on the July '11 board! :-D