Back from our wonderful honeymoon and settled in - now to write vendor reviews: Overall, the day was absolutley phenomenal! Although it did choose to actually rain on our day (the only day of rain in months) - it did let up just in time for the wedding ceremony!
Ceremony Location - Heritage Village, Sharon Woods (A+)
This is such a lovely location! We got married in the historic chapel that is located in a very neat historic village. Small and quaint (only holds 99), but the charm is unbeatable! Dorothy Moenich at Heritage Village was extremely helpful prior to and the day of the wedding. She was such a great hostess to our wedding party, family and guests. Check it out at
http://www.heritagevillagecincinnati.org/wedding.html.
Reception Location - Mill Race Banquet Center, Winton Woods (A)
This fit in perfectly with our somewhat charming rustic theme. The location is righ on the Mill Race Golf Course and the reception room is wonderful complete with a huge stone wood-burning fireplace. The staff was very helpful prior to and the day of the reception. They set up our centerpieces even more beautifully than I had imagined! And the food was outstanding - some of the best food I have ever had at a wedding! The only slight thing that happened was that they served Bud Lite instead of Miller Lite at the beginning of the reception (even thought I specifically requested Miller). They did switch it over later in the evening. I figured if this is the worst thing that happened - things went wonderfully!
Photographer - Innovatory Photography, Joe and Amanda Porter (A++)
Joe was just starting his business when I booked him last year - so I got a KILLER deal compared to what he charges now. We did face a challenge with the rain, so didn't get to use the historic village we were getting married in for scenery - but Joe and Amanda were able to get great pictures throughout the historic house the bridal party was getting ready in. They are so creative! They were both very easy to work with - such a sweet couple! They put together a few of the pics and set them up on a laptop during the reception so that guests could get a sneak peek - so beautiful! I can't wait to see the rest of the pics! For a preview, visit
www.innovatoryphotography.com. Click on login, choose Mary + David/married and put 10022010 as the login:)
Cake - Flying Buttercream (A++++)
Tiffany Tomeo was wonderful to work with - and her cake is the most delicious I have ever tasted. The best buttercream icing I have ever had! And she is VERY cost friendly compared to the others that I looked at. Tiffany was also very helpful when I ran into issues with a gold cake stand/gold cake topper, etc and was able to assure me that I would love what she did with the cake.....and I absolutely loved it. Very simple and classic! And the guests RAVED about the taste.
www.flyingbuttercream.com
Flowers - Affordable Wedding Creations (A+++++++)
I can not say enough good things about working with Inga at Affordable. She had such great ideas to build off of my vision for the bouqets. She was absolutely the most affordable florist I find (even compared to Kroger) - and I got alot of compliments on how beautiful they were. My bridal bouqet is still going strong in a vase in my kitchen!
DJ - David Limbacher (A+++++)
David was such a pleasure to work with! He helped the reception move seamlessly between the events of the evening and was such a great DJ. He kept the party going with great music! Even my photographer commented on how great he was to work with!
Tuxes - Men's Wearhouse (C-)
While things started off well - easy for the initial consultation and setting up the tuxes....but all down hill from there. Every time I, my fiance or a groomsmen went to the office or called, it took 30 minutes for them to find our information. They told me they had no record of us when I went in to make a small change to colors of vests. Completely not organized! They also messed up the billing royally. My fiance paid for everyone's tux (as their groomsmen gift) and they ended up charging my fiance again for his when he went to pick them up. They even charged a $20 fee because we had originally listed that we were having our ring bearer fitted - but we ended up not sending him to get measured and went with a black suit instead. Then, some of the tuxes were missing cuff links. The guys ended up looking great (thus not a worse rating), but the experience working with them was not great.
I think that is about it! I did my own centerpieces and things - and they turned out great. Keep an eye out for some items for a Fall wedding to go on sale:)