Our wedding was this past Saturday and it was amazing. Everything we could have ever wanted, and more (like 9 inches of snow during the reception!) I would reccommend any of our vendors without hesitation, my husband and I are actually kind of sad we probably won't see any of them again because they were all just so great to work with!
A Villa Louisa (Reception) - Cory is amazing to work with. We loved her from the first time we met her, she listened to all of our crazy ideas and then ran with it. Our guests raved about the food, and what I did try was amazing (Cory pretty much made us sit down and eat at one point after we told the waitstaff we didn't need to - and thank god she did! We would have been starving by the end of the night.). She also coordinated flawlessly with the DJ, Photographer, and bakery, which saved us time and effort.
Modern Pastry (cake) - this place is dangerously delicious. It's an Italian bakery in Hartford, and when we went in for our tasting we left with more pastries than any two people should eat alone, but they are just so good! For the wedding, we got cupcakes and a small top tier just for us to cut. Carrot cake with no nuts, no raisins, and cream cheese frosting. We had our own cake topper that they worked with. It was delicious, and they delivered and set up everything at AVL the morning of the wedding. We just had to pick out the cake. They also made sure we had a box to take home the rest of the cake.
Peter Devine with After Hours (DJ) - Pete was wonderful. After Hours has an online portal that you fill out a planner at your leisure, can add music to do not play, try to play, or must play, then go over it with your DJ before the wedding. I was kind of slacking on this, and he followed up with me to make sure we were on the same page. I read a lot of brides complaining about not being able to track down their DJ, and I think I actually did the reverse to him! Our guests liked him, and commented on how he just sort of "got us" and our quirky taste in music. I just learned he does karaoke night on Wednesdays at Shea's in Manchester, so we'll probably go see him there because we just loved him that much.
Lam Photography - We fell in love with Lam the first time we met him. His background is in graphic design, and he obviously loves photography. The albums we looked at were really jumping off the page, just so beautifully put together. He was out of our price range, but we booked him anyway. This was our one splurge. He gave us a discount to put 50% down in cash and we took advantage of that. He offered us a discount to cut the second photographer, but we kept him and are SO glad that we did. Lam dealt with our crazy family (my husband is Filipino, and it's kind of true what they say about Asians and their cameras...) and he didn't even get annoyed with them like we did. We can't wait to see the pictures - we went out in the snow, and he seemed really excited about what he was able to capture. I am disappointed he didn't come to the bar to hang out with us after the wedding, but it was a LONG day and the roads were pretty horrendous, so I can't really blame him for that
Treehugger Organic Salon -
Hair & Make-up - These girls are amazing. I've known the owner, Gina, for years. She and Amanda did all of our hair (myself + five bridesmaids and my mom) and Delida did all of our make-up. In less than three hours! My husband was surprised by how natural my make up looked. He said I looked beautiful but he expected to be able to tell I was wearing make up, so he was pleasantly surprised. my hair withstood a couple snow ball fights, without being crunchy. And all my girls looked beautiful!
Mansion Inn - accommodations - I stayed at this B&B with my parents and bridesmaids Friday night, then with my husband and some of our out of town guests on Saturday. Bruce, the owner, was absolutely lovely to deal with. I saw the Inn in August I think, told him my plan, and booked it for the whole weekend. Breakfast was wonderful both days, and he even whipped up a special dish for one of our friends who was a vegetarian (I'm bad and forgot to tell him.) The morning of the wedding, he even fed a couple extra people that didn't stay over. He also found me an iron and let me use one of the non-guest rooms of the house to press one of my bridesmaid's dresses the morning of the wedding. He really made us feel welcome, and I'm thinking we'll go back for anniversaries!