Here are my vendor reviews! I'll be leaving for my honeymoon this weekend so I wanted to get these done as soon as possible since others' reviews helped me so much during my planning. My day was perfect. The few small things that didn't go perfectly were so minor that they didn't matter to me at all in the end. You'll notice most of my vendors have excellent 'grades' because I really did have an amazing experience with most of them!
Ceremony: St. Theresa's Church (Trumbull) C
Honestly, the only reason they aren't 'graded' lower is because the Church is gorgeous and the priest who officiated our ceremony was great. They were very difficult to work with from the very beginning when I tried getting cost information and they gave me the run-around. No one I talked to was able to give me answers at first. Eventually the wedding coordinator contacted me. She was responsive when I had questions and I was excited to finally meet her at the rehearsal. At the rehearsal, she wasn't prepared or friendly at all. Everyone agreed that she was rude to us. She also didn't have the Prayers of the Faithful that I had written, so my cousin wasn't able to practice his reading. The morning of the wedding, she e-mailed me to tell me that she printed the reading. My cousin gets up there and it's no where to be found. Not a huge deal in the long run, but I was a little disappointed that the one personal touch I added to the ceremony wasn't used. I also felt bad for my cousin who was really nervous when he was up there since he ended up reading basic prayers that he had never practiced. Overall, not a great experience and they were the biggest cause of stress for me during planning. But I have to admit I'll be happy about the beautiful photos I'll have from there.
Reception Venue: Cascade (Hamden) A+++
Everyone at Cascade was wonderful to work with during the entire planning process (almost 2 years)! The best decision we made was to have our reception at Cascade. I can't thnk of a more amazing venue to have had our wedding (and I looked at plenty!). The ballroom and grounds are beautiful and we've heard nothing but great things from our guests about the ambience and food (I'm still craving the jalapeno poppers and crab cakes we had as appetizers!) Cascade really went above and beyond: They met with us after normal hours several times when the only time we could make it was after work. They also threw in some extra Portuguese appetizers when they found out the majority of our guests were Portuguese. They were always making sure we had everything we needed the night of our wedding. I'm already trying to think of a reason to have another party at Cascade... maybe a future anniversary party?!
Photographers & Videographer: King Vincent Storm A+++
Vinny and Ann-marie were amazing to work with. I haven't received the professional photos yet, but Vinny showed me some shots on his camera throughout the day and I could tell they were beautiful. (I was also extrememly happy with our E-pics). They were wonderful people to spend our wedding day with. They kept us on schedule and got a ton of shots. I wanted a specific shot outside of Cascade as the sun was setting, and they made sure to grab us when the lighting was perfect. Ann-Marie was great about making sure my dress (with its long train) and my veil looked good at all times and organizing everyone. We also did video through them and got a good deal for booking both. I'm very excited to see all the results as I know they will do a fantastic job.
Cake: J-Cakes (North Branford) A+++
I was so impressed with our cake! Even though I came up with the design I wanted, I was still floored when I actually saw the end result. It looked even better than I had imagined and tasted great! They have a huge variety of flavors to choose from. We went with half strawberry shortcake filling and half canolli filling. I had alot of guests tell me that they ate their whole piece of cake when they usually don't eat the cake or only have a bite.
Florist: Candi's Floral Creations (North Branford) A+++
DJ: David Rossi (Powerstation Events) A
We loved David. He was very energetic and just a great guy to talk to. He played the songs we asked him to and kept people dancing the whole night... That was a big accomplishment since alot of our guests are not big on dancing at all! We were very happy with him.
Uplighting/Gobo monogram light: Powerstation Events A
Our uplighting and Gobo looked awesome! It definitely added to the overall atmosphere of the room and everyone was really impressed
Hair & make-up: Dana Bartone & Co. (Lauren and Amy) A+
Another vendor that surpassed my expectations. I could not have asked for better people than Lauren and Amy to keep my calm the morning of the wedding. I wanted to change a few things from my hair trial so I e-mailed Lauren. She flawlessly created the style I wanted. She made sure every girl was happy with her hair, and everyone looked amazing. I also loved my make-up. Amy was so good at applying the perfect makeup based on people's skin tones. I loved my make-up at the trial but had got a slight tan between then and my wedding day. I didn't even say anything about it, but Amy noticed that I was a bit darker. I could tell that she changed some of the coloring accordingly, and I was beyond thrilled with my wedding day make-up. I'm positive I will never look that beautiful again unless I have Lauren and Amy doll me up again! haha
Transportation: Lindsey Limo A-
We rented a limo for the bridal party (and me before the ceremony) and a town car for me and H (after the ceremony). One of the drivers was excellent. He wasn't intrusive at all but kept checking that we had everything we needed- water, champagne, etc. He missed the entrance to the Church so it took a little while to turn around, but we ended up getting there right on time so it wasn't a big deal at all. The driver that H and I had for our town car though would not stop talking to us about his life. It was fine to a certain point, but H and I were hoping to just have time to talk with each other right after we were married, and it took him a while to get the hint. When we were taking photos at the park in between our ceremony and reception they followed us with a cooler which was nice. They were on time for everything and the limo had a really cool seat:
Overall a good experience and I would recommend them.
Dress & BM Dresses + Alterations : Julie Allen Bridals (Newtown) B+
I got my dress at Julie Allen's because I had the best experience there of all the bridal shops I visited. The consultants are all very helpful and friendly and they have an excellent selection of dresses. I had an issue because they were supposed to order the petite for me (I'm pretty short), but they forgot to write it down and ended up ordering the regular size, which ended up being about a foot too long. My dress had alot of detail on the bottom that would have been compromised if we hemmed the dress that much. They admitted their mistake and ordered the petite version of the dress (while keeping the original dress in the shop to ensure I'd have a dress in case the petite didn't come in on time). Everything worked out in the end but I just wish they would have been more careful with the original order since they were the ones who suggested I should get the petite and I agreed. All of my BMs ordered their dresses from there too and didn't have any problems.
Tuxes: Modern Formals (Southington) A
Overall a great experience and friendly customer service. They made all the guys try on their tuxes when they picked them up, and there was only one small problem with my dad's shirt being way too big. They didn't have the right size in the store so the owner brought over a new shirt to my dad that same night (2 days before the wedding).
Save-the-Date Magnets & Invitations: Stacie at By Invitation Only (Wolcott) A
I didn't trust myself to DIY these. We met Stacie at a bridal show and got a 20% discount off invitations (I think if you just mention the discount, then she'll give it to you)
She has a cute shop in the basement of her house. She was so nice and helpful. She always responded to any questions right away and kept me updated as to when everything was supposed to come in.