I read so many vendor reviews on this message board that I promised myself I would write them when the big day was finally over. Well, here they are! Almost all of these vendors were referrals from this message board. I had a bad experience with only one vendor and I wish I would have taken reviews more seriously because the warning signs were there!
Photographer - Dillon Photo - A+
The Dillons are relatively new to the wedding business but super, super talented. They were incredibly easy to work with and the photos came out amazing. I had all my edited images within 3 weeks. I booked them not long after they started shooting weddings and they were featured on Style Me Pretty (I was obsessed with SMP) several times in their first year. The Dillons provided me the photography I never thought I could afford.
Florist - J Morgan Flowers - A+
My floral budget was pretty modest and I interviewed several florists - many of them referrals I got off these boards (Dreamakers, Gerilyn Gianna). Honestly, I liked them all - not sure I could have gone wrong with any of them but Jacqueline Morgan just 'gets it'. I am not sure how to describe it - she has great style and I felt like she really listened to me. She spent the most time with my fiancee and me (by far) just asking about us and our personal style. She was not the lowest quote but literally she blew my socks off with our bouquets and centerpieces. My Event Manager was sick on wedding day which is a panic for any bride but Jacqueline blew in like a fairy godmother and told me not to worry because she would make the place look fabulous (literally this was in the middle of my hair getting done!). She over delivered on what she proposed to us during our first meeting.
DJ - DJ Billman - A+
DJ Billman is fantastic. First off, he is just a super nice guy. In this world, that counts for something.
He is awesome at responded via phone and email. His webiste is user friendly and I planned almost the entire reception on it. He played exactly what I asked and threw in some of his own choices too. He got major bonus points for keeping my very excited nieces and nephews (ages 6,8,10 - rowdy bunch) occupied during the end of the reception. They thought he was the coolest guy ever. He made adjustments on the fly and he know what makes a wedding funy. His prices were also very affordable for the area.
Cake - Lady Bug Cakes - A+
Caroline is a small business based in Palm Beach. She is a VERY talented artist (beyond cakes) so she literally is willing to try anythig you want if you can help her sketch it out. Our wedding cake was very simple (I liked simple, all-white everything so I did not give her much to work with) but she did an adorable football field cake for our rehearsal. The cakes were delicous too! She recently re-launched her webiste and I noticed her prices have increased which they should have - she was literally 1/2 the prices of other bakers when I booked her. I had other tastings set up but once we met Carolina I knew she was the one - she is a very genuine person and our cake tasting was so much fun. She is not a huge professional bakery that will blow you away with their giant kitchen but she has this personal touch that really makes you feel special.
Photobooth - Magical Plan-It Events - F
I already posted a warning on this board. They were a no call/no show to my wedding AND I had already paid in full. I confirmed with them several times and they even called a few weeks in advance to charge me $150 extra because my venue was 2 miles outside of their 60 mile limit. Because I had used a Living Social deal, I was okay with it but then we never heard from them. I had to follow up with them to ask they did not show in which they replied a truck broke down and things like that happen. No apology! I wrote a review on Wedding Wire and they are still disputing that we ever had a contract (whch obvously I do have in writing). This is a total scam so book a reputable vendor.
Paper - Delphine Press - A-
Delphine is an online print press that ran an AMAZING Groupon deal in May. They did an amazing job on my invites, programs, napkins and menus. I gave them an A- because they did not do the color backing on my menu I requested. They reprinted them but they did not come in time. You would never know unless you were me.
Everything is easy to create online and their designers are quick to follow up on your order. They had some bad reviews on Wedding Wire but honestly, I had a great experience with them. They even recommended to make changes to fonts and colors which were great suggestions that improved my order.
Make Up - Hailee Martin - A
Hailee is so much fun to work with and she has great style. She is the type of person you want around on wedding morning. My nieces thought she was so cool with her huge make up case and they say getting their make up done was their favorite part of the day. I liked her becase she was open to suggestions I had - I liked my trial make up but I wanted some changes on wedding day and she listened very closely and made it look absolutely perfect.
My dress vendor was in Orlando so not sure that would be helpful.
I hope this provides great information to other Jupiter brides out there!