Hello Lovely Brides!
My wedding day was a whirlwind! No matter how much you keep in mind to enjoy every minute, it just goes way too fast. I wanted to let you all know about some of the vendors that I was thrilled (and not so thrilled) with:
Venue: The Metropolitan Centre - Canton, OH - C+
The venue itself is lovely and the price is right. HOWEVER...we had multiple problems with the owner. He was very disorganized and messed up our alcohol order (you have to get the alcohol through him; he has the liquor license). The bartenders were absolutely rude to our guests and didn't display the wine options we had especially gotten for the wedding. So people had no idea it was there. We had a ton of food left over, but when my mom went to go get it, she said there wasn't anything left. We think the staff had a party with our alcohol and food. The security guard took a ton of our cookies from the cookie table without me knowing he would take so much. We also paid extra to have the bar on the rooftop open and it never was. We were supposed to have tons of lights out there so people could hang out outside and no one was ever told they could go on the roof. Book here with caution. Be prepared to be on constant watch your wedding day and be willing to follow up multiple times with the owner.
Decor: D's Elegant Events - Canton, OH - B-
If you book at the Metropolitan Centre, you have to use DeDe for your decor. She has a very good eye. HOWEVER, she is extremely hard to get a hold of. We asked for a revised proposal in March and didn't get one until end of July. I met with her several times and was very specific about what we wanted, and she agreed to everything. I was supposed to see a mock up of the tables at the beginning of August...I didn't get to see the decor until my wedding day. She didn't do half of what she said she would do. It was okay but it looked to me like she has thrown the decor together at the last minute. I was not happy. If you use her, be prepared to follow up constantly and be persistant with her.
Food: Dishes by Design - Canton, OH - A+++
I can not say enough good things about Toni Altimore. She was one of the only vendors I never had to stress out about. She was on the ball and was easy to get a hold of. Her food is AMAZING. It doesn't taste like "wedding food" if you know what I mean. It's so flavorful. She makes the best tiramisu I've ever had. If you are able to use whatever caterer you like, I highly recommend booking a tasting with her.
Cupcakes: Baby Cakes Cupcakes - Willoughby, OH - B
I had paid extra to have a petal design done with the frosting on top of the cupcakes and it ended up looking like my 6 year old cousin slapped frosting on them. I was not happy at all. The cupcakes have good flavor to them, but they aren't anything super special.
DJ: The DJ Crew - Akron, OH - A
We had Kevin as our lead DJ. He was fine. He was little cheesy, but I think most DJ's sort of have to be. He was very friendly and the crowd was dancing almost all night. We had a really great grand entrance.
Officiant: Pastor Michael Mangus - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - A++
Pastor Michael was great. We had an amazing ceremony. He is so warm and friendly we were always put at ease around him. He was always available to take our calls/questions/emails. He also puts together a binder with your ceremony and marriage license in it to keep. I can't recommend him highly enough.
Flowers: Baumann's Florist - Stow, OH - A++
Carole did a lovely job with my bouquets. I asked for orange and white asiatic lillies, blue depheniums, and orange alstromeria lillies. She added some orange roses to the bouquets and they turned out amazing. She is a little scattered, but she does a beautiful job.
Alterations: Mentionables, Ltd. - Lakewood, OH - A+++
I went to college with Diana and I can confirm that she is an excellent seamstress. She runs her business out of her apartment. I took my wedding dress to her with no hesitation. She did a beautiful job and my dress fit perfectly. She also made my birdcage veil.
Dress: Doreen Leaf Design - Hartville, OH - A+
I bought my dress from Doreens. They were easy to deal with and professional.
Bridesmaids: Dora's Bridal - Fairview Park, OH - A+
Tuxes: American Commodore Tux - B+
You don't get great service here, but luckily it wasn't vital. They messed up a couple of our orders, but I will give them credit that they are fast in shipping the right things over.
Rings: W. Brown Design - Willoughby, OH - B+
Bill did a wonderful job custom making my engagement ring. My wedding band didn't turn out quite as good and took much longer to make than he originally said. Overall, though, Bill does great custom work.
That's it! The guests never noticed anything gone wrong, so I can honestly say the day was overall a success. If you have any questions about any of the vendors or need more details, please reply or feel free to email me at
kimrcastle@yahoo.com.
Enjoy your wedding day!
Kim