Hey ladies! I finally got married June 5. Everything was great and went as planned! Here are my reviews...
Ceremony: All Saints Chapel, NAS Jax: A
Chaplain Bingol was great! He completely designed our programs himself. He was kind of pushy with how he wanted the ceremony to go, but we just kept telling him how we wanted it to go and he was pretty accommodating.
Ceremony Music: Kathy Lynch(organist): C
Kathy does the service each week at the chapel so she was recommended by them. I'm from Gainesville and was to meet with her in Jax one day to sign the contract (which I don't know why she couldn't email or fax me the form). But I get to Jax and she doesn't show up and I can't get in touch with her. My entire trip to Jax was to meet her so it was a trip for nothing. She called me a few days later and all she had to say was that she wrote it down wrong, but she knew it was her mistake. She said the only thing she could offer me was to meet half way next time.
Reception: Officer's Club at NAS Jax: A
The club was awesome! It's a great location on the river and very beautiful. Planning and coordinating with the club was a little difficult b/c the lady in charge (Lyn) was out of the office unexpectedly for a few weeks prior to the wedding and we had to fill in the guy left in charge with all of our plans. Also, a different guy was in charge the day of the event and he approached me during dinner and asked me for the check. I totally understand needing to get paid, but it was kind of rude to ask in the middle of our family dinner. The food was done by their catering service and was delicious!
Photography: Wilson Photography(Jax/St. Augustine): A+++
Mike and Jess are amazing! They're very nice people and they got every shot possible it seemed. They were everywhere w/o being in the way. I've only seen a sneak preview, but their work is amazing. I'm so excited to see all of our pictures!
Music: First Coast DJ's(Jax): A
Michelle is very hard to get in touch with and she was 45 minutes late to our first meeting (which I also made a trip specifically for our meeting), but they did a great job at the reception. They played all of the songs asked to play and they kept to the schedule. They have great prices and were well worth the price.
Florist: Flowers by Shirley(St. Augustine): A+
I worked with Barry. He was great. I pretty much told him to do whatever he wanted and they turned out great. I loved my bouquet. Pretty good prices too!
Dress Alterations: Alterations by Gloria(Gainesville): C
It took them over 2 months to work on my dress. Everytime I went in for my appt they would look at me walk in and keep doing what ever they were doing and not speak to me, which was kind of weird to me. They started working with me at least 15 minutes past the beginning of my appt. Also, the bustle looked horrible and I am not a picky person. I eventually told them not to worry about it and I just didn't really use the bustle b/c it was only 1 week before the wedding. And I should have tried on my dress again before the wedding day b/c I would have noticed that they removed the clip on the top of the zipper so all night I was having to rezip it! It was pretty funny.
Dress: Jay's Bridal(Gainesville): A++
I worked with Ashley and she was amazing!!! She helped in any way she could and was so sweet. The dress was in before they originally thought it would be which was great. They have a great selection of dresses!
Bridesmaids Dresses: David's Bridal(Gainesville): A++
The girls working were always so sweet and helpful! I must have went there a million times and each time they were so kind. The dresses were beautiful too.
Hopefully these reviews will help some of you. I'm sorry it's so long!!!!