Hey! I don't normally post much, but when I was planning I found the vendor reviews really helpful, so I wanted to pass on my information. We had quite a few extenuating circumstances, and if we did not have the vendors we had, then we would have had a horrible wedding. But luckily we hired the best of the best, and the wedding went off without a hitch. To start off, we got married on May 14, 2011--the day of the torrential storms in NE florida. Luckily, the storms stopped about 30 minutes before our first look, so we were able to get our picutres and still have our ceremony outdoors. Right around the time the storms stopped, a transformer blew, and our venue lost power for about 3/4 the reception.
Venue-- Club Continental
The venue was beautiful, and all of our guests loved it. We worked with Carla leading up to the day, and she was always helpful and friendly with all of her questions. We found out quickly that the best way to get ahold of her is through email since she is meeting with so many people so often. Luckily, Club Continental cooks all of their food with gas, so the down electricity was no problem for the dinner portion of our reception. The only complaints we had were mostly about the power outage. We felt that they were not really prepared for such a drastic power situation, and didnt really have any backup flashlights or anything. Overall we were happy with the staff and the venue, but I hope they prepare a little better in case this happens again.
Day of Coordinator-- Candice Williams
Candice was worth every penny we gave her! She handled all of the power situations with such grace and ease. I know she worked her butt off and was stressed, but she handled everything allowing my mom and I to not worry about one detail during the power outages!
DJ--Justin Fredericks of Florida Wedding DJs
Justin was also worth every penny! What other DJ would show up to a wedding with 5 hours of back up batteries?! We had music and dancing the entire time during the power outage!! Throughout the whole process, Justin was professional and timely. He had great equipment and was calm everytime the power went out, and all of our guests commented how great he was. The wedding would have been a disaster with out him!
Photographer--Dana Goodson Photography
We loved Dana, and all of our guests loved Dana. She takes unbelievable beautiful pictures, and was also able to roll with all of the power outages. She brought plenty of back up lighting, and the pictures I have seen so far are stunning! She was so easy to work with and made my husband and I feel so comfortable.
Make-up--Gemma B Makeup
Gemma was fantastic! She has such great talent and skill. She made each of us feel so comfortable and confident! Our make-up was stunning and looked great all day long, definately for at least 12 hours!
Hair--Lee Hair and Nails on Wells Road
This is just a small salon that we know about through a family friend, but Nam and Snow were awesome! They let us bring food and drinks and made us feel so comfortable! Snow does a wonderful job on nails, and Nam is a great hair stylist. Their prices were very reasonable, and our hair looked perfect all day, even after crazy thunderstorms!
Flowers--Orange Park Florist
Our flowers were beautiful! We had ordered a sample centerpiece for a shower a few weeks ahead of the wedding, and wanted to make some changes. They were so nice and accomodating, and had no problem making changes for us.
Cake--Publix at Hibernia
We had heard that this was a great publix to get cake, and we found that to be true. Our cake was 4 layers, it looked great and tasted delicious!
Thats all I can think of for now, but I will let you know if there is any more! I would so highly recommend all of our vendors---our day could have been horrible, but it worked out perfectly. My mom and I were able to relax after all of our planning, and our guests hardly noticed any of the power outage due to everyones hard work and quick thinking!