I have to say... I did a LOT of research before actually booking any of our vendors, and it paid off. Our day was absolutely perfect, everyone worked well together and did exactly what we expected, or more. I wouldn't change any of my vendors for our wedding for anything. They were all absolutely amazing, beyond any expectations!
Photography: Mike Maez – Mike Maez Photography – Avondale, AZ - www.mikemaez.com
I can't say enough good things about Mike and his team. We ended up with an extra photographer that we weren't expecting, so we had 2 taking pictures only, 1 on only video, and Mike was doing both. He has great packages put together for photography, with add ons for video. We did our engagement session with Mike as well. The albums that he has available are amazing!
They all arrived on time for the day of, were great while working with family and friends to coordinate pictures that we wanted to get, very professional, and also fun to hang out with and be around all day.
What Mike does with lighting is unmatched anywhere that I've seen, and I've looked at a TON of photographers. We got some of the first images back about 9 days after the wedding and they are amazing, and we are completely thrilled with his work all around.
Venue: Seville Golf and Country Club - Gilbert, AZ - http://www.clubcorp.com/Clubs/Seville-Golf-Country-Club
Seville was an amazing venue! Absolutely gorgeous place to be in and around, and the staff the day of was awesome. They had everything we needed, including a few special requests, were very flexible in letting us do what we wanted to do, and really attentive. We were able to do our engagement pictures there, as well as getting a golf cart for our wedding day pictures after the ceremony. Our day there was perfect, we couldn't have asked for anything more.
Communication could be a little slow at times, and there were a few people that we had contact with, and sometimes weren't sure which one to ask the questions that we had. Every in person meeting was wonderful though, and Melissa and Mallory were very sweet, and great to work with!
Florist: Wolz's Florist - Glendale, AZ
Barbara was recommended to us by our officiant, and I'm so glad! We had met with a few other florists in the valley, and they stopped responding to us once they found out how small of a budget we really wanted to use for flowers. Barbara was more than willing to work with us, had some really amazing ideas, and gave us a quote on the spot the first day that we met with her, as walk in customers.
She has you come in the day before the wedding to approve the flowers, which is a wonderful thing! There was a bit of a mis-communication somewhere along the line, and the centerpieces were not exactly what my husband and I were expecting when I went to see them the day before our wedding.
When they arrived the day of the wedding, they were absolutely perfect! The bouquet was more beautiful than I could have imagined, and the centerpieces were exactly what I envisioned!
She made our wedding look just like I wanted and always dreamed of... everything was perfect!
Cake: Piece of Cake Desserts - Mesa, AZ - http://www.pieceofcakedesserts.com/
I can't say enough great things about Kevin and Amy! We had a pretty unusual vision that came together for our cake, and they completely exceeded it and blew us away with what the final product was.
It looked AMAZING, and tasted even better! They were able to accommodate my moms special dietary needs and make a special cake for her so she was included in that very special part of our day. She was beyond thrilled, and couldn't stop talking about how great it was, and how good it tasted, even though it was gluten free.
I would give PoC 20 stars in each category if I could! I can't thank them enough! No one could stop talking about our cake! It was absolutely perfect!
DJ & Master of Ceremony: AZ Celebrity DJ - Joe - Phoenix, AZ - http://www.azcelebritydj.com/
Our DJ was Joe, and he was wonderful all around. From the first meeting with him, to the end of the night when he was packing up to leave... he always made us feel like we were special, and top priority! He was always professional, and so friendly and fun to talk to. We just fell in love with him! I think everyone at the wedding did.
We got so many comments about how nice he was, and what an awesome job he did with all of the music, announcements, and everything in general. He was friendly, attentive, immediately responded when we asked for anything, and kept us informed of what was going on all the time, without being intrusive in any way at all.
We loved having him around for the night, and couldn't have asked for a better time! Everything was perfect! I can't say enough good about him.
Officiant: Reverend Giovanni – Rev. G. Avondale, AZ - www.revgiovanni.com
Rev. G. was really amazing to work with! He always responded quickly, and was very thorough at every meeting that we had and emails that were exchanged. He has a really great format for the ceremony to choose parts of, but was also very flexible and willing to add or take out parts that we wanted or didn't want. We customized our ceremony quite a bit, but it was very helpful to have his format as a guideline.
I got so many comments on his humor and the way he performed the ceremony, as well as the ceremony itself, and all were very positive. The ceremony we ended up with was very personal, sweet, perfect for us and very meaningful.
His pricing was wonderful (less than half of some we met with), and he worked amazingly well with our photographers to make sure they had time and knowledge of what was coming up at every step, so we got all the perfect photos that we wanted. They were very impressed, and so were we!
He also gave us recommendations for a lot of other vendors that were great to work with and helped make our day absolutely perfect!
Day of Coordinator – Inspired Events – Amber Held – Chandler, AZ - http://www.inspiredeventsaz.com/
We worked with Amber for our day of coordinating (provided by Seville), and she was wonderful! She ran all over the venue getting us anything that we needed, she let us know when she was leaving for the night, and who to ask after that point if we needed anything further. She was very sweet and patient with all of the family members and took great care of us!
Alterations – Sandra Denley – Alterations, Etc. – Phoenix, AZ - http://www.alterationsetc.net/
Sandra actually worked on 3 different dresses for me, altering 2 and pulling elements off of one dress to add to one of the main two. Everything she did turned out fabulous, and she was so sweet and easy to work with. She was easy to get a hold of, and did exactly what I wanted perfectly, plus some that I wouldn't have thought of.
Her pricing is very reasonable, especially if you book early and take advantage of all of the freebies that she offers for early booking!
Jewelry – Jared the Galleria of Jewelry – Ray Rd. locations – Chandler, AZ
Jared was really great with all of our jewelry! We got my 3 ring set, my husbands wedding band, and he also bought my day of gifts for the wedding there that included an alexandrite ring, and a pearl necklace/earring set.
All of it is gorgeous, great quality, and the service plans are wonderful! I get my rings cleaned and/or re-plated any time that I want. They also soldered my bands together same day for us so it would be done before the honeymoon.
Hair and Make-up – Luxe Salon & Spa – Chandler, AZ - http://luxesalonaz.com/
I worked with Amanda, Janelle and Christine for my nails, hair and make-up services. They did a trial that I used for my engagement pictures, and then my day of services.
I got a shellac manicure from Amanda, and it actually still looks good 3 weeks later, even after being in and out of salt water and pools for the whole honeymoon!
Janelle did my hair and she's so awesome and sweet. It turned out perfectly and looked great all day! She was able to remember what we did in the trial run about 6 months ago, and was able to make a few last minute adjustments that I wanted without any issues.
Christine did my make-up, and it was perfect as well. It stayed perfect all day, and she actually is my regular hair stylist, so it's always great to see and talk to her.
Mens Wear - Nick's Menswear in Arrowhead Mall, and Mens Warehouse
We got my husbands suit and his and the best man's vest/tie at Nick's and they were great to work with. Very knowledgable, and helpful. We got my dad's suit at MW, and that was great too. The pricing was a lot better at Nick's overall, but we went with MW because they had a buy one get one sale, and I think we ended up buying suits for my dad and the best man. It turned out to be around the same cost though I think, and I liked the experience at Nick's better, but my hubby was taking care of it so they ended up at MW for some reason.
Candy - Sweeties in Chandler
We got all of our candy buffet candy from Sweeties, and it looked great! I'm still eating it... LOL