Bride planning from SD for Scottsdale wedding... needs help

Jkjenson

Hello!
I am looking for advice on good vendors in the scottsdale/phoenix area?
Flowers?
Catering?
Photographer?
Table/Chair Rental?
Bakery?
Basically any good advice on any great vendors that are TOO EXPENSIVE?
Thanks Kimberly

Syndelin

I did a ton of research before I picked all of my vendors, and would rec them to anyone, they have all been amazing! 

Florist I'm using is in Glendale and deliver anywhere in the valley for very reasonable!  Wolz's Flowers.  They are a family owned florist that's been there for years.  We worked with Barbara and she was amazing, and we ended up with much more than we thought we could get for our budget.   http://ftdfloristsonline.com/wolzsplantsandflorist/ffo

The website doesn't look like much, but trust me, they are well worth checking out. 

My photographer is Mike Maez photography.  He's been awesome to work with, really great guy, distinct style, and his pricing is pretty in line with any other experienced photographer in the valley.    http://www.mikemaez.com/

I also highly rec Nia with Noyan Photography.  I've worked with her on a few things, and she's doing my b-pics.  She's awesome, and an amazingly talented photographer.    http://www.noyanphotography.com/

Bakery I decided to go with was Piece of Cake Desserts.  The owners are fabulous!  So much fun to work with and even just sit and talk to.  We came up with a cake together that was way more than we ever could have hoped for.  Very talented, and very cool people all around.   I've never seen anyone say a negative thing about their experience with them in any reviews I could find anywhere.  We also went to about 5 or 6 cake tastings, and their cake absolutely blew away everyone else for how amazingly good it was.  I can't say enough good about them.   http://www.pieceofcakedesserts.com/

If you need an officiant...  Rev Giovanni Weddings is awesome!   VERY fairly priced (less than half of some others we met with), great personalities and sense of humor with Rev. Giovanni in particular.  He also has the BEST rec's for anything and everything that you still need to book when you talk to him (and he will save you some money with discounts if you do happen to go where he rec's for you).   He has a video on his site you can see a bit of his humor and style.   I also really liked that he donates any gratuities that he gets to a very worthy cause.    http://www.revgiovanni.com/RevGio/Welcome.html


I don't have anything for catering or rentals, since that's all with my venue.

I hope that helps a bit!

azdancer8

I can also second Piece of Cake Desserts (they're in Mesa, but by far the best cake place I visited) and Mike Maez. Be warned though, that Mike has raised his prices since Syndelin and I booked our weddings. His work is super fantastic though, and he is scaling back on the number of weddings he is booking from here on out to devote more time to them. I highly recommend him.

evilstepmom

The only one of those I have booked so far is my photographers- Sierrablancophotography.com. They did our epics already and they are amazing! I highly recommend them!

bosoxy

Are you dead set on Scottsdale or can it be elsewhere in the valley?  Chandler is full of awesome venues as well as Glendale and North Phoenix. 

Also, what time of year is the wedding?  

Photography can very on how much you are willing to spend on it.  For less expensive, photo journalistic, Jennifer Weems is great.  For intermediate photo journalistic, Tervor Daley or Sierra Blanco.  There are even more expensive than this though.  

Flowers and bakery might depend on where your wedding is.  Florists using charge for travel.  And most bakeries as well.  My cake is included from our venue.  They use Honeymoon Sweets which is the same company my work uses.  So I already know they are good.  

Catering will also depend on the venue.  Most include catering and don't allow outside food/ drink.  Same with tables, chairs and linens.

Jkjenson

Thank you all so much!!
I will definately check out all of your suggestions!! Anyone know of a GREAT DJ and not some super corny one??

Syndelin

Oh I forgot about DJ... I knew I would leave out something. LOL

We're using AZ Celebrity DJ, our DJs name is Joe Matras, and he's been really awesome too!  He's really good at listening to what we want, and actually willing to do a few crazy things that we wanted to throw in to our music selections!  He can shift his style to accomidate anything you want really.  We really didn't want the corny sports announcer type MC either, and that's not an issue at all with Joe. 

Every time I email the owner to change or add something, she adds a few suggestions for songs or things we may not have thought of, so that's a nice bonus!

They have a TON of experience, and amazing reviews on weddingwire.  Pricing was really good as well compared to a lot of the ones we looked at.

http://www.azcelebritydj.com/

LyndseylovesHugh

For my wedding I used Butterfly Petals for a florist and La Dolce Pesca for the cake, both were very reasonably priced and FANTASTIC!!!  I used Ray the DJ for my DJ and they were pretty reasonable and not cheesy at all!

As for catering, do you have a venue yet?  Many, if not most, venues have there own catering or a list that you have to pick from.

bosoxy

We are also using Joe from AZ Celebrity DJ.  We met with some real pushy ones, but Joe wasn't like that.  We liked that he adapts to the situation and has a good personality.  They have awesome reviews on Weddingwire, check them out!

Syndelin

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_arizona-phoenix_bride-planning-sd-scottsdale-wedding-needs?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:71Discussion:3011c080-07cb-4f46-b90a-413a657766a4Post:eda645db-6370-4cea-b437-daf6593f758c">Re: Bride planning from SD for Scottsdale wedding... needs help</a>:
[QUOTE]We are also using Joe from AZ Celebrity DJ.  We met with some real pushy ones, but Joe wasn't like that.  We liked that he adapts to the situation and has a good personality.  They have awesome reviews on Weddingwire, check them out!
Posted by bosoxy[/QUOTE]

He has the perfect personality for a DJ doesn't he?  He likes to talk.  LOL    He's awesome.  =)

bosoxy

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_arizona-phoenix_bride-planning-sd-scottsdale-wedding-needs?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:71Discussion:3011c080-07cb-4f46-b90a-413a657766a4Post:50e1cc23-f2f9-4339-ab7c-b45d63cb4a72">Re: Bride planning from SD for Scottsdale wedding... needs help</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Bride planning from SD for Scottsdale wedding... needs help : He has the perfect personality for a DJ doesn't he?  He likes to talk.  LOL    He's awesome.  =)
Posted by Syndelin[/QUOTE]
I was impressed with how he dressed, was early to meet us, and greeted us both with bottles of water.  The DJ we met with before him was late and tried to get us to choose all of our songs before we even booked them!

Syndelin

Yeah, we had plans to meet with like 3 or 4 DJs, but cancelled them after we met him.  I like how he works, I love that he LOVES music the same way I do, so it's not just his job. It really is his passion.  A lot of our guests are coming from NY too, so he'll fit right in.  LOL

amarinelli1

Tammie Coe is the BEST bakery in the valley.  She has 3 locations, is super creative & everything is delicious.  She wins awards for her frosting, cupcakes, cakes, etc all the time.  She is also super nice!