Hi ladies. I finally got my reviews done from my March 13th wedding. I was a budget bride and DIY bride, so many of my vendors reflect that. We got married in east Mesa, just so you have a reference point. Sorry, this is probably going to be long
Venue-Dobson's Restaurant at Dobson Ranch; Mesa AZ: www.dobsonserstaurant.net (B+) When I first contacted them I had a different coordinator, but during this process they had a change of contract and hired a new coordinator. It took about 3 weeks for me to acutally book with them, due to communication issues, which was better for the rest of the process, but still not 100% Once I booked with them I learned they had ooked another event the morning of my wedding and I could not get on property to do any decorating until after 1pm-since I had friends and family helping to do this, its not included in the price. I found out later this is a monthly contract so it was not done on purpose, but I would have preferred to know that before and Sabrina actually worked with us quite a bit on set up. She did say we could have a tasting, but it was scheduled during another wedding and we ate what she ordered, which I thought was a little weird. The food was delicious and we received tons of compliments. There is no contract with them, just a waiver, so nothing is written down and agreed upon. She does take notes, but sometimes changes pricing depending on what it is. For the most part, everything she told us stayed the same. They even changed their menu while we were going through our process, let us order from the new menu but honored the original price we were quoted. I did tell them how I planned on entering for the ceremony, which she understood but did not accomodate, I had to have a guest stand and move their chair so I could get past. I had some special details that did not get placed properly and while most of them are minor, I did notice them day of, not that it made that much of a difference. Overall she was very accomodating and everything looked beautiful!!! We got many compliments.
Linens-Tylers Custom Design; Phoenix, AZ: www.tylerscustomdesigns.com/" title="Links active once published">
www.tylerscustomdesigns.com (A+) Karen was great. She is a little far, but was very easy to work with. We set up a delivery for her to bring the chair ties to us and install them. I ordered some ties to use as table runners and we just layed those down. I also rented some table cloths that she let me pick up the previous day so we weren't waiting for her installer and could get the setup going. We then returned everything to the shop the following Monday. It worked out great!
Photographer-Arizona Sphinxx Photography; Safford, AZ: www.azsphinxxphotography.com/" title="Links active once published">
www.azsphinxxphotography.com (A+) Christina and Cliff have been absolutely wonderful!! They are still new to the business but are great. They include the engagement session in their package. They drove into town and met us in person for our vendor meeting. When we scheduled the engagement session it was monsoon season and we had a storm hit. They were great and met with us the following day to finish the shoot. They include the rights to your photos and everything on a cd. They even met with us again after that to discuss photo ops at the venue since they had never seen it. The day of the wedding we didnt have a lot of time for photos and lost most of it due to time issues. So they met with us the day after for a private session so we could get our bride and groom shots!! They have been so wonderful and really cooperative. We don't have our final proofs yet, but our sneak peek looks amazing!! I can't wait to see the others and what she does with our album.
Officiant-Spirit and Light; Glendale, AZ: Jody Serey; www.spiritandlight.net/" title="Links active once published">
www.spiritandlight.net(A-) Jody was very nice and I loved our ceremony she wrote. When I originally contacted her to set up a vendor meeting, it did not get on her calendar. I did call and she came immediately after I spoke with her, but we waited about an hour before she arrived. We did book with her and she is very easy to reach. The ceremony she wrote was beautiful and I was able to give her the basic outline I would like and she just added words. She was great. She did come to help with the rehearsal. I told her the date as soon as I knew but she asked me about it again and then said she had a wedding that night. She would come for as long as she could. She was there and stayed for the entire rehearsal, I was just slightly irritated that I didnt get on her calendar a second time. I felt that at the rehearsal she didnt give much direction and left most of it to me, which I wasnt expecting. But otherwise, her services were great.
DJ-Chris Mitchell; Glendale, AZ: DJ@zandervix.com (B+) Chris met with us in person and was really easy to talk with and we really clicked with him. He was very easy to contact and was always available to answer questions. He did both the ceremony and reception for us. He does more receptions that ceremonies, so I felt the music for the ceremony was a little loud and the timing was off for some of our songs. But he did great with the reception. We were so busy we didn't get much dancing in-which Im sad about-but it seems that everyone had a good time. We don't have huge dancing fans, but when we were on the dance floor everyone was near by.
Florist-Stella DeLeon; Phoenix, AZ: stelladel602@live.com (A+) Stella was really great to work with. She's not high pressure and is very easy to talk to. I got her name from a florist rec post on the knot. While we chatted before the wedding, the contract signing and official stuff didn't happen until about a month before the wedding. She had a lot going on but was easy to get a hold of, but is much easier to reach by phone. I chose our flowers and they were beautiful. I used tulips and hydrangeas. The tulips in the bouquets did start to wilt, but that could have been from where they got left until we got there to get them. And the bouts of hydrangeas did not last all night either. But I chose them so I was ok. And she even left a toss bouquet for me, which I had no idea was included-I had done my own toss bouquet. Stella was really great. Checked on me the week leading up to the wedding and was so wodnerful!!! I was so pleased with her services.
Flower Girl Petals-Petal Garden; www.petalgarden.com/">
www.petalgarden.com (A+) This is an online company I cam accross or found a recommendation for and they were very easy to work with. The petals are freeze dried so they are real but do not cost as much as fresh. They have many colors to choose from. I placed the order before hand and they didnt charge me until it was shipped out and it arrived the week of the wedding. I was very impressed with them and the petals were wonderful. Since they are dried, they didn't stain the basket or my flower girls dress.
Tux Shop-Dapper Dan's; Scottsdale, AZ: www.dapperdansmenswear.com/">
www.dapperdansmenswear.com(A+) Before we went to place the tux order we received a flyer from them and received 10% off and they started doing the 4 tux rentals grooms tux rental is free. And they are a designer suit shop that sells gently used suits. Its a great find. But even before the coupon their prices were less expensive than Men's Wearhouse. We did go into a Men's Wearhouse store and I felt the customer service at Dapper Dan's was way better. They sized the tuxes to fit and the guys were able to pick them up the Thursday before the wedding and they were returned the Monday after. When they went to pick up the tuxes they even tried them on and had any alterations done if it was needed. We ordered the ring bearer 2 weeks before to ensure proper sizing and had no issues with arrival times. Our out of town best man did fly down to do his sizing, but they would have taken measurements over the phone.
Bridal Shop-Brides to Be; Tempe, AZ: (B) I actually purchased my gown from this shop, but I bought it while at the bridal show, where there was a dress sale. So I didn't see the actual salon until we went to try on bridesmaids dresses. The shop is smaller, its in a strip mall. But it is organized well and the prices I thought were pretty much what the manufacturer says they are. She sells jewelry and veils and shoes too. It is owned by a little Korean lady who is very nice, but its sometimes hard to communicate with her. We ordered Alfred Angelo gowns and she had most of the styles in stock to at least see what they looked like. It was very hard to reach them on the phone and they dont hold Sunday hours. Normally whenever we called to schedule an appointment we were told to just come in. We were never called when the dresses arrived. And the check my mom wrote for my sister's dress didnt get cashed right away, so we don't know when the dresses actually got ordered. She did hem my sisters dress and did a nice job. I was going to have her alter my dress, but felt it would be rather difficult since I needed so many things done to it, just due to communication differences. But once we got the dresses and everything they were gorgeous. And we had no issues ordering them. From my experience, she was easy to work with, communication is the issue. I have since heard of another bride having major concerns with this shop, so I would do plenty of research.
Alterations-Janet Kirkman; Scottsdale, AZ: www.janetkirkman.com/">
www.janetkirkman.com (A+) I contacted Janet since she is raved about on the knot. She did a wonderful job on my gown and I loved her!! I needed quite a bit of work for sizing and had some redesign done as well. She was so affordable. She was very professional and holds late Saturday appointments, which was a lifesaver for me. I didnt give her lots of time and she got the dress done, no problem!! She pressed it too!! She did offer to store it, but I didn't want to try to get back over there to pick it up. She sized the dress and hemmed the front and changed the sash and the color panel in the front plus added a corset back and the bustle.
Jeweler-Gordons Jewelry; Mesa, AZ: George (A+) I know this one is not common, but I wanted to rave about our jeweler. This is his family jeweler, his dad visits George regularly
But Gordons has beautiful jewelry and excellent prices. Their clearance items are wonderful and you can purchase a lifetime guarantee with anything. My engagement ring is white gold and I have the lifetime warranty with a diamond warranty on it. So I can have it redipped whenever I would like and all repairs are covered and if I lose any diamonds those will be replaced as well. And there is a clause in there for if I lose my ring!! My wedding band also has the warranty on it. I know some jewelers only offer a few years worth of warranty, so I find this part a plus with Gordon's. DH's ring is also covered under a warranty-and it also includes sizing the rings!! If you're interested George is at the Gordon's at Fiesta Mall in Mesa.
My mom used to work in a bakery and made our cake for us. My hair stylist for the day was my normal stylist, Kelli from Salon Intrigue in Mesa. I did my own makeup. And to book our hotel blocks I used hotelplanner.com, the best site I could have ever found. For hotel ratings (and I highly recommend them) please see by bio.
There is a bit more information on these reviews in my bio, link in siggy. A full review of my stylist and of each hotel can be found there also. I thought those would be helpful for other brides, I know many of you were asking about hotel recommendations recently.
You ladies have been so helpful! Thank you for all your advice and recs
I hope that my information will be helpful to future brides! Good luck ladies in your planning, on your wedding day and in the future.