Have some vendor reviews ready to go. I don't have photography or videography yet since we haven't got our pictures or video yet. Will post those when I get them.
Rehearsal Dinner
The Grapevine
Old Town Scottsdale
I was a little wary of this place originally, but it turned out wonderfully. There was so much food, by the time we hit the main course we were already stuffed. All I can say is their wings done Ray's way (the owner) are absolutely phenomenal. We got compliments on them all night. Plus, Ray really worked with us. We basically told him number of guests and a price and he worked with us. Everyone (including my mother who was having major doubts about the place) loved it.
Ceremony and Reception
Orange Tree Golf Resort
Scottsdale
Joyce and Kerry were great. My mother will tell you there were some things not to her liking, but no one noticed. They provide all the food and it was all phenomonal as well. Unfortunately, the are going to start remodeling soon, so they won't be available for booking for awhile. But if your wedding is far off into the future (2011 or late 2010), they should be available. By the way, their cheesecake tarts in chocolate cups are to die for.
Wedding Dress
Kaira's Tuxedo and Bridal
Phoenix
I originally got my dress through them when they were A Dream Wedding. I personally liked the service better then. Not that it's bad now, it's just different. I got my dress with no problems. Plus they do free pressings (or did when I got my dress), so that saved a good amount of money. They also had my dress for a cheaper price than most other places.
Accesories
The Wedding Accesory Superstore
Phoenix
If you're looking for everything else, come here. They have 20-25% off every weekend on something. My mom got her dress here. I got my crinoline, veil, jewelry, invitations, thank you's and alterations done here and we paid a lot less then many other places for all of it. Plus, they really remember you here.
Bridal Party Attire
Dessy
The dresses were gorgeous, unfortunately, their size charts are way off. One of my friends who ordered a 4 they told to order and 8, and the 4 was slightly big on her. Two of my bigger girls had to pay a lot of money to alter their dresses because the Dessy size chart was so off. So, if you order Dessy, I say go a size or two under what it says you should.
Flower Girl Dress
David's Bridal
David's Bridal was wonderful to work with. The Flower GIrl Dress was adorable. I also got my shoes here and they were comfy all night. We also had to get a BM dress here the day before the wedding due to a seamstress snafu. We managed to find a dress in the exact color we needed and it didn't need to be altered, so I was impressed.
Groom and Groomsmen Attire
Men's Wearhouse
Groom gets their tux free with 4 people ordering. You can order it from anywhere there is a Men's Wearhouse and pick it up anywhere too (which was good since most of the groom's party was from out of state). The guys looked awesome. A little pricy ($150 each) but I think well worth it.
Make Up
Kensington
Phoenix
Holly was really great. She's the owner of the company and we ended up with her as our make up artist because they were having trouble booking us someone else in our price range, so we got an upgrade. We got 7 people's make up done for $500 (8 are actually included in the package). They do hair too, which we didn't do.
Hair
Peggy Vogt, Bladz Hair
Mesa
Peggy is my regular stylist. She's really sweet and she did mine, 3 of my bridal party and my MIL's hair for the wedding with the help of Tatiana, who also works in the salon. Everyone loved their hair and thought she did a great job. Plus, super affordable. No one paid more than $45 for their hair.
Flowers and Centerpieces
Ever After Floral
Phoenix
Jen is such an amazing florist. Everything came out better than I could have dreamed. In fact, we may even get a feature in one of the local wedding papers because of the winter wonderland theme that we went with. Glittery branches on top of trumpet vases that had crystal garland inside and hanging crystals. Everything was so amazing and better than what I could have hoped for. I definitely recommend Jen for any thing you'll need flowers or centerpieces for. Plus, she hand painted all the centers of my daisy's blue to match my colors.
DJ
Starz Entertainment
Phoenix
At first, we really liked Starz and Dennis who was assigned to be our DJ. We got along great with him in all the meetings and he seemed to really understand us. At the wedding, it was a different story. He didn't play half of what we had asked (even when I specifically went up to him and asked him to play it). We went with a decades theme where he was supposed to move seamlessly from 50's to 60's, etc. He spent way too much time in the 50's (and played too much Elvis for my taste), and barely spent any time on the other decades. He was good at the MCing part, but we were not that impressed with him. Plus, on the grand entrance, he almost forgot the flower girl after confirming her name with us 2 minutes before.
I think that's all I have for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
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