I thought I would share some feedback on a few vendors we used for our 'desitination' wedding in Chicago. I did most everything via phone/email since I live in Ohio, but we did have one visit to get everything in place.
WEDDING/RECEPTION: ROSE ANGELI'S: A+ We had an intimate wedding & reception (of 35 people) at our favorite local Italian restaurant Rose Angeli's in Lincoln Park. We worked with Donna who was an absolute dream. She helped with everything--menu, decorations, music, coordination on day of...she did it all!! The food, OMG the food, was absolutely TO DIE FOR!! Everyone could not stop talking about it and boy was there a ton of it with passed hors d'oeuvres, salads, 2 pastas & 1 meat entree (served family style) and a dessert table that had 3 kinds of homemade desserts. They even sent all the leftovers home with us and boxed up our leftover cupcakes and wedding cake. There was absolutely ZERO downside to our time there other than the yucky weather which meant we couldn't use their lovely courtyard...but they made it so wonderful we forgot all about the gross weather outside
CAKE: CAKE, FLOUR< & PASTRY: A+ We had the best experience with Janet from Flour Cake & Pastry in Logan Square. She was incredibly professional, easy to work with, and delivered beyond our expectations with the most delicious cake & cupcakes, beautifully deocrated, and set up on time. She made everyhting so beautiful and wow do they know how to make cake!! We had red velvet, white chiffon w/ raspberry buttercream, and our small cutting cake was a decadent carrot cake w/ cream cheese frosting. Just can't say enough about Janet...she was so knowledgable and incredibly humble and down to earth. Such a breath of fresh air!!
FLOWERS: BUNCHES: B+ In a last moment of panic I had to switch florists and found Bunches on Lincoln one month prior to the wedding. Jason was incredibly responsive and was very easy to work with. He went out of his way the morning of the wedding to personally deliver the flowers to my hotel (it was 2 bouquets, 1 bout) They were lovely but I was a bit disappointed that they came out so orange as my colors were mainly white, pale peach, and gray with a focus on white peonies that never made an appearance in my bouquet. They did forget the topper for the cake, but quickly fixed that by running over the the restaurant to put the topper of for us before guests arrived. I would love to give them an A+ as everything was wonderful, but I was disappointed with the colors as I thought with pics I sent and our convo that it was clearly conveyed what I was looking for. Nonetheless, they were beautifully arranged and I appreciated all their efforts in helping me.
HAIR/MAKE-UP: ANGELA GOSS - A+ We had Ashley come to our hotel to do my hair/make-up as well as my daughter's hair. She was just a joy to work with. She was on-time, very professional, very open to feedback, and super talented...as I don't think I gave her a ton to go on other than some small "ideas" of what I might like. She did such an excellent job for both my daughter and I; I really couldn't have asked for anything more.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!