Here is the 2nd part of my vendor reviews!
Church: Saint James Parish, Arlington Heights
K grew up going to this church and had all his sacraments there so it made things easier for us. The church is gorgeous, we did not decorations in the church because we didn't need to! They had everything planned out for requirements and the fee for the church was not too bad. We also booked all ceremony musicians through Saint James and their Music Director, we hired a Cantor, a Cellist, a Violinist, a Pianist, and some choir people--AMAZING MUSIC! I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
Venue: The Cotillion, Palatine
We loved The Cotillion, the staff there is so great. We dealt with Dimitri throughout most of the time and he really made sure we got what we wanted and went above and beyond to make us happy. The food is amazing, we had 2 tastings here, trying different things each time and we had a really hard time deciding what to choose because everything was top notch. All of our guests raved about the food. My BMs were surprised by how much food we had (soup, salad, entree, veg, potato, dessert, wedding cake). We had an issue with our cake (bakery review to come once this is resolved), I informed Dimitri immediately and he took a pic of our cake and would take care of it for us (currently letting him work with the baker on a solution). He worked really well with our DOC and had everything set up exactly how I requested. We accidentally left our toasting flutes and cake/knife set there and he has set it aside for us to go in and pick it up. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
DOC: Ladi Events (Amanda)
Amanda and her assistant were the best decision I made. They seriously took care of everything and if anything went wrong, I didn't (and still don't) know if anything was wrong. She communicated to all our vendors prior to the wedding and made sure they followed through on their commitments. She also attended the rehearsal which helped a lot! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Amanda and her team!
Florist: Kio Kreations
Kristen and her team come highly recommended on the Knot and for good reason. Let me start by saying I love Kristen and she is extremely talented, she did a hand drawn map for our invites as well as the file for our photo booth border. Our centerpieces looked great (we had 3 styles) and everyone commented on how unique they were. My flowers were more yellow than white but no biggie...my girls were suppose to have light-med pink bouquets but they were a little bit light purple. When we did our initial meeting, flowers that were discussed were not available in July which we were bummed about but found decent subs for them. My one disappointment with her was that I did not get to visit the wholesaler with her. When I contacted her about going, she said it was too late and that we should have gone in late Spring which confused me since late Spring wouldn't represent July flowers. Going to the wholesaler was one thing I was really looking forward to so I was very sad when that didn't happen.
Kio is now very busy, doing both wedding and a lot of side projects so if you want her, contact her as early as you can to assure her availability. I would RECOMMEND Kio Kreations. Overall she did an amazing job but there were things she dropped the ball on.
Linens: The Chair Couture
These are the people you want to hire if you want great service and great quality linens. They are the unseen people at the wedding, setting up before you arrive and tearing down after you leave. Czarina is great on communication and will work with you on figuring out what you want and what the best is for the space. We chose to upgrade and do Navy tablecloths which were a big wow factor even though they were subtle. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND The Chair Couture!
Up next, Part 3: Baker, Travel Agent, Dress, Hair/Makeup