Hotel- Hyatt Regency on The Riverwalk, Chicago ---- BThe rooms were great, or at least mine were. My view overlooked the river and Navy Pier, which was kind of fun, because that's where my reception was. Nice aspects of this hotel- large, decents bars and restaurants, and easy to navigate through. My biggest complaint: My cousin flew in with his fiance from Arizona and they were not seated in the restaurant bar for even a half hour, when his fiance's purse was stolen. The hotel seemed slow to respond, and we knew the window of time was within a half hour period. This was frustrating, and while they tried to be helpful- in the end, it was too little, too late. The thieves tried to use the card at four different places immediately and it really put a damper on the evening to say the least. But the rooms were quiet and nice. Room service was quick. Perhaps just TOO many people there if that's makes sense? It was a crazy busy hotel.
Invites and such - Zazzle and Vista Print- online ---- AI found great invites and were able to customize them to my own easily on Zazzle, and I loved them. Plus, it's easy to find coupons for both, and prices were very reasonable. I would definitely use these sites again. I got my save the dates from Vista Print and thought they looked much more expensive than they were. I was very satisfied with the results.
Florist- Miller's Florist, Blue Island? ------ CUgh, this one is tough. Her prices are great. Unfortunately, you do get what you pay for. For me this resulted in addt'l stress. Which was NOT worth it. Initially meeting her, she's friendly, helpful, easy going. I gave her my ideas, and her prices were great. Fast forward to a couple months later, when I would have questions, or when I needed to add another bouquet and such. I consistently had to send 2nd request emails, and it would take up to two weeks to hear back. If I sent another inquiry (2nd or 3rd), then all of a sudden within a half hour I would hear back. Each time there would be some family problem on why she hadn't gotten back to me earlier. It took I think three times emailing her to set up the final appt. so I could get my mock up bouquet. She always arrived timely, and to my house which was very convenient. But it does make you wonder why there isn't a shop to go to. Or at least now I wonder why that is. My mock up bouquet was not really what I had asked for but I asked if one of the flowers (which were white) could be fuschia instead and she jotted it all down, and everything seemed fine. They were very pretty, and I was happy. She said it was just the sample and could be changed. It was also agreed at that time when she would arrive to drop the personal flowers off at the hotel, and she took down both my number and my fiances. I shouldn't have gave her final payment before I had the final contract signed but I did. While no major problems ensued- I never got that final contract, yet the check was cashed the next day. I emailed two days before the wedding to confirm everything was still okay, and she quickly responded that her son and his wife would drop off the flowers and take care of everything. Well. day of. My flowers never arrived to the hotel. I called LInda and didn't receive any answer. I left a message. Nothing. I waited until I absolutely had to leave to go to my reception/ceremony location, and luckily they were all there when I arrived. I was informed that the florist told my venue that they had attempted to go to the hotel but my name could not be found. ( Why didn't they call our cell phone numbers?) Oh wait, maybe it was because my bridesmaids informed me AFTER the wedding that my bouquet had the name Stacy on it. WHICH IS NOT MY NAME. Kind of a big oops. Was that bouquet even mine? And the bouquet looked nothing like my mock up at all. In fact, most of the flowers weren't even the correct color. I had asked for a majority of pink orchids and fuschia flowers (very vibrant pink bouquet), and received a pale purplish/pink bouquet- while pretty, NOT what I had asked for, nor what we had discussed. I wanted exotic, I got romantic. All in all, no one knew better, and the bridesmaid flowers were as discussed. But I wasn't able to take pictures before wiith my bridesmaids due to the stress of not knowing where the flowers were. So, sorry I would not recommend this vendor. She wasted a lot of my time that day. The
C rating is for the fact that I had flowers at all, although they were a little wilty.
Limo- M&M Limosine, Chicago ---- A+Cannot say enough good things about this Limo service. They were easy to deal with, on time, and friendly. Ivan? Evan? was his name and he was fabulous. He quickly got us where we needed to go, and was an absolute pleasure to deal with. Plus, they can split up their hours, so I was able to have a limo for two hours before the wedding, and two hours after. Which was perfect for us. The prices were great, and I would definitely recommend them to anyone.
Photographer- Jen Sacia ------ Pending completion of final product
I've know Jen for a few years, and she is trying to quit her other job and pursue photography full-time. She received her degree in it, and I saw some great portraits she had done --- so hired her for my wedding. I was on a budget and didn't want to spend too much. Hopefully, this all paid off. She was flexible and took plenty of photos. So, we'll see!
www.jensacia.com
115 Made the cut!
90 Are ready to party and cruise Lake Michigan!
21 Are party poopers and would rather be lame at home!
4 Are actually really making me pissy now