I wanted to set up a website to do reviews but decided to go this route instead, It might take a couple of posts to complete.
All of my vendors did an awesome job.
I am posting on my personal experience with each vendor and I highly recommend every vendor I used.
Florist Kiokreations www.kiokreations.com/">
www.kiokreations.com
Kristen is a young, very hip and talented artist and florist. I could write a book on her alone, but I'll save all the details and give you the highlights.
Floral was important to me and creating a wow factor for the guests was very important to me as well. Kristen had never worked at our venue Mayslake Peabody and visited the venue with me to figure out floral. Kristen ended up helping me with so much that day including the entire decor for the venue.
She first helped me create a color scheme.
Then we discussed Linen and she turned me on to the Chair Coture.
Of course Kristen designed all of the floral from there, I am posting the blog she did and you can see for yourselves the pure beauty of it. The pics don't do it justice because the room was dark with flickering candles when we entered.
Kristen designed my monogram used for my gobo and it was just what I wanted.
Kristen also provided me with a card box with flowers and a pedestal for my ceremony. She was so much fun to work with and had so many great ideas and I absolutely loved loved loved my gorgeous bouquet and all the family and guests raved about the flowers and decor. My fiance was blown away by it all.
Kristen jumped in at the 11th hour, mere days before the wedding after she had ordered my flowers and helped with linen from the Chair Coture when my caterer didn't understand my concept and couldn't give me my linen colors.
Kristen delivered all of the floral and it all lasted over 10 days. My bouquet traveled with me throughout our honeymoon and stayed at 4 places with me. Planning my decor with Kristen was a blast and she if affordable and will work with your budget.
LINEN: Chair Coture: They provided Gold Linen for my family table, and linen for the cake and tables except 6 guest tables. You can see pics below in Kristens website. They jumped in at the 11th hour and were a tremendous help on short notice. The pricing was fair. The set up and tear down were flawless from what I could tell.
Check out the VENUE PICS HERE::::
http://kiokreations.com/2010/09/gorgeous-jewel-tones-at-mayslake-peabody-estate/Officient: Day of Dreams Thomas Whitham.
All I have to say is check out his website
he is awesome and worth every penny paid. Very detail oriented and provided a GORGEOUS CEREMONY.
The whole family and all the guests RAVED all night long about the ceremony. Very easy to work with answered every question and spent many hours with us on creating our ceremony and at the rehersal. AWESOME.
www.dayofdreams.com DJ: Music by Desin: David Savoia
www.musicbydesign.com
Music was very important to me so this was an important choice for me. I chose EVERY SONG for the ceremony and reception, David threw in some good ones too. The guests raved about the ceremony and music but I did choose all the songs. David executed my music vision for the event perfectly.
This vendor had the most awesome customer service, Called me no less than 5 times (out of the blue)throughout the planning process to see if I had questions and helped me out choosing music. We had a final meeting at my request and David helped me choose some music I was struggling with.
They have an on line planning tool that is so cool, and you plan your entire event on it with timelines, and music all the dances are in there, and you put in your entire wedding parties manes.. That akes it easy to pick all your song lists. Check them out. The dance floor was packed all night and David was totally awesome at running the event. I loved this vendor!!!!
Venue: Mayslake Peabody Estate Oak Brook, IL
www.mayslakepeabody.comI absolutely fell in love when I saw this venue. I was looking for something other than the traditional golf club or banquet hall. We married in front of the chapel and had our reception steps away in the mansion. No lag time. It was great.
Pros: Unique Venue, AWESOME COORDINATOR ALEX can't say enough good things about his communication. He wrote me back in less than a few hours every time I emailed with a question. They provide all the tables and chairs for ceremony and reception but they do have limited white charis of 100. No preferred catering list you must choose from.
Cons: A bit pricey for the venue, it costs me 2200 in all just for the venue, the insurances were on the catering bill. INSURANCES: need to buy a one day liquor license from the county to serve alcohol. Need to buy a separate liability insurance policy naming Mayslake Peabody as the only beneficiary. COST: about 250 bucks for both, this was all done and required of our caterer.
Photography: AC Photography and Design Amy Christian
www.acphotographydesign.com
Believe it or not, I did not rate photography at high importance, therefore didn't want to spend big dollars on it.
I got Amy on a small budget for photography. She did an absolutely awesome job and brought an assistant with her on the day of the wedding at no charge and absolutely not expected by me. Amy and Tara were a joy to work with and Amy is very well trained and took some awesome photos with Mayslake as the backdrop. She searched out every nook and crany of the place to take good photos. The pics that I have seen so far are artistic, show tremendous talent, and are well presented. I will post a few pics in another post. I recommend Amy if you are on a budget. The one thing we all noticed is that she and TARA were EVERYWHERE and were working hard shooting as many pics as they could. The minute Amy and tara arrived they took hundreds of pics of my gown and flowers and rings within minutes. They took getting ready pics and worked tirelessly throughout the 8 hours they were with me.
Videography: Jeff, Shoot the Bride FilmsJeff showed up on time and shot video all day. I just provided songs to him today so no trailer has been done yet. I expect to get a good video and that's what I wanted. Really just raw footage of the entire ceremony. I got Jeff on a budget too,
Will post the vid when I get it.
Catering: Mario's Events Worth, IL
With catering I wanted one thing. Good tasting Food at a good price. They delivered. They did my bar as well. The pricing cannot be beat. 16 a person for full open bar for 4 hours. WE did negotiate bottled beer. They did my cake and I didn't have a big budget so it was a simple yellow cake with fudge filling with an alternating flavor of chocolate. It looked fine and tasted great. The guests RAVED about how good the food was. Since I am Greek I wanted some Greek Food:
Fruit cup to start served in individual cups, Greek Salad, served on individual plates, the rest was family style: Greek Chicken, Roast Beef with Gravy, Orzo with Butter, greek roasted vegies. Bread Rolls with Butter and Coffee. The meal was 26 per plate with a dollar off if you used their bar. Really this can't be beat.
and the food was outstanding. I am a Greek after all, we know our food. They provided so much with the package, full wait staff, all china glasswear tablewear, and linen. Although they are linen specialist and I had a bit of trouble at the end, you ahve to understand they do catering for a living not linen.
The set up and execution and clean up was FLAWLESS.