We just had our wedding two weeks ago and we could not have asked for a more amazing day! I want to start off by saying we would highly recommend our vendors to everyone, I don't think it is that common to like them all, but we were lucky I guess. If you want any other information, please don't hesitate to ask.
Dress/Jewelry/Alterations: Wolsfelts- My mom and I had a really good experience here. This was the first bridal shop I went to and Heather was so helpful and patient with me while I tried on what felt like every dress in the store. While we did visit other stores afterwards, I went back to purchase the 3rd dress I tried on at Wolsfelts. I also purchased my jewelry and had all my alterations done there. While I did feel initially that the alterations cost more than I would have thought, in the end it was well worth it. I had to go back 4 different times because with all the layers to my dress it proved hard to get it to the perfect that I wanted it and Carol was more than willing to work on it until I loved it. And it never cost more than what was priced in the first fitting. So in the end it was worth it to me. Some brides don't like the fact that they won't tell you the designer of the dress until after you purchase, but for me it was not a big deal. Just take that as a forewarning.
Invitations - Hitched Invites:I really had dreamed of designing our own wedding invitations, but with everything else I had on my plate it was looking like that wasn't going to happen. So I found Gwen at Hitched Invites. What I loved about working with her was that I could really explain what I wanted and could be as picky as I wanted (I apologized a million times for all the e-mails we had back and forth) but I love all things paper. In the end I think we had amazing invitations and although Gwen did all the work, I still felt like I had a one of a kind wedding invitation. Gwen is completely willing to do whatever it takes on her behalf to make sure you are happy.
DOC - La Di Events: Like a lot of brides on here who did most of their planning in '09, I initially hired Amy at Vaught Events after many great reviews. However, after 3 strikes, she was out! The last strike had me waiting at Oak Brook for 45 minutes and she ended up being a no show. When I wanted out of the contract she didn't even try to get my business back. Needless to say, once all that happened, I was so done booking vendors and almost said forget a DOC. But I ended up interviewing a few others and was so glad we did. We ended going with Amanda at La Di Events and she was great! On the day that our wedding was 3 months away I received an e-mail from Amanda looking to schedule our next meeting to start discussions on the timeline our the wedding day. I wanted a DOC to feel relaxed on the day of the wedding and to not have to worry about the time, where the vendors were or that everyone got paid. Amanda did all that! Whenever someone asked me a question I just had to say, can you go ask Amanda and it was done! She was amazing and you can tell she really loves her job.