Wendy's Bridal (Bride's Gown, Veil, Bra, and Crinoline) A-
It took me 6 months, 3 cities, and 100 dresses to find just the right dress. I have a fashion design degree, so I was really picky and wasn't stopping until I found just the right dress. It so happened I found the dress that had everything I wanted at Wendy's (the dress was a new arrival and I got it for 20% off during a promotion). I'm not a fan of the "big store" experience- I much prefer a boutique atmosphere, and because it seems like they have an operation going on inside, I didn't like. I worked with Lil and Lila on my second visit (my first was 6 months earlier) and they were a pleasure to work with. But once I bought my dress, it was like "see ya!" from the rest of the staff. They were not so helpful afterwards, which I figured would happen. I looked for BM dresses there, and after the experience I decided I wasn't going to give them anymore of my business. But the dress came in good shape and everything worked out.
Big Rock Little Rooster (Jewelry and Headpiece) A+
BRLR opened a few months after I bought my dress. I know the girls that run it, but my review isn't biased, I promise. The store looks great, the product assortment is different than anything in Columbus (although I would say it's comparable to Saks when they had a bridal salon in town), and I love the boutique experience. I ordered my accessories from there because they carried Haute Bride and they had a huge catalog I could order from and the line's pieces just so happened to match a brooch piece in a flower on my dress. I ordered a headband, bracelet, and earrings- all of which could be tweaked to match what I wanted.
The quality of the pieces were incredible, Swarovski crystal with darker metal, all pieces were durable and looked great. Ordering was easy and the turnaround time was 4-6 weeks. I can easily wear the jewelry again, which for me was key because the particular pieces I ordered were a little pricey. I ended up wearing the earrings for my bachelorette party because I found simpler earring that worked out better (Nordstrom crystal, which I also ended up getting coordinating pieces as BM gifts). But the jewelry was the perfect icing on the cake and looked amazing with my dress!
Hey Lady Shoes (Bride's Shoes) A+
I bought 5 pairs of shoes that didn't work out before stumbling on this company. Hey Lady is a company based out of San Fran and they design non-dyable silk or leather wedding shoes in 3 inch or 4 inch height. The shoes are so cute and modern! Although La Jeune Mariee carry them, I wanted to option to return it they weren't comfortable. The girls are quick to answer email and are quick to ship.
I ordered the "Knotty Girl" style in a 3 inch height. They were absolutely gorgeous! And so comfortable! They came in an archival box, shoe bag, extra crystals, extra heel bases, and a handwritten personalized card. How sweet! I originally ordered the 7 because that's what size I was fitting in bridal shoes (I normally wear a 7.5), but they were a little small so I was able to send them back and they sent me a new size right away. The Poron insole provided a lot of cushion and the silk satin wasn't stiff. I wore them for 8 hours straight without breaking them in, and then took them off once the intense dancing started.
La Jeune Mariee (Bridesmaid Dresses) A+
LJM carried the Watters and Watters and W2 lines I was looking for for my girls, and carried more styles and better prices than Alan Ray (and they didn't give me a "you need to pay rush shipping to get them in on time" when the wedding was 4 months away, like Alan Ray). The lines had a lot of options in the colors and length I was looking for. The associates were really helpful, honest, and flexible. The girls came in at different times to pick out the style they wanted, and LJM kept a good record of which dresses the girls ordered, sizes, colors, etc. The dresses came in just in time, only 1-2 weeks later than expected, and were good quality. Each BM picked a different dress (which I loved) and the day of the wedding they kept saying how much they loved their dresses and loved how they felt in them. They looked really beautiful!
Dublin Cleaners (Bride's Dress Pressing) A
Took 5 business days to press my dress. When i talked to someone one the phone before I dropped it off, they told me it would likely be done by Thursday night or Friday morning, which would have been perfect, but that became Friday at 4pm- I had to be there for the rehearsal on the other side of town at 5:30. Did a good job, but I was hoping they would have a once-over and saw a large flower on the dress wasn't open all the way. That could have been easily fixed, but I had to sew the back of the petals open the wedding day because no one who was working the steamers/irons was working when the dress was ready. But I can't give them anything worse than an A because there weren't any wrinkles.
Linda Hine (Alterations) A+
She did a great job on my complicated dress. My dress was beaded lace, and even when the dress was ordered 3 inches shorter, it still had to be taken up. I'm also smaller chested with larger hips and curvy back end, so my top had to be taken in quite a bit and we had to design a bustle because the traditional ones would work or look good with my body and the dress. Alterations were quick, and the prices were good. No complaints here. She made the dress look like it was made for me!
Men's Warehouse (Tuxes) A-
The only reason why we ordered tuxes from there is because all of the GM live in different cities. Soon after we ordered them, we noticed the tux information for my dad and grandfather were not the correct colors, and the Best Man's name was spelled incorrectly. They fixed the color info but they said because the Best Man's name was in the system like that they couldn't change it for me.
My husband's tux came in 3 days before the wedding and when we went to pick it up, the pants and jacket were missing. They forgot to order the pant and jacket! So luckily we came in the Thursday before the wedding because if we hadn't have come in before 5 he wouldn't have gotten them until the day of the wedding. They came in the next morning. But one of the groomsmen was measured for his shirt incorrectly. It seemed as though they only measured his neck and the rest of his shirt was huge on him. He fortunately told me at the rehearsal dinner and he was able to get a white shirt from Express the next morning. It worked out, and you couldn't tell the difference.
Otherwise the tuxes looked really good. The guys looked so handsome! If you can, I would recommend getting at the least the microfiber shirts (which are so much more comfortable than the standard ones) and we used the Calvin tuxes, which my husband said were also more comfortable than some of the other tuxes he's had to wear.