Hey ladies!!
Yesterday was probably one of the best yet most stressful days of my life. The whole morning I felt like I was running around like crazy, and I'm so thankful we insisted on an evening wedding and doing pictures beforehand. After the ceremony finally got started, everything went smoothly. We had a small turn out (about 50 people) but everyone said it was the most fun wedding they had ever been to!
Since reviews were so important and helpful for me, I wanted to get here as quick as I can since I have some downtime now and share my experiences!
DJ - Elite Sounds - A++++++
Craig was the life saver of the day. I didn't hire a DOC because I started to run out of money, but Craig handled everything amazingly. When we first met him last year he had only done about 3 weddings at our venue but now he is aparently becoming the go to DJ for them because he is so great. We spoke about a week before the wedding and he made up a schedule of the day which was super helpful. Then, day of, he kept us on track and made sure that we were getting in everything we wanted/needed. We essentially told him, "Play a mix of everything, make it fun and like a party" and thats exactly what he did! Everyone commented on how great the music was and he kept people dancing up until the very last song. He did comment that he'd never seen a small group like ours party as awesome as we did, lol
Hair/Makeup - CaraSue Hall - A
I have had CaraSue booked since last year. She is a little pricier than some people, but not all that much especially since she comes to you, and you get what you pay for. She came to my hotel room in the AM, which was super convenient because I was able to wake up just before she got there, haha. My hair and makeup stayed put all day, even after we marched around the city taking pictures before the ceremony. I had some wonderful comments on my hair and I really didn't want to wash it out, lol! This was actually the 2nd time we had worked together, because she did my hair/makeup for a bpics marathon shoot with Aaron from Blue Rue which I loved. She is also such a friendly, fun person that was great to work with!
Venue - Club 1000 - B+
I LOVED LOVED LOVED my venue, and so did all my guests. The reason they didn't get the full on A was they were a little on the pricey side, but I got a ton of discounts for having a Sunday wedding so it was more reasonable. John is a no-nonsense guy, but he runs his business well so I don't have any complaints. The venue is also like a blank slate, so you can pretty much decorate any way you want to! We didn't pay extra to have them hire us a DOC, but Carla and John were both there at the venue to make sure everything ran well. I can't wait to see the pictures that we were able to take on the roof of the building; however, the one snag of the night was when we were trying to quickly exit the ceremony to the roof and the door was locked, so we were left standing at the end of the room with everyone watching us and the MOHs and BM not sure if they should start down the aisle yet. It was funny though and not a total big deal.
Photography - Tiffany Phipps, Dolce Bella Photography - (rating to come)
I will rate Tiffany when I get the pictures back, but I have a feeling she will be a solid A. She started her business a few years ago so her prices were low low, but she is very talented! We worked with her on our engagement pics and I love them, so I'm sure everything will turn out great. Tiffany went above and beyond helping us with our first look and finding locations for our pictures. Not only that, she brought an assistant at my request to run my DIY photobooth, and they both worked their butts off making it fabulous!!
Trolley - Hoizon Limo - B+
I can't really say much about it other than the trolley-limo was great, they were on time, and everything went smoothly. We used it to get about the city to take pictures before the ceremony, and the ride was comfortable. I had heard from someone on this board before that their trolley was a little dirty when they rode it, but it was in great condition when we had it yesterday! The outside leaves a little to be desired as far as really looking like a trolley (it is black and has "Horizon Limo" plastered on the side) but it was fun.
Caterer - Delish Catering - B-
I wasn't necessarily unhappy with Delish, but maybe a little disappointed. They gave us a great price on some AMAZING food, but the presentation left a lot to be desired. The plates they provided were very small (app plates) so it was hard to get anything on them without having to carry two or three; they made salsa at my request because it's my favorite food and I didn't get any because I couldn't hold any more plates! Also, when the WP was released to the buffet, they hadn't put out serving utensils on everything, and the chicken skewers were missing (although everything came out quickly once we mentioned it). I also felt like there wasn't much flair to the table, and the mac and cheese bar, which I felt should have been a focal point, was shoved off to the side. Also, their serving staff did cut and serve my cake without any extra fee, but they didn't even serve the bottom tier; they didn't know/ask about whether or not each tier was a different flavor. That being said, when I mentioned how I wanted some of the top tier and didn't see any of it around, a very sweet server ran back there and found another piece of it for me. All that being said, the food was great and everyone loved it! I would definitely recommend them, but make sure you talk to them about exactly what you want.
Cake - Dragonfly Bakery - A
Cake was great and they were great to work with! Nothing bad can be said about it all. The design was fun and interesting, and the flavors were unique (vanilla latte, chocolate mint and white chocolate). The girls at Dragonfly are also very easy to work with and super sweet (get it? hehe)
Flowers - Bella Design Studio - B+Bella Design Studio is now part of Needham Floral, but since I booked when she was still working as her own business everything remained the same with prices/arrangements. I was overall really happy with everything! In the month leading up to the wedding we realized we were going to have a dramatically smaller guest turnout than originally planned, and Michelle was great in reducing the number of items we ordered; I was nervous about approaching her about it in case she would be upset since it was a significant amount less than the original order, but she was very nice about it. Everything was fun and gorgeous! I basically told her the colors I wanted and that I didn't like roses, and she came up with an amazing and unique mix of flowers. She also delivered the bouquets and bouts to my hotel before she went to the venue which was great. I didn't give her an A because the delivery price was a little high since it doesn't include pick up of vases, but that was my fault for not realizing it until last minute.
Alterations - Maria's Alterations - A
Maria helped me out last minute when I realized I'd lost too much weight for my dress! She took it in in less than a week when other seamstresses wouldn't try! Also, the rate was affordable and the workmanship was impecible!
HTH!!! Let me know if you have any specific questions about any of the vendors and I will try to help
Chrissy & David -- 10/10/10
This is my "OMG-Don't-Drop-Me" face
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