I'm baaaack! I got married this last Sunday and I am so thrilled! It was a beautiful day. Here's the link to the album with most of my wedding photos from my photographer. I'm still waiting on the rehearsal dinner photos, as well as the reception, but here's what I have:
http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c54/FireyTiger/Our%20wedding%20June%2026th%202011/I didn't have a whole lot of vendors, but I'll give you the run down.
Reception Hall: Chapel Ridge Banquet Center in Lee's Summit, A
I honestly felt like Chapel Ridge was a great venue. The reason there aren't any + signs at the end is because they went through several changes in staff and didn't bother to tell me about it. I started out working with Kevin, and he was awesome. Then Kevin left and Heath came along for a couple months, and caused all sorts of confusion. They changed their pricing and contract, so I asked about it and at first was told i'd be held to the changes even though the contract I signed said nothing about them. Then Mallory took over from Heath, and I talked to her and got it all worked out, so I was only held to the requirements that MY contract included. We got an amazing deal, and they were great to work with, totally flexible and open to changes all the way up to a couple days before. The bartender was wonderful, when we had a problem with a missing cake topper from the price chopper down the street, she volunteered to go down and pick it up for us. She also helped us clean up at the end of the night. I would recommend them to anyone, now that Mallory is in charge things are going a lot more smoothly.
Cake: Cosentino's Price Chopper in Lee's Summit, D.
I wanted to like Price Chopper. They were a block away from the reception hall, they were willing to help me out when we had to find a cake at the last minute. But honestly, they really didn't make me happy at all. When I originally called down there, I spoke with a woman who gave me a price for the cake size I was asking for. Then when I went down, the price suddenly doubled for no apparent reason. I was about to leave, when they agreed to sell it at the price they told me on the phone. I paid a deposit and was told to come back a few days beforehand, pay the balance off, and bring them our specialty cake topper so they could decorate the top layer with it on there. We did everything we were supposed to, but they didn't uphold their agreement. The cake tasted pretty good but it didn't look very nice, like a novice had decorated it. If I hadn't given my husband the receipt from when we'd paid the cake off three days prior, they were going to force him to pay another $120 dollars for the cake to pick it up, because even though we gave them a copy of the receipts showing it was paid for, they apparently didn't keep track of them. They also neglected to put the cake topper on the cake at all, or even send it back with us, so when we went to put the cake out, we had to send someone back to the store to get the topper, which delayed the reception significantly. The only reason they're not getting an F is because the cake did honestly taste good, it was moist and everyone liked it.
Hair: Beauty Brands in northern Kansas City off of Barry Rd, A+
I worked with one of the hairstylists up at the beauty brands near where I live, and I was overall very happy with Sarah. She did my hair trial appointment as well as my day of appointment. The trial ended up getting super frizzy, but the day of was perfect. She was able to give me the exact look I was wanting, with only a brief description of what I wanted, no pictures. She remembered me and everything I'd told her from a month prior at the trial, so we were able to just continue our conversation from there. She was honestly great.
Nails: Beauty Brands in northern Kansas City off of Barry Rd, C.
I also got a french tip manicure at the same beauty brands the day before my wedding. The paint started peeling and chipping off after only about 8 hours. I talked to them about it the morning of the wedding seeing as I was already there, and they agreed to fix it without charging me. Unfortunately, the paint started peeling up for no apparent reason again only 2 hours later. So I was overall pretty unhappy with it. I did give them a C because they did try to fix it, but I'm still pretty peeved that I spent like 23 dollars for a regular ol' manicure with french tips that didn't stay on...
Alterations: David's Bridal off of Barry Rd, F.
I'm really really peeved at David's Bridal for this one. They did an awesome job helping me find the perfect dress, but they did a piss poor job at the alterations. I only had a sweep train but I knew i'd be stepping on it and tripping all night without a bustle, so I took it into them. They charged me $45 for the bustle, and it seemed alright when I picked it up. But the day of the wedding, the bustle wouldn't stay attached. Literally right after my bridesmaids would hook it up, it'd fall right off. Then one of the loops came off the dress entirely, so it wouldn't hook up at all. Because of that, I actually had to use the hanger loop at the end of my train so it wouldn't drag around, and then I ended up falling on my ass because the train got under my heels while I was dancing, and I slid. It made for a good laugh at the time, but I'm still peeved about it.
Linens, linentablecloth.com, A+++
I was originally going to rent linens from Chapel Ridge, but then I realized that they didn't really have what I wanted. So I started shopping around. I found linentablecloth.com, and I am so thrilled that I did. I got ALL my linens, which included 15 tablecloths that went all the way to the floor, and table runners, for $190 dollars. They got here right away, and they were really great quality. I will wash them and be selling them soon, but they are honestly a wonderful buy.
Rehearsal Dinner locale: Minsky's Pizza in Lee's Summit, A++++
OMG, Minsky's was SO GREAT! They don't have a sectioned off banquet area, but they do have a separate room that can hold about 30 people. It was honestly great. We got their party pack which included 9 large pizzas (anything we wanted), 50-60 breadsticks, and 9 pitchers of bottomless fountain drinks. The waitress was great who took care of us, we only spent $200 after tax and gratuity to feed 30, and we had a good amount of leftovers. I'm so glad we had our rehearsal dinner there.
My photographer, florist, and caterers were all either friends or family, but they all get A++++++s in my book. My photographer was a friend of me and my husband's, and she actually decided to give us our photography for free as a wedding gift. Her photos are totally amazing, i've already gotten 400 of my photos (about half of them) only 3 days after the wedding. My florist was my MIL, she used silk flowers but the arrangements were all gorgeous. The "caterer" was us and our family who helped set up the trays, and they all did a great job. We couldn't have done it without them.