*Flowers: Connell’s Maple Lee/ Michael Cua: A: When we began planning our wedding we booked our flowers with Cua’s of Columbus. About 6 months out of our wedding we received an email that Cua’s was closing and Michael Cua was moving to handling weddings with Connell’s Maple Lee. Since we started with Cua’s, our contract and pricing transferred with Michael. As a result, I really can’t evaluate Connell’s because we did not have the normal wedding experience with them – we worked specifically, and only, with Mr. Cua. The best aspect of working with Mr. Cua was how available he made himself to us – we were entrusted with his work line, cell phone number, and HOME phone number; who does that?! In addition, the pieces he put together were beautiful!! I wasn’t too specific on what I wanted, I put a lot of trust in what he could come up with – my expectations were far exceeded!
*Photographer: Hillary Ferguson: A+: I felt like I looked at every photographer in Columbus before finding Hillary. There truly are countless talented individuals in Columbus that picking a photographer was probably the most difficult decision. Hillary was a perfect fit for us though. Her photographic style is exactly what we were looking for, and she was always willing to hear any ideas we had for pictures. Plus, she has a great personality – taking our pictures really just felt like I was hanging out with a friend. She is very talented, and very patient – this was proven when our engagement photos came back and our dog appeared well-behaved (he was terrible), and my husband looked comfortable in front of the camera (not channeling Chandler Bing).
*Videographer: Prodigy Video: A+: I found Prodigy through one of my high school classmates/ friends who had used them. Originally I was hesitant because they were more costly than I was originally anticipating on a videographer, but I can say now… It was totally worth it! Nathan was with us all day and, like Hillary, made us feel completely comfortable and created a fun environment. Plus, he had our music video edited literally within days of the wedding – now we can’t wait to see all the footage! If you want to get a feel for their work check us out here:
*DJ: Daniel Custer/ “Mac 23 Productions”: B+: Daniel was recommended to us through another vendor after we had to terminate our contract with another DJ. Daniel’s set up was great – it was unobtrusive, and he wasn’t “corny” at all. However, he is young and that was apparent in a couple of our interactions. Also, we had offered guests the opportunity to request songs for our reception on our website – it was a HUGE hit. As a result, we have a very specific list of songs we wanted played and I was disappointed when Daniel veered from this list. Although the songs he added were fun and appropriate, it prevented some people from getting their requests played.
*Ceremony Music: Bagpiper: Robert Black: A: My husband is Irish and our wedding took place 2 days after St. Patrick’s Day. Robert played our ceremony and it was beautiful – I can’t even describe the moment when I was outside the doors and I heard the bagpipes starting to play as my signal to enter. He is very talented and even dressed the part – showing up in a kilt and everything. He was easy to work with, except I felt like we met multiple times just to cover the same thing. Regardless, I would definitely recommend him.
*Ohio State University Alumni Marching Band: A: The Alumni Band’s performance was actually a gift to us so I cannot speak on the booking process. I can say though that they were a HUGE hit. It worked out especially well in The Loft – we had them play on the first floor while we were finishing dessert on the second floor. This way, if people weren’t interested/ just wanted to listen they could stay seated, others went downstairs to watch, and the rest viewed from the cut out in the second floor. My favorite part was the baton twirler – with the cut-out in the floor she was able to toss the baton and everything, it was so cool J
*Cocktail Hour Music: Chris Logsdon: A+: I’m not sure if I’m really supposed to review Chris on here or not because I believe he only does weddings for people he knows, but just in case any of you do… he was awesome! Chris played our cocktail hour and was a perfect fit for our Margaritaville wedding. Plus, he got the crown involved, having friends join him to play the tambourine and even sing a little.