Florist: The Flower Box, Westminster: A
The owner of The Flower Box is a friend of my in-laws but we worked with Wendy. Our flowers were gooooorgeous! I’m not really even a flower person but I loved them! We worked with Wendy and she was very helpful. I knew I wanted Gerbera daisies in a bright mix of colors for the bouquets, and single daisy arrangement for the centerpieces. I had some ideas for the centerpieces, so she put together a few samples so I could make the final decision. She also did samples of the bouquets and was very open to my changes. She was also very helpful in suggesting other flower types when the gerberas weren’t available in some of the colors I wanted.
We got so many compliments on our flowers, and they really popped against my white dress and the girls’ black dresses. I am thinking about seeing if they can recreate the bouquet using silk flowers so I can keep it on our dining room table forever!
They also took care of the draping to decorate the “alter” in the pavilion. This is the only reason they didn’t get an A+. I told them what I wanted, and we kind of sketched a few things out (since I couldn’t find any pictures!), but what they actually did was a bit different and I wasn’t in love with it. It wasn’t bad, just not what I was envisioning. Also, the fabric hadn’t been steamed, so there were some visible creases, which I also didn’t like.
Invitations: SugarBloom Invitations: A-
This is another friend of my in-laws. Judy is the owner and takes care of everything. I thought looking at the invitations was confusing and actually kind of stressful. I didn’t think Judy was clear at first regarding what kind of things (font, color, paper, etc) could and couldn’t be changed on certain invites. We finally picked one we liked and she got us a proof a few days later. I changed my mind on the color of the paper and when I called to tell her, she acted like it couldn’t be done – even though we hadn’t signed anything or put down any kind of deposit. Eventually I let my mom deal with her because it started to get frustrating. Everything worked out, and she was really helpful a few months later when we decided to add an insert. Again I let my mom deal with all of that, and the final product looked great. I would definitely recommend her, but it may get stressful if you’re inpatient (and easily confused!) like I am J
Makeup: Amie Decker Makeup: A+
Amie was great! Super friendly and does amazing work. I found her prices to be comparable to others in the makeup business, if not a little cheaper. We needed someone who would be able to travel onsite which she does regularly. I had my trial about 6 weeks out and it was great. I didn’t have any pictures or anything, just basically told her what I normally do for makeup, and that I wanted to look like me, but more awesome J she made sure I was comfortable with everything that she did and changed a few things around here and there so it looked perfect. The day of the wedding she came with an assistant, and everyone looked amazing! Her reputation is well-earned!
Hair: Sunset Salon: A+
Amie and Nicole from Sunset (in Pasadena) took care of all of our hair. Nicole is my MOH’s cousin and she’s done my hair for other events before so I was comfortable choosing them, even if they aren’t one of the more well-known vendors in the area. They came to the hotel where we were getting ready and their prices were more than reasonable. Nicole did mine and I loved it! She was very easy-going, and stopped at various points to make sure I was okay with how everything looked, and had no problems making changes based on my thoughts. All of the girls and moms loved how they looked, and everyone got lots of compliments. We were super happy with them!
Officiant : Rev. Laura Cannon (Divine Transformation): A+
Rev. Laura was great! She was exactly what we were looking for. We had a meeting at her house a few months before and talked a lot about us and our relationship. She then went over how she approaches ceremonies and what we want/wouldn’t want in the ceremony. She sent us an outline not long after, and we went back and forth a few times tweaking until it was perfect. She was very open and accommodating in dealing with my last minute changes also. She took charge during the rehearsal and kept things moving and kept everyone in line. She did a fabulous job during the actual ceremony and we had so many compliments about how personal and poignant her words were. Overall she was amazing!